Friday November 27th, 2009
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Why a Bowl of Fruit is Good Feng Shui
Posted by Kerry Trueman on January 17, 2006 - 2:30pm.
Haven't made your New Year's resolutions, yet? The year's still young, and here's an easy one: keep a bowl filled with fruit on your kitchen counter or dining room table. You'll enhance your chances of eating the recommended daily dose of fresh produce while improving your home's feng shui as well.
Having dabbled in feng shui for more than a decade, I'm not ashamed to say I have a fair amount of faith in it. Some feng shui “cures” may seem like mystical mumbo jumbo, but there's a lot of common sense to it as well. I give this ancient Chinese practice at least partial credit for bringing us, among other things, some great job opportunities and a house in the country.
Skeptical about the whole concept of feng shui? Consider this passage from Sarah Rossbach's “Interior Design with Feng Shui,” describing how your home's layout may influence your life:
“The placement of rooms within a home can affect residents' behavior…For instance, the room nearest the entrance will, by the suggestive nature of its use and contents, determine residents' lifestyle at home—particularly if it is located very close to the main door….
If the first room is a kitchen…the household will be food oriented. The sight of the kitchen will create a Pavlovian need for food, encouraging excessive eating.”
Well, the doorway to our kitchen is literally one foot from the entrance, and we spend an inordinate amount of time talking about, and eating, food (we try not to do both at once).
But there's an upside to our food fixation, according to Kirsten Lagatree, author of ”Feng Shui, Arranging Your Home to Change Your Life:”
“A generously stocked refrigerator and pantry symbolize the family's wealth, and because the kitchen is a source of nourishment, a bountiful food supply also symbolizes the health, happiness and general well-being of the family.”
About.com offers more tips on “how feng shui can help you eat healthier”, although I'd skip the creepy cut'n'paste project in which you “place a picture of your face glued to a body type you desire.” Better suggestions include clearing your kitchen of clutter, choosing brightly colored foods (which have more nutrients and liven up your plate as well), and having, of course, “a bowl of fresh fruit on the counter or table to represent vitality and healthy choices.”
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If you’re single, this isn’t a practical option as all the food will spoil or you’ll just end up overeating. Solutions, anyone?
You raise a really valid point, but I have several solutions for you (so I’m not going to let you off the hook!) First, select a smaller bowl, even a little one will do. Second, stock it with produce that’s slow to ripen, such as mangoes, pears, and even avocados or bananas that are still a bit green. It will look nice, and give you a chance to find good recipes on the internet to inspire you while the pears are ripening.
The risk of overeating when it comes to fruits and vegetables is pretty slim, because, let’s be honest, apples are not potato chips—you can eat just one. And we’re supposed to be aiming for five to nine servings a day, so you can snack away in good conscience.
I can’t stand to see food spoil, either, and rotting fruit is definitely bad feng shui. But if you keep your bowl stocked with fruits in varying stages of ripeness and make an effort to eat it as it ripens, you’ll get the benefit of all that healthy fruit plus the improved “chi” a bowl of fruit can create in your home.
What does it mean when the closest thing to the entrance is a big flat screen TV with American Idol playing?
The residents of such a home might very well find themselves inexplicably compelled to watch not-very-compelling reality shows, boring sports events and the Food Network, which was characterized on last week’s SNL as “ESPN for fatties.” (SNL itself being, I suppose, comedy for people who don’t like to laugh? And yet I watched it, because Death Cab for Cutie was on.)