Open Your Doors To Life Energy

By Jan Burch

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Summer's approaching - guests are arriving! What better time to make sure your home has a truly welcome feeling? Feng Shui offers a multitude of ways to do this. Let's start by looking at your home's front door - the gateway of ch'i.

Like acupuncture and Chinese medicine, Feng Shui is based on the flow of ch'i, the beneficial life energy. Just as the ch'i in your body determines how well you feel, so does the ch'i in your house determine how your life operates as a whole. Beneficial ch'i flow produces a smoothly-functioning, well-balanced life; obstructed or weak flow yields a life out of balance.

Your front door is of major importance in Feng Shui. Ch'i can't flow through the house if it can't get in the door! Is your entryway bright, inviting, and easy to find; or is it dark, hidden, and foreboding? Why not take some time to spruce up the doorway for your summer guests - and your ch'i. Here are some tips for inviting life energy into your home:

~The ideal path to your front door is curved or meandering. If the walkway is straight or angular, you can soften it by adding a border of flowers.

~Can your guests find you? Make sure your house numbers are easily visible and the entry is well-lit at night, without being glaring.

~Red is the color of happiness and life energy. Use touches of red near your doorway. A flowerpot or plantings of red geraniums are great for the summer; winter holiday decorations traditionally incorporate red.

~Wind chimes are wonderful near the front door. Every breeze produces soothing sound and motion that atrracts ch'i.

After making these changes, step outside and take a look at your front door. Approach it from the street as if you, yourself, were visiting for the first time. You should feel a new sense of openness, an "aahhhhhhh" sensation. Your surroundings are now filled with life energy!