The Element of Feng Shui
Walk into a room, and see how it makes you feel. Notice the colors, the objects, and their placement. What do they evoke in you? Is the room comfortable? Is it calming or invigorating? Maybe there is something wrong in the room, even if you can’t tell exactly what it is, register that feeling. If you are attentive, you will start to get sensitive to the psychological influences that placement and design have on your own mind.
Color
Colors have very strong and individual effects on people. Different shades will have radically different results on people’s mental behavior. Dark colors can either be relaxing or depressing, light colors can be uplifting or annoying, and extreme colors can be exhilarating or aggravating. Pay attention to how these colors make you feel. When you visit other peoples homes, or even their shops or offices, pay attention to the effect that walking into a room has on you. Sometimes you will enter a space and feel naturally relaxed. Other places can have a negative effect, making you feel uncomfortable or agitated for no apparent reason. Remember the colors and the shades of these rooms, especially if you have a particularly strong response to one.
Colors also affect the nature of interactions, and when you enter a new space you should always pay attention to the way people behave to one another. Bright or extreme colors can irritate people’s eyes and increase their metabolism, making them more likely to fight. Darker rooms can put people in a bad mood and make them lethargic. Color and placement are not the only things that influence interactions, but by paying attention you may be able to understand the subtle influence it can have.
Flow
In traditional Feng Shui, the goal is to maximize the flow of positive chi in an area. While you will probably not be able to detect the essence of the energy of a space, you can increase the feeling of flow in a room by paying attention to the way people and objects move through the space.
The flow you want to achieve is in the essence of the room. You want there to be easy access for people moving through the room, as well as in and out of it. You want objects to be able to move from their storage, into use, and back without adding to clutter. This kind of flow is a mixture of organization and design that focuses on removing blockages and allowing easy movement through every area.
You will be able to feel whether a room has flow just by walking into it. There are tiny currents of air that run through every space. We do not generally notice these currents, however using your intuition you can just barely perceive this air. The difference between greater and lesser currents will be translated into your mind as greater or lesser flow.
EXPERIMENT
It is important to allow yourself to be wrong. If you don’t make mistakes, you won’t learn anything. Pay attention to emotional variations you feel from placing different decorations and colors in different spaces. At a certain point, stop and simply exist in the room, remaining attentive to the feel of the space. Occasionally, make small changes, and observe the emotional and interactive differences.
If you don’t have the time or strength to constantly move furnishings and furniture around, then try visualizing different scenarios. Sit somewhere quiet, close your eyes, and imagine the room in a different style. Imagine yourself in the room, and try to incorporate every detail in the room into the setting. Feel how your emotions respond to such a setting. Pay attention to any problems you may feel. Allow yourself access to the subconscious of your mind, and trust its natural inclinations, as it will pick up on problems and solutions that you won’t consciously understand. Use color charts and pictures to help with the imagination process.