Whether you practice Compass School or Black Hat Sect Feng Shui, the center of your home is your Health area.

Especially when the seasons change, people are eager to avoid colds and viruses, and to recover quickly if they catch a bug.

While Feng Shui should never substitute for professional health care, there are some things that you can do to improve the luck and energy in the “Health area” of your home.

IDENTIFY YOUR HEALTH AREA

The center of your home and office–and the center of every room–is the Health area. The color yellow makes this area luckiest. If your living room is in your Health area, try adding a few sunny yellow pillows on your sofa. Gold accents are also lucky for Health, so brass or golden-colored decorations–such as bookends or candlesticks–can be good. If you use candlesticks, white, yellow or gold candles are ideal. Be sure to burn them, too; symbols of fire help energize Health.

WOOD’S NOT GOOD

The leading symbol for this area is earth, which means that plants (in ceramic pots) can be the simplest way to bring healing energy to your home or office. Just be sure that it’s a green plant, not something with a wooden trunk such as a bonsai tree. Wood uproots earth, in Feng Shui planning, so wooden plants aren’t so good in the Health area. (If you have a bonsai tree or a wooden sculpture in your Health area, move it to your Family/Stability area. In Black Hat Feng Shui, that’s the middle of the left side of the building or room, as you enter through the main door.)

You can also display crystals in this area, or your geode collection.

ART AND OTHER POSTERS

If you’re buying posters or other art, look for art and photos that show anything that is healthy and growing: Flowers and colorful gardens are best. You might also display happy pictures that represent sunrises or sunsets, and lots of cheerful yellow colors.

FENG SHUI FOR MORE ENERGY

If you’re feeling tired, it’s a good time for “spring cleaning!” Get all the dust and dirt out of your Health area. Vacuuming is excellent for energizing an area. If you have windows that shine light into that central part of your home, office, or room, be sure that they’re sparkling clean and unobstructed. If you have natural sunlight streaming into your Health area, that’s the very best.

EVERYTHING IN BALANCE AND MODERATION

What should you avoid? Be sure not to display too much wood. This doesn’t mean that every bit of wood should be removed! In Feng Shui, we’re working with balance, not extremes. Every area in your home and office should include symbols of wood, water, fire, metal, and earth. However, in the Health area, you should have slightly more earth and less wood than in other areas.

KEEP THE GREEN LEAN

Green is also less favored in your Health area. Since we’ve already talked about plants being good in the Health area, you may be scratching your head about that. Don’t worry. As long as it isn’t a leggy philodendron or an airplane plant that threatens to take over the entire room, you’re okay. This isn’t a good area for displaying lots of plants, but one or two plants are a very good idea.

YELLOW IS YOUR FRIEND AND ALLY

What if your conservatory or greenhouse is in that location? Well, you can offset all that greenery by putting your plants in yellow or white pots. Or, put some indoor-outdoor carpeting underneath them, in sunny yellow colors. If the room is painted yellow, that will make up for a lot of green and wooden elements.

EVERY ROOM HAS A HEALTH AREA

Remember also that the center (or middle area) is the Health area in every room, but especially in your bedroom. Keep the very center of that room clean and bright, and use the color yellow there if you can. If you have a loveseat or overstuffed chair in the middle of your bedroom, get a yellow throw or slipcover for it.

SUMMARY

By bringing yellow and sunshine into the middle of your home or office, you’ll not only make it more cheerful to look at, but add good luck to your Health area as well.