COLOR HEALING – (Part 3) Feng Shui

Feng Shui is the Chinese ancient art of placement.  Without getting to heavily involved in the practice, we will discuss creating an environment with colors that will nurture your family home or office.

Ying is the blackness that absorbs colors; Yang is the whiteness that reflects color.  Color can cure and it can be used to invoke emotions and enhance spaces. 

Depending on where you live will help determine what colors would be best to use.  If you live somewhere hot, like Florida or in desert conditions, you will use more beiges and terracotta’s. But if you live in the Midwest or the Northern states, where the weather is cooler, the use of such colors could invoke depression.  And of course that also depends on the size of the windows in a particular room, and the amount of light that shines through. 

The following is taken from “The Practical Encyclopedia of Feng Shui, by Gill Hale.

RED:  is stimulating and dominant, it reduces the size of rooms and increases the size of objects.  It is useful as an accent color.  It is not suitable for dining rooms, children’s bedrooms, kitchens or workshops.  It is associated with warmth, prosperity and stimulation, but also anger, shame and hatred.

YELLOW:  is associated with enlightenment and intellect, it stimulates the brain and aids in digestion.  Its positive qualities are optimism, reason, and decisiveness, while its negative are craftiness, exaggeration and rigidity.  Suitable for hallways and kitchens, but not for meditation rooms or bathrooms.

GREEN:  symbolizes growth, fertility and harmony; it is restful and refreshing.  Its positive associations are optimism, freedom and balance, and its negatives envy and deceit.  Good in therapy rooms, conservatories and bathrooms, but not in family rooms, playrooms or studies.

BLUE:  is peaceful and soothing and is inked with spirituality, contemplation, mystery and patience.  Its positive associations are trust, faithfulness and stability.  Negatives are suspicion and melancholia.  Blue can be used in meditation rooms, bathrooms, therapy rooms and as a means of enlarging spaces, but not in family rooms, dining rooms and studies.

PURPLE:  encouraging vitality, purple is impressive, dignified and spiritual.  Positive associations are excitement, passion and motivation, negatives are mournfulness and force.  Use in bedrooms and meditation rooms but not in bathrooms or kitchens.

PINK:  is linked with purity of thought and has the positive association of happiness and romance with no negatives.  Suitable with bedrooms but not kitchens or bathrooms.

ORANGE:  a powerful and cheerful color, orange encourages communication.  Its positive qualities are happiness, concentration and intellect, and its negative is rebelliousness.  Use in living or dining rooms and hallways, but not in small rooms or bedrooms.

BROWN:  suggest stability and weight.  Its positives are safety and elegance, while its negatives are dinginess, depression and aging.  Good for studies but not for bedrooms.

WHITE:  symbolizes new beginnings, purity, and innocence.  Its positive qualities are cleanliness and freshness, it negatives cold, lifelessness, starkness.  Use for bathrooms and kitchen, not suitable for children’s rooms and dining rooms.

BLACK:  is mysterious and independent.  Its positive qualities are intrigue, strength and allure, while its negatives are death, darkness, and evil.  Often used in teenagers’ rooms and in bedrooms, it should not be used in young children’s rooms, therapy rooms, studies or living room.

PEACH:  BEWARE!  Using the color peach in your bedroom is asking for trouble if you are married. “Peach Blossom Luck” is a well-known concept in China, meaning a husband or a wife with a roving eye.  A married person maybe drawn into adultery.  A single person, however, will have an active social life but will probably be unable to find a life partner.

And of course every room should include accents of the “Elemental Colors:” Earth, wood, fire, metal and water.  For example, a vase with a green stemmed red rose sitting on the kitchen table.  The green would represent the wood element, while the red flower would represent the fire element; and of course the water element is included within the vase. Earth elements would be browns like a jar of sand, or baskets.  And of course a kitchen contains a metal elements such as the facet or stove and refrigerator.