Japanese gardens are famous for its artful realisation of nature. Similar to Chinese gardens the aim is to reproduce the perfect natural landscape. Many Japanese gardens hence use the same or similar techniques that are known of the Chinese garden, where Feng Shui often is an integral part. Within the art of japanese gardens, the following types can be differentiated:

• the Pond Garden
• the Dry-Landscape Garden
• the Tea Garden
• the Enclosed Garden

 

The Pond-Garden

The japanese pond garden with the central element of water is very similar to Chinese gardens. The first written reference to Japanese garden was made in the 7th century which means we are now able to look back at a history of garden design for over 1.400 years. The actual design of the garden was always dependent on the inhabitants self-view. A garden with larger water-features and islands for example re-presented the inhabitants living and coming from an island. Pond gardens were especially popular amongst the nobles. It underlines their self-view of an island-people.

In Palace gardens and gardens for the noble central features included a ceremonial place, soft outlines of hills, a place to worship the ancestors as well as lakes and suitable wild flowers.

A temple garden would ensure that the main hall and the Buddha situated inside would be able to overlook a calmful lake with lotus-flowers.

To ensure that the garden has both space and depth artificial hills, soft valleys and lively peaks would find their place in the classic design of a japanese garden. Plants are planted with large spaces inbetween.

The lake is the central part of the garden. Especially with artificial lakes the form plays a key symbolic role. The form for example would represent:

• the chinese character for "soul"
• the chinese character for "water"
• the form of a river
• the form of a cubic bottle
• the form of a cloud

Example lake forms:

Left: character for "soul" | right: character for "water"

 

Similar to the Chinese garden it is very important on how the garden is perceived by its visitor / viewer. Bridges, platforms and the path-ways have hence a special importance.
 

The Dry-Landscape Garden

The japanese dry-landscape garden is the most famous garden-type from Japan. It is known as Zen-Garden. Water is replaced by sand and pebbles.

We first find notes on this type of garden back in the 14th century when famous Zen-Masters created this form to transport important Zen-Teachings and Buddhist wisdom. Especially the arrangements of the rock has a special meaning.

Before the 17th century temple gardens required a water feature for ritual use. It was only with a change of Tempel rules that this requirement due to scarceness of water was made obsolete. It is from then on that the dry-garden became the dominant one.

Due to scarce water, moss, bushes and pine trees were included in an artificial langscape of hills and rivers in abstract and round forms.  Rock formations are used to represent water falls and stilised raked sand and pepples represent water streams. The gardens hence represent Zen Teachings. The abstract forms underline and support the mental excercises and medtation on time, space, change and duration.

In those gardens where access to water exists, an interwoven play between real and artificial water is created. A great example of this can be seen in the Japanese Garden in Berlin-Marzahn where not only real and artificial water contrast each other but all kinds of feng shui mastery find its application - like for example the game between master and servant. (for more details visit: An Introduction to Landscape and Garden Feng Shui).

A Zen-Garden is always a game of contrast and harmony between the dry features and that of plants and their colours.
 

Elements of a Japanese Garden

Japanese gardens are created full of symbolic meaning. The following elements are used to convey the special meaning and none of the placements and creations are left to chance:

• form of the lake / pond (see above)
• bridges and viewing platforms
• paths and stepping stone and their direction
• sand and pepples and their raked shape and form
• rocks and rock formations
• Plants and their (partly artificially creatd) form (e.g. bonsai-form)
• lanterns (see below)
• bamboo fences and stone walls
• gates

Examples of japanese laterns and their shape:

Pictures left to right: Lanterns with legs can often be found between bushes around the lake, Tachi-Gata were originally used in Shrines and Temples and Okigata is placed on flat stones.

When you clear clutter you are not just clearing out old unwanted material things but you are actually de-cluttering your mind.

It is only in the process of throwing out material things that we actually realized that many of them (if not all) don't actually mean anything - they themselves definitely don't bring us happiness. And the more we think about it the more we realize how much clutter we have accumulated in our lifes already. And it is only then that we realize that clearing clutter is also a mental matter.

