The Importance of Bringing Nature into the Home

By Erica Sofrina

This picture is of the creative Thanksgiving table created by my nephew at age 12. It was a sad time, the Thanksgiving after his mom passed away. She had always created wonderful holiday center pieces with her children  and  we were all feeling bereft. I asked my nephew to create the center piece from the wonderful collection of pumpkins and gourds that I had, thinking he would just use these. He went out for half hour and and brought back ferns and nasturtiums, nuts and berries, autumn leaves and  many other fabulous treasures and created the most marvelous arrangement. I saw that her spirit lived through him and that he would teach this to his children and on down the ages she would be remembered. Her creative and wonderful spirit influencing these marvelous creations for generations to come.

The fact is that we need to bring nature into our homes especially when the days get shorter and colder and the weather more inclement. It is is our DNA to respond positively to nature. When stressed , just spending 20 minutes in nature will balance and rejuvenate our energy field. Bringing nature into our homes is a key component of the teachings of Feng Shui (See last week's article on Beating the Holiday Blues with Feng Shui).The goal is to have all of the five elements of fire, earth, metal, water and wood balanced in every room of of our living space.

The elements when closest to their natural state will contain the most vibrant 'chi' or energy. However, there are colors, objects and shapes that represent these elements as well. Some are more subtle and some more obvious. A tall cylindrical shape (reminding us of a tree) represents the wood element, along with medium blues and greens, anything made of wood, plants and trees and pictures of them.

When the elements, or an element is not in balanced in a room it can have a profound affect on us, especially children who are energetically very sensitive.(See my article on Feng Shui for Children's Bedrooms). A bedroom with soft green walls, wooden furniture, floral prints on the walls and and a floral print bedspread will have an abundance of the wood element. When in balance the wood element represents healthy growth. Too much of the wood element, however, will make us feel over expanded and overwhelmed.

This is why that green bedroom you thought would feel so soothing is making you feel agitated. The wood element is out of balance and you are responding energetically to this You can bring it back into balance by removing some of the wood element and bringing in things that represent the element that controls wood, which is metal.

The metal element is represented by white and cream colors, pastels, circular shapes, rocks and stones and metal. Just by changing the floral bedspread to a pastel or cream color that is not a floral print and accessorizing with whites and pastels will begin to bring the room back into elemental balance.

If we find we are staying 'too small' in our lives, our environment will often reflect too little of the wood element. Staying too small is a symptom of too little of the wood element. Perhaps your bedroom is all whites and pastels representing the metal element. This is the element which controls the wood element, which is not serving our needs here because the little bit of the wood element we may have in this room is being overpowered by the metal element. In this instance we might add a floral bedspread, a green chenille throw and pillows on the bed and some floral prints. Just remember to get the right amount of all of the elements, not too much and not too little.

The Feng Shui Five Elements theory can provide invaluable insights as to why our lives are out of balance by looking at the elemental imbalances in our homes. In future articles I will demonstrate how some of my clients teens went from combustible to manageable just by elementally balancing their often 'too fiery' bedrooms.

I encourage you to learn more about these powerful concepts to help make your home into a vibrant and rejuvenating place that feeds your soul and nurtures your spirit!