This month, we will be focusing on understanding environmental influences of location versus that of direction, not an uncommon question that often plagues the beginners and enthusiasts just starting out.

We need to first be clear on the fact that we do indeed posses the ability to improve and further accelerate the Feng Shui potential within our homes. All that is required is a clear understanding on how it works.

Master Lee, a famous master in Hong Kong, made an interesting comment once that has proven to be a golden nugget to me over the years. 'Never underestimate the power of location', he told me. If you take a closer look at the events that have come to pass in your life, the events you have undergone and the opportunities life has presented you, these next few items will definitely have played a crucial role in all of them:

• The water and mountain positions you have in the vicinity of your home.
• The location and direction of your main door.
• The location of your bedroom and
• The location of your kitchen.

Indeed, the influence of 'location', be it in a city, a suburb, a township, within your house, the rooms and the location of our desks - it is a powerful factor that shapes our lives. At times, we may not even realize just how powerful this effect can be as it influences us over an extended period time.

The Big Picture Analysis

In the natural enthusiasms of students just beginning to see how potent Feng Shui can be, many will immediately look to changing the internal Feng Shui of their homes. The way they sit, the direction of their bed and the décor of the house in general, are all scrutinized from top to bottom to ensure 'perfection'.

Aren't we missing something here, you ask? Something we have overlooked?

The BIG picture - we haven't taken a birds eye view of the external picture! Before even checking anything internally, we need to first check and fix the main flaws in the external picture. Where is our building located (within the suburb or housing estate)? What are the nearby mountain ranges and main roads that govern the main QI of the area?

Our property should be ideally tapping into the beneficial resources of the surrounding land and then, at the same time, we can tailor the internal Qi to fit our own lives.
Similarly, in your house or office, facing a good direction may be helpful but being IN the right location AND facing a good direction spurs on the positive effects. Of course, this works just as negatively in the other direction - being in a disadvantaged location in the house may very well negate the good effects of facing your good direction.

Which is why I constantly stress the importance of positioning your Main Door - the mouth of Qi - in the right location in addition to it facing the correct direction. You want it to receive the best possible quality of Qi in your home and facing a favorable direction further amplifies this effect.

You may often hear that decor or color is THE thing to look out for if you want to enhance your Feng Shui - not true. Keep in mind the most crucial factors will always be direction and locations, the color of your walls and curtains will not be influencing the Qi within your home.

If you have studied Feng Shui for a while, you may have heard the term Luan Tou also known as Landscape Feng Shui. This is made up by the area in which you live, the mountain ranges, the rivers and the surroundings.

Environmental factors are powerful. They can often nudge us just a little bit and then a little bit more until we take a good look around and behind us and realize that we have gone completely off course! And often, this can be detrimental to the Feng Shui goals that we have set out for ourselves.

As a quick guide, here are three questions you want to ask yourself to assess your current Feng Shui conditions.

1. Where is my house located? Within your housing estate or suburb, are you in the Northern sector or Eastern sector? Also make a mental note of the various mountain and water locations within your vicinity that you most often see.
   
2. Are these environmental features good or are they having a negative impact on my home?
   
3. What are their influences? Is the mountain in the right location in relation to my property? Is the water position correct? Is the road in and out of my property area correct?

Maybe you've been fortunate and the area in which you live in has been a positive, energizing influence. Then again, maybe there are some bad features in the environment that you haven't taken into account till now. All I'm suggesting here is that you take a close and objective look. Everything is worth a second look, especially the power of locational features within the living environment surrounding your home or office.

Some of you might even dismiss this notion - especially if you have lived all your life in the same place. But as sure as a bullet to the head, these environmental features do matter and they do have a pronounced effect on your life. Ignorance in this case may become a setback in your endeavours to seek the beneficial effects of good feng shui. Assess the environment and see if the scales may be tipped towards the positive or negative and then manage it from there.

It may often be natural and easier to get carried away with interior Feng Shui concerns when, if you just stopped and looked at things, the problem may very well be outside of your immediate living environment.

Take a moment and observe your environment and take notice of incoming roads, incoming mountains, mountain ranges, taller buildings, negative and environmental features. These lay the foundation for good or bad feng shui in your property.

Next week we'll take a look at some methods for disassociating from negative influences. Until then...