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Feng Shui :Know your home’s strengths and weaknesses
By Smriti Daniel
Your home is beautiful. It’s practical and easy to maintain. You’ve just moved in and you’re planning on slowly adding to it until it becomes as perfect as it can be. You may think the only thing you need worry about now is the colour of the cushions you’re going to put on the settee, but Helen Ong believes differently. For her, the deciding factor is not the appearance of your house but the energy that flows in, around and through it.

A Singaporean national, Helen who was in Sri Lanka recently is a metaphysics consultant for the corporate and residential sector in Asia”, and an expert on all things Feng Shui. Feng Shui, which has been successfully applied for over 2000 years now, is an ancient Chinese discipline. Falling under the wide umbrella of metaphysics, Feng Shui has become something of a phenomenon, with everyone from the ordinary housewife to the President of the U.S.A welcoming it into their homes and offices.

The word "feng" means "wind" and the word "shui" means "water". The flow of Chi (energy) is closely linked with the presence of these two elements. According to Helen the underlying principle of Feng Shui is very simple. “It’s about living in harmony with your environment so that Chi, or the energy surrounding you, works for you rather than against you,” she says. She goes on to add that Chi is found in all matter.

Helen explains that the ancient Chinese classified all things in nature into five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. All things are considered a combination of these primary bases. Certain combinations produce auspicious Chi (known as Sheng Chi), while others produce inauspicious Chi (Sha Chi). “People treat it as something mysterious,” says Helen, going on to add that Feng Shui is in fact based on verifiable scientific data.

Helen goes on to illustrate her story with the situation some farmers in ancient China found themselves in. Faced with an unpredictable harvest, these men and women began to closely observe the crops and were soon able to see that some plots consistently did much better than others. They traced this phenomenon to the topography of the surrounding lands and the flow of energy brought about by the landscape. They found that mountains and rivers were particularly powerful. “They soon understood the energy of the mountain,” Helen said, going on to add that this energy shaped human lives in more ways than one, for it made some regions conducive for scholars, other regions for ministers and so on.

In modern times, tall buildings and streets have in part, taken the place of mountains and rivers. The houses surrounding you will greatly affect the flow of energy through your house, as will the surrounding streets. It helps to think of Chi as something that curves and twists around elements of topography - hills, valleys and busy highways - until it reaches the water. There it collects. Wind on the other hand disperses Chi, stopping it from gathering in any one place. Helen counsels against living in a very windy house for this reason, also cautioning against the placement of ponds near you without first ascertaining the flow of Chi. “If you locate water in the wrong spot, you’re in for trouble,” she says.

Feng Shui has been portrayed by many as a cure-all and an instant remedy for an ailment or bad luck – falsely so, according to Helen. “Feng Shui can bring much to your business and your home,” she says, “however, you need to remember that the impact of Feng Shui is not overnight, rather the changes it brings about are subtle”.

Helen, who originally trained as an interior designer in France, also acquired further experience with a leading French soft furnishings company. Today, after garnering a thorough understanding of metaphysics under two Masters, Helen offers her clientele a fusion of design aesthetics and Feng Shui methodology. She is the driving force behind the Singapore based company “Senses – The Art of Living” bringing the study of Chinese metaphysics to a wider audience.

She also acts as a consultant, combining Feng Shui with BaZi, another ancient Chinese discipline. BaZi, which is considered by many to be a science in itself, is a form of Chinese astrology. Known as “The Four Pillars” in the west, BaZi is believed to give individuals greater insight into their lives. By analysing your birth data – year, month, day and hour – BaZi helps you discover yourself by helping you discover all there is to know about yourself. Helen considers BaZi a very powerful counselling tool, saying that it has time and again helped people make the most of their lives.

Helen has plans to open up a school in Colombo, which will offer individuals and corporations the chance to get better acquainted with Feng Shui. She explains that for a long time the teaching of Feng Shui was limited to the Guru-Disciple format. This resulted in a long drawn out process as the Guru invariably had to satisfy himself with regard to the moral fibre of his disciple before any teaching even began. “It could take 30 years or so,” Helen says, adding that “it is time to open up and learn it in the classroom format”.

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