The Art Of Feng Shui Training

By Author: Mel Bryson
Total Articles: 223
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One of the first questions people ask about feng shui is "what is it, exactly?" That can actually be a difficult question to answer. The reason for this is that most people today are looking at feng shui as a design style, a way of arranging furniture in their home or designing a garden. That is a very surfaced view of an art form that has a much deeper and broader base. In very basic terms, feng shui is an ancient Chinese practice designed to help improve one's life by receiving positive Qi (sometimes spelled chi, think of it as an energy or life-force).
During those times, people worked to strike a balance between heaven and earth using astronomy and geography to connect the two.

At its start, Feng Shui was used to help people find a place to live, plan agriculture, and find appropriate burial sites. Today, it is often used more topically, such as in arranging objects to help people improve their lives and meet goals. Many seek out feng shui classes in order to find how they can better influence their health, personal relationships and prosperity. If this is why one has sought out feng shui training, that is fine. Many, however, find a deeper order to it. For example, placing items in the home to attract wealth is a topical approach to removing the energy blockages that prevent the proper flow of energy in the space to begin with.

Many individuals in the west who have learned about or developed an interest in this practice seek out feng shui certification. This is something that can be marketed as an individual service or as part of a package deal with either home design or even as part of a life coaching service. It is important to remember, however, that the version of feng shui that exists in the United States today is a version that has been influenced by many western thought processes and ideals. Those who would dismiss feng shui outright often refer to it as "new-age sorcery" but the fact of the matter is that this is a rich cultural tradition that has been borrowed from the East and made into a practice befitting a Western lifestyle. This is not culture theft, it is learning from the best that every culture has to offer.

While it is a sad truth that the art itself is no longer popular in its native China- it has, in fact, been banned several times by the People's Republic of China. Although a decreasing number of youth believe in feng shui in the PRC, the art itself is growing and evolving in many of its western neighbors. No longer simply a way to determine where to live and where to lay one's body to rest after death, feng shui is now utilized for everything from space clearing to personal healing. Many have found that the benefits of feng shui far exceeded their expectations at the onset of their training.