Before she goes to bed at night, sophomore Yuqian Shi said she turns her mirrors away from her because she believes mirrors can suck one’s spirit out while one sleeps.
Growing up, Chinese Professor Helen Wan said her family piano stood in the corner of a room instead of in the center to allow energy to flow freely.
These routines relate to feng shui.
The practice of feng shui is based on the idea of chi and the concept that everything is connected, feng shui consultant Jenny Liu said. Chi is the energy that flows through everything, according to the ancient principles of Daoism.
“You have a certain energy, your environment has an energy, your life and the practices that you do have a certain type of energy,” Liu said.
The practice of feng shui has been in Liu’s family for four generations, she said. Liu is a University of California, Berkeley, graduate with a degree in environmental design, and she also has a master’s in Architecture from University of California, Los Angeles. Liu and her sister, Julie Liu, established Liu Feng Shui Inc. in 2007 to continue their father’s feng shui practice.
“I really wanted to bring it [feng shui] to the Western world and try to kind of merge the best of both worlds,” Liu said.
How People Practice Feng Shui
In her feng shui practice, Liu said she examines how a client’s environment and energies affect them before making adjustments based on their needs. She said energies can be categorized into five elements: fire, water, wood, earth and metal.
These five energies can be productive or destructive, she said.
“Sometimes people, without realizing it, have a certain energy that might be more covalent or dominant in one of these five elements,” Liu said.
Under the idea of productive elements that create a cycle of life, watering seeds produces trees and thus wood: wood can be used to make fire: when fire is put out ash is left behind, which enriches the earth: earth can be mined for minerals and minerals enrich water, Liu said.
These elements can also be destructive. A metal axe can chop wood: wood can absorb or deplete the energies of earth: earth can muddy or dirty water: water can put out fire and fire can melt metal, Liu said.
To determine how one is affected by elements and energy, feng shui masters use Chinese astrology, Wan said.
“They will calculate what elements you have in terms of your birth and then they will calculate whether you are lacking certain elements like, for example, water,” Wan said.
Wan grew up in Hong Kong and practiced feng shui during her childhood, but not anymore. She said feng shui is a very common practice in China and many people believe it will bring prosperity, luck, health and happiness.
“If everyone is following feng shui, everyone should be successful or become a billionaire by the age of 20,” Wan said. “Or everyone should be getting A’s and getting into the best university in the world, but it doesn’t happen. It never happened.”
Wan said the way many people in her life practiced feng shui growing up was by rearranging their furniture at the start of every lunar new year.
“If my working desk is facing south in my room this year then I’ll be able to earn a lot more A’s,” Wan said. “That’s what they [Chinese people] believed in.”
Chi must be able to flow freely through a space, according to feng shui. Wan said although she does not believe in feng shui anymore, she still practices minimalism, which allows energy to move easily in a room.
“We pay attention to where everything flows, and then it makes you feel good if everything looks spacious,” Wan said.
Students Practice Feng Shui
Liu said students can practice feng shui in their dorms on campus. For optimal sleep, one should place their bed up against a wall, away from where their door opens, she said.
“You don’t want to sleep or place a bed directly in front of a door because there’s a line of energy constantly coming in,” Liu said.
Liu also suggested one keep their bedroom as ventilated and organized as possible, allowing natural light to enter for good health and the ability to think and study well.
Shi said she grew up in Beijing and has inherited a feng shui philosophy.
She said when she forgets to turn her mirrors at night she has nightmares. Shi also has plush toys in her room that she never faces due to their human-like features. Because plush toys have eyes, they are susceptible to have spirits enter them at night.
“Some people might argue that it’s just psychological because you’re believing this so that’s why it’s projecting onto you,” Shi said. “But I really do think that it’s because of feng shui.”
The principles of feng shui aren’t just subjective to domestic environments, Wan said. For example, in Hong Kong, a large Buddha sits outside the airport, and when a plane flies over the Buddha, the plane is thought to be protected from evil forces.
Liu said people can also use feng shui in their classrooms and on university campuses. The layout of a traditional classroom — where a teacher is in the front of the room with a whiteboard behind them while facing students — is not favorable for connection between teacher and students.
“The more a teacher can arrange the classroom so that it allows a clear line of connection between them and the students, then they will find that there’s going to be an energetic connection,” Liu said.
When it comes to university campuses, Liu said she wishes there were more natural environments for students to learn in.
Senior Ariana Badgett said a classroom environment can negatively impact how she feels about a class.
“Opening up the [class]room a little or letting natural light in or having classes in an outdoor setting could help class to be more of an experience that you look forward to,” Badgett said.
Shi said feng shui has endured since the beginning of China’s 5,000-year history for a reason.
“I do believe that other students can also take this practice to make their life better,” Shi said.
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