Articles of Interest

Feng Shui Factors Contributing to Health
Written by Lynne Ashdown

You are affected by the energy of a space you enter the minute you set foot in the door. Over time, your health is profoundly affected by the place where you live and work. The practice of Feng Shui addresses health in a number of ways, because without good health, how can you enjoy the other major goals of Feng Shui - harmony, wealth, happiness, and love?

Because modern life is so much more complex than ancient Chinese rural life when Feng Shui was first developed, the practice of Feng Shui has expanded to address health issues in modern life, such as the detection of harmful energies from electro-magnetic fields and geopathic stress, and techniques to remedy them. A practitioner should also be a dowser to be able to detect energies harmful to health. A dowser uses his/her body and/or instruments such as a pendulum or metal rods to detect water and energies, and kinesiology to gauge effects on a client. A Feng Shui practitioner changes energies to bring your living and working space into harmony with you, working with you to clear your path to health and success.

Within this enhanced field of Feng Shui, the following are the most important categories related to your health:

Plentiful oxygen (not as self-evident as you may think)

On the news recently, it was reported that two women fearing a chemical attack suffocated after taping their windows shut with sheets of plastic.. In northern Europe, old women die every winter trying to keep warm with windows shut tight while wood-burning stoves use up available oxygen. With the advent of double pane windows and well-sealed, insulated buildings, and many new office buildings and hotels with windows that don’t open, this problem of lack of oxygen (along with the re-circulating of pathogens in AC systems) has entered modern life. Having lived recently in such a (new) house, I would come home and gasp for air after the house had been sealed for even a few hours. I adopted the habit of opening windows for a few minutes when I returned home to let in air, even in winter. When sufficient oxygen is missing, your body responds with lethargy, weakness, or illness. Older houses with single pane windows are not so well-sealed, and don’t have this problem.

Chi, which can be measured, is life-force energy of which oxygen is a part. A room must have an 80% chi level to support health. If the chi level is lower than 80% chi is drained from you. If it is higher, your health is enhanced and supported.

Chi: a central concern of Feng Shui - conditions that reduce the level, flow, and quality of chi:

	A badly placed building in relation to land forms
	Conditions blocking chi flow, such as the placement of other buildings, landscaping, interior design, furniture and other items
	Placing yourself in unsupported positions in the workplace or bedroom. The supported position is with your head (in bed) or your back at your desk against a solid wall, where you can see the door and the window.
	Conditions causing cutting and oppressive chi: sharp corners pointing at you where you work or sleep from buildings, building features, furniture, or overhead beams
	Negative symbolism in your art or photos representing unwanted obligations or unhappy memories. Surround yourself and your family only with things that bring you joy, happiness, and inspiration.
	An imbalance in Yin and Yang (polarities), including absence of light
	An imbalance in elements (fire, earth, metal, water, wood) or their representations present in a space (a major focus of classical Feng Shui).

	(Detailed Below)
	Exposure to harmful chi from a toilet.
	Predecessor energy (those who inhabited the space before you)
	Negative geopathic (earth) energies
	Electro-Magnetic Fields (EMFs)
	Chemicals and Pollutants

Toilets: subtle energies harmful to health

A toilet should never face an entrance, kitchen, or bed in a bedroom. Feng Shui masters have long known about these Yin, bacterial-laden subtle energies, harmful to health, unimpeded by walls. Keep bathroom doors closed, both lids down, and a plant (to clean the air) on the back of the toilet. If the toilet bowl itself faces the entrance, kitchen, or especially a bed, this harmful energy can be blocked only by a mirror facing the toilet. This can be placed behind a bed, in a closet or cabinet, or on either side of a door or a wall - just so the mirror side faces the toilet, preferably for the width and height of the toilet. This mirror doesn’t have to and preferably shouldn’t be visible.

Predecessor Energy

Have you ever walked into a room where an argument has just taken place? Did you feel the charge in the air? The air really was charged. You are feeling negative energy created by an event. This energy sticks, and can affect your health. It can be detected by a practitioner/dowser, and should be cleared. For this reason it is important to know the history of a place where you will be living or working. There may have been a acrimonious divorce, or a business failure. It is advisable to have a clearing done before you move, or anytime thereafter.

