Despite what you think, feng shui is not an exotic recipe fro the orient. Its actually a classic, centurys old method of bringing peace and harmony to your home or office. Its becoming increasingly more and more popular so why not read on discover what these two words mean.

The ideology behind feng shui was first recorded in china some 3000 years ago. Its easy to say the theories are complicated but the good news is you dont have to understand it to put it to use. What you do need to know is that feng shui revolves around the energy or chi that flows around us all.

Feng shui is best translated as wind water. Its a philosophy in China thats closely related to prosperity and good health. If you want to have the positive chi flowing through your home, use the principles of feng shui.

In a given living space, each room has its own energy. The energy has to be allowed to flow freely throughout the items within the room to create a total atmosphere of positive things. Who knew that a bathroom had energy? It certainly has a lot of other things, but feng shui teaches us that even a bathroom can bring calm feelings to each family member.

Practitioners of feng shui use a couple of basic tools to get started. The first tool is the compass. A compass in the woods lets you know which way is up and guides you in the right direction. The same goes for the feng shui compass also called lopan. The compass gives the practitioner a deeper sense of the energy in the home and what needs to be where in order to allow the energy to flow without restraint.

Different areas and rooms of your home or office have different feng shui needs. Correct use of the compass will help decide what colors and feng shui elements should be used. The lopan will take into account what element is most important to individuals in the home.

The compass looks similar to a compass you would use while hiking. There is a compass needle in the center. The compass itself consists of several concentric circles that guide the practitioner to give you a layout of what your home needs in order to be whole again.

The other tool is the bagua. It is the energy map of the house. Using a blueprint drawing of your home, you can map out the eight areas of the energy map: South, Southeast, North, Northwest, East, Northeast, West and Southwest. Each section of the home has a governing element, color and purpose in your life.

Feng shui doctrine states you can profoundly affect the energy around you simply by creating a space that favors you. Doing this correctly requires a basic understanding of feng shui colors, the five elements of feng shui and how energy actually moves through each room.

Next time I'll get into that.