College feng shui involves more than moving a mini-fridge

Want to amass wealth and good fortune, improve your health, and get more loving than a bunny… Want to amass wealth and good fortune, improve your health, and get more loving than a bunny rabbit in heat?

If so, good news: with a quick flick of the broom and a little bit of design sense, these benefits and more are yours for the taking. That is, if you buy into the ancient Chinese school of thought known as Feng Shui.

According to About.com, Feng Shui developed over 3,000 years ago in China and is based on the Taoist belief that the land around us is alive and contains ch’i (pronounced “chee”), or “energy.”

This philosophy is highly nuanced, with many varying levels of theory and a host of concepts to grasp. It could take years of study to learn even most of what there is to know about the art of using your surroundings to their maximum benefit.

However, luckily for you the overall idea of Feng Shui can be summed up rather nicely: the goal is to maintain an environment that is conducive to the free-flow of ch’i.

One of the most crucial steps to take, then, is to clear out the clutter. It’s the perfect time to do a little spring cleaning, and Feng Shui sources can’t seem to emphasize enough the benefits of reducing the amount of “stuff” that inhabits your living space.

Movie stubs from all eight times you went to see “New Moon” still lying on your nightstand? Toss them (seriously). Old take-out containers from India Garden and Sorrento’s piling up on your kitchen counters? Be gone with them! It may not be your ideal way to spend an afternoon, but come on; do it for your ch’i.

Another necessary ingredient to the Feng Shui recipe for life success is high quality air and lighting. Air purifiers and even plants are great ways to clean up the O2 in your space. As for lighting, natural light is ideal, and thus should be maximized. In addition, fluorescent lighting should be avoided.

Beyond these basics, someone looking to add a little Feng Shui to her life should use an easy-to-make tool known as a Bagua. The Bagua is your guide to learning what parts of your living area correspond to what parts of your life.

Basically, if there is an aspect of your life that is in need of a little sprucing up, increasing the harmony of the corresponding space of your apartment or room might just do the trick, according to Feng Shui believers.

The Bagua can be easily drawn up in about five seconds: draw a square that is divided up into nine boxes, three by three. Then label each box with the following. The first row: Prosperity, Reputation, Love. The second: Health, Heart, Creativity. And, finally, the third: Growth, Career, and Blessings.

You have now created a map that will greatly aid you in applying particular Feng Shui cures to your home. The next step is simply to apply it.

Stand in your doorway, whether it be the door to a house or even just your room, with the third row of the Bagua closest to you. Now look at your floor plan. You will now be able to determine which parts of your space affect which aspects noted on the Bagua.

For example, if your bedroom is in the back right corner of your house, you would look at the Bagua to see which life area corresponds to the back right position, which happens to be love. Therefore, keeping your bedroom free of clutter and maintaining an overall comfortable and clean area would in this case be conducive to your finding great love in your life.

No matter what the Bagua says, however, there are certain tips that apply in general to certain rooms.

I promised you hot lovin’, so let’s cut to the chase and focus on where, as mostly everyone on Cribs says, “the magic happens.”

First, no live plants in the bedroom! Why? No one will say, it seems. But this is really stressed by every Feng Shui source I checked so … don’t do it!

Another key tip for the bedroom is to avoid singularity. If you have a flower in a vase ­— it better be a fake one — add a few more to the vase. If you have a candle placed on an end table, make sure to place another one beside it. If you are going to hang photographs on your wall, best not to display images of one person, but groups and couples instead. This is to ward off loneliness and welcome love into your life.

Speaking of bedroom images, it is important to only hang those that you want to see duplicated in your life. Don’t hang a picture of someone looking distraught unless you too want to feel this way in life.

It is also highly suggested that you avoid putting your bed in line with the doorway of your room. Also, try not to use the area beneath your bed as storage, in order to not disturb the path of the ch’i.

Finally, keep the bedroom under a predominantly yin, rather than yang, influence. Yang objects are those that are associated with loudness, boisterousness, and energy, and include items such as televisions, computers, and exercise equipment.

The bedroom is the space where yin, the essence of calm and rejuvenation, should rule. Keep edges soft, and an overall feel of quiet and relaxation in the bedroom.

Just an interesting tidbit — the back right corner of your living space in addition to the back right corner of any room, according to the Bagua, is the area most influential on sex and love in your life. Therefore, one might want to pay particular attention to what is in the back right corner of their bedroom in order to maximize love and loving in their lives.

In the back right corner of my room, there is a window, and a poster of a Warhol-esque banana,. I wonder what the implications of this on my love life are …