Fengshui affects every aspect of our life. Which is why, the way it is applied can be both beneficial and detrimental to the way you live and the surrounding environment.

It is not necessary to follow any religion to understand or practice Fengshui. It is not just a philosophy as it also encompasses many practical tools and techniques.

The underlying principle of Fengshui is to live in harmony with your environment so that the energy surrounding you works for you rather than against you.

There are three main schools of Fengshui:

1. The Form School
This school focuses on the landscape contours, along with the shapes of hills and watercourses. It is concerned with the auspicious positioning of buildings and burial sites, which require the hills to provide protection from the wind (Feng), and for the provision of a good water (Shui) supply without flooding. It can also be considered the ancient Chinese version of surveying.

The main concerns within the Form School are to find auspicious landforms, called the Tiger and the Dragon. These are found by looking at the contours of the hills surrounding a site, and determing whether their layout will bring good or bad luck.

2. The Compass School
This style of Fengshui uses the Eight Trigrams of the I Ching and relates them to the eight points of the Compass. These are laid out to form the eight-sided Pa Kua which is used to interpret the Auspicious and Inauspicious locations for Buildings, House Floor Plans and Room Layouts.

3. The Black Hat Sect School
This is a modern version of Fengshui developed in the USA as a hybrid of Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism and traditional Fengshui. In this school a Pa Kua (often called the Ba Gua) is used, but it is based on the direction of the Front Door, rather than the Compass directions. The House or Room is divided into eight sectors, each one having a bearing on an aspect of life that might need enhancing.

Fengshui for the Front Door

The Mouth of Chi!

The front door of the house is known as the entrance to Chi as this is where most of the energy comes into your house.

Hence, make sure it is freshly painted and looks new. A door that doesn't open properly limits your opportunities. The furniture too should be bright and attractive so as to bring money and luck to your home.

Ensure the house name and number are hung with an upward slant - i.e., the end of the name is higher than its beginning. Choose the house name carefully so that it reflects your aims and aspirations.

The sides of the door can be used for features such as statues, ornamental pots and mighty guardian creatures - hunting dogs, lions and dragons for example! Such features prevent energy from escaping.

Wind chimes near the front door are good too - use small ones that tinkle gently.

The hall into which the door opens is important too. Do not clutter it with boots, coats etc as clutter limits opportunities. As this is the first room that is seen when someone comes in. Ensure that the hall is well lit, cheerful and welcoming.

If the hall leads into a straight long corridor with a series of doors in a straight line, the Chi could race too quickly through the home. You could try hanging a crystal so that the Chi pauses before heading off.

The first room one enter is also considered important. Study rooms, living rooms and halls can be placed near the entrance.

If the first room seen is a kitchen, people in the house are likely to indulge in excessive eating!

If it is a bedroom, the inmates tend to get tired very often.

Bathrooms should be avoided when it comes to the seen first set of rooms.

Placing mirrors on all four walls to seal off the energy is one way to ward off ill effects in such a case.

Ensure a proper 'Mouth of Chi' and prosperity will follow!