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Feng Shui pronounced (Fung Schway) is the Chinese art of placement. Well known for thousands of years in the Far East only recently has the Western world began to take notice.
According to Feng Shui, the internal and external is a mirror of one another. Physical external spaces reflect our states of mind and contribute in a positive or negative way. Cluttered yards filled with no-longer-needed or loved items, often reflect cluttered thoughts.
Today’s Feng Shui, is concerned with how to create spaces that align a positive flow of energy for the benefit of health, vitality and success of those using the space. Gardens are especially important for our well- being as they provide spaces that help us to move us toward an inward experience. With time stopped, or at least greatly slowed down, we can contemplate and reflect.
To begin to incorporate a soulful approach to your outdoor spaces consider the following ideas: Have all paths follow the lines of a gentle curve. This encourages us to slow down. Another idea is to choose specific type of garden areas that reflects specific moods. A shade garden represents the hidden aspects. A moon garden whose flowers only bloom at night conveys the wild mysterious parts of us. A rock garden is a wonderful contrast in color, texture and feeling next to the multi colored flower garden. Encourage yourself, and others, to spend more time in the garden by placing a hammock, benches or chairs. A solo chair, called a spirit chair, is placed in a very intuitive place as reminder to invite visitors of a celestial nature.
You can heighten your senses by adding sights and sounds. Planting bamboo or other ornamental grasses, as well as adding chimes, whirligigs or anything that moves will make sounds. Let other critters call your garden home. Other life forms like butterflies, dragonflies, fish or birds, bring good luck and provide the missing link in the connection of the human, plant and animal worlds. Whatever the size and type of garden you have, bringing a soulful feeling to it can infuse new life into those spaces and provide a deeper richer experience.
A quote from Thomas Moore “Entering the garden is like passing through a mystical gate.”
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