To clear out our mind we need to tune inwards. Cleansing our mind means cleansing ourselves of impurities, afflictions and negative thoughts. The process can be very painful especially with our ego constantly interfering. Our ego of course is tuning into surivival mode and will do all its can to ensure that none of the negative attachments and prejudices leaves us as - should we ever - come to the full realization that all that binds us in our current society is actually not real, then the ego would have died as it has no reason of existance anymore. So naturally it puts up a big fight.

Cleansing yourself is like washing yourself of all the dirt you have accumulated, you start by rubbing yourself and the water surrounding us turns grey and muddy from all the dirt we wash off. The process usually goes with pain and aches; your ego is resisting. You feel like giving up... but when you don't and you hang in there until the water clears you feel so much lighter, so much fresher. 

Your mind develops an acute sensitivity to the energy of space and time.

You all of a sudden see things you never saw before, you enjoy things you never even noticed before. Your mind all of a sudden develops an acute sensitivity to the energy of space and time that not just surrounds you but is part of you.

This process helps to de-clutter your mind and once you have felt the result of this dejunking you know you will do it again and again and again. Don't let the red dust settle too much again, keep that feeling of feeling lighter and brighter. Keep clearing away all the clutter you accumulate on your mind ... try and do this at least once a year.

PS: If you feel lost on how you can do this, what technique might suit you best, try and find a meditation retreat. A simple one like a zen retreat or a retreat at Kopan Monastry in Kathmandu will help you get through the clutter of your mind.

Small rooms easily tend to become clutters, crowded and stuffed up with things. It is difficult to move in them and no one really enjoys spending any time in them. However, sometimes it is necessary to use a small room as a home office, kids or guest room. So what is the best strategy to re-energize these cramped in spaces?

Make sure that at least once a month you let fresh energy circle in all your small and cramped spaces. These could be the aforementioned small room but could also be storage places and spaces underneath stairways. Any energy that circulates smoothly promotes health and positiveness. Any stale non-circulating energy is negative for your health and your spiritual and emotional being.

The easiest way to promote this fresh flow of energy is by opening up all your windows and doors and let good fresh air from outside sweep through your house or apartement.

Other methods to improve fresh energy in your place is to avoid leaving newspapers and magazines piled up in corners, near the stairs or other prominent places. They tend to attrack negative energy because they tend to contain so many negative stories of crime, rape, war and worse. Seeing these brings your attention back to what you read and this in return keeps circulating negative thoughts and images. Of course glossy fashion magazines are not as bad, but they still tend to clutter up if you don't regularly sweep them into the bin.

One of the best remedies for small, cramped places is LIGHT. Use light whereever possible. Concentrate on 5.000 calvin light which is near daylight, not quite as light and cold but has a warmer tint to it. If you have plants in your small places make sure they are well. Don't keep any left-over plants that have previously died. 

By changing decoration and paintings regularly you keep a place alive too. Also when using part of the wall for storage, for example as a bookshelve, ensure it is behind closed doors or a curtain as especially books tend to draw attention and as long as there are not uniform looking will bring clutter and confusion to the room.

And where possible keep your walls bright, fresh and clean.

For many an antique furniture is usually attached to with memories. It is the old cupboard from my grandfather. Do you remember how grandmother used to sit at the old desk and take us through her photographs?

For many others antiques are standing for a time long gone, for a more homely style that they so miss in modern furniture design. And for others yet it is a way of investing money.

Whatever your reason for buying and bringing in antique furniture to your life, make sure to cleanse it of any energy it has attracted over time. Especially when the purchase comes with an unknown history.

The easiest way to cleanse antique furnitures is by salt. Salt dissolves negative energy and neutralizes the harmful and negative qi (energy).

Do not use the cooking salt available in your next-door supermarket. These have often been created by artificial production processes or have been cleaned by additional chemicals. Make sure the mixture is one of natural rock salt with natural sea salt of equal proportion.

Take the salt into your hand. Familiarize yourself with the salt in your palms by for example scooping up your hands with an up and down motion. Now, stroke the piece of furniture with the salt. Use something like a brushing motion as if to clean the surface of your furniture from dirt. If you like you can make a ritual out of this cleansing process by chanting a mantra. If you prefer not to use your naked hands you can also use a damp cloth.

Alternatively if the weather allows in your area you can also let the old furniture stand in the hot sun for ten to fifteen minutes. Sunshine is very powerful to eliminate negative energy.

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...