Feng Shui Secret

Grandma was RIGHT! Learning to Forgive witih Feng Shui

2009-05-08T04:29:00.000-07:00

Letting go of the old to allow the new in is a major principle in Feng Shui. Why then, when we are hurt by another?s actions do we find it so hard to forgive? We are taught to ?Go With the Flow? knowing that whatever is happening in our present is in our best interests, even though it may seem far from it at the time and it is often too difficult to see how such a negative force could ever have any good outcome.

It is in the very act of letting go and releasing that hurt and energy that we carry around that which nourishes us, in the long run. If you take the perspective that it is far better for YOU to learn to let go of pain we feel others have caused us you may find it easier. Through Maya Angelou we know that when we KNOW better, we DO better. A simple sentence with a lot of impact.

Without making excuses for the other person?s actions as a way to forgive them, just assume they didn?t know any better. Remember, our perception of any event or action is always different from another person?s perspective. It has always been impossible and quite often a waste of precious Energy to get someone to see things in a different light. We are the ones, then, that need to change our thoughts over the incident to release it and feel better, mentally and physically. It is a difficult concept, yet if I look back in my life to my own past hurts and disappointments perceived by another person?s actions, I can see that eventually GOOD came from it. In ways that I never would have expected.

Perhaps it is because it caused us to change our course of direction, spurred us on to take actions or do things we wouldn?t previously have done. Perhaps it is the theory that really is a universal law, that ?What goes around, comes around? and we need do nothing harmful or revengeful to another with that law so firmly in place. It is only in changing OUR way of thinking, our perceptions of the situation and realizing that as difficult as it may seem at the moment to see any good possibly occurring from it, somehow learning to just know it on a different level will help us reach the state we need to heal ourselves.

Illness in our own bodies is a buildup of negative and blocked energy. When we can learn to take just the few positive things that come from any negative situation or to ?see the silver lining? as my Grandmother used to say, we are only helping ourselves to deal and cope and thereby not allowing a buildup of this precious Energy escape us through ill health. According to Chinese principles, we are only born with a certain amount of Energy and when that energy is used is when we pass to another place. They firmly believe that the only way to replace and restore this energy is through the ancient art of Tai Chi.

Unfortunately, not many of us practice Tai Chi (have you noticed how old some of those people that are faithfully in the Parks actually are?) Our alternative, then, would be to truly learn to let go and release old hurts, pain and disappointments for ourselves, to free ourselves and keep ourselves well. And believe that when these people do know better, they will do better.

And to see the silver lining in any situation. Grandma was right, after all.

Feng Shui Expert

By: Carole Provenzale

Feng Shui Long Island

http://www.FengShuiLI.com

FengShuiLI@aol.com

The Curse of the Feng Shui Money Frog!?!

2009-04-30T03:39:00.000-07:00

ARe Feng Shui Money Frogs classed as cursed objects or are they possessed of more friendly and positive forms of powers and qi (chi)?

Let me first start off by saying that there is no such thing as the curse of the Feng Shui Money Frog but I had you going, didn't I? I just thought that would make a catchy title for my article about Feng Shui and the Feng Shui Money Frog. Of course I also think it would make a good title for a big budget Hollywood blockbuster, perhaps starring Jackie Chan, and I am of course open to any cash offers of this sort. First we will start off by briefly looking at what is Feng Shui and some of its origin and history. Then we will look at the Feng Shui Money Frog and how to take advantage of its power. Once again though, there is NO such thing as the Curse of the Feng Shui Money Frog, in fact, rather the reverse is true because the power of the Feng Shui Money Frog is used to attract wealth into your life, home and business!

What is Feng Shui?

Feng Shui, also known as Kanyu is chinese and means "wind and water". These are the two containers for the Qi(Chi). Since life exists within either air or water, Qi(Chi) is said to be the life energy that flows within these two environments. Qi(Chi) is a very important force in nature and has major influences on many oriental disciplines including Buddhism and most martial arts philosophies. It is the goal of Feng Shui to orient one's dwellings, one's possessions, and one's land and landscaping, so that it is in harmony with the flow of Qi(Chi). Feng Shui considers all cultural and social issues to be influenced by natural, metaphysical and cosmological factors. To understand Feng Shui one needs understanding of magnetic fields and how they influence people, astronomy, Chinese astrology, the weathering process of building materials, and of how the forces of nature act on buildings and their surroundings.

Feng Shui has influence not only on placement of items with a structure but also on how the structure is built and even on the site on which it is built. Most of the Feng Shui influences on site location can be attributed to common sense. In ancient China a city was planned using a system concentric rectangles fortified by walls and surrounded by hills, valleys, gardens, courtyards, lakes and parks. The ancient Chinese tried to ensure that both the natural and building environments were planned to enhance positive (Qi or Chi) energy flow. Taoist ideas of opposites (Yin and Yang, solid and void, earth and water) were used to landscape the area. The left of the buildings represented Yang or male force and was connected to the forces of heaven. The right side of the building represented Yin or the female force and was connected with the energies of the earth. Buildings, even the Palaces of the Emperors were constructed in such a way as to promote harmony in family and harmony with nature.

Many think of Feng Shui as a style of decoration but it is more of a discipline for arranging everything in one's life so that it is harmony with the environment otherwise know as the flow of qi. For instance sharp corners of a structure and geometrically straight line lines should not point to where the people are in a room. Clutter is to be avoided. Stairs should never face the front entrance. Some objects are believe to have the power to gather wealth, love, and luck in one's life while others are believe to have the power of reflecting or shifting negative and evil energy from a space. The latter would include certain crystal forms, wind chimes, mirrors and of course fountains and pools of water. A perfect example of the former would be the Feng Shui Money Frog.

The practice of Feng Shui began in the either the late Qin or early Han dynasty. This period dates from about birth of Christ to sometime around the early third century BC. The early Chinese, like the early Egyptians were obsessed with ancestor worship. Feng Shui was originally intended for ideal placement of gravesites so that people could gain the most benefit from their ancestors. As time progressed Feng Shui evolved to include harmony for the living. Feng Shui is believed to have evolved from the even more ancient practice of Vastu which itself stems from the ancient Vedic tradition of the early Hindus. None of this is being offensive to practitioners Feng Shui however because evolution is itself in harmony with nature.

Early Feng Shui was mostly handed down through the centuries through oral tradition. This is due to an effort to burn all written Feng Shui materials during the Qin dynasty. The order of Chinese dynasties is: Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang, Song, Lio, Jin, Yuan, Ming, Qing and had their beginning around 3000 years ago. The Jin Dynasty is famous for the War of Eight Princes and The Battle of Fei. It was during this time that the Burial Book by Guo Pu was written and is considered to be a good work based on the early oral traditions. Many consider the most authoritative book on Feng Shui is generally considered to be the "Qing Nang Jing" by Huang Shi Gong written in the Qin Dynasty. And inspiring the Feng Shui burnings which occurred soon after. There are other's who view the books of Yang Yun Song and his followers to be the most authoritative works. These books are hard to read and don't translate well because they are cryptic in nature and believed to be similar to the Bible in that they are a written form of an oral tradition handed down through centuries. They were written during the Tang Dynasty.

Today we are blessed(?) with several popular schools of Feng Shui most of which contradict each other and more books have been written on this subject than anyone could ever possibly read. Today's schools are based on the San-yuan(Three Periods) School founded around 1150 years ago and features the "Flying Stars System" to chart the flow of energy in buildings. The San-ho School (Three Combinations) is about 150 years younger and is focused on the energy flow between mountains and waterways. This is the school, which uses a Feng Shui compass that has been specifically developed for the classification of land and building sites. The Hsuan-kung School (Mysterious Subtleties) is about 200 years younger yet and was originally designed to compliment the San-ho by expanding its tradition into the building construction area. The Pa-chai School is the baby of the traditional Chinese Feng Shui schools yet it is itself about 300 years old. Many modern Feng Shui are trained in at least two of these schools and do their best to reconcile the many contradictions that can be found between there various teachings of the various schools.

Now that we have finished our time traveling we will discuss the wealth, relationship, and luck aspects of Feng Shui and from there we will finally meet the accursed(;) Feng Shui Money Frog. Once the building is built certain objects made from certain materials are placed conspicuously in pre-determined areas around the home or place of business to ward off evil influences and to attract positive energy (Qi or Chi). These objects can include Buddhas (including female Buddhas also known as Qin Juans), Dragons and other Guardians. These Feng Shui objects are placed at appropriate compass points and facing directions, which can themselves, vary depending on the use, time of day, month and year, and also on the school of belief used. The subject is far too varied to go into detail in a mere article however we will delve a bit into the uses and placement of the Feng Shui Money Frog and finally on where traditional Feng Shui Money Frogs may be obtained.

The Traditional Feng Shui Money Frog is usually sculpted to hold a Ching Dynasty coin (or at least a Chinese coin) in its mouth and is usually depicted sitting on lots of gold ingots, coins and wealth. Making the symbol even more powerful, the Feng Shui Money Frog will have a crown on its head to signify its authority for creating wealth. A bagua would also often be carved on its back to protect against loss of wealth. Strings of Chinese coins can be strung behind the back of the Feng Shui Money Frog to even further enhance its power. Another important factor to consider before purchasing a Money Frog is to ensure there are 7 dots of stars to represent 7 Great North Pole stars of the bagua, which fundamentally triggered the study of Feng Shui in ancient China. The Feng Shui Money Frog is sometimes called a Three Legged Toad or Frog or "Chan Chu") and it is the most significant symbol of wealth and prosperity in Feng Shui. Because of its association with wealth building and money gain the Feng Shui Money Frog is also linked to the moon.

Chinese legends have it that the Feng Shui Money Frog was the wife of one of the Eight Immortals and she was turned into a frog as a punishment for stealing a peach from the Tree of Heaven. And like most women she has cravings for wealth and money. For generations since ancient China, this mythical Feng Shui Money Frog is the most powerful of five Chinese holy creatures that attract wealth, power, good health and love and protect us from evil influences and misfortune.

The Feng Shui Money Frog can be placed in many places to both attract wealth, build prosperity and ward off the losing of both: 1) Place either one, three, six or nine randomly in your living room. If you have a garden they should also be placed randomly there too. They are placed randomly to signify them hopping as they bring lots of wealth and money scattering all over your home and your outside living area. Your Feng Shui Money Frogs will hop out during the afternoon to collect money, wealth and prosperity and return at night with it sticking to their feet. They do not need to be treated as deities so they may be placed low or on the ground. In fact they should not be placed too high or they may be afraid to jump off and go out to seek wealth for you. The Feng Shui Money Frog should be placed randomly in the living room, dining room, or any gather room or outside in your garden. But do not place Feng Shui Money Frogs in kitchens, bathrooms or bedrooms. A good concentration of them should be placed in your wealth corner. They can be placed diagonally facing your main door and some inward facing, but never facing straight out of the door the front door or they will leave and never return. 2) To double the income of your home you may consider placing two Feng Shui Money Frogs at the guardian positions directly inside the front entrance of your premises with their heads looking in. This invites constant cash flow and prevents your gained wealth from leaving. 3) Your wealth corner, which should be located in the southeast corner of either your living room or premises as a whole. Feng Shui Money Frogs should be placed in the wealth corner facing in the direction indicated by your personal Sheng Chi number which can be referencing the Feng Shui Sheng Chi page located at Ye Old Art Shoppe The placement location is also very important and is determined by where lucky stars numbers eight and nine are located. It is often said that at these points you will sometimes experience unexplained gusts of wind. 4) Feng Shui Money Frogs are a must for businessmen who want to succeed. In a place of business the Feng Shui Money Frog should be placed at or near your cash register and also should be placed just inside the door of your safe facing in to protect your acquired day's receipts. If you have an office a wealth corner should be set up in the southeast corner of your office as described in three. A Feng Shui Money frog may also be placed on your desk but not at a direct angle to the front entrance of your office. And not if you are sit with your back to a window or with your back to the door. 5) Finally for housewives and gamblers a Feng Shui money frog should be placed by you at the altar of the God of the Earth.

