Tao and Feng Shui

TAO and Feng Shui -The Influencers of Our Life Interactions 

(Guest Post by Nancilee Wydra, Founder of Feng Shui Institute of America).

On the day you were born, all possibilities existed. According to Feng Shui, there were certain energies present that will forever be connected to your Tao, (pronounced DOW), that you inherited through genes, culture, family and your own set of potentials that shaped you.

Your connection to everything is experienced through your physical environment where messages programmed into your cellular structure feeds the blueprint of your DNA. Your consumption of life, environment, communications and connections are as unique as your combination of genes. The Tao in your life through your environment is shaped by the larger sense of your culture, by the mid-sense of your family and lastly, by the micro-sense-you, as a unique human being.

What surrounds you can either inhibit or enhance your essence. In other words if your Tao or connections are not supported by your life intentions, the space that cloaks your life will not reciprocate.  That is why Feng Shui is so powerful.  It shows you how to connect to who you are and guides you into formulating your life purpose.

TAO, started as a philosophy and in some cultures, was transformed into a religion. Ancient feng shui Tao refers to the way things are in the natural order. For the human race to thrive, it is necessary for us to acknowledge a dependence on and connection to the whole. For most people a connection relates to nature. However, in a city, the Tao means connection to other humans made and ideas, businesses, friendships conceived. The Tao of a home connects us to symbols and icons around us that influence how we interact with and react to our spaces. As Feng Shui professionals to your homes and work spaces, it is our job to make sure the interaction presents obvious as well as subtle connections to who our clients and what holds purpose in their lives.

In the center of all design work should be the people who inhabit the space.   Therefore each design project must be evaluated in light of the person or persons using the space. For example, a physician’s waiting room designed for someone living in India would be substantially different than one designed for a Chicago doctor.

The essence of Tao in scientific feng shui is the way the setting is experienced by persons using it. In the most general way, the experience of a room can be evaluated by:

• A space’s architecture

When entering a space the eye tends to notice the following conditions                                           before anything else: light, distance and diagonal lines.  Also note that                                           the placement of windows, the furthest most wall or space and any                                               diagonal lines are the natural place the human eye rests.

• Gravity or the visual weighting of a room.

 Gravity is determined by what is noticed from the point of entry. A room’s                   framework is judged by what is first seen. Thus, almost 100% of the time                               one sees the bed when entering a bedroom. It might seem laughable to                                 hide a bed in that setting, although I can envision situations when that                               would be appropriate. Also, heavy or large objects add weight to a room.                                Again, the largest objects are the first noticed when entering a space.

So, take note that large features in a space such as a fireplace, piano,                                sectional seating or long dining room table will be noticed immediately.

• The connection to a place’s exterior experience.

Rich connections to diversity of exterior spaces be it peaceful rolling hills                                    or the excitement of Broadway, are examples of our Tao experiences.                                  Naturally, both peaceful and exhilarating are necessary in all spaces unless                            they have a very narrow focus, like operating rooms.

The above conditions influence our behaviors, our habits and experience in every space so, you must define these clearly before beginning to select furniture, objects of art, or container coverings (rugs, window treatments), etc.

The Tao is much like the famous butterfly effect that suggests that a small change in one arena can have huge consequences in another, described often as the flapping of one butterfly’s wings can cause tornadoes half way around the world.

Ancient feng shui suggests that we can observe the Tao, and go with its flow, but cannot be an active participant in creating it. According to scientific feng shui principles, the Tao is active, insofar as all things generate consequences.

The Tao is not the same thing for all persons.  Each item we observe, each path that moves us through a space has its own Tao and has a particular meaning to those inhabiting the space. Understanding the uniqueness of the Tao in each item, each position and each sensorial encounter is at the core of pyramid feng shui. In fact, so important is an understanding of the specificity of the Tao for each person, that we have developed many assessment tools that illuminate each person’s uniqueness.

Contact us to learn about these assessment tools and to explore what we can offer in consultations, feng shui certification or personal development.

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