Good Feng Shui with water fountains

my water fountain (found it at Amazon)

Today, I'd like to share with you the joys a small, simple water fountain can bring to your life. I'm not talking about the big water fountains for outdoors, but small table fountains placed on a table in your house or flat.

Only recently I acquired my first proper water fountain - a rather little one, only about 50cm high. I placed it on my desk in the North corner of my flat and it made a massive difference :-)

Water fountains are a well known Feng Shui device - most Feng Shui authors mention the benefits and I thought I'd just try it out.

As North is associated with your professional life and aspirations you've got at your work, I obviously wanted to bring new, positive energy to my job. Don't get me wrong: I was and still am very happy with what I do for a living, but I thought I could do with some fresh energy and vibes to improve my changes of progression in my job and make working life easier. And so far, it seems to work very nicely!

Here are some things to consider when you'd like to place a water fountain in your flat. Most of these rules I gathered from various Feng Shui books, but I also included my own experiences with it.

Where to place your water fountain:

That's important: don't place the water fountain in the wrong corner of your flat. In a sector which is associated with the element earth, for example, it won't bring you many benefits, because all the water energy might harm that sector (too much of the water element might harm earth).

Water fountains are associated with strong water energies, so they are best placed in the East corner (health and family) or in the North Corner (professional life / your career).

Don't place it in your bedroom. This is partly my own experience as well: water objects should not be placed in your bedroom. If your career corner is located in your bedroom, try to activate that corner differently - don't use a water fountain. The reasons are varied, but for me it's rather simple: the constant noise and movement of water will make you use the toilet throughout the night... Somehow, that doesn't seem to apply when placed in another room. My thinking is that unconsciously, the noise of running water just affects you most when you are sleeping, because there is no other distraction. To ensure you've got a good night's sleep: don't place the fountain in your bedroom.

Things to mind:

• Change the water in your water fountain frequently
  It can't be good Feng Shui if the water in your fountain is dirty. Make sure to change the water frequently. I'm guilty of this as well: I tend to forget to change the water, but I try to do it at least once a week
• The constant noise of water being pumped up and down
  I personally like the noise of rippling water. I find it calming and nice - but you might not! If you don't feel like you'd like the noise a water fountain comes with, better not get one for your flat...
• The shape of the water fountain
  Ideally, water fountains should be placed in the North (element: water) or in the East (element: wood - it could be placed in the East or North East). However, if your fountain is shaped in a way that resembles a certain element which 'destroys' the element of the sector, it may do more harm than good. Unconsciously, we recognise shapes before everything else (colour or material). So if your fountain, for example, is shaped in a way that somehow resembles the elment fire (example: triangular shape), for instance, then the water fountain might not provide you with the energy vibes beneficial for that sector.

So these are my experiences with water fountains. Please feel free to comment with any suggestions or share with me your own experiences.

The great 4 Feng Shui animals in practice: the phoenix in your house

I already blogged about the great 4 Feng Shui animals and how they protect your house: the tortoise in the back (North), dragon on the right (East), the tiger on the left (West) and the phoenix in the front (South).

Each animal symbolises a different form of luck or protection. Whereas the tortoise is supposed to be located in the back of your house (for example, in the form of a mountain or another, bigger house), the phoenix lives in the front.

In Feng Shui, the symbol of the phoenix is used in many different ways and is a symbol for a variety of different forms of luck. In the context of the 4 great animals and the position of your house or flat, the phoenix is basically an open space (or small space where Chi can gather, such as a small decor lake), where Chi can gather in front of your house and is pumped in every time you open your front door.

The phoenix. Picture: http://www.energymagic.com.au/

However, as I'm living in London, I know that most flats or houses can't cater for the needs of the phoenix - flats usually don't come with a nice open space. So I thought I'd share my thoughts on how the principle of the phoenix works inside a flat, or house.

Basically, whether you are sitting at a desk, open a door or sleeping in your bed: you should not look at a barrier or big object right in front of you.

Sitting at your desk, I imagine the phoenix principle to look like this:

We should not have the wall or a big object right in front of us. Otherwise, unconsciously we are confronted with a barrier and our thoughts can't develop - you can't think big if you're looking at a wall. The space in front of your desk should be free.

The same principle applies to your bedroom. The space in front of your bed should be free. If you have to place a Little chest or box in front if, make sure the chest / box is not higher than your bed:

By the way: I'm creating these Images by myself, so I hope I get across that the above should be a bed..

