How to Improve Your Child's Bedroom With Feng Shui

 

Feng Shui, the 4,000 year old Chinese practice of arranging our homes to be in harmony with the earth?s energy (chi) so we are balanced with the forces of nature, can be a surprisingly useful tool for making kids feel comfortable in their bedrooms and well rested after a night?s sleep.

Just applying a few Feng Shui principles can make a child?s bedroom feel restful, considerably warmer and more secure.

Colour

The walls of your child?s bedroom and the soft furnishings that you add should be in relaxing colours. Neutral naturals such as blue, light pink, light yellow, beige, peach and green are all calming. Avoid using energising colours like red, dark blue and bold yellow as these are too stimulating for a bedroom. Bright colours are good for playrooms but bedrooms need to be more subdued.

Furniture

Be careful not to cram too much furniture into a child?s room, especially if the space is small anyway. Use furniture that is on a small scale so that your child does not feel dwarfed by their surroundings. Place the bed headboard against a solid wall but avoid positioning it under a window. Also try not to place the bed under skylights, beams or shelves full of books and games.

Lighting

Always provide enough light by using lamps and light fittings. Natural lighting is also important so throw the curtains wide and let the sunshine in. Also, open the window regularly to allow fresh energy into the room. Make sure that your child cannot reach the open window if they are in the room by themselves or without adult supervision.

Linen

Bed linen should be soft and soothing to the child. Brightly coloured sheets are a no-no. Try soft blues (not cold blues) or tone the colour to the paint on the walls. If you would like to add a splash of brightness during the day, throw a cover on the bed that you remove at night.

Possessions

A child?s bedroom should be kept simple and clean. Limit the toys and books that are kept in the bedroom and remove unnecessary clutter. Store out of season clothes and donate items that are not being used or have been outgrown. Keep the bedroom floor clear of objects as energy needs to circulate the room. Also be sure to clear out the space under your child?s bed frequently to prevent the ?sticking? of energy. You are aiming for a room that your child can feel focused and energised in. Too many objects create distractions and stifle the space.

Four Items to Add:

Place a hanging crystal in the window ? it will reflect colours over the room.

Buy a good quality bed, preferably wooden.

Stick stars on the bedroom ceiling to create a night sky effect.

Positioning a family photo near the bed reminds children of their loving family.

Four Items to Remove:

Never keep rubbish in the room. Place the waste basket outside.

Don?t allow a phone in your child?s bedroom.

Nocturnal pets make too much noise at night to be in a bedroom. Fish tanks should also be removed.

Computers, games consoles and televisions do not encourage quality sleep. At the very least place these devices in a cupboard or behind a screen at night time.

Stella Winstanley is the producer of a children's bedtime story CD that is specially designed to relax youngsters and encourage restful sleep. Visit http://www.dreamtimetales.com for more articles on helping children sleep better and tips on how to improve their bedroom.

Feng Shui Tips for Love 2006

 

First of all, if you?re very keen on augmenting your love life with a good dose of Love Feng Shui, the best thing you can do is to tap your Yan Nian, or Relationship location! Sleep with your head pointed towards this direction, or if you can relocate your bedroom to your Yan Nan area, all the better. Make use of our free, no-nonsense Gua Calculator to ascertain your Yan Nian direction.

If you sleep with your spouse or partner, both your Yan Nian can still be used to strengthen love bonds, as well as harmony and devotion! The best arrangement to suit both your needs is to sleep in a bedroom located in the male?s Yan Nian corner and sleeping with both your heads pointing towards the female?s Yan Nian direction.

You can further up your Love luck by decorating your Yan Nian location with some Romance-rich items. This will give you a further dose of auspicious luck!

Let?s make use of Flying Stars, or Xuan Kong Feng Shui to further up the love factor. This year, 2006, sees the Academic and Love star #4 Green alighting the Northwest location. This auspicious star is of the element Wood, thus you can make use of the Water element to strengthen its prospects. Place a fish tank, aquarium or desktop fountain in this location for the best prospects!

