How to Feng Shui a Camping Site

You don't have to be indoors to practice feng shui. This Chinese art of placement extends to all environments, indoors and out. Anywhere that you’re going to be spending a significant amount of time is a place where you want to employ feng shui methods. Here’s how to feng shui a campsite to improve the flow of chi–or positive energy–into your life.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Find a campsite where the vegetation is green and healthy–a sign of good chi. Vibrant, healthy wildlife is a good sign too, such as birds, squirrels and fish. (Obviously bears, mountain lions and rattlesnakes are to be avoided.)

2. Look for campsites on or near bodies of water. Oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds and waterfalls are all symbolic of prosperity.

3. Choose your neighbors carefully when you feng shui a campsite. The last thing you want right next door is a dirty, cluttered, overcrowded site.

4. Clean up your campsite before setting up camp. This way you can rid the area of any negative chi left by previous campers in the form of trash, rotten food or forgotten belongings.

5. Pitch your tent with the door facing toward the body of water if possible. Just be sure the distance from the water is two times the height of your tent (or RV). An exception would be if you’re camping on the ocean, in which case your tent needs to be several yards away, a safe distance from the water when the tide rolls in.

6. Hang a wind chime or stake a whirligig in the ground when you feng shui a camping site. Both are excellent conductors of chi, attracting good energy and dissipating bad energy.

7. Keep everything well-lit at night, in all areas of the campsite. This limits any element of surprise or feelings of foreboding from areas in which you cannot see. Because of fire hazards, battery-powered lamps are best. If you are going to use tiki poles or candles, be sure to keep them clear of vegetation and tents.

8. Make sure your campsite stays clean and uncluttered. Keep what you can inside your tent (though never food because it will attract animals) or in your vehicle.

9. Pick up after yourself before leaving the campsite, helping to create more positive chi for the next campers.

Tips & Warnings

• • Though many formal campsites are on flat ground, hill slopes create the best chi. If you can find a slope to camp on, set up camp halfway up.
• • If you are forced to set up camp at a site that was not of your choosing, make the best of it. If you are next to a situation with negative chi–such as unfriendly neighbors or a dead tree–hang your wind chime or stake your whirligig between you and the negative source of energy.
• • If you want to feng shui a campsite, do not choose a campsite surrounded by dry or dead vegetation. It’s not only bad chi, but also a fire hazard.
• • Stay away from campsites by high-traffic areas, such as the bathroom or a loading dock for boats.
• • Avoid any campsite where you find a dead animal.
• • To feng shui a campsite, never set up camp above or below an overhang.
• • Avoid a campsite by stagnant, murky water.
• • Do not camp at the top of a hill or mountain. Instead, set up camp about halfway down the hill or mountain, provided it’s not too steep.
• • Never set up camp where a road is aiming at it. This arrow-like situation dispels good chi.