Back to school for many people means unpacking and decorating their new apartment or dorm room. Often times, these people just place their stuff all over or have no direction as to how to decorate. But for those looking for guidance, one way to decorate is to use the ancient Chinese art, Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway).
Feng Shui utilizes the movement of objects and energy throughout the room in order to find balance and create harmony for the individual. Feng Shui can also help promote certain aspects of life, according to Feng Shui experts, such as creativity, inner knowledge, health and wealth.
Feng Shui Arizona expert Lisa Montgomery says, “People can benefit from a balanced state and usually create better relationships as well as increase their prosperity with the use of Feng Shui.”
Feng Shui can easily be done in any space or room with these simple steps.
1. Create a balanced environment using a Bagua map. (see illustration). A Bagua map shows where the negative energy is and suggests how to fix the environment. “A Bagua map can be placed on a space as small as a desk or as big as a city,” Montgomery says.
In order to find the energy of an entire room, Montgomery suggests placing the Bagua map at the entrance of the room to determine the placement of different items. Bagua maps can be found online or in Feng Shui books.
2. To help create a balanced atmosphere and bring out creativity, Montgomery says to “place a picture in the middle-left corner of the room.” This can even be transferred to homework help — Montgomery suggests placing the title of an essay in the middle left corner as well to “infuse the energy needed to finish the paper.”
3. Plants can bring an immediate Feng Shui adjustment to a room. “Plants bring good luck when placed in any room,” Montgomery says.
Mirrors are another quick Feng Shui adjustment tool.They help expand a room as well as promote a sense of refreshment and calm.
4. Use colors to bring out certain benefits.
“The use of earth tones in the left hand corner of a room helps study habits,” Montgomery says. “Green and wood colors are the safest colors to use.” And the color red “infuses respect from others as well as balanced relationships when placed on the back wall of a room,” Montgomery says. It can be a very passionate and angry color.”
5. The final step to Feng Shui a space is to utilize the elements.
“There are five elements used in Feng Shui,” Montgomery says. “Fire, earth, metal, wood and water. The best thing to do when decorating is to use a balance of all the elements.”
The most beneficial elements to be used in Arizona are wood and water, which can be represented in rooms by mirrors and the colors green and brown. “Wood and water are the missing elements of the desert which surrounds us,” Montgomery says.
But for those who don’t want to paint a room in green or brown, just enjoy the wood element by taking time to read or study outside under some trees.
— theresa.dillon@asu.edu
