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Feng Shui is often seen as a fad that combines spirituality with interior design, but there's much more to it than that.

Feng Shui evolved some 2,500 years ago in china and was mainly used for the design of palaces, fortresses and the dwellings of the wealthy merchant classes. Its underlying theme of choosing an auspicious site for a building, along with balancing the subtle energies within the walls, is still just as relevant in contemporary times.

Feng Shui's basic principles work on maintaining a balance between two fundamental states Yin and Yang and the five essential elements fire, earth, metal, wood and water. If any of these are incorrectly proportioned or misaligned, it may lead to energy imbalances that can result in physical and emotional problems. Feng Shui practitioners learn how to recognize these elements and create counter-balances where they are over or under represented.

In ancient China, medicine, astrology, Feng Shui and meditation began with the premise of achieving equilibrium between Yin and Yang. This is a balance between opposites, but the actual principle is subtle.

Yin Yin represents the dark, the still, the quiet and the secluded.
Yang Yang represents activity, heat, warmth and socializing.

In relation to your home, you should focus on the Feng Shui state of Yin in order to create a quieter, more calming personal space relative to the busy world outside.

As well as the balance between Yin and Yang, Feng Shui also depends on the more subtle relationships of the five essential elements.

Ancient Chinese philosophy recognized the existence of five fundamental elements: fire, earth, metal, water and wood. These elements both support one another (for example, water allows wood to grow) and control one another (for example, fire melts metal).

Within this cycle, each element draws on and can drain the energy of the previous element for its support; for example, wood is drained by fire, fire is smothered by earth, and so on. To create good Feng Shui, the elements must be finely balanced.

Earth In balance, the grounding element of earth provides the foundation on which everything else is built. Yet alone, it is inert, static and smothering.

The other elements are linked to specific seasons or points on a compass. Earth is happy with all directions and likes to occupy the center. The earth associations are:
Colors yellows, creams, browns and wood
Climate damp, related to late summer
Emotions stability, caution, worry.

Wood Wood is life, growing and changing

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