Where should you start if you want to learn how to use the feng shui elements?
Using the elements in your space can seem complicated, but it doesn’t have to be!
What’s the easiest way to learn how to use the feng shui elements?
Just jump in and get started!
Pick a room in your house that maybe has always bothered you in some way.
Take inventory of the room: Does it feel “cold” to you? Does it have a lot of one color? Is it dim or bright? What is the furniture made of? Are there a lot of patterns? If so, what are they? Are there mirrors? What are the mirrors reflecting?
It can be hard to really look at your room with fresh eyes, so sometimes it helps to take a picture of the space so you can look at it more objectively.
Feng Shui is about balance. Once you have an inventory of the room you’re thinking about changing, go back through the elements and figure out which of the five elements correspond with the things you listed.
For example, does the room have a lot of red? If so, that’s the fire element. Does it have a lot of mirrors? That’s the water element. Does it have a lot of horizontal surfaces? That’s the earth element.
Once you have those written out, most likely you’ll see that your room has a lot of one element — which quite possibly is causing the room to not feel that great to you.
You can either take some of those items out so that the balance is more even, or you could potentially add things that represent the other elements. Just keep adding or subtracting until the space feels better to you.
Don’t discount your feelings — everything is energy and your body is picking up on that energy. So if something feels “off,” then it is!
But also don’t be alarmed if it seems like you have a ton of one element in your space but it doesn’t feel terrible to you.
Different times in your life can require different elements in your space. If you have a stressful job, for example, you might want a calmer and more grounded home — which means your home could have a lot more of the wood element in it than it would seem like you need.
Follow your intuition and if it feels good, keep it! Don’t change things just because the elements don’t seem “balanced” on paper. Use your energy and your intuition and your home will feel better than ever.
How do you balance the feng shui elements?
If you are just learning about balancing the elements, using the bagua can also make working with the elements easier. Divide your home into the bagua areas, and then do the home inventory as I discussed above.
Let’s say your kitchen is in your fame and reputation area. The element of that area is fire. The colors are red, pink, and purple. It is also represented by animal prints and triangles.
One way to boost this area would be to bring in some triangle shapes. You could also add red curtains or red accent colors, like kitchen rugs or utensils. You can also add wood elements, because in the creation cycle the wood element supports the fire element.
If you have an eat-in kitchen, for example, you could add wood chairs or bar stools, or a wood table to feed the fire.
Another way to look at balancing the elements in your home is to think of what you are wanting to manifest or call into your life.
If you’d like a new romantic partner, for example, you can look at the relationships area of your home. This is the back, right corner of your home when standing at the front door, facing in.
The element for the relationships/love area is earth. Earth colors are browns, greens, beiges, and yellows. You can add those colors to your love area to boost the earth element. You can also add pinks to add a little fire to your relationships, or burn candles often in this area to add an even bigger boost. 😉
In the creation cycle, fire supports earth, so adding those candles and pink colors also directly supports and feeds the earth element.
What if you’d like to call in a new career?
The career area’s element is water. Water is represented by blue colors, like aqua or turquoise or navy. In my home, the career area is in the entryway and living room, so I added turquoise curtains to this area to boost the water element. I also have a fish tank in this area.
In the creation cycle, metal nourishes water. Metal is represented by the color white and also by actual metal objects. You could boost your career area by adding metal picture frames in this area, or even a metal wind chime or piece of artwork.
One of the most fun things about feng shui is that you can really play around with the elements and add and subtract things until they feel right to you.
When you’re first learning how to use the feng shui elements, I definitely recommend only changing one or two things at a time.
Don’t go crazy and throw out or move all of your things at once — think of it as a science experiment! Change one thing, see what the results are, then change something else. Learning to balance the feng shui elements in your home is a process. You can’t get it wrong and you can’t mess it up. Have fun with it!
