“Qi energy moves like a dancer and cannot abide a cluttered stage.” –Chinese sage

In our previous blog post, we reminded us that we’ve entered the season of energetic Spring according to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

With Spring being the time we tend to feel the impulse to clean up and reorganize, the art and science of feng shui is particularly relevant in our lives right now.

The New Oxford American Dictionary defines feng shui as:

"(in Chinese thought) a system of laws considered to govern spatial arrangement and orientation in relation to the flow of energy (qi or chi), and whose favorable or unfavorable effects are taken into account when siting and designing buildings."

You may be using feng shui without knowing it. If you like to keep things very well organized, categorized, efficient, uncluttered and clean, you’re mostly practicing feng shui, although the system goes somewhat beyond applying these excellent habits. Perhaps you listen to your intuition, feeling nature and common sense when rearranging your home or workplace. This is basic to feng shui and will reap big rewards not just in the comfortability of the spaces you dwell in but in your physical vitality as well!

Clutter accumulates when energy stagnates. It’s easy to accumulate clutter and clutter always magnetizes dirt to it. It’s virtually impossible for a cluttered space to be clean and a dirty space will always be directly and strongly working against you. Debilitating low frequency energy tends to accumulate around dirt. A clean, uncluttered environment will tend to promote more expansive higher vibrations. This supports the phrase, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.”

And when we bring just anything into our environments without discerning if it’s truly right for us or if the energy it bears is good for us, we can start to accumulate energies in our spaces that can be detrimental to our own.

Let’s talk about clutter.

Clutter is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as:

things you do not use or love
things that are untidy or disorganized
too many things in too small a space
anything unfinished

When we have clutter, chi can’t flow to nurture our home lives, businesses, and finances. The more “stuff” there is in a room, the more encumbered the flow of chi. There’s just too much yin. Less “stuff” creates more yang so now we can experience a balance of yin and yang. Not only this, but according to feng shui principles and often, just plain common sense, clutter may cause:

safety issues
health problems
money problems
blocks to progress in life
confusion
old stuck behaviors and ideas
stress
lack of direction
instability
upsets
obstructions of all sorts.

Clutter itself is inefficient and unattractive and it makes us inefficient, wastes energy and causes us to appear rather unattractive as well. Clutter creates obstacles to smooth energy flow in and around a space, but the purging of clutter is immediately liberating!

Tune in a day or two for part three of our posting on feng shui and the Spring energetic season. Next, we’ll give you 30+ ways to get your home decluttered and ready for Spring and ensuing Summer! It’s simpler than you think!

For Some Chinese, Success in Life Is A Name Change Away

Businesspeople Use Feng Shui To Choose New Monikers; Mr. Chen's Big Comeback

By LI YUAN Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Updated Jan. 17, 2006 12:01 a.m. ET

When Li Jun asked a feng shui master last March for tips on how to make his new investment consultancy in Beijing successful, he got a quick answer: Change your name.

"Jun," which is Mandarin for "handsome," would not help his career, the master determined. Instead, he suggested Mr. Li call himself "Jianming," which means "establishing a bright future."

Mr. Li immediately started using the name Li Jianming in all his social and business dealings. Ever since, his business has been growing. His staff has expanded to more than 20 from just a handful in less than a year. Mr. Li attributes his success to his new name. "I will do whatever the master says can bring better luck to my business," says Mr. Li.

Sources:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB113746737599348280

Alexander, Skye. 10-minute Feng Shui Room by Room: Hundreds of Easy Tips and Techniques for Prosperity, Health, and Happiness. Gloucester, MA: Fair Winds, 2006. Print.

Summers, Selena. Feng Shui in 5 Minutes. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2002. Print.

Stasney, Sharon. Feng Shui Living. New York: Sterling Pub., 2003. Print.