10 Ways to Maximize Sheng Chi and Minimize Sha Chi

August 27, 2020

The purpose of decluttering and Feng Shui is to bring balance to your home and life. When something is out of balance, it causes disharmony. Even though we can still look at and acknowledge separate areas of life (relationships, career, health, etc…), we treat life as a whole. Each of the areas work together and will influence each other. When we typically think of Feng Shui, most people think of their environmental energy (the space in their home). Good Feng Shui in your home is not the whole answer. Even if someone has their home designed to be the ideal Feng Shui, and all their stuff is nicely organized, if they are eating junk, they will probably still have terrible relationships (or whatever they’re working on). Conversely, if they have terrible relationships, they will probably be gravitate towards eating a lot of junk. Feng Shui looks at it all: diet, exercise, fresh air, electromagnetic fields… the list goes on. When something is out of balance, that imbalance is reflected in the home, because there is a continual flow inside and out. A true Feng Shui’d home will create the environment for transformation. One of the reasons for this is because we help tune the home to be in rhythm with the natural patterns of nature. Nature is always changing. Feng Shui helps bring balance to your whole lifestyle. When you can create this harmony in your home, you will naturally feel in the flow of life.

At the most fundamental level, we look at Sheng Chi (pronounced like “shen chi”) and Sha Chi. Note- Chi/Qi are two different spellings for the same thing. I may use them interchangeably. It refers to the life force energy that is all around us. “Ki” is the Japanese word for the same thing, but pronounced “kee”. Another note, the word “shen” (pronounced like “shun”) refers to consciousness or spirit. The goal is to maximize Sheng Chi and minimize Sha Chi.

Sheng Chi is positive, vital Chi. It’s symbolized by a wavy line. Sha Chi is the opposite. It’s “cutting chi”. Symbolized by a straight horizontal arrow pointing to the right. Sheng Chi and Sha Chi are in the eyes of the beholder.

Sheng Chi
Sheng Chi is like having the feeling of “good juju”, where it feels like the air is easy to breathe, and you feel in alignment. It’s healthy and vibrant energy. We worship Sheng Chi. Nature is full of Sheng Chi. It’s spiralic, full of the frequencies of nature. Views of the water or other natural elements are full of Sheng Chi. When your home has beautiful views or easy access to nice parks, beaches, or the forest, that’s also great Sheng Chi.

Sha Chi
We want to diminish, deflect, cancel, minimize, and buffer this type of energy. Neglected, stagnate clutter is Sha Chi. Most Sha Chi is man-made and industrialized. Sha Chi can also be found in nature too, such as in the desert or the arctic where you will find extreme environments. Be on the lookout for destructive, negative or cutting chi. Too much heat, cold, wind, dampness or dryness will cause Sha Chi. It’s important to take everything into context. One man’s poison is another’s medicine. Businesses will differ from homes in terms of what could be considered Sha Chi.

10 Ways to Maximize Sheng Chi and Minimize Sha Chi

The first thing to do is to learn how to clean properly, and clean your home really well on a regular basis. Good housekeeping is an art that’s disappearing. It’s very therapeutic, and the number one space clearing activity. Decluttering and good housekeeping are fundamental to Feng Shui. Feng Shui is like a two way street. You must work on both the inside and the outside. Decluttering is great for your psychology. It’s the number one spiritual exercise. You don’t need to go on some big meditation retreat. Just clean your house. Cleaning and decluttering are very good for your energy fields and meridians. Don’t think of scrubbing and cleaning as “below you”. Put some effort into it, and you will be rewarded!

Food that has lost all its vital energy is Sha Chi to the body. Fuel your body with high quality foods that are actually going to give you sustainable energy. Clean up your diet if you need to. The Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) is really disruptive, and not in a good way. If you are constantly fueling your body with Sha Chi like foods, you will be surrounded by more Sha Chi.

Once you’ve decluttered your home, done your housekeeping, and fueled your body with nourishing foods, here are a few additional ways to help amplify the Sheng Chi in your home

• Cherish your morning sun. Is there furniture or other structures outside that are blocking out the morning sun? How can you bring more morning sun into your space?

• Bring nature inside. Plants, animals and water features are great ways to bring in more Sheng Chi.

• Use flat mirrors to reflect Sheng Chi from the outdoors. Be careful not to reflect Sha Chi with flat mirrors. Use concave mirrors to absorb Sha Chi or convex mirrors to deflect it.

• Use skylights to funnel more light and cosmic chi into your home.

• Open windows and allow for fresh air to circulate. Light and temperature will also maximize or minimize Sheng Chi/Sha Chi.

• Use natural fibers in your home like a good quality organic cotton. Natural, futon type mattresses are great. The metal from box springs can mess up meridians in the body.

• Use curves to increase the flow of Sheng Chi. Nature doesn’t have any straight lines.

• Wind chimes can help slow down the energy of Sha Chi to regulate the flow.

• Reduce electromagnetic fields (or at least turn your phone on airplane mode when you go to sleep).

• Sha Chi can be caused by troubled energies nearby, spirits that are in-between, and the energetic record of previous owners etc. Do your own space clearing, or call a professional to help you with this.

Above all, be playful with it. Don’t give yourself a hard time. “Creative Clutter” is good. Art studios and good cooks need to be a little messy. Things like traffic, noise, corners, and lack of privacy are very unsettling for a house, but potentially good for a business. Don’t be too rigid, and use your intuition to help dial more Sheng Chi into your home.