Based on the teachings of Traditional Chinese Medicine, feng shui (meaning wind and water) is dubbed ‘acupuncture for the home’ because it benefits your health through opening up channels in your environment where energy can flow.
How does it work? A feng shui consultant analyses your home or workplace and advises how ‘chi’ or energy can circulate through your home more freely. If your apartment or office is small and compact, he might introduce the impression of space through hanging mirrors – where ‘chi’ can bounce off the glass and circulate the room.
Alternatively, a practitioner might install potted plants into a room. According to Raymond Catchpole, chair of the Feng Shui Society, money plants are particularly helpful in unblocking energy because it absorbs harmful ions in our environment.
‘The air we breathe is made up of two different types of electrically charged particles called ions – negative ions and positive ions,’ he says.
Surprisingly, the negative ions are better for us than the positive ones because oxygen consists of negative ions and nitrogen of positive ones.
There needs to be a correct balance of positive and negative ions in the air to keep us healthy. If the negative ions become depleted in any way we will be breathing in less oxygen. When we have less oxygen in our blood this can lead to a variety of health complaints such as respiratory and allergy problems.
What is the evidence that it works? Trials from NASA have shown that a range of common pot plants can effectively detox our households by absorbing poisonous vapours and releasing oxygen back into the air.