Where can you find the most powerful Feng Shui Money Frogs and a very powerful selection of Feng Shui Art and Feng Shui Sculpture objects? The author would suggest that you first try at Ye Old Art shoppe located at http://www.yeoldartshoppe.com for a powerful selection of hand sculpted Feng Shui Money Frogs created from bronze, quartz, agate and goldstone in various sizes and styles. Dragons, including turtle dragons sitting atop coins, Buddhas, including Quan Jin, and many other Feng Shui and oriental art objects are available. Ye Old Art Shoppe is your source for Oriental Art, Oriental Sculpture, Feng Shui Art and Feng Shui Sculpture. But no cheap junk! Searchers and Questers after cheap junk should look elsewhere for only individually handcrafted unique works of art may be found at Ye Old Art Shoppe!

The author is a career computer professional and an avid support of the arts.

Using Feng Shui to Clear the Clutter

2009-04-21T05:13:00.000-07:00

Clearing the clutter and debris in your home and in your personal life is the first step of Feng Shui and it costs nothing. Clutter is trapped energy that has a far-reaching effect physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Clutter makes you feel unorganized, confused, keeps you in the past, congests your body, and leaves you feeling lethargic and tired. Clutter is energy constipation and who needs that?

Ridding yourself of clutter (even things which were once of value to your life) makes room in your life for what you really want and need now, at this point in your life.

Ten Tips for Eliminating Clutter

1. Use the Ultimate Clutter Test ~ Does it lift your energy? Do you use it? Do you love it? If you answer no to these questions, it's time to let it go.

2. Give yourself a miniature energy shift ~ Set a kitchen timer for 30 minutes and clear a small area such as a kitchen drawer. You will probably find you are feeling more energized and might have trouble stopping!

3. Put things away within 30 seconds of using them. ~ How many times have you tossed a magazine on the table, intending to get back to it? Is it still on the coffee table? Just for today, put everything back in its place.

4. Throw things away often ~ 80% of what is stored or saved is never used again - that applies to papers, clothes, magazines etc. Maybe it's time to clean out those old files stored on your computer or your desk?

5. Make a list of all the unfinished things in your life ~ This could include letters or phone calls you need to make, someone you need to apologize to, an appliance that doesn't work. Then set out to complete these things. They have all been draining your energy.

6. Do a little clutter busting every day ~ Sort mail daily and file your paperwork. Have a place to put things so you don't waste time looking for your keys etc.

7. Get rid of old clothes ~ Ask yourself these questions: Do my clothes represent who I am now? Do they make me feel good about myself? If your closet is filled with clothes you no longer need, donate them to charity. Open up space in your closet for new things to come in.

8. Clean out your cupboards and refrigerator ~ Do you have any non-perishable items that you know you won't eat? Donate them to a food bank or offer them to your neighbor. Get rid of outdated food items in the refrigerator and give it a good cleaning.

9. Donate books that no longer serve your needs ~ Aim to have a collection of books that represent you as you are today, not who you were in the past.

10. Think before you buy ~ The next time you go shopping, ask yourself before you buy something, "Do I really love this and need it?"

As you identify and release your clutter, you free up the energy held there for more constructive purposes. Your life may take off in ways you never thought possible.

Clearing your clutter is essential in Feng Shui. What you want is available to you, but there may be no room in your home and life for it! Letting go of what no longer serves must occur before more treasures can come into your life. Releasing clutter can help you clear life patterns which do not serve you any longer. The simple act of clearing clutter can transform your life by releasing negative emotions, generating energy, and allowing you to create space in your life for the things you want to achieve.

Begin today by choosing one area to begin with, such as a counter top that has accumulated an entire month of junk mail. You'll get more, I promise! Keep the clutter-busting simple. If you look at the whole picture, you might become overwhelmed and not do anything. As you eliminate the clutter from your environment, visualize what it is that you are making room for. This will begin the process of manifestation.

Kathy Browning is an Autoimmune Disease Nutrition Consultant and co-founder of HealthyDivas.com. She is the author of "The Diva Diet" and co-author of "Autoimmunity: It's Time for Truth; It's Time to Heal." Ms. Browning is the editor of "Conquering Autoimmunity", a monthly ezine for individuals with autoimmune disease. To learn more about autoimmune disease or subscribe to newsletter, visit http://www.HealthyDivas.com

Feng Shui Organizing: Use the "Natural Forces of the Universe" to Organize Your Life

2009-04-13T23:05:00.000-07:00

What is Feng Shui?

When translated into English, feng shui means "the way of the wind and water" or "the natural forces of the universe." People all over the world practice a form of feng shui. Europeans call it "geomancy," while Hawaiians and Native Americans practice their own form of feng shui. To organize your life using feng shui, it is helpful to learn more about the elements of our earth as well as the basic principles of feng shui.

Using the Elements

The Chinese believe everything in the world belongs to one of five elements--they are: water, wood, fire, earth, and metal. The easiest way to use the natural forces of the universe when you organize is to incorporate as many of these elements into your design scheme as you can. Decorating with items such as small fountains (water), candles (fire), plants/flowers (earth), and chimes (metal) helps you integrate these elements into your home and/or office and calm your soul.

Using the Principles

Clutter is trapped energy that has far-reaching effects. It affects you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. As you organize each room of your home, it is helpful to keep the Ten Basic Principles of Feng Shui in mind (Rich, 279). They are:

Clear the Clutter. Clutter takes up not only physical space but mental space too. Clearing out your home literally makes space for your future.

Keep the Front Entrance of Your Home Well-Maintained. Did you know that according to feng shui, your entry point is where all the energy flows into your home? Keep this area clean and well defined.

Allow Energy to Flow Freely. Clutter and awkwardly positioned furniture can inhibit the flow of energy throughout your home. Energy ushers in good health and harmony.

Contain the Energy. Using wind chimes, plants, and mirrors in your home will help you redirect the flows of energy. For instance, if your front and back door are directly aligned, wind chimes will redirect the flow of positive energy. Area rugs also anchor furniture groupings--helping the energy flow from one space to another.

Make Sure Everything Works. Maintaining your home and/or office directly affects your clarity. For instance, according to feng shui your home's plumbing represents your body's digestive system and the electrical system corresponds to your neurological system.

Check Out Your Home for Negative Energies. Distortions in the electro-magnetic fields of the earth can impact your home and mental clarity. Placing a fountain in front of your home is an excellent way to attract flowing money energy since the water element is the universal symbol for wealth and prosperity.

Be Aware of the Images and Symbols in Your Home. Your choices represent messages from your subconscious. Be careful to select accessories for your home and office that reflect what you want from your future.

Create a Quiet Sanctuary Within Your Bedroom. Your bedroom needs to be a haven of peace and tranquility--promoting restful sleep. For example, avoid using this place to work. Unless of course you find your work peaceful.

Make the Kitchen a Center of Calmness. Most kitchens are the hub of family life. Creating a calm atmosphere in this room affects the quality of the meals you provide for your family.

Love Your Home and It Will Love You. Your home should be thought of as a living entity. Caring for it properly allows you to feel supported, safe, and nourished.

Bringing It All Together

Just by practicing these few basic principles and incorporating the natural elements into your home, you will be able to clear the clutter out of your home and out of your life. If you need a little help getting started, don't hesitate to contact me. Sometimes all we need is a friendly professional to jumpstart the organizing process and get us going in the right direction.

Sheri McConnell is the President of the National Association of Women Writers (http://www.NAWW.org). She helps women writers and entrepreneurs discover, create, and profit from their intellectual knowledge! Free reports for writers available with subscription to NAWW Weekly. Sheri lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband Seth and their four children. Contact her at naww@onebox.com or her toll free number at 866-821-5829.

Reduce Stress With Feng Shui

2009-04-09T06:04:00.000-07:00

Reduce Stress With Feng Shui

For more than 3 millenia, Chinese people have used the ancient wisdom of Feng Shui to bring greater prosperity to themselves and to their environment. In the modern era, we are constantly being bombarded by stress.

Whether you're blowing your horn in a traffic jam, trying to wade through the spam emails clogging your inbox, taking unsolicited calls from salespeople on your home phone and that's not even counting the everyday demands put upon you by your work, family, household chores and if you have a second to spare - then try to cram in some "leisure time".

Is it any wonder your nerves are feeling jangled and frayed!

We are all guilty of trying to do too much throughout the day, constantly piling on the pressure with unfulfilled personal expectations just adding to stress of just getting through the day.

There is some good news...

You can restore your energy, recharge yourself and release tension by utilizing Feng Shui to create a home that is a sanctuary.

The principles of Feng Shui can help you create an environment to attract and direct positive energy. You may not be aware of how many different ways your physical space is affecting your well-being. Feng Shui provides help to identify the issues in your environment. If learning about Feng Shui sounds like one more project in an already busy life, consider this is one project which will lighten your load, provide relief and enhance your energy, rather than drain your internal resources or tire you out.

Making the pursuit of Feng Shui knowledge a worthwhile use of your time.

If your energy and your efforts are hindered, if your environment is increasing to your sense of restriction because the Feng Shui is out of balance, your stress only gets worse. Too much stress on the body has been demonstrated time and again as negative for your well being. The overproduction of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline put extra strain on all the systems in your body. These hormones contribute to chronic conditions, like heart disease for example which plague society.

Excess stress wears down the immune system and leads to increased susceptibility colds and other illnesses.

One of the keys to restoring energy and relieving stress is getting enough rest. Using Feng Shui to arrange your bedroom will help you get the fitfull sleep you need. Feng Shui will guide you in selecting the right room to sleep in, the right placement of your bed and the elimination of unwanted items - like mirrors in the bedroom.

All of which will contribute to the quality of your rest and your waking energy.

Anxiety and stress trap and deplete energy. Correct use of Feng Shui optimizes energy. An environment which employs proper Feng Shui principles contributes to harmony, balance and well-being. The Chinese believe Feng Shui helps create the conditions whereby you can excel in your life and your relationships.

Feng Shui restores your energy because the objective of Feng Shui is to allow you to reach balance with your surroundings. You will learn how to place items and arrange space so as to assist the flow of positive Chi energy. You will learn to leave negative energy at the door and fill your living space with good energy. With Feng Shui you can give yourself the positive pleasure of a harmonious, planned home environment designed to increase your well-being.

Tracy O'Brien is a long time student and practitioner of the ancient art of Feng Shui. She is also the founder of FengShuiAstrology.com

For more Feng Shui Tips and a FREE Feng Shui Astrology Personality Profile, visit: www.fengshuiastrology.com

Annual Forecast & Feng Shui Remedies for 2007: Yin Red Fire Pig Year - Rat Sign (Chinese Zodiac)

2009-04-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

The Chinese Zodiac Astrology is ancient, interesting, accurate and loved by millions across the world. The Chinese Zodiac is based on cyclic concept of time: a cycle of 12 years, repeated again and again. The 12 Years are associated with 12 Celestial Animals : Rat (or Mouse on Mongoose), Ox (or Buffalo or Bull or Cow), Tiger, Rabbit (or Hare or Cat), Dragon, Snake (or Serpent), Horse, Goat (or Sheep or Ram), Monkey, Rooster (or Hen or Cock or Chicken or Phoenix), Dog and Pig (or Boar or Hog). The animal names occasionally differ with the Oriental Country they originate. The Chinese Yearly Horoscopes are basically built around these 12 Animal Signs.

