Feng shui has one main goal: Increase positive energy by creating a place of balance and harmony. This is achieved by using the five elements of feng shui. The elements all work with each other and have their own characteristics. When balancing the energy in any space, these five elements are used to enhance positive energy as well as counteract negative energy.

Wood is connected to the color green. To increase the wood energy in an area, live plants are used and not dead wood that is in chairs and other furniture. In addition to adding wood energy, the plants filter the air and increase oxygen making the atmosphere of your space more healthy. Wood’s home is in the East of your space.

Fire is connected to reds, oranges, and purples. Fire is anything that uses electricity or produces heat.Televisions and lamps are good examples. A lamp that has a red lampshade can greatly increase the fire energy of an area. Fire’s home is the South.

Earth is connected to tans, browns, and beige. Brickwork and anything that uses rocks is part of the earth element. Clay pots, tiles, and ceramics also increase the earth energy. Earth is the Northeast.

Metal is connected to whites and golds. So much is made of metal, you can pretty much pick and choose what to use to increase your metal energy. A statue or even a bed frame will work great. Metal is located in the West.

Water is connected to blues and blacks. Representing the winter, water is commonly used in more passive ways due to it’s wet nature. Used improperly, water can disturb all the energy in your space. Using aquariums, fountains, or pools are the easiest ways to increase water energy. Water is in the North.

Would you like to learn more about feng shui? Feng shui is really growing in popularity and the demand for feng shui practitioners is higher than ever. Many people dabble in feng shui using tips from the Internet or from television but the best way to learn feng shui is from a feng shui school.

There are tons of feng shui schools, and the odds are, there is one in your town or close by. But if that isn’t an option, online feng shui schools are a great alternative and might even be more convenient for many people.

Traditional classes are preferred by many people when it comes to feng shui, because they have a more “hands on” approach than an online school. The problem is, feng shui may not be offered everywhere and online may be your only option. Before you enroll in any class, make sure the teacher is certified and has a good reputation.

At a feng shui school you will learn all kinds of things you might otherwise never know about. Feng shui is very old and you will learn all about the history of feng shui, yin and yang, the five elements, and how all of this interacts with the universe and your environment.

Many people start off doing feng shui as a hobby and become very impressed by the effects it has on every aspect of their lives. If you have dabbled in feng shui or are just curious about it, check around for opportunities. Many cities have adult education centers where you can take classes for feng shui at a reasonable cost and some even offer night classes.

A great way of self improvement is through spiritual development. It’s a challenge this day in age, but self improvement comes via challenge, right? Spiritual development brings enlightenment, peace of mind, and better understanding of ourselves as well as others.

To grow spiritually in a world defined by power, money, and influence is a Herculean task. Modern conveniences such as electronic equipments, gadgets, and tools as well as entertainment through television, magazines, and the web have predisposed us to confine our attention mostly to physical needs and wants. As a result, our concepts of self-worth and self-meaning are muddled. How can we strike a balance between the material and spiritual aspects of our lives?

To grow spiritually is to look inward.

Introspection goes beyond recalling the things that happened in a day, week, or month. You need to look closely and reflect on your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and motivations. Periodically examining your experiences, the decisions you make, the relationships you have, and the things you engage in provide useful insights on your life goals, on the good traits you must sustain and the bad traits you have to discard. Moreover, it gives you clues on how to act, react, and conduct yourself in the midst of any situation. Like any skill, introspection can be learned; all it takes is the courage and willingness to seek the truths that lie within you. Here are some pointers when you introspect: be objective, be forgiving of yourself, and focus on your areas for improvement.

To grow spiritually is to develop your potentials.

Religion and science have differing views on matters of the human spirit. Religion views people as spiritual beings temporarily living on Earth, while science views the spirit as just one dimension of an individual.

Mastery of the self is a recurring theme in both Christian (Western) and Islamic (Eastern) teachings. The needs of the body are recognized but placed under the needs of the spirit. Beliefs, values, morality, rules, experiences, and good works provide the blueprint to ensure the growth of the spiritual being. In Psychology, realizing one’s full potential is to self-actualize.

Maslow identified several human needs: physiological, security, belongingness, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and self-transcendence.  When you have satisfied the basic physiological and emotional needs, spiritual or existential needs come next. Achieving each need leads to the total development of the individual.

Perhaps the difference between these two religions and psychology is the end of self-development: Christianity and Islam see that self-development is a means toward serving God, while psychology view that self-development is an end by itself.

To grow spiritually is to search for meaning.

Religions that believe in the existence of God such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam suppose that the purpose of the human life is to serve the Creator of all things. Several theories in psychology propose that we ultimately give meaning to our lives.

Whether we believe that life’s meaning is pre-determined or self-directed, to grow in spirit is to realize that we do not merely exist. We do not know the meaning of our lives at birth; but we gain knowledge and wisdom from our interactions with people and from our actions and reactions to the situations we are in. As we discover this meaning, there are certain beliefs and values that we reject and affirm.  Our lives have purpose. This purpose puts all our physical, emotional, and intellectual potentials into use; sustains us during trying times; and gives us something to look forward to—a goal to achieve, a destination to reach. A person without purpose or meaning is like a drifting ship at sea.

To grow spiritually is to recognize interconnections.

Religions stress the concept of our relatedness to all creation, live and inanimate. Thus we call other people “brothers and sisters” even if there are no direct blood relations. Moreover, deity-centered religions such as Christianity and Islam speak of the relationship between humans and a higher being.

On the other hand, science expounds on our link to other living things through the evolution theory. This relatedness is clearly seen in the concept of ecology, the interaction between living and non-living things. In psychology, connectedness is a characteristic of self-transcendence, the highest human need according to Maslow. Recognizing your connection to all things makes you more humble and respectful of people, animals, plants, and things in nature. It makes you appreciate everything around you. It moves you to go beyond your comfort zone and reach out to other people, and become stewards of all other things around you.

Growth is a process thus to grow in spirit is a day-to-day encounter. We win some, we lose some, but the important thing is that we learn, and from this knowledge, further spiritual growth is made possible.