When it comes to residential Feng Shui, the kitchen, along with the front door and the bedroom, make up for the three most important living areas.
While the front door signifies the mouth of the house from where energies enter, the bedroom is where we spend a significant amount of time each day. Meanwhile, the kitchen not only serves as a place to prepare and store food for consumption but is also where the good and bad energies interact with fire to attain a balance. Thus, one must make sure to follow some Feng Shui tips for the kitchen for a prosperous and healthy lifestyle.
But before we get to the techniques, let us first look at what Feng Shui is, its principles and the Taoist concept of chi.
According to Britannica, Feng Shui is “a Chinese system for positioning a building and the objects within a building in a way that is thought to agree with spiritual forces and to bring health and happiness.”
With its roots in Taoism, where ‘Tao’ means ‘the way’ and Taoism represents ‘the way of nature’, Feng Shui imbibes nature in its principles. These principles aim to balance the energies of their living spaces, improving the overall quality of life of people living in them. The ancient philosophy of Feng Shui has now spread across China and beyond its borders.
What are the key Feng Shui principles?
When you deep-dive into the philosophy of Feng Shui, you’ll come across its five elements and the Taoist concept of chi, which is formed by yin and yang.
Yin and yang
According to the Chinese philosophy, chi comprises yin and yang elements. Taoism believes that the balance of these complementary yet opposite energies improves the flow of positive chi in one’s lives while keeping the negative chi away.
Typically, yin, the dark side, signifies feminine energy and is associated with everything hard, negative, cold and wet, while yang is the light side and represents masculine energy and warmth.
The five elements
Feng Shui is governed by its five elements. They are water, wood, fire, earth and metal. Each element represents colours and energy in a living space, and all objects can be categorised as per the elements.
While water represents emotion and inspiration, wood stands for growth and creativity. Fire denotes leadership and courage; earth symbolises vigour and balance; metal signifies focus and structure.
Feng Shui practitioners believe that mixing and balancing these materials in a room can enhance the flow of positive chi.
The Bagua Map
Bagua literally translates into ‘eight areas’. One of the key principles of the philosophy, the Bagua Map is an energy map of Feng Shui. It is used to analyse the field of energy of an environment.
Modern Feng Shui practices divide a floor plan into nine grids to help set up the space. Each area on the map stands for important aspects of life, such as career, relationships and health, along with elements, colours and shapes.
Why should you redesign your kitchen as per Feng Shui?
As mentioned earlier, Feng Shui not only helps balance the positive and negative energies in an environment, it also guides practitioners to enhance the flow of good chi in their homes.
When the positive chi enters your home through the front door, it manifests in the house and influences its occupants. To make sure the good energy sustains, it is necessary to assess the placement of the kitchen and bedrooms.
When it comes to the kitchen, the Feng Shui energy interacts with an active energy that is created from preparing meals. Thus, making use of the fire element to boost positive chi, you need to redesign or structure your kitchen as per Feng Shui.
Here are some Feng Shui kitchen tips that you can incorporate easily
Deep cleaning
Start with cleaning your refrigerator and pantry. Discard items that are past their expired dates. Doing so will not only clear up space but also promote positivity in your kitchen. Remove dust or grime that may have accumulated in these areas.
The stove represents career, resources and how you can achieve success. Thus, it is important to clean your stove daily to get rid of any stagnant energy in your kitchen. Keeping it dirt-free can improve career and enhance the flow of wealth, as well as attract helpful resources.
Additionally, throw away any chipped or broken mugs and plates to keep broken energy or bad luck away. If the kitchen item holds significance, then you can get it repaired. Otherwise, remove it from your house.
Another Feng Shui remedy is to clean your kitchen with natural salt and water. As a crystal, salt absorbs negative and stale energies from the surfaces in the kitchen. So, as you wipe them with saltwater, visualise the salt absorbing the negative energy.
Ideal colours for your kitchen
According to Feng Shui experts, incorporating white in your kitchen interiors is ideal. This is because the colour represents purity and cleanliness. It also balances the colourful food and containers usually found in the kitchen.
You can also choose colours based on the five elements of Feng Shui. Use earthy colours, such as brown and yellow, if you are aiming at a more grounded look and stability. Blue and green are related to the wood element and promote growth, vitality and flexibility.
Add red and orange to ignite passion and inspiration. For better social connections and wisdom, incorporate the water element through black and navy blue hues. To experience joy and clarity, use white and grey connected to the metal element.
Place quartz in your refrigerator
One of the most important kitchen appliances is the fridge. This is because it stores food and beverages that nourish our bodies.
To amplify positive chi inside the fridge, you can place an energised clear quartz crystal with the intention of optimally nourishing your food and beverages before consumption.
If you want to energise your crystal, you can rub some sage, palo santo or orange essential oil on it or simply keep it by the window or in your balcony on a full-moon night. The following morning, place the quartz in a suitable place in your fridge.
If in case your dining table is in the kitchen, and not in the dining room, you can also place some quartz on it.
Align the stove’s placement
A good Feng Shui practice is to place your stove in the commanding position in your kitchen. But how can you tell if the stove has been correctly placed?
If you can easily see the kitchen door or the entrance while cooking, you would know if you have placed your stove in the right position. However, it should not be directly in line with the doorway. This ensures you are in charge of your life and career, as well as making way for opportunities.
If you cannot change the position of your kitchen stove, the next best thing to do would be to place a mirror such that you can see the reflection of the door while cooking.
Choose a stove with more than one burner
If you want to increase wealth, prosperity and good fortune in your life, then you must purchase a stove with more burners while making sure its size is appropriate for your kitchen.
As per Feng Shui basics, it is advisable to opt for a three-burner stove. However, if you are not looking to buy a new stove, an effective way to double the number of burners is to hang a mirror behind the stove. The reflection gives an impression of having two burners, inviting positive energies, prosperity and success in the career.
Additionally, you must use your stove daily, even if it involves doing something as basic as boiling water. This makes sure wealth is always flowing into your home.
Another way to attract positive chi into your kitchen is by using a different burner each day.
Use glass cabinets
While incorporating various colours can usher in prosperity and nourishment into your life, including other cabinetry materials, such as frosted or plain glass, can help you reap more Feng Shui benefits.
The beauty of glass cabinets is that they give an illusion of depth because they are transparent. So you can store attractive items such as expensive ceramics or glassware if you want to find them easily.
However, remember to clean the glass cabinet doors and organise the items inside it.
Keep fruits or plants
To add Feng Shui colours to your kitchen, place a bowl of fruits on your kitchen island. This fantastic Feng Shui practice not only provides you with the necessary nutrients but also enhances wealth.
Alternatively, you can also add Feng Shui plants like bamboo or herbs to your kitchen. To test the energies they bring, hold a plant and ask yourself how it feels.
Art enhancements
Adding art to your kitchen interiors is a fabulous way to personalise it with more colours. However, make sure the art is about food or represents scenes of an outdoor or indoor cafe.
You can opt for abstract, realistic or illustrated art, as long as it complements your persona and your kitchen’s interiors.
(Hero and Featured Image Credit: Mark McCammon/ Pexels)