Your Chinese Astrological Zodiac Animal Sign is directly based on the Chinese Lunar Year of Birth that you were born. The Chinese New Year is mobile and could start anywhere between 21st January and 20th February, depending upon the year. If your Date of Birth falls into any of the following Chinese Lunar Years, then, because you are born in the Year of the Rat (or Mouse or Mongoose), you are symbolically identified by your Celestial Animal, the "Rat (or Mouse or Mongoose)":

From 31 Jan 1900 to 18 Feb 1901

From 18 Feb 1912 to 05 Feb 1913

From 05 Feb 1924 to 24 Jan 1925

From 24 Jan 1936 to 10 Feb 1937

From 10 Feb 1948 to 28 Jan 1949

From 28 Jan 1960 to 14 Feb 1961

From 15 Feb 1972 to 02 Feb 1973

From 02 Feb 1984 to 19 Feb 1985

From 19 Feb 1996 to 06 Feb 1997

In Chinese Hsia Calender, 2007 is the 4704th year and significantly, is also the fourth year of the New Feng Shui Land Luck Cyclic Period 8. The forthcoming new Chinese Lunar Year is from 18th February 2007 to 6th February 2008. The next Chinese New Year, the Yang Earth Rat will begin on 7th February 2008.

Enjoy the Annual Forecasts and learn about the suggested Feng Shui & Crystal Remedies that you may need for the coming "New Lunar Year 2007 : Ding Hai, the Year of the Yin Red Fire Pig" :

CAREER

2007 is an year of recovery for you - an year filled with promising changes, good developments and new positions. If you are an employee, chances of a good promotion and a reasonable monetary increment are quite high. Some of you may even branch out into your own profession or business. Open minded approach towards new opportunities, strategic planning, sustained hard work and timely implementation will fetch you more rewards. Controlling your temper and becoming more flexible at work place should be your top priority, apart from staying motivated. Expect troubles in unexpected situations and practice perseverance. Avoid getting into squabbles or conflicts, however petty. Arguments could lead to very unpleasant scenes or even back-stabbing.

If you step on anyone's toes this year, you will face a very nasty revenge. Display a Rooster figurine in your North West. If you have a male as your boss, consider yourself double lucky. If you are onto business, stop dreaming about mega projects as you will neither be able to mobilise resources nor the time for implementing it. If you have projects at implementation stage, you may have to redraw timelines and be prepared with contingency plans. Only your adaptive abilities and business management techniques can rescue you from frequent emergencies. Prepare yourself well for a better 2008. Accept the workload that you have to do, but don't get stressed out because of it. Carry a set of three Wou-Lou Coins with you. In the meanwhile, stay out of trouble with your business partners, team associates and office politics of the employees. Better be motivated, guided and protected by the Great Kuan Kung by placing his statue or photo in North West, lest you run out of steam quickly. Rats doing trading or in entertainment industry, beauty parlour, health accessories will do better.

MONEY

A rewarding year, as far as income is concerned. Some of you may attract windfall luck too. But do not get adventurous and get involved with risk-money. Read the fine prints deeply before signing up contracts and agreements. Stay away from illegal money transactions and unorthodox practices or else you could get into trouble with the long arms of the law. You could gain immensely from wearing the auspicious Sun Pendant, if possible in Crystal. Some of you would be spending lavishly because of shifting your home or office. Travel bills will shoot up. Plan your purchases. Do save money, as you would be needing it shortly.

HEALTH

Fatigue and lack of proper sleep due to workload will be a major concern. Indulge yourself with the crowds during the weekends (without overdoing it) and do some exercises when you find the time. Relax and unwind. Many of you will experience disorders related to stomach, intestines, digestive system, blood circulation and kidneys. It is high time to shift to quality food. Some could attract skin allergies. Beware of social diseases. The female of the species should take special care regarding rheumatism and gynecological ailments. If you are pregnant, be on your guard 24/7. Hanging a real, natural Chinese Wou-Lou near the head-board side of your bed would be of help in removing the sick energy. If you are a male born in the year 1948, you might suffer from accidents. If you were born in 1936, and if you have a medical history of heart disease, stroke or hypertension, this could be a critical year for you.

LOVE

Quality in personal relationships and new found friendships will bring joy and content. Activism in social circles will give you more strength and support. There will be many occasions to celebrate, including the addition of a new member to the family. Enjoy without over-burning yourself. As the "Flower of Romance" rules your Animal Sign, singles will be flooded with proposals. Pick and choose the ideal partner. If you are married, make sure of the harmonious equation with your spouse and avoid flirting with others. Use your head rather than your heart. If you were born in the year 1960, guard against triangular love. Spend quality time at home and wriggle out of arguments and conflicts there. Consider yourself as blessed, if you are part of a joint family. Installing the icon of a Rooster in the South West of your bedroom would also help.

STUDIES

Keep away from swaying emotions and love affairs, especially if you were born in 1984, as your Peach Blossom luck is quite strong and could drastically affect your morals and marks. To balance your chakras and emotions, wear a Black Tourmalene Crystal Pendant around your neck. If you were born in 1996, you could either change school or enroll into several after-school classes. Accept the parental wisdom with surrender. Group studies would do wonders this year.

Birthstone: Emerald
Good Relationships with: Rat, Dragon, Monkey, for 2007
Conflicts with: Horse, Rabbit, Goat, for 2007
Polarity Force: More Yin
Lucky Numbers: 1, 4, 5, 10, 11, 14, 41, 45, 51 & 54
Zodiac Protector: QuanYin or Avalokiteshwara (Sanskrit)

A NOTE ABOUT REMEDIES:

The above analysis has suggested some remedies/cures for reducing the impact of negative energy and has recommended certain enhancers for increasing and improving upon the beneficial energy of the year. For the remedies/enhancers to be effective, they should be cleansed, energised, blessed and programmed not only for the particular individual/family but also for the specific purpose/problem. They should also be placed in the indicated location, to derive the maximum benefit. Any or all of these remedies can be reused for the forthcoming new years, but they may have to be repositioned according to the specific new year.

Janarrdhana Guptha is an Energy Consultant, Kabbalah Energy Numerologist, Crystal Master & Clairvoyant Karma Reader. His speciality is permanent Karma Energy Correction through custom-built Crystal Energy Fields. His E-Mail: crystalvaastu@yahoo.com. His websites: http://www.crystal-vaastu.com/home.htm & http://www.newage-kabbalah-numerology.com

The Time of Day Using Feng Shui: Can you REALLY get more time out of your day using Feng Shui

2009-03-25T02:19:00.000-07:00

Time. There is never enough in the day. I see people every day rushing to get everything done at work, rushing in and out of stores on their way home to pick up dinner or necessities and weaving in and out to trying to get home as fast as they can (though did you ever notice you almost always see them at the next traffic light?).

Rushing home to rush through dinner, rush cleaning up, putting the kids to bed, straightening up and rushing to get ready for the next day to do it all over again. I wondered if there was a way using some Feng Shui Principles if we could actually save some time, slow down a bit so we could actually create in our lives what we are supposed to have, namely a balance in life. Of both work AND play.

Of course the first topic I cover with clients is Clutter. My definition of clutter is simple: if you don?t need it, use it or love it, get rid of it! If you need it somewhere down the road, believe me it will come back to you. We ask our clients to declutter because we can?t ?let the new in? when we have so many old things around. And clutter relates to the mind as well, a cluttered environment gives us a cluttered mind that doesn?t think (or work) quite as efficiently.

Certainly, if we took the time to clean up, get rid of the things we no longer need or use and spend some more time organizing what is left, we would be more efficient, particularly in a work environment. Perhaps we don?t want to take the time to do this but think how much faster (and clearer) you?ll work when you?ve finally organized and cleaned up your desk and your entire workspace. A place for things and everything in it?s place was an old saying and still works today. We can find things, our thoughts are not cluttered and in the end, we could potentially save a great deal of time.

I thought about the Elements we use in Feng Shui and remembered a very important principle one of our mentors stressed to us over and over again. Red is the most auspicious color of Feng Shui and we were told to use the color to enliven and stimulate a room or ourselves, for that matter. We were told that on days of low energy to wear the color Red as it helps gives off the energy it emits. I not only wear it on my days of low energy, I have splashes of it around my desk and in every room. Does it actually save time? Well, when you are feeling energized you can certainly accomplish a lot more than on days you are tired. And with energy, you actually DO work faster simply because you feel better. After the clutter goes, add Red around your work area; red tassels, silk flowers, money envelopes. And wear Red when you?re not at your usual energy level to save some more precious time.

I speak often to large and small groups and always go over the Bagua with them. Although all the areas are important, I focus many times on a section called ?Helpful People.? These are the people we know and care about in life, the kind of friend or family that will bring you back or send you a gift ?because they were thinking of you.? I happen to believe (possibly because I?ve seen it so often!) that helpful people can help you in just about any area of your life. Need a job? Looking for a new partner? Enhancing helpful people adds more helpful people more to your life. These people certainly can help you save time, often people are more then ready and willing to lend a hand---when you attract more into your life you will have even more. Funny thing about helpful people is you often don?t have to even ask them, they will offer to assist you with something. Take them up on it; it will save you more time and someday likely you?ll be able to return the favor.

It?s an old principle (and not a Feng Shui Principle) but it works. Using a ?To do? list and feeling a bit of accomplishment every time you can put a check mark down (or, as I like to do, cross it off) saves time. Time remembering what you have to do, who you have to call and where you have to go can save a lot of time. Having numbers ready as well often helps as well as putting the errand, chore or call you Least want to do FIRST and getting it out of the way helps a great deal. When the biggest hurdle of the day is over and done, the others seem to flow more smoothly. Try it, just a few extra minutes at night will save you more time the following day.

We use items in homes many people don?t often use and we use them for different reasons. One item we use quite often is Crystals. The help diffuse energy, circulate energy and crystals are actually said to help promote Clarity. Hang a crystal near or over your work space or on your computer if you spend a lot of time on it. Clarity when working is essential to get our work done as quickly and efficiently as possible, saving us both time and energy.

I do think the Chinese and many other people have been onto something for thousands of years in their use of Ginseng. I personally wouldn?t start my day without it. We follow the guidelines of Feng Shui and we help ourselves promote and maintain our own energy level through many ways. This is a good one; if you haven?t tried it, it?s unlikely you?ll be without it once you do.

Envision your day. A minute in the morning before you get up or just before you go to bed to actually visualize your day running smoothly can work wonders. Feng Shui uses Intention in everything we do and every change we make. The laws of attraction are always in place with like attracting like. Use visualization to SEE your day going well, having more time, finishing early. And seeing ourselves having more of that precious time we all need and want so much.

Now that you?ve got more time, remember one more Feng Shui Principle. We always seek to strive balance in life (using the symbol of Yin/Yang should remind you of that). And you know what they say about all work?.. Spend some of that precious, saved time on playing to create your balance. Maybe we actually CAN save time with Feng Shui in place.

Feng Shui Expert

Moving to Your New Abode A New Life Feng Shui

2009-03-19T00:02:00.000-07:00

The move to a new home or office is exciting. It holds promise for all kinds of new experiences and opportunities. We may well think in advance that new space will not have much impact on the lives or us and loved ones. But think again. Once we occupy a different space in the universe our lives and events are inextricably changed that is hopefully for the better. It is as if different geography affects our very karma.

What to do? First of all it is most important to start with a clean slate. There is something drawing and inviting about a new place. It is like a vacuum waiting to suck in all the adjacent influences. We can see this opening as the very spirit of our own potentialities.

This is what makes moving into a new space so vital and important in itself. Exploit the vastness of this potential to its very core. Get into the right mold by making actual conscious as well as the resulting "intuitive" " that it just feels right " subconscious choices as well. Moving in a deliberate thoughtful manner will help you to make sure that good karma comes and remains. Feng Shui.

First of pack early and pack often. Get started as soon as the moment you know events are chain. Secondly you should clean as you go. Clean your items before you pack them. Not everything is meant to be moved. A good rule of thumb is that if you have not used the item in the last year you are unlikely to use it in the next year. Donate or trash what you do not keep. Someone else at the local value village may be just thrilled at your throwaway. As for sentimental items best to keep only those items that impart good memories. The others - why let them drag you down.

You will need packing supplies. Plan ahead to buy on sale. Packing tape, duct tape, scissors and exacto knives are always necessary. You can never have enough boxes when you need them. Plan for double the amount of cardboard boxes you need.