The rose quartz crystal is very special in terms of Romance and Love Feng Shui. This pink-hued crystal can strengthen your confidence, stimulate love potential and best of all, it?s also a great Qi cleanser! Cut crystals have the ability to break up and disperse negative Qi, or energy, to allow the entrance of fresher, more positive Qi to meander about you. A rose crystal bracelet is charming and feminine, and keeping the crystal close to yourself at all times is for the best enhancement.

Do you feel like you constantly butt heads with your significant other? Examine your home or office, and pay close attention to the Central location. For year 2006, this area houses the malignant #3 Jade star, which is known as the Argument Star. Try to lessen your activities in this area, and since the #3 Jade?s element is Wood, you can weaken the quibbles and bickering with a red carpet, a red lampshade or even incense burners ? the smoke wafting from burners represents the Fire element.

The phoenix and dragon together are strong symbols of strong love, fidelity and high romance. Place figurines of the dragon-phoenix couple at home or in the office for a good dose of love luck enhancement. The dragon-phoenix image is incidentally a potent symbol for weddings ? those who are keen for wedded bliss should make use of these lovely animals in areas where they spend most of their time.

Your bed should under no circumstances be located underneath an overhead beam! This is very inauspicious, since you?re directing Shar Qi, or poison arrow directly on yourself. Remove the beam, relocate or hang a bamboo flute or wind chime under the beam to weaken negativities.

Do you like these Tips? Dragon-Gate.com sends monthly Feng Shui Tips newsletters to its members. To read past Feng Shui Tips, click here.

Corey Tsang is the resident Feng Shui expert of Dragon-Gate.com, and is well-known for his bi-monthly newsletters on Feng Shui Tips and Feng Shui Alerts of the Month. For more information, please contact Mr Tsang at corey@dragon-gate.com or visit our website at Dragon-Gate.com.

Feng Shui & the Haunted House!

 

Have you ever wondered what it would be like... to spend one night in haunted hotel room, just for fun? Well, I have! Of course the hotel wouldn't be able to guarantee that the ghost would make an appearance on any given night. After all? the hotel concierge doesn't have an appointment calendar for the resident ghosts.

Then again, how would you like to share your home on a daily basis with spirits of the dearly departed or in some cases the not so dearly departed? It's true? some spirits are friendlier than others. You'd be surprised how many clients over the years have asked if Feng Shui could help with a haunted house. And the answer is? yes, to some extent.

One of the cases that would make a spirit choose to stay in your house over another house is when the outside of your house is too Yang (bright, active, lively), while the inside is too Yin (dark, inactive, still). In this case you want to open your curtains and let more natural light into your home. If that's impossible, use full spectrum light bulbs to imitate actual sunlight, which is another way to avoid depression in the winter months when the days are shorter.

In some instances, when taking the compass reading of a building the needle of the compass vibrates or actually spins round and round, which is a good indication that spirits are in the area. The worst place to live, work or build is where anyone has been buried or died by violence, such as murder, suicide or acts of war, because it's very difficult to cleanse the land or building. The classical Feng Shui method to cleanse that type of land is to let it burn for at least 3 days straight. Today there?s not a place anywhere in the World where you would be allowed to use that method.

When analyzing the unique Feng Shui energy pattern of your home or office, according to when it was built and its exact compass orientation? certain energy combinations make it easy for spirits to prefer to stay in your building. In Classical Feng Shui this is referred to as "Yin God Full Grounded," meaning the Yin energy is fully grounded in the house? therefore it's very comfortable for spirits to stay there. In some cases this energy combination is only triggered by the visiting Annual Energy, which is yet another excellent reason to have your Feng Shui remedies updated each year.

All homes and offices have a combination of unseen Yin and Yang energies in the various sections of the building. When there's too much Yin energy in any given room, that's where the spirits will choose to reside? especially in the SE, South, SW or West, which are the Yin directions. In this case, bringing in more natural light will help to some extent. However, you'll have better results by also adding the appropriate elemental remedy to that room to reduce the Yin energy.

