What the Color Green Represents in Feng Shui
One of the energy systems we work with in feng shui is the five elements, which comes from Taoism. The five elements system recognizes five different types of energy, each with different qualities and characteristics. In feng shui, we often look at these different elements with the goal of creating more harmony and balance in someone’s home and life. These five types of energy, known as fire, earth, metal, water, and wood, are also represented by specific colors. Green is connected to the wood element, which is all about compassion, flexibility, healing, and growth. In feng shui, we use something called the feng shui bagua map. The bagua is one of the many feng shui tools one can use to look at how our lives correspond to our homes. In the bagua system, the color green is the color of the feng shui bagua area that is related to family. This area is referred to as the Family area. This Family area also represents new beginnings and our connection to nature. Green recalls the energy of springtime and fresh starts, like a new blade of grass pushing up through the soil. By bringing green into a space, you are connecting with the verdant and vital energy of grass, trees, and nature overall.
How to Use the Color Green
When you add a certain color with feng shui in mind, that color can do much more besides just making your space look a certain way. When you apply green to your home with the intention of bringing in a specific type of energy to support you, it can really take your decorating to the next level. Green can be especially helpful if your intentions are to invite more flexibility and compassion, improve family harmony, start something new, or inspire new ideas and creativity. There are many ways you can bring green into your home with paint, furniture, artwork, textiles, and other decor items. As you’re deciding how to incorporate green into your space, consider selecting a shade of green that matches your intention and the kind of energy you want to cultivate. Choose a crisp, clear green if you want to cultivate uplifting wood element qi. To invite more healing and soothing energy, look for a soft blue-green. If you feel stuck and in need of an energy boost, try a deep forest green. To stimulate creativity, add a brighter green with yellow undertones.
Green Plants
Houseplants are a great way to bring the color green into your home without painting a thing. They embody the wood element, and their upward growth is a powerful metaphor. Plants also require care and attention, and they can teach us many valuable lessons about kindness, compassion, and caring for other living beings. In general, it’s best to choose a plant that has soft, rounded leaves when you are adding it to your home as a feng shui adjustment. Make sure to also pay attention to the light, water, and humidity requirements of your new plant, so that you can place it in an area of your home where it can really thrive.
Wear Green
Feng shui isn’t just for your house! There are many ways to work with feng shui and color outside of your physical living space. For example, you can add green to your wardrobe for a pick-me-up. When you feel a little uninspired or low energy, try putting on something green, like a shirt, scarf, or even jewelry with green stones like jade.
Use Green in the Family Area of the Bagua
If you’re looking to invite more harmony in your family, you can add the color green to the Family area of the bagua. To find Zhen position, stand in the main entrance to your home facing in. Imagine a three-by-three grid stretched across your whole home. The middle left section is the Family area. You can also use this same process in a specific room of your home, like your bedroom: stand in the room’s entrance facing in, and find the middle left section of the room. Set an intention around family harmony, and activate this intention by adding three new green plants to the Family area of your home.