You may want to hire a professional services to clean the space ahead of time or you do it yourself if funds are limited. A good time frame is 2 to 3 days ahead of the move in.

What else can you do to Feng Shui your move? Prepare your move with welcoming items for the new home such as beautiful flowers or plants, music and special items to make you feel welcome and loved. Next you can buy new mops and brooms. Why sweep away the past with the past. A new life needs all the help and the less drag it can afford.

It cannot be stressed enough the importance of picking the correct date for your new move. With a suitable Feng Shui astrological calendar pick a suitable personal Feng Shui moving date.

Lastly be ready for that big day. Prepare your arrival. Buy your house a gift. Have all your legal papers including your closing real estate documents or lease. Make sure you have a first meal there with friends and family whose company you enjoy.

Stand at the threshold of your new home. Enter that threshold. Open the door and begin your new life full of all its potential and vitality. Feng Shui your new home.

Amy Goodmann Senior analyst frxforex@yahoo.com www.tratfor.com www.forexforexforexforex.com.

BEFORE You Feng Shui - Things you MUST know before a Feng Shui Consultation

2009-02-04T23:35:00.000-08:00

Feng Shui is a Healing art. It is meant to inspire, transform, help and assist out clients to achieve their goals. I don?t believe it was ever intended to instill fear, make people uncomfortable in their own homes or worry about changes they make. And yet, that is exactly what I have been seeing lately.

A case in point: On a recent visit to a client I was dismayed to enter a beautiful condo unit and find complete and utter lack of attention to the home. By lack of attention, it had clearly not been cleaned in a very long time as the grime was built up on everything; the entire unit was cluttered with things lining both the furniture and couches. The kitchen went unused and it was almost impossible to step into the bedroom due to the clothes and debris all over the floor. Something had gone horribly wrong and we cleared off a space on the floor to sit and discuss her life and issues.

She was an intelligent, beautiful accomplished person who had previously been both a model and a singer in a band and was now on disability due to a recent accident. She told me that several years ago she still hadn?t found the right partner and had called a Feng Shui consultant for some help and advice on her relationship issues. The consultant pointed out problem after problem with the layout of her home, with her bathroom, with the direction of the front door----the list goes on. In short, she was told by the consultant to move, that this previously lovely condo would never support her nor would she ever have good luck while she lived there.

Flash forward to today and my visit. She had given up she said; what was the point? She did not have the money to move and truly believed there was nothing she could do to help enhance her life. Powerful and absolutely devastating words from someone she went to for advice and inspiration. Now her mindset was and had been misery. She no longer had friends over, certainly had not even opened herself up to the possibility of a relationship and was having a series of misfortunate ?accidents.? She had given up on her home and her life.

Trying to change her mindset after so many years was a daunting task. I showed her all the good points in her home and gave her easy, inexpensive things she could do to change the energy, starting with cleaning up and getting rid of the clutter. I addressed each room with a positive point of view and if something wasn?t ?politically? Feng Shui correct, showed her simple things to change it.

Sadly, I have been seeing this more and more in my consultations. While I truly believe in the many methods to use Feng Shui, I am always mindful to do no harm. In someone?s home or in their Mind. Yet I am finding client after client who has been told their front door faced the ?wrong? direction, the steps in the center of the home would mean constant health issues and everything negative while only providing their clients with expensive methods such as renovations or telling them the house will never support them at all.

I visit Real Estate offices quite frequently to speak on Feng Shui and Home Staging and honestly there hasn?t been one I have been in that wanted to work with a Feng Shui Consultant. Why? For one thing, Feng Shui Consultants never seem to find the ?perfect? home for their client; sometimes it?s the numbers on the door, sometimes it a misplaced bathroom, sometimes there is a ?negative? space and a complete area of the house is missing. Feng Shui consultants, I am told, point out only negative issues.

I am grateful that I attended classes in Feng Shui by such a wide spectrum of the very best teachers and mentors in the field who were able to provide me with a variety of inexpensive and easy to implement ?cures? for all these problems. When we look at a space, we see it through what is called ?Feng Shui Eyes? but these eyes can be positive in nature and instead, show a person or family how the home will support them and how to ?fix? a missing piece, show them the positive aspects of the front door and how to look at Feng Shui through a positive perspective.

We were taught to be healers in every aspect of the word; we are often challenged ourselves with clients who are so hurt and worried about homes they have been told can?t be fixed, that will never support them that their lives have changed so dramatically in a downward spiral.

Look for a Feng Shui Consultant to inspire you, give you the positive, use the beautiful transcendental cures and blessings and simple and inexpensive methods to change your environment for a more beneficial flow of energy. We are, as the wonderful Pamela Laurance inspired in us every day, to be Mindful, to help, to heal, to transform.

Certainly, finding a consultant who has been well trained in a variety of methods and practices from a positive point of view won?t get you ?stuck? in believing you need expensive renovations or that it?s time to move. They are the ones that will be able to transform, to help and heal and inspire. The positive aspects you put into your thoughts are, ultimately, what will provide you with exactly what you are seeking in every area of your life.

Feng Shui Expert

Feng Shui Practice

2009-02-01T22:46:00.000-08:00

This article which you are about to read has been written because of a growing interest in this subject all around the world, and I hope that by reading this you will have a few of your questions answered.

A belief, a system or a dogma that has existed, survived and is still in popular use today is worth taking a second look at. To dismiss them would simply be idiotic as many already have, and have proven nothing aside from making it known that they do not cotton onto the obvious.

There will always be the skeptics and believe me, they have had their share of helping issues to be advertised freely and more forcefully since once they have committed their emotions into fighting against something it happens that they become even more vocal than the adherents. It is true with religions, ideologies, new inventions and discoveries and yes, even Feng shui.

And so again, what is Feng shui and for centuries now, why has it survived?

In a nutshell, it is the result of the persistence of man in trying to live with his environment through harmonizing with it so that he gathers the positive forces and influences of nature to improve his wellness. Not a bad idea at all. In fact it almost sounds like most of the precepts in all the major religions except that it is not a religion. It is a practice. A belief system developed since the ancient times in China. Feng shui has persisted and spread, to almost all the known parts of the world. Unbeknown to many cultures, many Feng shui principles are already being practiced by them although with different connotations and justifications.

The practice of Feng shui has taken a prominent consideration in building designs, selecting sites, locations, decorations, business, personal practices, interrelationships, houses, rooms, pathways, medicine, you name it. It could be applied to almost everything and yes even the contour of a face and the force of character and vision in a person is said to be contributors to gaining good qi (pronounced as chi, a kind of energy from which life emanates) or not. Almost everything could be drawn to gain good Feng shui or bad Feng shui. It could have thousands of applications, from womb to tomb.

It is not exactly known when and where Feng shui started. There are very few written accounts of Feng shui prior to the last century. The practice then was to hand over the knowledge by word of mouth, from master to the student.

Even with that, the practice continued and improved. One thing that it owes to is that Feng shui is intuitive in nature and is practical. While it has often been dismissed as superstition, a bull and a crap, by those who are against it, its longevity could be traced to the benefits of all those who applied its principles. This proves as always, that the best argument is never good enough when it is aimed against success.

Feng shui holds so much validity for the Orientals that there were Chinese emperors who had their experts executed for fear that the knowledge could be used against them. In the 19th century, the Chinese government had control over the distribution of charts, numerical data and diagrams that were included in the almanacs that it released to the public.

Feng shui is an old practice that has developed through the centuries. In fact it is a part of the Chinese philosophy. The earliest formal account though is through the writings of Chu Hsi who lived during the Song Dynasty around 1126 to 1278. His writings then became the foundation of the practice of Feng shui. But as already mentioned, it goes a long way back.

But, you may be asking, is it of any use to me today? Well the answer is yes, it is, but you will only discover its secrets by conducting some methodical research yourself.

Where can you turn to for help in your research? For a start, visit your local bookstore, and you will be amazed at how much information they have on Feng Shui. Then you could try your local library. Also, look out for some helpful Blogs on this subject, and finally, the internet will provide you with a wealth of information.

john savage has a helpful Blog called Feng-Shui Secrets which you will find very revealing.

Feng Shui And The I Ching

2009-01-29T22:43:00.000-08:00

The I Ching (pronounced E Ching - aka "The Book of Changes") is perhaps the most ancient known of the classic Chinese texts (these texts date from the pre-Qin era - the Qin Dynasty ruled during 221 to 207 BC) and also one of the oldest texts known from antiquity.

The I Ching describes an ancient system of cosmology along with a philosophy at the very center of Chinese cultural beliefs still firmly in use today. The crux of this philosophy deals with the dynamics apparent between yin and yang and also how both yin and yang interact upon each other in opposing yet paradoxically complimentary ways.

Yin represents the still, the calm, the mellow whilst yang represents the exact opposite movement, frenetic activity and stress!

At the core of the I Ching are eight iconic depictions known as Trigrams. Each trigram is comprised of yin and yang line elements. The origin of these trigrams is attributed to the figure "Fu Hsi" some 5 millenia ago.

More information on the history of the trigrams and the Lo Shu can be found here:
http://www.fengshuiastrology.com/LoShu.html

The I Ching uses two trigrams, one placed upon the other to form a Hexagram. The different combinations of the stacked trigrams give rise to some 64 different I Ching hexagrams - each of which when used in combination can give valuable insights to the answers sought by divination practitioners.

Many people look upon the I Ching as purely a system of divination whereas others see it's contents as teachings - full of the wisdom of the Chinese ancients.

It's title throws up a profound view of it's contents:

"I" when used as an adjective means "simple or easy" but when used as a verb means "to change".

"Ching" means "classic text" but the original meaning is one of "persistence" or "regularity"

A popular translation of this title is "Book of Changes" but it is also known as "Classic of Changes" - a title growing in use of late.

The underlying message within the I Ching recognised by many is one of "the ultimate way" or truth - no matter what time the reader comes across the contents, the information contained within will still be as fresh and applicable as the day it was written.

If the information is understood, applied and followed - you can enjoy the easiest of paths through life.

The I Ching is one of the foundations of Feng Shui (or as it was known in antiquity "Xiangdi" - meaning the observation and appraisal of the earth). Before the Qin dynasty (approximately 475 to 221 BC), Feng Shui Experts poured over the I Ching in great depth and used it's teachings to influence the fundamentals of Feng Shui as we know it today.

Along with the I Ching, Feng Shui has it's roots firmly steeped in the philosophies of Taoism and Confusianism as well.
Tracy O'Brien is a long time student and practitioner of the ancient art of Feng Shui. She is also the founder of FengShuiAstrology.com Visit now for more Feng Shui Tips, FREE Feng Shui Astrology Reading and more information on Feng Shui And I Chinghttp://www.fengshuiastrology.com

Feng Shui and Chi

2008-11-07T22:11:00.000-08:00

Feng Shui is an ancient discipline which shifts the chi (life force energy) in your home to improve your life. Children are indeed a blessing and add joy to one's household. In ancient times, a family was regarded as incomplete without children. Many methods were utilized so that couples could be successful in their bids for children. However, like many young things, children can get out of hand sometimes. Applying Feng Shui can help you enhance your relationship with your children, understanding their needs and so strengthening family ties. If you wish to enhance your relationship with your children, sleep with your head pointed at your Nien Yin direction. You can find this direction using your Kua number Sleeping in this position will help bring you closer to your children and strengthen family ties.

If you have been trying for children or your offspring are getting out of hand, check if there is any offending man-made structure that is sending out harmful poison arrows towards your main door. To boost up romance, play smart with lighting. Yellow, white and red lights are just appropriate to set the mood for romance. Use soft romantic shades in your room like pink. Ideally windows should have direct natural light.

According to the 8 Life Aspirations, children and descendants are governed by West. The element of West is Small Metal and the colors are Gold, Silver and White. Metal is produced by Earth and is destroyed by Fire. Avoid having any major Fire or Water element in this section of your home.

