By Jenny Hammond
In the immortal words of the Beatles, "all you need is love."
However, achieving and maintaining love is not so simple.
There's lots of advice out there, but let's turn to
fengshui, the ancient Chinese practice of the placement
and arrangement of space, to achieve harmony and create the maximum
flow of qi, or positive life force.
Here are some pointers from Websites and experts, including
professional fengshui masters Charles Chio in Shanghai and
Rodika Tchi, from a professional fengshui consulting
company based in Canada. They recommend how to maintain peace,
harmony, romance and most important, a smooth flow of qi
in your private life and bedroom.
"We all know that different spaces and times do influence our
life and mood, therefore the method of fengshui can
improve our quality of life," says internationally known Chio, who
also is an astrologer.
This ancient practice is not superstitious, Chio observes. "It
is a dialectical way to explain natural phenomena and it is the
accumulated experience from generation to generation."
The basic idea is to love yourself. By doing this, you radiate
positive energy, thereby attracting a much higher quality of
people, situations and resources. Moods are contagious, so if you
are happy and content in yourself, it will show and lift the mood
of others. They will want to be around you.
Perhaps you will notice an improvement in all your relations,
including those with your children, parents, friends and
colleagues.
We all know this from our experience. But in terms of
fengshui and romance, you must evaluate the state of your
bedroom, the most intimate part of your home, the place where you
can really be yourself. It should be tidy and uncluttered to allow
the free flow of qi.
When looking at your boudoir (if you are a woman), or your
bedroom (if you are a man), decide which items definitely do not
belong there. These are the obvious bad fengshui bedroom
culprits: the TV, exercise equipment, computer and even worse,
PlayStation.
Beyond those, see if the images that surround you add to
feelings of love, sensuality and romance. This can be done by
replacing images of lone figures with those of happy couples.
Pairs of anything in the bedroom are said to be good for love --
identical bedside tables with identical lamps, two candles -- these
are said to promote the flow of qi.
Especially good are crystals, used for centuries for myriad
purposes from healing to protection to decoration. In
fengshui, crystals are widely used for the specific
energy, or vibrations, they bring to a space. For example, rose
quartz is used to attract love and romance, as well as heal a
broken or scarred heart. Two rose quartz hearts are often placed in
the southwest area of the bedroom to symbolize happy hearts in a
love relationship.
Although it is nice to see an attractive, cozy bed as you enter
the room, a bed should never be in line with the door. Use a solid
supporting headboard. Also no matter how tempting, the space below
the bed should never be used as storage. When the bedroom and the
space underneath are cluttered, it is said to restrict the flow of
qi, causing the energy levels to be very low and slow.
If you or your partner are having problems with low self-esteem,
try to tastefully introduce more of the color pink. It is the
universal color of love with soothing vibrations that are said to
heal the heart.
Colors, in fact, play an import role in fengshui;
adding color is an easy way to bring positive energy into an
environment.
When surrounded by fresh, beautiful colors, not only your mood,
but also your outlook on life changes. This happens because we are
in a constant energy exchange with our surroundings, and
fengshui is the body of knowledge that explores and
explains the intricate connections between humans and the spaces
they inhabit.
In fengshui, the use of color is determined based on
the occupants' birth data and the interaction of the five elements
-- earth, water, wood, fire, metal. By applying them correctly, you
will bring more harmony, balance and positive energy into your
abode.
So perhaps it is time to take a calmer approach to love and
life, the fengshui way. And some of these simple points
may make your Valentine's Day and your love life a little more
serene. The best part is that you will increase that loving feeling
without taking another hit on your wallet.
(Shanghai Daily February 14, 2007)