If you have a large cupboard or wardrobe in your bedroom, try to place them far away from the bed, so that the space in front of your bed is free:

Similarly, you want to make sure that your front door (or any door in your house or flat, for that matter) opens towards an open space. If you open your front door and your are immediately confronted with a wall, then this will manifest itself as a constant barrier in your life. You may find yourself thinking that you experience barriers in different areas of your life, which are hindering your development or success:

In the above example, the front door opens directly towards a wall. If you enter this flat, you immediately find yourself in front of a barrier - which has quite some implications for many areas in your life. In that case, you need to implement some remedies to symbolically 'open up' that space, make the wall 'disappear' or place some object which will help navigate Chi past the wall into your flat.

I recognise this works the other way round as well: if you open the front door and step outside your house of flat, you should not have a large object immediately in front of you. That would hinder Chi energy flowing into your flat and it might create a mental barrier (everyday, when we open our main door, we are confronted with a wall or large object - so we will form mental barriers as a result of this).

The same applies to large furniture or big cupboards in front of the door. Try to keep the space open and free from any barriers which might hinder Chi flowing into your flat.

The great 4 Feng Shui animals in practice: the tortoise in your house

Most people have heard about the great 4 Feng Shui animals: the tiger, the dragon, the tortoise and the phoenix. Each animal has a different place and a different role to play when it comes to protecting us and bringing luck. Every house or flat should ideally be positioned in a way which brings these 4 animals and their energies to life:



The great 4 Feng Shui animals. Source: http://www.fengshui-center.ch/FSE1/formschool.htm

 

Today, I'd like to focus on the tortoise and its power. A reminder: the compass point of the tortoise is North and it should be in the back of your house. The main purpose of the tortoise is to protect you. The tortoise should cover your back and makes sure that no sudden danger looms behind us.

That goes back to our ancestors: in ancient times, there always was some animal about, attacking from behind. Unconsciously, we are still feeling safer  when we've got a solid wall behind us. An example: in a restaurant, people are more likely to choose a seat next to the wall, with the wall behind them and an overview of what's going on in front of them.

When we are sitting at a desk and there is an open space behind us, we are less likely to concentrate on our work. Unconsciously, we are feeling somewhat insecure and are always wary of what might be going on behind our back. We will be more concentrated and at ease if we know there's a wall behind us.

How does this look like in practice, at home or in the office?

Let's have a look:

The desk in the image below is positioned with no tortoise in the back: we are sitting with a view to the window and the door behind us:

Sitting at the desk, we'll always be wondering what's going on behind us. The door might open, someone might be stepping in... That will affect our concentration and no work can be done.

Another example: we've got the window behind us. That is equally bad, because there is a constant inflow of energy from the window. Even though we're looking at the door now, we still won't be able to fully concentrate:

The best solution: we are sitting next to the wall, the desk in front of us. That way, we are able to observe everything in front of us:

Another possible location would be the corner of the room. However, this position doesn't fully evoke protection from the tortoise because of the corner 'absorbing' energy. I know that sounds somewhat funny, but corners do have a tendency to 'suck' energy:

If you prefer to locate your desk that way, I would recommend to place a large flower in the corner. But please be careful to ensure that the leaves are round and not sharp. Another option: a shelf. But again: choose a shelf with round edges, or cover the shelf with a nice blanket or cloth, to 'hide' any edges:

However, if you fancy locating your desktop with the door at your back and you are not keen to re-position the desk, you could also place a little mirror on your desk, so you can see what is going on behind you. For me personally, that never worked - I prefer to sit with a solid wall behind my back.

Similar rules apply to pretty much any places where we are sitting, working or sleeping. Another example: the sofa in the living room. In modern flats, sockets for the TV can be located in the most bizarre corners of your flat and may need to position your sofa in front of the TV rather than next to a wall:

This is not really ideal. Nobody will be able to relax and enjoy a nice movie if, unconsciously, you are worrying about what is going on behind you. If you have the choice: make sure your sofa is next to the wall and the TV in front of the sofa:

I'm aware this is easier said then done, but if you have the choice: ensure your sofa is located next to the wall, and you've got the tortoise in your back (so to speak).

The tortoise principle applies to other rooms as well: in the kitchen, in the living room, in the bedroom. Always make sure that your back is protected.