If you wish to enhance your relationship with your children, sleep with your head pointed at your Nien Yin direction. You can find this direction using your Kua number Sleeping in this position will help bring you closer to your children and strengthen family ties.

Add trees, plants or upward lighting to raise energy. Plants are signs of life, but they must be kept healthy, dead or dying plants or even dead leaves are bad Feng Shui, as they represent death and decay.

Clear your clutter. Not just the obvious junk lying around, but also old books/CDs/DVDs that you don't like anymore, old clothes that are too big/too small, stuff that's accumulated in random drawers/closets. Even your garage should be a tidy place to store things, not a mass of boxes and random stuff.

Don't make your house a storehouse of old useless things. Maintain cleanliness and throw away what is not required or what has become obsolete. Its important to make way for proper ventilation so that old energy can find space to go out so as to let new fresh positive energy get in. There is a need for some relocation of furniture. Even if you move your furniture just by an inch or so, it will generate positive energy.

If the West section is missing in your home, you can install a bright light or a mirror to partially remedy this problem. You can also activate the West section of your bedroom as well.

Energize the East section of your home. East represents Health and Longevity - the colour of East is dark green and the element is wood. If the East section of your home is located in the living room, dining room or a room that is not used as a bedroom, place some live potted plants or furniture made of real wood to activate the corner.

Water is good in the wealth areas of a home, but never in the bedroom. Add fountains to increase the flow of Yang energy or a fish tank for a double bonus of Feng Shui, water plus a living animal is excellent Feng Shui. To counter a large, imposing fireplace, place a picture of a waterfall directly above the fireplace, or put a fountain next to it.
Rob Daniels is a long term practitioner of Yoga and Pilates additional articles available at Pilates Shop http://www.pilates-shop.net and Yoga Store http://www.yoga-store.net

Grandma was RIGHT! Learning to Forgive witih Feng Shui

2008-10-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

And to see the silver lining in any situation. Grandma was right, after all.

Feng Shui Expert

By: Carole Provenzale

Feng Shui Long Island

http://www.FengShuiLI.com

FengShuiLI@aol.com

The Curse of the Feng Shui Money Frog!?!

2008-10-24T03:16:00.000-07:00

ARe Feng Shui Money Frogs classed as cursed objects or are they possessed of more friendly and positive forms of powers and qi (chi)?

What is Feng Shui?

The author is a career computer professional and an avid support of the arts.

Using Feng Shui to Clear the Clutter

2008-10-16T23:16:00.000-07:00

Ridding yourself of clutter (even things which were once of value to your life) makes room in your life for what you really want and need now, at this point in your life.

Ten Tips for Eliminating Clutter

1. Use the Ultimate Clutter Test ~ Does it lift your energy? Do you use it? Do you love it? If you answer no to these questions, it's time to let it go.

2. Give yourself a miniature energy shift ~ Set a kitchen timer for 30 minutes and clear a small area such as a kitchen drawer. You will probably find you are feeling more energized and might have trouble stopping!

3. Put things away within 30 seconds of using them. ~ How many times have you tossed a magazine on the table, intending to get back to it? Is it still on the coffee table? Just for today, put everything back in its place.

4. Throw things away often ~ 80% of what is stored or saved is never used again - that applies to papers, clothes, magazines etc. Maybe it's time to clean out those old files stored on your computer or your desk?

5. Make a list of all the unfinished things in your life ~ This could include letters or phone calls you need to make, someone you need to apologize to, an appliance that doesn't work. Then set out to complete these things. They have all been draining your energy.

6. Do a little clutter busting every day ~ Sort mail daily and file your paperwork. Have a place to put things so you don't waste time looking for your keys etc.

7. Get rid of old clothes ~ Ask yourself these questions: Do my clothes represent who I am now? Do they make me feel good about myself? If your closet is filled with clothes you no longer need, donate them to charity. Open up space in your closet for new things to come in.

8. Clean out your cupboards and refrigerator ~ Do you have any non-perishable items that you know you won't eat? Donate them to a food bank or offer them to your neighbor. Get rid of outdated food items in the refrigerator and give it a good cleaning.

9. Donate books that no longer serve your needs ~ Aim to have a collection of books that represent you as you are today, not who you were in the past.

10. Think before you buy ~ The next time you go shopping, ask yourself before you buy something, "Do I really love this and need it?"

As you identify and release your clutter, you free up the energy held there for more constructive purposes. Your life may take off in ways you never thought possible.

Ba Zi And Feng Shui

2008-10-13T00:21:00.000-07:00

Ba Zi can be literal translate as 'Eight Characters'. Basically, Ba Zi is derived from birth date: the year, month, day and time you were born. Each consists of a distinct pair of characters, hence making up the eight characters. From these eight characters, thousands of combination is possible. Ba Zi is derived from four pair of character, thus, sometime people refer to it as the Four Pillars or Si Zhu as well.

To the Chinese, a period of sixty year is known as one Jia Zi. In ancient China, from experience and by observing the nature, the Chinese discovered a phenomenon. A cycle of climatic or chronology event seem to repeat every sixty year. Meaning if year 2000 is a full of rainfall, the climate for 2060 would be similar. With this knowledge, prevention can be make. Especially, since the weather has an impact on the agriculture, economy and health.

The eight characters are make up of Yin and Yang variation of the Five Elements: Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire, Yang Earth, Yin Earth, Yang Metal, Yin Metal, Yang Water and Yin Water. By analyzing the combination of these eight characters, the personality, destiny of a person can be determine.

With a deeper understanding of ones own personality, you can open up potential and maximize growth. Have better emotional control and decision making. With the knowledge of upcoming influence forces, you are more ready to react and bring out the best performance and avoid unnecessary set back. Knowing your destiny does not mean "That is it. I am fate to be..." This knowledge should be view as a guidance, a map, a motivation booster.

Destiny can be change. But you have to put in a lot of hard work, a lot of perseverance, a lot of determination. There is no free lunch. For example, you have a Ba Zi which indicates that you will be rich. Each day passes by, you dream about what you are going to do when you are rich. You dream about how you are going to spend the money. BUT, you do nothing to make your dream come true. You say to yourself "I am fated to be rich one day... it does not matter if I work hard or not ..." Soon, one day, when your are too old and weak, you will find that you are not rich at all, instead, you are in debt, facing bankruptcy!

What does Ba Zi got to do with Feng Shui? You might ask? Think of Ba Zi as a map, with road sign and indicators to guide you along your life path. Feng Shui becomes the tool that would help you to overcome any obstacle and let you have a smooth journey. For example, if your Ba Zi indicates that you are a hot-tempered person and you find that your relationship with others is not too good. You are constantly angry and it seems like everybody come looking for a fight. The Feng Shui consultant would analysis your Ba Zi and might advice you to wear a sapphire ring, for example. Slowly you would find that there is a change to your life. You find that you have lesser argument with the people around you. You feel good. You can focus on your personal growth. You can do the things that truly resonate with your heart.

Qi Yuan Feng Shui offer feng shui, palmistry, face reading and selection of auspicious date consultaion for individual, businesses and residential clients. Check for more info at http://www.qyfengshui.com or feel free to drop us a mail at enquiry@qyfengshui.com.

Feng Shui Organizing: Use the "Natural Forces of the Universe" to Organize Your Life

2008-07-21T23:16:00.000-07:00

What is Feng Shui?

Using the Elements

Using the Principles

Clear the Clutter. Clutter takes up not only physical space but mental space too. Clearing out your home literally makes space for your future.

Keep the Front Entrance of Your Home Well-Maintained. Did you know that according to feng shui, your entry point is where all the energy flows into your home? Keep this area clean and well defined.

Allow Energy to Flow Freely. Clutter and awkwardly positioned furniture can inhibit the flow of energy throughout your home. Energy ushers in good health and harmony.

Contain the Energy. Using wind chimes, plants, and mirrors in your home will help you redirect the flows of energy. For instance, if your front and back door are directly aligned, wind chimes will redirect the flow of positive energy. Area rugs also anchor furniture groupings--helping the energy flow from one space to another.

Make Sure Everything Works. Maintaining your home and/or office directly affects your clarity. For instance, according to feng shui your home's plumbing represents your body's digestive system and the electrical system corresponds to your neurological system.

Check Out Your Home for Negative Energies. Distortions in the electro-magnetic fields of the earth can impact your home and mental clarity. Placing a fountain in front of your home is an excellent way to attract flowing money energy since the water element is the universal symbol for wealth and prosperity.

Be Aware of the Images and Symbols in Your Home. Your choices represent messages from your subconscious. Be careful to select accessories for your home and office that reflect what you want from your future.

Create a Quiet Sanctuary Within Your Bedroom. Your bedroom needs to be a haven of peace and tranquility--promoting restful sleep. For example, avoid using this place to work. Unless of course you find your work peaceful.

Make the Kitchen a Center of Calmness. Most kitchens are the hub of family life. Creating a calm atmosphere in this room affects the quality of the meals you provide for your family.

Love Your Home and It Will Love You. Your home should be thought of as a living entity. Caring for it properly allows you to feel supported, safe, and nourished.

Bringing It All Together

Reduce Stress With Feng Shui

2008-07-11T23:07:00.000-07:00

Reduce Stress With Feng Shui

Is it any wonder your nerves are feeling jangled and frayed!

We are all guilty of trying to do too much throughout the day, constantly piling on the pressure with unfulfilled personal expectations just adding to stress of just getting through the day.

There is some good news...

You can restore your energy, recharge yourself and release tension by utilizing Feng Shui to create a home that is a sanctuary.

Making the pursuit of Feng Shui knowledge a worthwhile use of your time.

Excess stress wears down the immune system and leads to increased susceptibility colds and other illnesses.

All of which will contribute to the quality of your rest and your waking energy.

Tracy O'Brien is a long time student and practitioner of the ancient art of Feng Shui. She is also the founder of FengShuiAstrology.com

For more Feng Shui Tips and a FREE Feng Shui Astrology Personality Profile, visit: www.fengshuiastrology.com

Real Estate Marketing Strategies: 5 Tips to Feng Shui Your Mind

2008-07-02T23:04:00.000-07:00

Is Your Mindset Working For You?

In today?s changing market where the predominant energy is fear, your challenge is to be extremely vigilant about what you focus on. Why is your deliberate focus more important now than ever?

What are you giving attention to? If you?re giving attention to what you don?t want, such as lack, that is what you?ll be getting. It may also show up for you as attracting unmotivated, indecisive, and uncommitted clients. However, change your mindset and you?ll be attracting your ideal clients ? clients that are appreciative of your services.

The Panic Problem

In my 10 years of experience empowering real estate agents to reach their goals, I?ve coached many clients who were subconsciously attracting unwanted outcomes. They came to me feeling panicked and worried about market conditions and slowing sales.

They were diligently working to get their listings sold. But their tried-and-true marketing activities were no longer working. What was the problem? Their focus had shifted with their fearful state of mind.

Are you, as they were, preoccupied with things like:
? How tough the market is
? How there are too many houses for too few buyers
? How unlikely it is for your listing to sell

If you are, you will be creating the very thing you don?t want, which is that your listing won?t sell.

So what do you do?

The Power Solution

Sustaining a positive, high energy mindset is key to attracting your desired outcomes. Because it directly impacts your thoughts, beliefs and feelings, you need to work on your mindset daily to ensure that is working in your favor.

What are you doing for your mind? And did you know that you can create a feng shui for your mind to get your listed houses to sell?

Just as a house is more likely to sell when the energy has been positively enhanced with feng shui, your mind is more likely to create a positive outcome when you have been practicing the Law of Attraction. This powerful tool gives you a step-by-step procedure to become magnetic for abundance, sales, prosperity, and so forth.

Ready to go from panic to power? Here are 5 tips for using the Law of Attraction to help you do just that.

Tip 1: Create a Clear Focus.