Geopathic Stress

Geopathic stress comes from the earth, which is cris-crossed by a series of energy grids. These are a part of nature. Some energy grid lines are stronger than others, and should not run through your bed or desk, as they will cause illness or increased agitation over time. Especially harmful are places where these lines cross, or where a grid energy line crosses an underground water flow. Studies show cancers have occurred when a bed is located over such a crossing. This can be detected only by dowsing. Sometimes the solution is as simple as moving the bed a few feet, or using a device or technique to block or clear the geopathic stress caused by such a crossing. A good dowser/Feng Shui practitioner can remedy most geopathic stress conditions.

Other conditions causing geopathic stress can occur when a building is located over a fault line or old burial, ritual, or battle grounds. Decaying vegetation and underground water under reclaimed marshes made into lagoon developments emit extreme geopathic stress. These are not healthy places to live, and cannot always be remedied.

Electro-Magnetic Fields (EMFs)

Whenever electricity travels through a wire, both electric and magnetic fields are present. Electric fields can be blocked, but the more harmful magnetic fields cannot. Magnetic fields can affect the pineal gland and thus the production of melatonin which has cancer-fighting properties and regulates body function. Magnetic fields are reduced only by increased distance from the source. Excessive proximity and exposure to microwaves is also harmful. The following is not an exhaustive list, but here are some simple solutions to minimize your exposure to harmful EMFs from commonly used electronic devices that can reap substantial benefits to your health:

	Microwave ovens: Stay a five-foot arc away from it when it is on.
	Your cell phone: Minimize usage. The harmful waves come from the antenna. You can best protect yourself by pulling up the antenna before you speak, using a headpiece, or best of all install a car phone which puts the antenna on the outside of the car.
	Clock radio by your bed: This is extremely harmful, pulsing harmful EMFs into your head while you are sleeping, just when your body’s immune system is in repair mode and partially shut down. Replace it with a battery-powered travel clock.
	Electric blanket: High EMFs pulsing into your body all night - don’t use one.
	Hair dryer: High EMFs. Try to point it sideways at the hair rather than straight at the head.
	Anything plugged in, in back of your bed: use an extension cord to another outlet. The black, square transformer plugs such as those found on portable phones can emit high EMFs.
	TV: Try not to have one in the bedroom. If you must, it should be 10 feet away. After it is turned off, the monitor emits harmful EMFs for several hours. Computer monitors: Note that Sweden has a ‘safe’ standard for computer monitors which excludes those made in Japan or the US. Don’t wear a onducting underwire bra when spending much time in front of your computer. It is possible to reduce the harmful field by placing a natural or faceted quartz crystal in front of the monitor. Never sit at the back of someone else’s computer monitor. Electronic equipment in general: Check your son’s room; men love to surround themselves with this stuff. Try to keep electronic devices 10 feet away from the head, especially in the bedroom. In a room with many electronic devices, a condition called electro-smog is created. This can be dispersed by opening windows periodically. Electric transmission lines, a transformer station, or nearby utility poles with a round transformer can: consult a qualified practitioner.

Chemicals and Pollutants in the air, food, water, cosmetics, and other

Become more aware of what you put in and on your body. Try to eat only fish, meat, poultry and dairy products free from lead, hormones and antibiotics. Use organic produce. If you must microwave, use only microwave-safe, never deli containers. Some studies and dowsers believe that micro-waving destroys the life-force energy in food as it changes food’s chemical structure (microwave your fresh coffee for a minute and taste it again).

Chlorine is a known carcinogen. Use brown coffee filters (no chlorine bleach) and water-process decaf (formaldehyde is used to extract caffeine from coffee beans). Acquire a home water filter (pitchers with filters are inadequate), and consider a chlorine filter for your shower.

Read food and cosmetic labels (including hair dye), use a salt crystal for deodorant. Use green trades people, designers and architects, and green, chemical-free products. Scrutinize everything, but don’t despair. Feng Shui, like health, is a process; begin to walk a path toward a life closer to nature and health, as free from chemicals and pollutants as possible.

All of the above conditions draw away from your optimum health. What does all this have to do with Feng Shui? The overall object of Feng Shui is to connect you in your building to heaven and earth in perfect harmony. Perfect health in body as well as spirit is a big part of that.

Lynne Ashdown is a Feng Shui practitioner in San Rafael, Calif.
Find her at: www.AuspiciousPathsFengShui.com
Email: Lynne@AuspiciousPaths.com