Feng shui has been dubbed by some as “acupuncture for the home.” In recent years, it has grown in popularity in the West and around the world. Corporate businesses and thousands of homeowners and apartment dwellers have designed spaces according to feng shui principles.

It has even been rumored that the British Royal Family consults with feng shui experts at times. Naysayers cannot fathom how shifting the placement of furniture can change our luck or why repositioning a mirror can improve our wealth. Proponents of feng shui, however, say the ancient Chinese practice can give our homes and lives the makeover they need.

Feng shui is the system of living harmoniously with the natural elements and forces of Earth. At its core is to qi, invisible energy that runs through all things animate and inanimate. In order to live well and prosper, feng shui practitioners believe we need a healthy flow of this force in and around our home. Qi is energy, and when it is absent, life can become “blocked” or filled with obstacles. Feng shui can bring warmth, harmony and well-being to our home. By using it correctly, we can create a home environment that promotes the flow of positive, helpful energy, while discouraging the flow of negative, destructive energy.

Where positive qi gathers, life can be filled with opportunities and luck. Therefore, we must assess how the qi is running through our home space and correct anything that prevents the adequate flow of the energy. Feng shui is also the art of creating living and working spaces that are comfortable, supportive, attractive and harmonious with their environments. The main goal of feng shui is based on the premise that people lead healthier, happier and more prosperous lives when their interior space is in balance.

Some goals in feng shui are to deflect or diffuse the negative qi and enhance the good qi. For example, in a bedroom, place the bed against the wall, but not in-between two doors, and never exposed to a window The bed should have no clutter underneath, so that positive energy can flow around it.

Love is very powerful. If we do not have a favorable to objects in our room, remove them from that space. Only fill the home what with we love and to which we attach good energy. A dining room cramped with stuff and clutter can possibly create a feeling of pressure in family relationships and inhibit good digestion. Too much heavy, dark furniture, especially when squeezed into very small space, generates a heavy dark feeling and blocks the flow of energy.

Let the good qi in to keep the home orderly—fix everything in the home that is broken, chipped and not working and declutter. Clutter prevents the flow of good qi, symbolizing stagnant, choked energy.

Karen Parziale is a certified feng shui consultant in Hoboken, NJ. Her services include residential and corporate accounts. Karen holds monthly workshops and classes through The Dancing Lotus. For more information, call 201-927-8536, or visit TheDancingLotus.com.