The practice of feng shui have been in existence for thousands of ye= ars in the eastern world, but it’s a pretty new to us in the western worl= d so I thought I would back up a little bit this month and cover a basic feng sh= ui introduction in this issue of

The practice of feng = shui have been in existence for thousands of years in the eastern world, but it’s a pretty new to us in the western world so I thought I would bac= k up a little bit this month and cover a basic feng shui introduction in this is= sue of the MSFS Newsletter.

Feng shui, which loos= ely translates to “Wind and Water” is an ancient art of understanding and manipulating certain factors in the environment to support you and your endeavors. The goal is to try to balance qi. So = what is qi? Qi is usually defined as “energy” or “life force” that exists in everything in and around the earth. While it’s not a= well known concept in the western world, it has been a constant in Chinese and o= ther eastern cultures for thousands of years.

So what is the best w= ay to understand qi?= I think of it as an energy essence that affects us – sometimes= in a positive way and sometimes in a negative way. While not the same thing, think of= the effects the moon has on us and our world.&= nbsp; We know the moon plays an important role in the ebb and flow of tides. We know it has an affe= ct on our bodies’ natural cycles. If you talk to someone working in the delivery room at a hospital or= in the emergency room, they will generally tell you that they see a difference based on the phase of the moon. If we can understand that it is possible for something that far away from Earth to have such a dramatic an effect on our world, we can begin to understand and accept the existence of qi.

I think it’s interesting that with modern research in quantum physics, some of the conce= pts being studied sound very “qi-like”.= David Bohm= (1917-1992) wrote “…there exists a hidden primary reality (the quantum potential) that provides information to the totality of humankind and its environment.” I certain= ly don’t claim to understand quantum physics, but when you study the feng shui concepts of qi and yin and yang, the east = and the west understanding begins to come a little c= loser together.

The goal of feng shui= is to identify and use the different types of qi that are in your home or work environment. To identify the qi, we use a combination= of direction and time. Dif= ferent types of qi come from different directions so it’s important to have an accurate compass reading of the sitting and facing directions of a building. But qi is constantly changing in a cycli= cal pattern, so it is important to know when a building was built so you can determine the type of qi that was influencing a= nd entering the building when the roof was put on. Once these factors are know= n, we can calculate the qualities of the qi in a building. Then we have to tak= e a look at how the current qi is interacting with = the “permanent” qi in a building.

Each type of qi is associated with one of five elements in nature – Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood. Once you identify the type of qi and its influence, you can use the productive cycl= e of the elements to create balance and transform an area that is affecting you negatively to one that = is supportive of you.

I hope this helps int= roduce you to one of the basic concepts of qi and how = it is used in feng shui. Next time = we’ll talk about the cyclical nature of qi and the wa= y the Chinese track the passage of time.