Similar to our post on how to best position your bed, we will now look at your home office. Again we are making use of the form school. We are looking for a protected area within the room so we can be concentrated and work. Even though generally a home office is well placed in a yang (e.g. warmer, lighter, more active) area of the house we are still looking for Qi collection to place our desk. Why? Well when we work, we like to be concentrated and not be distracted.


At the same time, we would like to know what's going on outside: Damn, the cat has just thrown down the vase again... Oh well, at least we saw it was the cat and not some burglar... The facing direction is important to have piece of mind, which in return helps concentration on the work at hand.

The office will benefit from more yang, uplifting and creative colours, after all we want to achieve something. In this case red (fire element) and green (wood element) colours will help our creativity while white (metal element) colours will bring us structure and clarity. Experience with the colours you like best. To learn more about the Five Elements visit our article: Five Phases (Five Elements).


In a full Feng Shui consultation we will give advice on the best colours suited to you. We will also advice which room is the best for work. Both will be determined through various methods that take a look at the earthly, heavenly and human elements present in the given situation and environment. This is why Feng Shui is so excited and this is why only a consultation will give you advice for you, today and for your task at hand. It is individual and cannot be generalized.

Make the conscious effort of living in the moment, because when you do, you all of a sudden become aware of many things around you that you have not noticed before.

In regards to feng shui it all too often that you become aware of the all the clutter and junk that you have accumulated over the years. It starts with magazines and journals, unwanted presents and things you thought you needed but never used. But it does not stop there, all of a sudden you become aware of the dust piling up on the furnitures and in certain, yet always the same, corner in your living room. Then you open a cupboard and... oh dear... In short, you will become ware of the clutter in your cabinets, stale food in your refrigerator, things you rather had not seen in the corners of the ceiling and grime that has built up on walls, floors and ceilings.

If you then turn your attention not just to the outside but also inside, you will notice piled up thoughts, reactions and attitudes that have a negative touch to it: negative thoughts, prejudices, the tired way you look at your work or your friend- and relationships and worst of all you notice that you have let yourself regenerate into a state of boredom, of inaction, of exhaustion and possibly even a depression.

When this happens then Yin energy has taken control and is dominating your life. Time to do something about it!

The best way to go about it is to make a conscious effort to clear your life of physical and mental junk that has built up over time on a regular basis. And there are different methods you can use for it.

Photo: a clean tidy home makes all the difference

These can be based on strengthening energy fields and empowering energy objects, to energy cleansing suggestions. Things that help clear your mind include visualization or meditation techniques to help you "let go" of your negative energy, thoughts and attachments. On  a physical level tools such as crystals, salt, herbs, incense, flower petals, fragrant water and others can also help.

Over time we will create a small line of articles highlighting the one or other method. To give you a head-start however, why don't you try any of the following. And remember the main cause of too much yin energy is usually clutter and this can be physical, emotional and spiritual clutter.

1) Counter Yin energy with massive Yang energy to help balance the two:

Yang energy here stands for loud sounds (enjoy a good blast of music), bright lights and large quantities of fresh air and sunlight. Especially in the cold and dark season of winter, make sure to go for a walk during the day-time especially on those days where the sun is out. This works wonders for your emotional and spiritual world.
If you have the feeling that after a visit to someone or an old or special building, take a salt bath and clear of your clothing as soon as possible. This will make sure that none of the unwanted energy sticks to your or your clothing.

2) Keep energy flowing smoothly

The best way to maintain positive and healthy energy is to keep energy moving in a smooth way. This especially is important for your home. One of the techniques used in Feng Shui is to actually analyze the Chi-Flow in your home and make amendments accordingly. One of the ways to do this is to watch how people move through your apartment or house. Which ways are they taking. Identify places that never get used. It might be that you discover that even though you have created this great reading corner with bookshelves and a comfortable chair it never actually gets used. Why would this be? Take a closer look: It is most likely that the corner you have chosen is one where there is constant traffic of people walking by or it is based right across a door where you feel constantly watched or it simly does not give you enough protection to feel at ease and be able to sink into the book you are reading.

3) Do you feel constantly tired when at home?

Try and become aware of your surroundings. Are there any broken elements like broken vases, a hole in the wall, broken shelves, some kind of broken equipment? And old plant that has tried out and died but you couldn't bother to remove? All these things can create "dead" energy and this dead or negative energy will slowly take away your own energy. It will slow yours down and bring it to a near complete stop. 

An easy way with all the various methods at our disposal is a good declutter of our home and a thorough clean up. Even though it is hard work, the way we feel re-freshed afterwards and the way we feel when coming home: fresh, active and happy definitely makes it worthwhile! Give it a try...

In Feng Shui there are many methods that can be applied to a room and an estate.

Amongst the many schools that developed over the centuries, a division is nowadays being made between the so-called Form School and the Compass School. The form school has its focus on earthly features, while the compass school works with heavenly qi. For more details on these terms, please take a look at our overview at "About Feng Shui".

In a full Feng Shui Consultation we will look at both factors, however to get you started, here is an example of the form school in action: How to position your bed? There are two important factors determing how a room function: One is the Qi-Flow, the other is the direction one is facing when sitting at a desk, on the couch or laying in bed.

The Qi-Flow gives us an indication on what part of the room is "busy" and what part of the room is more useful for "resting". Depending on the function of the room both are important. 

For the bedroom we are looking at a good resting place, which means we want to avoid position the bed in an area of qi flow but are rather looking for an area of qi accumulation.

The other part we would be looking for for a restful night sleep is "protection". Protection means the physical protection of for example walls around us for example an armchair with a high back. Protection, however, also refers to the view of the room that we have. We want to know what's going on. Only when we can see the entrance for example will we feel secure in the sense that should something happen, like a noise or someone entering the room we immediately take note of what or who it is - because we can see the person.

In a full consultation next to the form school in its most classical way, we would also look at the Qi that the building has (e.g. the date it was built or had a major revamp) - we would also look at the inhabitant. All three factors are then combined to give you the best possible way of furnishing your bedroom. Factors include not only the direction the bed is facing, but also what kind of materials and colours to use in the given room.