For a fortunate few? a Wang or prosperous energy at your entrance will prevent your home or office from being haunted, as well as make it easier for you to make more money. That's right office buildings can also be haunted. One of my clients had an office in a building that was originally a mortuary, so it had numerous spirits who like to come out to play after dark. It's no wonder everyone that worked there preferred to leave by sunset.

An energy combination that all classically trained Feng Shui professionals would love to have in their own home or office is called? ?5 Ghost Carry Money.? However, it doesn't have anything to do with actual spirits. It's referring to the best energy combination for easily bringing prosperity to you. On the other hand, if you want to have a baby? you'd love to have ?5 Ghost Carry Baby? at your door or in your bedroom. There are simple ways to activate these energies if you're lucky enough to have one of them in your home or office.

Other than having an on-site Feng Shui analysis of your home or office to determine which remedies are required in your situation? remember to open your curtains and let more natural light in to make it uncomfortable for the spirits to remain. Then again, you could always build a shrine to the spirit that's living in your home or office to show you respect them and want to co-exist peacefully with them.

P.K. Odle? an internationally respected instructor for Master Larry Sang?s renowned American Feng Shui Institute since 1998, is the creator of The Feng Shui Advantage?s ?Lifetime Keys Personal Directions Self-Mastery Toolbox.? To learn more about using the ancient Chinese science of Feng Shui to improve your Health, Relationships and Finances? visit her web site and subscribe to her free newsletter, The Feng Shui Advantage MONTHLY, at http://www.FengShuiAdvantage.com The next issue? could change your life!

Baby Room Decoration Wirh Feng Shui

 

Congratulations! You just have added another new love to your life - your baby.

I'm sure you must have done all your home work and prepared everything you can possibly think of, such as baby announcements, baby hampers, baby leash, baby names book, baby photos, baby presents, baby shower favors, baby shower invitation wording, baby shower thank you cards...etc

But wait a minute...what about baby room decoration?

You are a strong believer in the power of feng shui because you've heard a lot of good things about it. Even Donald Trumps employs feng shui experts as his consultant, why not make sure the baby room is well decorated with the best feng shui setup as a kind of welcome present to the wonderful newborn?

When it comes to decorating the baby room with appropriate feng shui setup, the first thing that needs to be done right is to put the baby bed in the right position. Since your baby will be sleeping most of the time - at least for now, the bed should be located in front of a solid background such as a wall, rather than being put in the middle of the room with no wall on either side as support. The bed being right next to some kind of support will ensure that the baby will be resting soundly and peacefully - you know how babies are - their energetic pattern is still very dynamic and thus very vulnerable to any influences from the environment.

Any sharp objects are to be as far away from the baby's room as possible. In I-ching philosophy, sharp objects are of the 'fire' element, which also denotes the characteristic of dynamic changes. When sharp objects such as plants with needle-like leaves are placed in the room, the already dynamic-by-nature baby will be even more dynamic; therefore, the parents or babysitters will find it very hard to calm the baby down. Many more techniques to pacify the baby will need to be called upon.

The lighting of the baby room needs to be blended well together - not too dark, nor too light either. Too dark will be too much with the 'yin' energy whereas too light will be with the 'yang' energy. It's not a good idea to be over one way or the other. As baby perceives the outside world via the light pathway a lot, blending the lighting well will ensure much harmonious energy in the room for the newborn, which is of the utmost importance.

Make sure also to neutralize any unusual odors in the baby room, as bad or undesirable odors are of the 'earth' element which when ignited will create unsettled feelings within the baby's digestive system. Many a case of stomach discomfort that leads to extensive crying or even more serious conditions are due to the fact that the digestive system of the baby is under negative influences, be they from the physical or non-physical origins.

In a nutshell, besides decorating the baby room with all the fancy stuffs, make sure to equip the room with good feng shui - your baby will thank you for it! You will function better as a parent too.

Dr. Kang-pang Chan is a board-certified naturopathic physican who also is a traditional Chinese Feng Shui master of over 25 years of experience. He can be contacted at http://www.go4realfengshui.com for more expert advice.

