Five Elements: Fix What Feels Wrong in a Room

Examples of using the five elements to balance a space

Part 1: The Five Elements That Shape How a Space Feels

Part 2: How the Five Elements Work Together (and Against Each Other)

Reading now: Using the Five Elements to Fix What Feels Wrong in a Room

Now that you know what the five elements are (Part 1) and how they interact (Part 2), time to put this information to work. Let’s look at two examples to see what is out of balance and decide what needs to change. As a reminder, the use the elements in feng shui is defined by bagua, or energy map of any space. (Note, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere, the classical bagua works differently, read more here).

Here is the distribution of elements in the Classical bagua:

FIRE – South

EARTH – Southwest and Northeast

METAL – Northwest and West

WATER – North

WOOD – East and Southeast

Applying the feng shui elements with the BTB bagua can be a bit more confusing, as this bagua does not use the energies of compass directions. However, you can still apply it, just go by the name of each bagua area and see which elements are needed there. Ultimately, both bagua types are intricately connected, as they share the same energetic foundation of the wise Lo Shu Square.

In my professional feng shui consultant training I teach how to accurately work with both Classical and BTB bagua because they can compliment each other and bring richness and vitality to any space. This work is more complex, and is done in layers. Understanding the elements is always crucial point. Here is a way of using the feng shui elements when applying the BTB bagua, or energy map.

FIRE – Fame area

EARTH – Love area and Spiritual Growth area

METAL – Helpful People area and Creativity area

WATER – Career area

WOOD – Health area and Money area.

Now let’s look at two specific examples and decide the best use of elements for balance and good health for those living there.

House 1.

Let’s use the five elements theory in harmonious decorating of the South area of a home (Fame bagua area). In this (imaginary) home the South area has a big mirror and a beautiful water feature outside; the owners want to keep them both. Which feng shui element does the South area need in order to stay healthy? If you look at the classical bagua, you will see that South is governed by the Fire element (in the Northern Hemisphere). We have a big mirror (Water element) in this house, which creates an energetic weakness, based on the destructive cycle of the elements. So, with the internal feng shui alarm going on, what can you do to re-balance the energy?

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You need to bring a feng shui element that will strengthen the needed Fire and weaken the Water element.

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Which element weakens the Water element and ideally strengthens the Fire, too? The Wood element is the best choice as a perfect helper here because it can do double duty (which is not always possible when you are working to rebalance the elements). So we start playing with various expressions of the Wood element decor and bring lots of it, as much as this specific home can visually take, in its South area. Of course, you will also bring Fire element decor, but not without first bringing the intermediary, the Wood element. Otherwise, you risk creating strong clashing energy, because Fire and Water together can create a lot of unnecessary drama.

Let’s look at another example, a bit more complex one.

House 2.

This house has a beautiful all-white dining room in the East (Health bagua area). Is this good feng shui? In addition to the all-white color scheme (wall color, furniture, flooring, and window treatment), some of the chairs in the dining are made from metal. The two white color light pendants above the dining table are also metal. The space looks beautiful and a pleasure to look at, fresh and restful for the eye. Is there a problem with its feng shui, though? Yes. Why? Because the placement of elements is not right for the area.

No matter how good the dining room looks, it has weak energy that can negatively influence the well-being of people living in the house. This does not necessarily mean that they will get sick; it just means that the house is restricted in its ability to support the health of people living there. It is a process that happens gradually, it depends on the personal energy of each family member. Let’s look at feng shui steps to restore harmony in this area. What is the bagua saying? The East/Health & Family area of any space needs a vibrant Wood element, and the space we are working with has mostly strong Metal. Metal cuts the Wood in the destructive cycle of the elements, we know that by now. So, we need to bring a quality of energy that supports the Wood element, and weakens the Metal element.

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Which elements support the Wood element? Water is the major one, as well as Earth, and Wood itself, too. Which elements destroy the Metal? Fire is the major one, and Water will be weakening it over time.

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Can we just bring strong Fire element decor to achieve our goal, as we know it will surely destroy/weaken the Metal right away? No, it is not wise to do that, because Fire will also burn the Wood, and we do need strong Wood in this area. Can we bring more Earth? It will support the Wood for sure, but no, this is not a good decision either, because Earth supports Metal (look up the productive cycle of the five elements).

Here’s what we need to do: we need to bring Water to weaken the Metal and support the Wood. We also need to bring a lot of Wood element decorating. Which means the dining room we are working with can benefit from a big mirror (Water), a few plants (Wood), maybe images of lush green meadows in wood frames. The space can also benefit from subtracting the decorating features that bring a strong presence of the Metal element. So instead of white pendants, a warmer color would create better energy.

Do you see how simple decorating steps can express deep energetic qualities that are needed in any space for good energy? I trust these examples were useful to you. I highly encourage you to start using the powerful ancient theory of five elements in your home, without the fear of making mistakes. Start small and sense the difference. This specific art of using elements is as subtle as it is powerful; it takes curious experimenting to master it. The results are more than worthwhile, because the harmonious energy that these ancient elements create, when aligned properly, is truly powerful.

Back to:

Part 1: The Five Elements That Shape How A Space Feels

Part 2: How the Five Elements Work Together (and Against Each Other)