Feng shui books frequently talk about balancing, harmonizing and enhancing chi, but what exactly is chi? Can you see it, hear it, touch it, taste it, smell it? Is there good chi, bad chi, neutral chi? Does it come in different strengths and flavours?

While western science still disputes the existence of anything that can’t be physically calibrated, Chinese medical practitioners, for thousands of years, have had a healthcare system that aims to treat medical disorders before they even show in the physical body (hence the age old Chinese practice of paying your physician only when you are well). Their system works at the level of chi.

Beyond physicality
The starting point for understanding chi is therefore to appreciate that the world consists of very much more than just the physical things we can see. Physicality is just the tip of the iceberg. Beyond this there are worlds upon worlds of more rarefied and non-dimensional realities, which are just as tangible as the physical realms if you are able to discern them. They can't be felt with our ordinary physical senses but it is possible to develop other organs of perception in our subtle bodies. Over a period of time, the level of functionality that can be built up is quite extraordinary.

Imagine, for example, that you lived in a culture where for some reason it was taboo to use your arms. As you gre up, they just withered and hung uselessly from your shoulders.

Then supposing one day you meet someone who says, "Hey, do you know you can use those?"

"For what?" you ask, incredulously.

"For so many things!"

And then the person teaches you how to begin to move your arms. It would be nothing more than a few jerky spasms at first but gradually, if you worked at it, you'd build muscle and be able to move your fingers, turn your wrist, bend your elbow, move your arm, and pick up weights. One miraculous day you’d be able to use this previously pathetic appendage to drink a cup of tea! And that’s just the beginning. You could go on to learn how to write, create handicrafts, paint masterpieces… the list is endless.

The human possibility
There are parts of the human that have fallen into just such disuse in modern times, to the extent that most people don't even know they exist, never mind how to use them. The focus these days is on breaking the latest speed record, accomplishing physical feats that will go in the Guinness Book of Records, and anything that will push the physical body to new limits.

But this all amounts to very little when compared to the vast unexplored worlds of human consciousness and subtle bodies of energy. It was this quest that led me many years ago to the discovery of chi, and it was working with chi that led me to the discovery of the principles of Space Clearing and Feng Shui, and from there to the workings of high spiritual realms.

In my book, Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui, I describe how it is possible to go around the inside perimeter of a home, sensing the energies and reading the entire history of what has happened in a space. Every event leaves an imprint in the walls that can be read through the hands just as clearly as reading a book with your eyes. And - as with the analogy of the arms - this is just the beginning. There's a vast kaleidoscope of possibility that opens up once a person's etheric 'muscle' has started to work.

Awareness of chi
Anyone can develop the ability to sense energies if they're prepared to work at it. The problem is that western civilization is characterized by etheric numbness. Many people don’t even know what their etheric feels like.

Here's something you can do next time you visit the ocean: Observe what part of you likes to be there. The sound of the waves breaking on the shore is good to listen to, yes, but there's something more. The ocean is wonderful to look at, yes, but there's something more. The part of you that really resonates with the ocean is not the physical you at all. It's your etheric, which is made of chi.

The etheric is a subtle body of energy that permeates the physical structures of all humans, animals and plants. It's what makes things grow and gives vitality. It's life force energy. Children, of course, have oodles of energy and are very much based in their etheric. No wonder they love to visit the sea!

Here's something else you can try: When you have a massage, don’t just lie there passively as the practitioner moves energies around your body. Actively realign your energies from the inside as the therapist works on you from the outside. With a capable practitioner, superb results can be obtained by this method of teamwork; with the wrong practitioner, it is frustrating, disorientating and worse than having no massage at all.

As your etheric awareness increases, by the way, you’ll become more selective about who you allow to work on your body in this way. A massage therapist who has not developed etheric awareness and skill will not know how to cleanse their own energies while working on clients and will pass toxins from one client to another.

Feng Shui and chi
Feng Shui mastery rests on cultivating awareness of chi in the environment, which must begin with cultivating etheric awareness in yourself. To learn feng shui intellectually without being able to feel the energies on which it is based can only give you second-hand knowledge, which won’t take you very far at all. So here are some things you can check to see how etherically based you are…

Do you wear shoes or slippers at home, or walk barefoot? Do you wear lots of jewellery or very little? Is your home cluttered or clutter-free? Do you enjoy being in Nature? Do you sleep with the windows closed at night, or do you always open a window to allow chi to circulate in the space? Do you eat junk food or mostly fresh, healthy food?

The frequently barefooted, lesser-jewelled, clutter-free, Nature-loving person with a well-ventilated bedroom and healthy diet is far more in tune with their etheric than the opposite case. If you are able to feel your etheric, living this way feels natural and right.

I'm sure that the great Feng Shui masters of old had profound levels of etheric mastery, and it was upon this that their expertise rested. To awaken your etheric is no easy task these days but it can be done and is very worthwhile.

Copyright © Karen Kingston, 2009

Comments

Liz

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Hello Karen! I am exposed to an environment with a very toxic energy. How do I cleanse my chi? And how do I protect myself from exposure to 'dirty' chi in the future? Blessings to you.

Wednesday 30 September 2009, 15:07

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Karen Kingston

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What kind of toxic energy? What degree of exposure? How is it affecting you? How is your health generally? There are many questions I would need to ask to begin to give a reply, and it could only be educated guesswork unless I meet you and experience firsthand the environment you live in. If you are really concerned about this, and especially if your health is suffering, I suggest you book a consultation with one of the practitioners I have trained to give you a full assessment of your situation and help to improve it.

Monday 05 October 2009, 22:06

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kimkarwacki

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Hi Karen--I am trying to define the word chi for an article. I have read that human beings emit electro-magneti c waves. Wouldn't it be fairly accurate to say that 'chi' is basically electromagnetic waves emitted by people and things--this would explain why the energy could be positive or negative, or subtle layers in between, right? I want to present this information to teens, and they can be quite indifferent to spiritual ideas.

Monday 04 January 2010, 17:09

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Karen Kingston

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'Chi' is the Chinese name for the life force energy or 'etheric' that can be found in all living things. The Ancient Chinese knew a great deal about this and developed a whole system of healing known as acupuncture, which is based on enhancing the circulations of the etheric body.

Known in Japan as 'ki' and in the Indian tradition as 'prāṇa', no scientific method of measuring it has yet been devised in the West. However we know all too when when we are running low on etheric vitality because we start to feel tired. We go to bed, get some sleep, and awake in the morning with refreshed etheric vitality for a new day. I'm putting this in very simple terms. There is a heck of a lot more to the etheric than this.

Electromagnetic waves, which includes frequencies such as microwaves, radio waves, infrared and ultra violet light, are very different. They are physical, much coarser in nature, and can be measured very accurately with a variety of types of equipment.

Tuesday 09 February 2010, 04:34

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Kim

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Thank you so much, Karen. This does help me to understand better.

Tuesday 16 February 2010, 18:55

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