To learn more tricks for caring for your baby, please go to: What Babies Can Do To You?

Feng Shui Is Not Interior Decorating

 

Feng Shui.

Many thousands of years ago, in little villages in the Orient, Feng Shui was developed.

Each little village had their own ways and own methods on how to perform Feng Shui. In fact their way of life, was often dependent upon it. These people studied the land, wind and water, including the formations of the land and the ways of the wind and water. Feng Shui, means the way of the wind and water. Over aeons of time Feng Shui was improved upon and even the great Chinese emperors used it to insure their power.

The expert practitioners of Feng Shui were known as Feng Shui Masters and emperors hired them to wage war upon their enemies. It has been passed down, through history, that the Feng Shui masters had power to use water, wind and fog, to win battles. Eventually the emperors became afraid. They felt the Feng Shui Masters might betray them and use their powers to bring them down. Therefore, many Feng Shui masters were put to death.

Those who survived hid away in the many Buddhist monasteries, to continue their practice of Feng Shui. They taught monks their secret methods. Even today there is, what is known as "Black Sect Feng Shui". As you will later read, this method is often preferred by Westerners.

Feng Shui is based upon Mother Nature and the use of her forces. This is the ritual origin of Feng Shui and was originally called, "Form School Feng Shui. Another method is called the Compass School. And this, together with Black Sect Feng Shui, makes up the basis of most Feng Shui theory and practice.

The Compass School basically originated in Chinese astrology and this ties in the magnetic influence of the planets and the earth, to the energy patterns of an area. The position of Jupiter, as the bringer of fortune and lurk, and other numerological information, is what the Compass School way, heavily relies upon, for its function. It uses a 12 part map system and this allows for more detail than the widely spread used 8 part system, which has become popular today.

It is also known as ,"Local Space Chart" and this was produced as a generic form, by using the luopan, or geomantic compass. This compass is very important when determining the directional alignment of buildings, etc. The traditional compass school has changed greatly by the use of new systems which expand the illusions popularised by the Feng Shui master. Unfortunately many are based on ancient texts and concepts and of course mis-translations, are rife. As an example, one refers to the five Chinese elements which are: wood, fire, earth , metal and water. These are not really elements at all, but stages of matter. However, that is what they were called in ancient times and two more qualities; energy and heat were added.

The luopan utilises two primary forms of Feng Shui. The 8 house, or 8 mansion, method, which is also known as the East and West Group. This discusses the directional influence on the people and the buildings, to find out how to place oneself, to one's best advantage, within any building.

A second application, which is interesting to me as an acupuncturist, is the use of the Feng Shui to find orientation. This, combined with the aspect of time, brings forth a detailed chart of the key (qi or ki) inside the building. This is sometimes known as, Xuan, Kong Feng Shui. A method called Time and Space. We look at Qi within the building and then design a floor plan to determine which are the auspicious, or inauspicious areas of the building. After which, we bring into play the five Chinese elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

A good Feng Shui practitioner can bring about a balance of Qi, which is similar to the use of acupuncture needles, correcting any abnormalities, or imbalance, in Qi.

We then come to the Black Sect Feng Shui school, which is often preferred in Western civilisation because it tends to down play the astrological benefits of Feng Shui and emphasise the psychological aspect.

This has of necessity, been a very short and incomplete article on Feng Shui. There are many aspects of Feng Shui that have been pilloried in the West. Many Westerners believe only in their five senses and cannot comprehend any efficacious method outside these very limited parameters. However, the use of Eastern modalities is growing in the West.

Indeed, Proctor and Gamble, Ford Motors Hewlett-Packard's and even the mighty Coca-Cola Company are now using Feng Shui in their plants to benefit their employees, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The author of this article, Ray Cunningham, possesses two diplomas of acupuncture. One from Hong Kong; the other from Sydney Australia. At present, he resides in central Florida. Learn much more about Feng Shui, go here shmyl.com/hgnnson , or at his web site at: raygc1.com/fengshui This article may be used, free of charge, so long as it remains intact and this resource box is always included.