Yin and Yang with a Bang

Posted by Jane Langof on 5 January 2010 | 4 Comments

Happy new year!  It was wonderful to see the Yin and Yang symbol, representing unity, on the Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of new years' eve fireworks celebrations.  Yin and Yang is fundamental in Chinese philosophy, and a primary guideline for Traditional Chinese medicine, Feng Shui and Chinese martial arts, amongst other modalities in Chinese metaphysics.

Sydney Harbour, New Years Eve 2009.  Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Yin and yang represents the duality in nature and how opposite forces are interrelated and give rise to each other.  Yin and Yang is used to describe the energy in our environment.  Yin characteristics are dark, still, low, cool, contracting and passive, whereas Yang can be characterized by heat, brightness, action, fast and light.

The objective in Feng Shui is to achieve balance with Yin and Yang through the use of the five elements of fire, earth, metal, water and wood.  A balanced and harmonious home is ideal for your wellbeing, and this helps you to create an environment that allows new opportunities to enter your life. 

Here are some tips to change the energy levels in your surroundings with Yin and Yang in mind:

• Illuminate excessively dark and gloomy areas of the home with glass, light wall colours and moving objects. Lighting, mirrors, skylights, electrical equipment and plants raise the energy of a space.
• When renovating, bigger is not always better. Bedrooms are ideally nurturing, supportive and smaller in size. In bedrooms, the Yin aspect should be emphasized and Yang objects are best avoided.
• Yang spaces are more open and active, featuring reflective, harder surfaces for energy to travel faster. This isn't the objective in bedrooms, where softer, heavier furnishings will help to slow down energy and promote rest.
• Water features and mirrors activate energy and can enhance the wealth sector in your home. In Feng Shui it's very important that water features and mirrors are placed in the right spot to avoid stirring unfavourable energy.

The energetic map of a home is unique, containing unseen energy that influences the health, wealth and happiness of the people living there.  In some parts of your home you will need to emphasise the Yin characteristics to enhance energy for health, harmony and relationships.  In other areas of your home you will need to activate Yang energy to improve prosperity and opportunities. 

Quite often, the good energy for health and relationships is found in an active area (where it is better utilised in the bedroom), and the wealth sector is found in a bathroom, cupboard or otherwise unusable area.  This is where the expertise of a Feng Shui consultant comes in, to harmonise the energy in your home and help you make the most of your opportunities in life.

I wish you all the best for 2010, and I hope it brings unity, peace and prosperity to you and your family xox

Jane Langof is a Feng Shui consultant and interior designer based in Sydney, Australia