Yum! Eat Your Way To Better Feng Shui

Feng Shui Times for Articles, Resources and Feng Shui Tips for your Home and Office: "Chinese Food and Feng Shui – Eat Your Way to Improved Feng Shui
If you think about it, Food and Feng Shui go hand in hand. You can achieve improved energy by optimizing the Feng Shui of your food and by using food related items to your advantage. Elemental balance, Yin/Yang balance, Aromatherapy, and opportunities to increase prosperity and abundance are all important parts of Feng Shui and food.

Elemental balance in food can be achieved through use of colors. A plate full of monochromatic food can look pretty bland and probably wouldn’t get a seal of approval from a dietitian either (they usually advise a plate full of many different colors.) So a stir-fry made with yellow bell peppers, green bell peppers, orange bell peppers, red tomatoes, Chinese purple eggplant, and some pink shrimp would be a much better Feng Shui choice. Fruits and vegetables come in an array of colors; use them to your Feng Shui advantage. You don’t have to eat every color in the rainbow at every meal, but more colors in your diet will go a long way towards optimizing your Feng Shui.

The concept of Yin and Yang can also apply to your food. With food, Yin would be the milder flavors while Yang would be the bolder flavors. Chinese recipes already take advantage of this type of Feng Shui balance. Sweet and sour, hot and sour, and strong flavored dishes paired with plain rice are all examples of Yin/Yang balanced foods. When preparing these dishes the cook is always careful to balance the opposing flavors. Sweet and Sour Shrimp that is all sweet or overly sour wouldn’t be very pleasing to the palate and wouldn’t be good Feng Shui. And pairing a spicy dish with other spicy dishes would overtax the taste buds. Yin and Yang can also be used to explain the appeal of dishes featuring a mixture of soft or delicate foods with crunchy or crisp foods. Tofu dishes with chopped nuts or diced water chestnuts always balance these textural differences. A plate full of crunchy food could tire the mouth, while a plate full of soft food might not seem very fulfilling. Balance is very important in food and Feng Shui.

Aromatherapy is very important in Feng Shui because all senses need to be accommodated. Nothing is more pleasing to the nose than delicious smelling foods. Think about the scents when cooking Chinese food. Everyone in the house knows you’re cooking when the house is filled with the scent of toasting Szechuan peppercorns. And what a joy it is to smell a grinder filled with ground Szechuan peppercorns (toasted or un-toasted.) Aromatic seasonings like garlic, scallions, chilies and ginger often go into the wok near the beginning of the cooking process so they can lend their scents and lightly stir-fried flavors to the main ingredients. Plus, they are a treat for the cook to smell and they fill the home with a wonderful aroma. These wonderful scents rid the home of negative energy and fill them, and you, with positive energy.

In my Feng Shui practice I’ve found that prosperity and abundance are extremely common Feng Shui goals. There are many ways to increase your prosperity and abundance through food and food related items. One common Feng Shui recommendation is to use your stove (this is not about your oven or microwave, just your stove or cook-top) often. This is because your stove, and its burners, represents wealth. More burners would be better than less (so having a stove with five burners would represent extra wealth luck while one with only two burners would symbolize diminished wealth luck.) You need to have any broken burners repaired as soon as possible, because they would represent economic troubles. Using all of your burners evenly is much better than using one or two ‘favorite’ burners every day while ignoring the rest. Stimulating your wealth energy by using your stove often (hopefully by cooking meals using most or all of your burners throughout the day) can even be done by just turning on your burners every day for a few minutes. Gas stoves are better Feng Shui than electric stoves, though I would never recommend changing stoves or cook-tops for that reason alone. Wasting money is never good Feng Shui!

The dishes you serve your food in can also increase your prosperity and abundance. Ornate or expensive looking dishes carry wealth luck. Chinese or Asian dishes with fish designs or other wealth related designs also improve your wealth energy. Crystal glasses also improve the energy of your dining room table. The best way to serve up a meal that symbolizes prosperity and abundance is to set up your dining room table with your favorite fancy setting and crystal or crystal-like glassware, fill your table with an abundance of wonderful food (more food, more money), and double the food (thereby doubling your wealth) by hanging a mirror that reflects your dining table.

So now you’re ready to use all of your burners every day, cook elementally and Yin/Yang balanced Chinese meals, fill your home with amazing aromas, and sit down to a glorious meal at your prosperous dining table.
This article is brought to you by
Leslie Jacobson

Leslie Jacobson is a Certified Feng Shui Consultant and has a Masters Degree in Counseling, and a Masters Degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She has attended classes, workshops, and seminars led by the biggest names in Feng Shui including Grand Master Yap Cheng Hai, Denise Linn, Raymond Lo, Professor Lin Yun, Jami Lin, Nancilee Wydra, Katherine Metz, Nancy SantoPietro, Dennis Fairchild, Laurelyn Baker, David Daniel Kennedy, James Allyn Moser, Carol Cannon, and Deborah Walston. She draws upon her training, skills and experience in Psychology and Counseling to make sure that your home or work place is both physically and psychologically pleasing to you personally.

Leslie and her brother Mark are available for home and business consultations in the South Florida area. Their company is called Feng Shui Consultants of Boca Raton. They have recently begun offering E-Consults for the many out-of-towners who are interested in benefiting from their expertise. They are also willing to provide lectures to groups in Palm Beach County. Leslie and Mark are also offering Feng Shui Ride Alongs. It's your way to learn Feng Shui by watching us work. Currently, they are working on their first Feng Shui book.

Email her at BocaFengShui@Yahoo.com or visit her website at www.geocities.com/BocaFengShui/fastentry "

Good eating!

Sam, Feng Shui Tips