How can the universe give you what you want unless you know exactly what that is and focus your energy to attract it? Notice I have included two key elements here:

1. Be absolutely clear about what you want.

2. Give deliberate attention to that desire.

Too often I hear my clients say, ?I want my listings to sell? without being clear on what their desired sales scenario looks like.

I suggest visualizing your ideal sale. See yourself placing the SOLD sign and declare the number of days the home has been on the market. Ask yourself how the purchase price compares to the asking price. What is your income? Is it a full or split commission?

You get the idea. Be clear, detailed, and specific about what you want. Once you are, then choose to focus on only that. Channel your energy with the intention of attracting what you want.

TIP 2: Create Harmony Between Your Energy and Your Desires.

Feel what it feels like to already have what you want. When you do, the energy vibrations you send out into the universe match what you desire, attracting it back to you.

To create that matching energy, visualize in an ?as if? mode. In other words, use the power of your imagination to feel ?as if? your listings have already sold as quickly, easily, and profitably as you wanted.

What positive feelings are you experiencing? Most agents who do this activity say that they feel confident, satisfied, elated, exhilarated, just plain good, etc.

Whatever your unique feelings, know that the more you experience them, the more you magnetize the events leading up to these feelings to fall into your lap. So practice this ?as if? mode every day.

Here?s a tip: It?s easier to recapture those magnetic feelings if you describe in writing what you visualized to create those feelings. Two to three sentences will suffice. You may even want to pattern it after the following which is an actual desire statement from one of my clients:

?My current house sells and I feel elated, happy, and ecstatic. I have two transactions that close in the coming month and I feel accomplished, successful, and prosperous.?

Once you?ve written your desire statement, read it aloud daily for 16 seconds. Feel your vibrations rise and watch as your attraction for what you want increases.

Tip 3: Clear Your Mental Clutter.

Your energy needs to flow freely without encountering harmful obstructions so that the Law of Attraction will work for you. So clear away all self limiting beliefs. How? You?ll need to do a little soul searching, usually with the help of a professional coach specializing in this area, to uncover your subconscious opposing beliefs. They are our blind spots. They are below the surface of our awareness.

After you have identified these self limiting beliefs, reprogram them to become Empowering Beliefs that are in alignment with what you want. Here is an example of one of the self limiting beliefs that I often hear from my clients, followed by what it sounds like after I helped them reprogram it into an Empowering Belief:

Self limiting belief: ?I don?t have what it takes to get my listings sold in a market as tough as this one?

Empowering belief: ?I have everything I need to succeed at getting my listings sold in any market?

Now, just how important is it to clear your mental clutter through this transformation of beliefs?

Think about it this way. You wouldn?t risk sabotaging a sale by inviting clients to view a home that was cluttered with boxes or furniture that block freedom of movement. Yet you are probably trying to invite business into a mind that is cluttered with self-limiting beliefs that constrict the flow of energy into your business and block you from getting the very business that you want.

Tip 4: Take Inspired Action and Allow It to Come to You.

Replace action based on fear with action based on intuition. There?s a very good reason for this. When you follow your inspired thoughts with inspired action ? steps you are motivated to do by your inner nudgings or hunches ? you feel good, energized and joyful. These feelings positively raise your energy vibrations and you become even more magnetic for what you want.

Here?s a tip: Find a way to quiet your mind so that you can listen to your inner nudgings. Chances are you?ve already experienced what intuition feels like, and you probably have acted on that intuition. That?s an example of inspired action. Begin to appreciate all of your thoughts and feelings so that you are more aware when you do get a hunch. Then act on it. What is your intuition telling you to do?

Tip 5: Follow the Formula.

Properly practice the Law of Attraction to get the results you want. Similar to feng shui, practicing the Law of Attraction requires understanding and consistent implementation on a day-to-day basis.

If you find this challenging to do on your own, know that you are in the good company of many others. Most of my clients find it much easier and more effective to have the ongoing guidance, support, and encouragement that a professional business coach can offer.

Whether going solo or with a coach, the bottom line is that you want to make sure you are correctly following the step-by-step process for the Law of Attraction. Why? Because with the Law of Attraction, ?like attracts like? whether wanted or unwanted. To successfully become the deliberate creator of your sales success, become a master of the Law of Attraction.

As a review: Remember to work on your mindset every day to ensure that positive energy flows to make good things happen. Take care not to let external conditions control your mindset. Keep a positive, success mindset and expand the flow of energy into your business. The future of your business depends on your prosperity mindset, not the outer conditions, which are constantly changing.

For more information on powerful marketing tips and tools, please visit Maya's website: www.90daystomoreclients.com While you're there, get your Free Audio Mentoring Session by clicking the first button.

How to Improve Your Child's Bedroom With Feng Shui

2008-06-25T23:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-19T22:43:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-06-15T23:04:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

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.

Life Reading Vs Feng Shui, Which is Important

2008-05-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

Should we focus more on Personal Life Reading (Heaven Luck) or Feng Shui (Earth Luck)? This has always been an argument.

Which is more significant? Heaven Luck or Earth Luck?

To start off, let's first talk about life reading.

Now, is life reading really 100% accurate? The answer is no. Many have had the misconception that life reading is able to 100% predict past & future events. Life reading tools is a tool used to forecast what is supposed to happen based on one's heavenly given luck; the Heaven Luck that follows you along your birth. It is calculated based on the assumption that there are no presences of any other external factors of influences around you.

Yes, it is definitely in its way accurate based on given Heaven Luck. However in this real world, we can't deny the fact of the presence of other external factors. Your residing and working environment, your education received, people to people relationship and etc will all have direct impact over your life's achievement. And they are especially so when it comes to your home (the Earth Luck) and your relationship with people around you (the Human Luck). It is these factors, which often result in the difference you experienced from that of your predicted luck from Life Reading Analysis.

For example, your predicted luck period may be bad. But on the other hand, your home Feng Shui and nevertheless its surrounding environment is good. Given such a scenario, you will often realize that your luck is not exactly that bad as what was predicted and at times even better.

Now, why is this so? Let's answer this question. How much time do you normally spent in your home? On the average, half or more of each day? And that explains why. For most of the time, you are actually in a good environment, receiving the beneficial Qi from a good Feng Shui environment, having improving and enhancing on your Earth Luck.

Now, what is the purpose for getting your personal life reading analysis? May we assume is to better avoid the unpleasant and improve your overall luck?

To be advising, by getting your life reading analyzed is not enough. It is just like going for a health check up. What should happen if one should misfortunately be diagnosed with some health problem, some unforeseen cancer? He or she can't just wait to get well on his or her own. The necessary treatment or operation has to be arranged. And similarly, it is not possible to wait around and expect your luck would be tremendously changed and improved on its own. By discovering your life reading analysis, you are only advised on how to avoid the unpleasant but do note, your luck has not in anyway been altered.

What can you do?

Let's take for another example. Based on your annual life analysis, you are advised not to be involved in any major business investment for the year. Besides being cautious and avoiding, what else should you do? What if you are running a business? You can't possibly be pushing away all business dealings?

This is the time where Feng Shui would come into place to improve on your wealth luck, which at the same time minimize and prevent any unnecessary losses. It is a tool on its own which always bring about beneficial improvement.

To get the best out of things, the combination of different and functional tools should be used. With the accurate analysis of your personal life reading, you can better be avoiding the unpleasant. And with the further correct application of Feng Shui, you can very much improve on your luck. Complementing one another, they would certainly be beneficial aids in enhancing one's life achievement. Now, isn't this getting the best out of both worlds? Getting both the cake and the pie?

To be answering the question again, one should focus on both Heaven and Earth Luck and not also forgetting our own actions, the Human Luck.

Jon Sim Geomancer & Feng Shui Master of http://www.art-of-fengshui.com, Art of Asia Classical Feng Shui.

NOTE: You're free to republish this article on your website, in your newsletter, in your e-book or in other publications provided that the article is reproduced in its entirety, including the author information and all live website link as above.

7 Easy, Fast Ways Feng Shui Help You

2008-05-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

Feng Shui has been around for millenia. The accumulated knowledge acquired and transferred from generation to generation is vast.

The literal meaning of Feng Shui is "Wind and Water". It is both art and science in it's use. This is why different practitioners can give different advice on the same subject.

This apparent contradictory advice can be explained by a matter of "perspective". 2 people can see the same environment entirely differently and both can be correct in interpretation and execution of remedial action.

The application of Feng Shui is meant to give you optimal support and help in your life to help you reach your goals. Whenever you are feeling out of sorts with yourself and your environment, you can be sure you will experience a negative and draining effect compounding the problem making it ever more difficult for you to get to where you want to go.

There is good news, Feng Shui can help - it may not be a knight in shining armour to the rescue but it's effects can be just as impressive.

Tip #1 - Work with it, not against it - Would you like to know the fastest way to improve your personal circumstances?
If you take the position where fate and luck are out of our control (which is not entirely true as our thoughts are critical to how things unfold), then the next biggest area we can impact our lives is in our environment. Feng Shui gives us the exact tools and knowledge we need to change this. Interestingly, as everything is connected to everything else, by proactively changing your environment you will also notice distinct changes in your "luck"

Tip #2 - Feel The Force Luke Remember Star Wars? Science fiction it may be but it's closer to science fact. All around us pervades a universal force of energy. The ancient Chinese described this force as "chi" (and the Japanese "Ki"). Chi is also known as "cosmic breath" is with us always and ever, under normal circumstances 99% of humans are oblivious to it but the act of breathing in and of itself is a powerful way to get in touch with chi. In fact, the ancient practice of Chi Kung is a highly potent way to do so and has many health and relaxation benefits associated with it. Get in touch with your own personal power your personal chi and recognise it's presence and use in your own environment.

Tip #3 - If you know someone is going to be an unwanted guest beforehand - don't invite them. As simple and trite as this sounds, it is all too often ignored. A typical example is one whereby you feel compelled to invite a quarrelsome family member into your home. You know before they arrive things are not going to turn out well but you still invite them anyway - because they're "family". Well, you can't choose your family but you can choose when to invite them. The same goes for "friends" or friends of friends - if you know they too are going to cause discord in your home, do your best to uninvite them! The negative chi accompanying their presence will last a lot longer than the duration of their visit and you can ill afford the addition of negative energy to your home, particularly when it is under your own power to avoid in the first place.

Tip #4 - Letting go of someone you love is difficult to do but we have to let go. When someone's body has run it's course on this world, they must symbolically have their spirits released. If you are tempted to retain the cremated ashes of a loved one in your home, resist! An urn full of ashes is a potent reminder of their demise rather than a celebration of their wonderful life.

Tip #5 - Get rid of dried flowers. They may be convenient but there is no substitute for the real thing. Unfortunately, dried flowers carry negative chi - devoid of the positive energy and lifeforce their real equivalents posess. In addition, you'll find dried flowers are a magnet for dust (again negative in nature) which of course can aggrevate your breathing giving rise to potential allergies.

Tip #6 - If it's, it has to go. Be it dried flowers, cremated remains, dust, stuffed animals, rotten fruit or food well past it's edible date, there is a clear message to be had here. Throw it out!. Items devoid of life do not possess positive chi and their very presence is an attractor for negative chi. This will in turn have grave repurcussions for your health, wealth and happiness.

Tip #7 - "Crassula" - aka "The money plant". A healthy money plant positioned in your home's southeast sector is very auspicious for your propserity. Remember the onus is on "healthy". You need to tend your plants and nurture them just as you would any other investment. Ignore them at your financial peril.

Tracy O'Brien is a long time student and practitioner of the ancient art of Feng Shui. She is also the founder of FengShuiAstrology.com For more Feng Shui Tips and a FREE Feng Shui Astrology Personality Profile, visit: http://www.fengshuiastrology.com

The Chi of Home Staging: The Art of Feng Shui and Home Staging

2008-05-28T22:48:00.000-07:00

Parading a seeming endless group of buyers through a home only to hear it ?just isn?t for them? can be frustrating, to say the least. Words like ?Home Staging?, ?Curb Appeal? are the current new buzzwords for many of the Principles Feng Shui Practitioners have been using for years.

