Improve your home's feng shui in 2020 with these 5 tips

Far from being superstitious mumbo jumbo, Feng Shui is a science that deciphers the relationship between us and the environment, and how great surroundings can spur people to achieve greatness.

The premise behind this practice is simple – change your environment for the better, and you’ll find yourself changing for the better with it.

Clearly, the one place we have great control over its design is our own homes. There are a lot of complexities regarding the use of authentic Feng Shui, but there are ways that even a novice practitioner can tweak their homes to promote the movement of good energy, or Qi.

The five methods mentioned here are mostly common sense; you’d be surprised just how much of a difference these make to the overall ‘feel’ of your home and how it can turn your life around in surprising ways.

1. Say hello to sunlight

Natural lighting doesn’t just impart a warm, pleasant ambience – it’s a way to promote positive energy within a home too. Pay attention to the overall design of your home as well as the buildings surrounding it. Are the homes interior walls or shadows cast from nearby structures preventing sunlight from entering certain parts of your home? This is a crucial aspect to consider, especially when you are house-hunting. Places that are indefinitely dark are a nest of excessive Yin Qi, which can threaten the emotional and psychological wellbeing of a home’s occupants. By contrasts, well-lit areas of your home will activate positive energy, which in turn provides a host of benefits, such as improved productivity, alertness and high-spirits.

2. Keep your porch from being botched by uncleanliness

A great porch is a clean one, without any overly large obstructions between your main entrance and the environment beyond. Think of your main entrance as a mouth that ‘swallows’ the Qi from the natural world. If the main entrance cannot absorb this external Qi smoothly, the energy inside your home will be undoubtedly compromised as well. Ideally, your porch or space directly outside your home’s main entrance should be spacious and well-kept, as this allows the Qi to gather properly before flowing smoothly into your home. You’d be surprised just how big a difference something as simple as this can make to your home’s overall ‘vibe’.

3. 'Bad' kitchen placement equals good results

In the study of Feng Shui, every home is divided into sectors; some of these areas are ‘negative’ or so-called hotspots of negative energy. As a general note, these sectors should either be minimally used or utilised as a storage area, for example, since frequenting these areas would activate its negative energy. The one exception to this rule is the kitchen. It’s the one important location of a home that should ideally be in a ‘bad’ sector of a home, as kitchens serve as a suppresser of bad Qi in Feng Shui. Conversely, you don’t want the kitchen in a positive sector as a general rule, as the kitchen would then suppress the good energy instead. The trick here is to ensure that while your kitchen is in a negative sector, your stove – known as the Firemouth in Feng Shui – should be tapping into a favourable direction. There are some concepts here that require slightly more in-depth Feng Shui knowledge, but you can easily rely on professional Feng Shui consultation to get this aspect of your home right.

4. Spaciousness is key

As implied earlier, spaciousness is a core concept within Feng Shui, so just because your porch area is spacious doesn’t mean it’s okay to clutter up the immediate interior after your main entrance. The ideal situation is to have your main entrance directly lead into a spacious – or at the very least, decluttered – living room area. Qi needs to collect before being gently dispersed across the rest of your house, and spacious living areas serve that function excellently. The place that allows Qi to gather in this manner is called an Interior Bright Hall, and is an important consideration to instill good energy across your living space.

5. Yang for yang, yin for yin

Everything within your home has a polarity – it’s either Yin or Yang. The activities we engage in are also associated with this polarity. Understanding this is important, because as a general rule, the polarity of a particular area in your house should match the polarity of the activity you primarily use that space for. As an example, your bedroom should not be infused with too many Yang items – aquariums are an important type of Yang feature, but typically unsuitable for places of rest.That’s because sleep and rest are considered Yin activities – doing so in a place with too much Yang energy will make it hard to relax and calm down. Of course, Feng Shui is far more than simply keeping your home tidy and putting things in the right place. However, harnessing this simple methods correctly can do wonders at possibly changing your life and luck around.

About Joey Yap

Joey Yap is the founder of the Mastery Academy of Chinese Metaphysics – an education institution for Feng Shui, BaZi, Qi Men Dun Jia, Mian Xiang, Yi Jing, Date Selection and Face Reading. He is the best-selling author of over 172 book titles published in seven different languages worldwide and engages with students in more than 37 countries. He has conducted professional consultations for a wide range of clientele from the UK, USA, Canada, France, Germany and South East Asia. For more information, visit store.joeyyap.com.