***image1*** Where does the wind chime go? Where should I hang the mirror? Where is my wealth corner and how can I build it up?

When the subject of Feng Shui comes up, these are among the most frequently asked questions. And yet they have very little to do with the ancient discipline. Then what is Feng Shui?

To answer that, we must look at the roots of this ancient discipline, what it meant to the ancient people and what it can mean to our lives today.

***image2***Classical Chinese Feng Shui (pronounced “foong shway”) has very little to do with good luck charms. That method has comparatively little tradition. Back in 1986 a master was interviewed by a famous writer, published in all the right magazines, and had mobs of people who wanted to have their homes done, and wanted to take classes. But they didn’t want to do the math.

Real Feng Shui, you see, is a sophisticated study like architecture or interior design and requires discipline and diligent study. Well, if Classical Chinese Feng Shui is not hanging good luck charms, then what is it? How can I set it up? And how can it benefit me?

First and foremost, Feng Shui is one of the eight healing disciplines passed down from the medicine men of ancient China. Although its applications are diverse, Feng Shui started as a study of healing energy in nature and how to bring it into your family.

***image3***The ancient Chinese called the healing energy in nature “chi.” If you live next to a highway and hear the cars and smell the exhaust every day, over a period of time that does something to you. On the other hand, if you live next to a flower garden, and see the blossoms and smell the perfume every day, over a period of time that does something to you also. One good way to think about “chi” is as the difference between fresh air and stale air, air that vitalizes you versus air that makes you tired.

The first healing discipline is meditation. In Chinese this is called “Da Tsoa,” or sitting quietly. When you sit quietly, you can observe the movements of your mind and capture guidance and helpful impulses. The healing effects of meditation on high blood pressure and various other ailments are well documented. Meditation can be thought of as the study of the path of healing breath through the mind.

***image4*** The second healing discipline is diet and herbs. The ancient Chinese studied how to use herbs to replace the energy that was spent from tired inner organs. This discipline can be thought of as the path of healing breath through the things we eat.

The third healing discipline is breath exercise. This includes Tai Ji (spelled Tai Chi, but not pronounced that way), Chi Gung, Yoga, martial arts — any exercise designed to use movement to massage and flex the internal organs to improve circulation and pull something extra in from the air we breathe. This discipline can be thought of as the path of healing breath through human movement.

The fourth healing discipline is Feng Shui. This can be thought of as the path of healing breath through a human’s surroundings.

The fifth healing discipline is acupuncture which developed in similar ways to Feng Shui. Acupuncture was developed primarily from two sets of observations: First, pain referral – if my arm aches here and I rub it, I feel an additional sore spot there. If I rub the sore spot there, lo! the ache gets better here. The second set of observations was from war. If a Chinese gentleman went to war and was shot with an arrow and it didn’t kill him, he would go home and notice, “You know, the pain in my stomach is better. Let’s see, the hole is two and one quarter inches from my shoulder . . . ” The Chinese are meticulous record keepers. After generations of accumulating points, they came up with over five hundred points.

Similarly, in the ancient world, when a family wanted to have a son who would become a great physician, the masters would study the homes of families who gave birth to a great physician, and see if they fell into four or five patterns. They would do the same for a great diplomat, a great inventor, a saint. Through looking for patterns in the environment, they could observe what kind of thought is stimulated by different surroundings. Acupuncture is the path of healing breath through the human body.

The sixth healing discipline is moxibustion, which is burning herbs over the acupuncture point instead of piercing it with a needle. This is the path of healing breath through fire.

The seventh healing discipline is Tui Na or Chinese massage. Chinese massage does not require a lot of strength like some methods do. It requires knowledge of the path of healing breath through the human body so that the path can be unblocked and circulated. This is the path of healing breath through human touch.

***image5*** The eighth healing discipline is astrology, not so much in the western sense of personality, as in the eastern sense of biorhythms. If you know that the breath of a certain day is good for someone of your body type, you start new projects. If you know that the breath of a certain day is not so good for someone of your body type, you finish up old projects. The ancient Chinese made the most sophisticated study of biorhythms that mankind had ever seen. This is the path of healing breath through time.

Healing breath needs a path through an environment. In other words, every object in the environment – the doors, the windows, the furnishings, our bodies, the trees, the neighboring buildings – every object in the physical world is a filter for the healing energy in nature.

Feng Shui is the study of physical objects as filters of healing breath, and of how that healing breath can be channeled for inspiration, profitable ideas, and human relationships.

> You can reach Wyming to ask questions or to schedule an appointment by e-mailing him at: housemagic2000@yahoo.com.

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