Feng Shui, literally translated to mean ?Wind and Water? seeks to create an environment that is welcoming, inviting and balanced making the homeowners (or potential homeowners) feel enhanced in a space. We believe it?s the ENERGY of a space, not just the design or decorating although these play an important role as well.

Some of the very same concepts Realtors use to show a home we have been using for years but look at it in a different way. For example, Real Estate Agents always open the blinds and turn on the lights, making the space brighter and more open. A big principle in Feng Shui is ?letting the outdoors IN? so that the energy flow is in balance. Additionally, agents may add plants or fresh flowers as eye deflections or to add color. We add these very things as well with the intention of adding Life Force into a space.

The hardest homes by far to sell are those that have been left empty. In that instance, the eye is deflected to every crack in the wall or imperfection in the home. Aside from some pretty decorations, filling up a space even a little changes it from a lifeless home into one with Energy and feeling.

The very first and one of the most important principles of Feng Shui is to declutter, something every home seller is asked to do. From our perspective, you can?t allow the new, fresh energy to enter until you have let go of clutter. Starting to see similarities here?

What is it, then, that a Feng Shui Practitioner might change or add in addition to the standard list already given to homeowners wishing to sell, sell fast and get the best possible price? First, we want to give them the very best first impression possible. Let nothing outside be overlooked from overgrown shrubbery to a clear pathway, color in the form of flowers, lights or decorative lawn objects. Small wind chimes look pretty if seen and sound lovely. To Feng Shui Consultants, the entrance to the home is the Mouth of Chi so it is important that everything leading to is cleaned and maintained and that the Front Door is clean and painted, open and inviting. ?Grace your entryway? is a term often heard in Feng Shui.

Walking into a home should make you feel welcomed at once. A warm start and the proper flow of energy throughout the entire home is what appeals to the potential buyer. A key thought I had used to sell my previous home is not popular among many agents, but it worked for me.

I was having a gathering of people and asked my realtor to bring her most interested clients. She thought it best wait until no one was home but I was somewhat insistent. The buyers walked into light, laughter, music, nice aromas and, most importantly, good ENERGY. We got two offers the next morning.

So, what?s the checklist before showing a home?

Cleaning it thoroughly. And when you think you?re done, clean it again. A home that looks well kept looks loved.
De Clutter Sometimes the homeowner doesn?t even realize what they are living in. Cleaning up and cleaning out is the best advice you can give them from both a Home Staging AND Feng Shui Perspective.
Depersonalize: A possible new occupant cannot imagine themselves in a new space when the homeowner?s energy and personal object are all around. Taking away collections, removing personal pictures and leaving some spaces open allows people to envision themselves in that space.
Lighten up: Too much furniture or heavy furniture makes a room feel heavy. If the space is too crowded, energy can?t flow. Ask them to rent a temporary storage space if necessary and explain the reasons why to make them more receptive.
Look at the Lighting: Sometimes just softening the lighting in a room can make a tremendous difference into creating the warmth in a space you are trying to achieve. See if you can find warm or even some different colored bulbs on occasion to give a new feeling to a room that needs some help.
Decorate with Style. Setting the table or leaving a bowl of colorful fruits out adds positive energy.
Window treatments are very important. Check to see if they help keep the room light and airy or have it feeling heavy and dark, even when opened. Home Stagers often work with a seamstress, can get fabric at wholesale and have a new look with very little expense.
For homes that need more help, a fresh coat of paint or a new rug can do wonders for a room. Make sure your Stager has a good and inexpensive painter that they work with to help achieve getting the most for your money in redoing a room.
Sometimes, investing in renting furniture can be a huge payoff. For homes that are left lifeless and sit on the market a long time, it could have been sold with even the more expensive methods of home staging for less then their very first price reduction.

Feng Shui items we use to keep the energy flowing and achieve the life force and five elements include the use of mirrors which can draw people into a space or intensify a lovely object. We use crystals that oftentimes can?t even be seen but help the chi to activate and the energy to flow. We often incorporate small water fountains for the use of sounds and a soothing feeling. We love plants and flowers as they are true life force and always add good energy to a space. Oftentimes we change the flow just by rearranging the furniture. We look at the home with both decorative and what we refer to as ?Feng Shui Eyes.?

As a Feng Shui Consultant who frequently works with Realtors, I have heard the horror stories of a sale about to be made when a Feng Shui Consultant tells a new buyer that home won?t support them. I don?t practice Feng Shui using fear or negativity, I feel a home can always support a new occupant through the use of simple and inexpensive objects. Feng Shui was never intended to be the cause of fear or negativity, it is used to help and enhance everyone in their spaces in every area of their lives. Feng Shui can assist with a sale as well when the homeowners are told how the new home will support them.

People are much more in tune with Feng Shui and Energy then they were even just a few years ago. Being the Real Estate Agent with knowledge in this field gives you an edge over other Realtors in the fact that homeowners are much more interested and are often impressed with another way to look at things.

Please note that there are currently no standardized accreditations in place for either a Feng Shui Consultant or a Home Stager. Although some carry training that will give them the appearance of having the work ?expert? or ?accredited? after their names, the courses vary from two day online to several days. Look for someone who has been in business a number of years or someone who comes with good recommendations.

Costs for a complete evaluation of a home for Home Staging, Curb Appeal and Feng Shui Principles to get that home sold FAST should be under $200. They should incorporate all of the principles mentioned and be clear to both the Agent and the Homeowner on what to do to best optimize their chances to sell quickly for the best prices.

For additional information on Feng Shui and Real Estate, please visit www.FengShuiLI.com

If you have any questions about home staging, please contact us at

HomeStagingLI@aol.com

Carole Provenzale has been a Certified Feng Shui Consultant since 1997 and is the Founder of Feng Shui Long Island and Home Staging Long Island. In addition to providing caring and affordable consultations for Homes and Businesses and working with Realtors, Architects and Contractiors, Carole is a keynote speaker and published author. Please visit her website for addition information at http://www.FengShuiLI.com or email her directly at FengShuiLI@aol.com or HomeStagingLI@aol.com

7 Feng Shui Tips For Spicing Up Your Lovelife

2008-05-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

Are you happy with your lovelife or would you like to see it improved?

No matter who you are, there are times when "the bedroom" is not the loving and fun room it should be.

There are of course numerous reasons why this may happen but there are some simple things you can do to help you make things better.

Your bedroom acts as a magnet both literally and metaphorically for your relationships. It is also where you sleep during the night renewing your energy levels in preparation for what the world has to offer to you the next day.

It is most likely where your romantic life is centered - unless of course you like to experiment - perhaps you're a free spirit who likes to commune with the outdoors ;-)

Your bedroom is your and your homes sanctuary.

The positioning and layout within it plays a massive role not only on your passion and romance chances but also your health, wealth and other relationships in general.

Careful attention should indeed be paid on this highly important room. When you get it right, positive energy (called "chi" by the Chinese and "ki" by the Japenese) will flow easily through your home.

Get it wrong...

All things in life are connected at the minute quantum level and the following information will help guide you so you and your relationships flourish:

1. Make sure your bedroom "feels" inviting - it must fulfill the role of a place of safety for you. When you look at the state of your bedroom now - what does it say to and about you? Does it say "I'm at home with myself" or is it a big jumble and in disarray? Is it just functional - it's purpose only for sleeping in your eyes, if so - if you want your love life to change, then this has got to change too.

2. Look around at all of the items - furniture/trinkets etc... in your bedroom. Do you have good/loving memories and feelings for these items? Or are there items which hold bad memories? If there are - get rid of them, they hold a residual energy and act as a constant reminder to your non-conscious mind. How about photos? Are there any old flames "hanging around" - again, chuck them out - you do want to move on to a new relationship - don't you?

3. Your bed should be the focal point of the room - this is where both "action" and "inaction" takes place, where you are both energized and renewed. Does your bedroom have a "personality problem"? Is it in effect multitasking? Do you have a home office or perhaps a treadmill beside you? Again, these items should not be here. You want to focus on your relationships rather than your body or mind in this room - move them out. If this is not possible due to space constraints, you will need to use a screen to keep them "at bay".

4. The ever present TV. Yes it can be cosy to curl up in bed and watch a great movie but a TV sends out a stream of positive ions (rather than positive chi) - this device is "yang" in nature and will ensure your body does not get the rest it requires. It also represents a 3rd party in the room - not particularly conducive to a stable and healthy monogomous relationship... Once again - the TV has got to go.

5. Make sure your bed is as far away from the door to your room as you can. If you are unable to see the door, you will feel ill at ease at a subconscious level - this is because you will sense you cannot see if an intruder will enter your room (heaven forbid!). This unease will of course impact how you rest at night.

6. Choose a bed which has a solid and sturdy headboard. In Form School Feng Shui, the headboard represents a supportive mountain to your back.

7. Your bed holds residual energy from those who have come and gone before. In an ideal world, if you have had a partner and wish to attract a new one, you should purchase a new bed. This gives you and your new relationship an optimal chance to flourish. Regardless, you should invest in the best bed you can as if you sleep 8 hours per day, this means you will spend 1/3 of your entire life in it!

Tracy O'Brien is a long time student and practitioner of the ancient art of Feng Shui. She is also the founder of FengShuiAstrology.com For more Feng Shui Tips and a FREE Feng Shui Astrology Personality Profile, visit: http://www.fengshuiastrology.com

Reduced Stress The Feng Shui Way

2008-05-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

Reduce Stress With Feng Shui

For more than 3 millenia, Chinese people have used the ancient wisdom of Feng Shui to bring greater prosperity to themselves and to their environment. In the modern era, we are constantly being bombarded by stress.

Whether you're blowing your horn in a traffic jam, trying to wade through the spam emails clogging your inbox, taking unsolicited calls from salespeople on your home phone and that's not even counting the everyday demands put upon you by your work, family, household chores and if you have a second to spare - then try to cram in some "leisure time".

Is it any wonder your nerves are feeling jangled and frayed!

We are all guilty of trying to do too much throughout the day, constantly piling on the pressure with unfulfilled personal expectations just adding to stress of just getting through the day.

There is some good news...

You can restore your energy, recharge yourself and release tension by utilizing Feng Shui to create a home that is a sanctuary.

The principles of Feng Shui can help you create an environment to attract and direct positive energy. You may not be aware of how many different ways your physical space is affecting your well-being. Feng Shui provides help to identify the issues in your environment. If learning about Feng Shui sounds like one more project in an already busy life, consider this is one project which will lighten your load, provide relief and enhance your energy, rather than drain your internal resources or tire you out.

Making the pursuit of Feng Shui knowledge a worthwhile use of your time.

If your energy and your efforts are hindered, if your environment is increasing to your sense of restriction because the Feng Shui is out of balance, your stress only gets worse. Too much stress on the body has been demonstrated time and again as negative for your well being. The overproduction of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline put extra strain on all the systems in your body. These hormones contribute to chronic conditions, like heart disease for example which plague society.

Excess stress wears down the immune system and leads to increased susceptibility colds and other illnesses.

One of the keys to restoring energy and relieving stress is getting enough rest. Using Feng Shui to arrange your bedroom will help you get the fitfull sleep you need. Feng Shui will guide you in selecting the right room to sleep in, the right placement of your bed and the elimination of unwanted items - like mirrors in the bedroom.

All of which will contribute to the quality of your rest and your waking energy.

Anxiety and stress trap and deplete energy. Correct use of Feng Shui optimizes energy. An environment which employs proper Feng Shui principles contributes to harmony, balance and well-being. The Chinese believe Feng Shui helps create the conditions whereby you can excel in your life and your relationships.

Feng Shui restores your energy because the objective of Feng Shui is to allow you to reach balance with your surroundings. You will learn how to place items and arrange space so as to assist the flow of positive Chi energy. You will learn to leave negative energy at the door and fill your living space with good energy. With Feng Shui you can give yourself the positive pleasure of a harmonious, planned home environment designed to increase your well-being.

