In the theoretical underpinnings of Feng Shui, a big deal is made of one's ancestry. Respecting one's elders and ancestors is important in asian cultures. Those who came before us allowed us to be here now so that we can move forward into the future. And so we support our children who will in turn...you get the point.
In Feng Shui itself this translates into what supports us physically and is that support safe and secure. A chair supports us. So does a bed. A car. A house. We rely on these things so we don't fall to the ground. A stable, safe support base (which is behind us) allows us to move forward into the future (what we see before us). What is behind is our history and what is in front us are our hopes and aspirations.
An unstable support makes moving forward tricky. It is as if we have no well from which to draw energy to keep us going. In psychological terms this translates into who is behind me. Who supports me now? Who is my cheerleader? Who do I go to for nurturing and comfort? If there is no one there, life can become lonely and optimism and hope are hard to live by unless there are significant internal resources.
If we have good internal base, feelings of confidence and security, we can move forward into the future, take risks and write our story of life. But alas there are many who do not even have that. Their internal base is weak and fragmented. Energetically they feel depleted and moving forward requires an extra concentrated effort of will power. But this too will only go so far. Because whatever pulls us forward will continue to require drawing from internal resources to keep the boat afloat.
There are people who are called to service in life and they are found in many of the helping professions. They want to give of themselves so that others may thrive. This is a high spiritual calling as well and is one of the lessons many spiritual teachers impart to their students.
The same principle applies to them as well. If there is no internal or external support, burn out is just around the corner for them.
What constitutes support from behind? There are many layers to this. For one it is our own history. Our sense of safety and stability has much to do with how much we felt those things in our childhood. For it is there we first integrate emotional support. If it is fractured, we will feel fractured later in life until some support shows up, either in the way of self awareness or self help or through seeing a helper who becomes the support we did not have. Could be a partner, a therapist, could even be a pet.
The food we eat and the environment we live in affect our stability as well. Looking at the next health crisis facing this country we see an epidemic of obesity related illnesses about to burden the health system. Obviously, eating the wrong food all the time will undermine the body's ability to function well. When you are very sick, how much energy do you have to go to work and forge into the future? None. You're busy just reestablishing your baseline from which to move forward again.
Sometimes I talk to clients about their homes. Does it reflect who they are? Or do they see it as some "thing" that they go to while they wait for life to arrive? Even for someone who has no internal or external support, creating a living space that reflects who they are, their tastes and values, helps create an internal shift whereby a stake is pounded into the ground, as if to say, "Here I am and from here I make my future."
Think about it: who and what is behind you now and does it make you feel secure.
