Want to lose weight? Aside from diet and exercise, you can also use feng shui! That’s right. Feng shui, the ancient practice of balancing energies, can boost your motivation and help you become more attuned to your body. Proper feng shui can also promote a sense of lightness and freshness—not just emotionally, but physically. You are sending a message, ‘This is what I want to be!’ and where your thoughts and energies flow, so will your body.
Here are some tips on how to use feng shui to lose weight.
Feng shui your kitchen
The battle against calories is often fought in the kitchen. Most diet experts will agree: purge it of all the unhealthy foods that will tempt you to stray from your diet. While you’re at it, let go of broken appliances and unused tools (read our tips on how to reduce clutter). These things ‘weigh down’ your kitchen, giving a sense of heaviness that contradicts your life goals. And, on a practical note, the cleaner and more organized your kitchen is, the more inspired you’ll be to cook—and not order all that fat-laden takeout!
Control appetite with color
Feng shui practitioners recommend using colors like blue and green to curb the appetite. You don’t have to repaint the kitchen. Put pots of plants and fresh herbs in your kitchen; choose curtains made of a light material to give you a view of the sky. Add a vase or fill pretty glass bottles with water. (Additional tip: since blue helps dampen appetite, try exercising outdoors or eating while facing a window.)
Avoid the colors associated with the fire element (red, orange, yellow and purple) that tend to excite you, pump up the adrenaline, and send subtle signals to your body to eat in order to fuel your energy rush.
Interestingly, research on color psychology seems to support the feng shui claim. Studies show that the fire element colors do increase appetite; that’s why they’re frequently used in fast food chains.
Clean out the closets
Go through your storage areas and throw out anything that you don’t use. Crowded closets and shelves block the flow of chi, or energy, through your home. This affects and mirrors the flow of chi in your own body.
You want your energy or chi to circulate well. This gives a sense of lightness, and also helps release depression, stress and negativity—things that researchers have linked to overeating and weight gain.
Surround yourself with positive, inspiring images
Use a compass to identify the east corner of your home, which is the area of health and longevity. In this corner, remove clutter (which symbolizes heaviness and obstacles) and put images that represent a fit, healthy, and beautiful body.
You can hang a corkboard and paste magazine photos with the body you want (cut off the head and stick your own picture!). Or, better yet, imagine the life you would be able to enjoy once you reach your ideal weight. Would you feel more energetic and be able to take that hiking trip you always dreamed of? Then post a picture of the first place you’d visit. Would you be able to buy the clothes you always liked? Tear out a page of a catalogue and pin it up, too.
The east corner is also the best place to put crystals that are associated with good health and wel l being, like peridot or rose quartz.
Photo from kenlauher.com