Tracy O'Brien is a long time student and practitioner of the ancient art of Feng Shui. She is also the founder of FengShuiAstrology.com For more Feng Shui Tips and a FREE Feng Shui Astrology Personality Profile, visit: http://www.fengshuiastrology.com

Feng Shui - From The Beginning

2008-05-23T22:51:00.000-07:00

Feng shui is the ancient Chinese art said to increase the flow of positive chi, (aka positive life energy), in a space.

Through increasing the levels of chi and allowing it to freely move within and around a given space, Feng Shui can help it's practitioners to reach their personal goals. For millenia, the principles of Feng Shui have been used to bring success in the relationships, in business dealings and also helping to win new friends and allies.

The literal translation of Feng Shui means "wind and water?, two of nature's most powerful symbols. Feng Shui practice helps create an optimal environment for chi to flow freely and easily, just as wind or water does in nature.

Feng Shui has traditionally been practiced by experts.

It was created by a spiritual master who was first and foremost a student of nature and the spiritual realm.

More than 3 millenia ago, he created a basic set of rules meant to optimize the positive attributes of an area by increasing positive chi. His dream of making auspicious homes and workplaces which helped those living and working within to attract good luck and prosperity whilst at the same time enabling them to make the most of opportunity when it comes knocking at their door.

Feng Shui quickly increased in popularity and credibility in China. People began to gain knowledge and skill in the subject.

Eventually, Feng Shui found new followers all over the globe. Today many home-owners and business-owners consult Feng Shui experts when decorating rooms. Feng shui consultants have thousands of years of accumulated knowledge at their disposal.

An expert can transform the energy of any kind of an area.

Over time, several different schools of Feng Shui have emerged, each with its own perspective and strategies. The main schools are:

* The Compass School

* The Form School

* The Black Hat Sect

Down through the centuries, practitioners have refined the art into a mathematical science. Feng shui is much easier to apply to a space today than it used to be because there are clearer guidelines to allow even an untrained person to apply this knowledge to the home or office space.

Feng shui can help you create a feeling of balance and harmony in any space of any size. A little bit of knowledge can indeed go a very long way.

Tracy O'Brien is a long time student and practitioner of the ancient art of Feng Shui. She is also the founder of FengShuiAstrology.com For more Feng Shui Tips and a FREE Feng Shui Astrology Personality Profile, visit: http://www.fengshuiastrology.com

Designer Style Without The Price Tag Using Feng Shui

2008-05-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

The ancient art of Feng Shui teaches you to correctly place items in a room to maximize it's aesthetic appeal, balance, and harmony.

The end result when you have applied simple Feng Shui rules is more often than not comparable to the finished product of custom interior design work. If you want to give your home a designer look without the designer price tag associated with a professional consulant or indeed if you feel you lack the 'creative flair' necessary, let Feng Shui help.

With a few simple and affordable changes to your home - it will look and feel as serene and pleasant as possible.

As Feng Shui is as much about the positioning of items as it is about what kinds of objects you have, it is easy to give your home a makeover without investing bucket-loads of cash on new pieces of furniture or other highly expensive items. Feng shui will help you make the most of what you already have for the maximum 'WoW' factor.

Your home will be more ordered, more balanced, and more beautiful due to your time and effort rather than the outside influence of an expensive designer. It just takes a little bit of creative thinking and you can make Feng Shui work just by imagining how you can use and place the items you have already.

There are items you can purchase to enhance the attraction of positive chi into your home-life, such as plants, mirrors, wind-chimes etc... but these are inexpensive on the whole which means you will not need to raid your savings nest egg to make a big difference.

There are some aesthetic problems Feng Shui cannot resolve.

This is because practical feng shui is primarily about the arrangement of items and furniture, whereas many design problem spots in a home are due to the underlying architecture. However, there are remedies at your disposal to help minimise any such architectural issues.

If you have a room that feels small and cramped due to architectural 'features' like low ceilings and/or tiny windows, Feng Shui can help create strong visual lines making the room feel lighter and airier. Feng shui can also teach you practical methods to install multidirectional light sources in the space - this will help lighten the area without feeling you are being interrogated!

No matter what built in problems the design of your room may have, Feng Shui can help you mitigate the resultant issues so your home will have the look and feel of the designer touch.designers.

Feng Shui provides inexpensive, pragmatic solutions to interior design.

Give yourself the the designer treatment - without the expensive price tag!

Tracy O'Brien is a long time student and practitioner of the ancient art of Feng Shui. She is also the founder of FengShuiAstrology.com For more Feng Shui Tips and a FREE Feng Shui Astrology Personality Profile, visit: www.fengshuiastrology.com

How The Art of Feng Shui Can Influence Your Life

2008-05-21T23:23:00.000-07:00

Feng shui is the a subtle and profound way to bring about positive change to your life and your outlook simply through change in your surroundings.

The simple principles of Feng Shui force you to rethink how you relate to objects in your environment in order to help you create a space which is in harmony, aesthetically pleasing, and enables positive energy to flow freely and easily.

Through the application of Feng Shui fundamentals, you can change the way you conduct business, or the way you interact with family and friends.

Feng Shui can help give you a little boost in pretty much any area of your life where you feel "things are not just right".

There are a variety of techniques, most of which are very easy, to help you effect change. By learning a few practical tips you can improve your office or home with an investment of no money and only a few minutes of your time.

Familiarity with Feng Shui Fundamentals will help you assess any room in minutes and diagnose where problems may lie.

By looking for things like sharp edges, shady corners, or furniture placement which blocks the flow of positive chi, you can restore balance to your life and have it move as freely as it should in a natural way.

You can take tangible and direct physical actions toward a smoother journey on your life's journey.

Feng shui can be used in your home, your office, or even in your car!

Whereever you spend considerable periods of time can be optimized according to tried and tested principles. You can take these steps to improve your happiness no matter what you are doing.

By practicing Feng Shui fundamentals, you can look forward to helping your mind, body, and spirit.
Feng shui can help you overcome any blocks or challenges you face giving you a calmer, happier, and more balanced
outlook on life.

If you take action with these Feng Shui fundamentals, you will be refreshed and revitalized - ready to take all necessary steps to bring your dreams to fruition.

Feng shui can help you bring greater harmony to your environment so that every breath you
take will help you feel happier and more confident. Direct action with Feng Shui will mean a direct and positive step towards improving your quality of life.

You can make your dreams a reality when you put a few simple techniques into place to help
your environment make it more likely you attain your goals, desires, and fulfill your potential.

The fundamental set of ideas behind Feng Shui is not so complex so as to prevent you from getting a good grasp in as little time as a single day. You don't need to purchase thousands of dollars of fancy tools
or equipment either to appreciate it's power and benefits.

All that you need is a little education, and a willingness to try something new.

Tracy O'Brien is a long time student and practitioner of the ancient art of Feng Shui. She is also the founder of FengShuiAstrology.com For more Feng Shui Tips and a FREE Feng Shui Astrology Personality Profile, visit: http://www.fengshuiastrology.com

How I Used Aromatherapy and Feng Shui in my Home Office

2008-05-21T01:21:00.000-07:00

Is your home office nothing more than a cramped corner of a guest bedroom or kitchen? I used to live in an old arts and crafts style ranch, circa 1928. What the rooms lacked in space, they did make up for in charm (as anyone who loves old homes can attest to). There was one corner of my very small guest room that became my first home office. It consisted of my laptop on a small, antique desk with the printer next to it on the floor. I used a beautiful, antique bench for my desk chair.

In the beginning, the functionality of the room wasn't a concern, but as my business grew, I realized I needed to make some changes to maximize the efficiency of my workspace. The space also had to have the right "feel" if I was going to spend long hours there. I am a true believer in alternative therapies such as aromatherapy, therapeutic touch, feng shui, and all things organic. I decided to use some of these simple, yet effective means to maximize the efficiency of my home office.

My antique desk and bench were causing me to have back and wrist pain, which took me way too long to figure out. As a long-time fitness addict, I didn't realize that my toned muscles would get sore in front of a computer, but they did indeed. Reluctantly, .I replaced the antique desk and bench with a small, but ergonomically friendly desk and chair. That alone was a huge help! (Plus the antiques were happy to be back in their original locations, where they could resume their original jobs as eye-catching room d?cor.)

My feng shui and hippy friends advised me how to rearrange the workspace to give it the feel I needed to keep me coming back to a workspace I loved. Whenever I worked, I lit my favorite aromatherapy candle. My senses were sharpened, and I felt serene while performing my business tasks.

I was told to rearrange the room so my desk faced the door. This was to increase my feeling of security. If you can't arrange your room in this fashion, you can place a mirror next to your computer or on the wall near it to have the ability to see the doorway. This will produce the same result.

Water symbolizes abundance and creativity. I placed a beautiful ocean picture from a recent trip to Aruba in front of my computer. That was easy enough, and it made a nice focal point for those staring off into space moments. No more blank walls for me!

The hardest part for me was de-cluttering the area (I'm not really into cleaning.) My friends said all those papers and junk laying around the already cramped area only served to heighten my anxiety and impede my work efficiency. I had to learn to throw things and put papers in the recycling bin. They said it was really important, so I did it. I now find if I take five minutes at the end of a work session to clean up, the maintenance is really manageable, even for me.

Lastly, I added small green plants on the windowsill and next to my screen. Plants bring an immediate calming effect. They also added some life to what might have been an otherwise sterile work area.

I can honestly say that I now love my home office! You can apply these suggestions to your office cubicle to get the same results. Good luck and have fun!

Lisa Herbik is a happy homemaker who loves to do her own home interior decorating. For more fun and free tips for decorating your home, check out her website, http://www.artistichomeowner.com.

Sell Your Home Faster and More Profitably with Feng Shui

2008-05-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

From determining pricing to having to keep a home in "showhome condition" marketing a house is always a challenge. Just like a hangnail most homeowners want to get the sale over as quickly as possible.

Here are a number of Feng Shui tips to move the house sale along

First engage the senses . Prospective buyers must be engaged in every way possible . Use these ideas to engage the senses of buyers at your home.

Make sure that your house looks good. Use lots of horizontal space. Make sure you clear off the tops of everything ( dressers , counters , shelves etc.)

Draw your eye to the corner diagonal to the door of each room. This will make rooms seem and feel larger .

Next make sure that all entries and rooms can be entered easily and comfortably. Make sure as well that there are no mirrors that are opposite doorways. It is always a good idea to have some motion in the house - that it is not "dead still". Ceiling fans can accomplish this well.

Believe it or not where you place your "for sale "sign carries weight. Since the karma is to place the sign on the right hand side of the house (facing the front of the home). It makes sense as most people are right handed and lead with the right side of their body.

Your house should be welcoming to newcomers and visitors.

The table in the foyer or front of the house should be inviting offering literature, business cards and a bowl of chocolates or cinnamon candies. As well a smaller vase of fresh flowers always give a nice feeling.

You should remember that the kitchen is the new family room,

Rather than being the area reserved for the lowly servants kitchens are now the meeting and sharing rooms that many families wish to have fond memories of.

Again keep counters clear, clean and nicely organized.

Keep the panty nicely organized - it shows attention to detail and the care afforded by the homeowners. However it never hurts to again place lush plants on the counter alongside a homey jar full of home made cookies. Bathroom doors should be closed.

It is always good to have sounds that are pleasant to the ears.

Place a fountain close to the front of the house or keep music playing at all times especially in the northwest corner of the house.

According to feng shui , earthly scents are the most appealing to the widest range of people. Choose cinnamon and pine scents rather than floral or vanilla scents

Remember that first impressions are lasting ,

The front door is the most important area of the house . Keep in more than immaculate with soft lights turned on in the foyer area , a new doormat , and have something flanking either side of the front door , such as two pots of lush , very healthy plants and flowers.

You should be ready to move mentally as well as physically when you sell home.

Don't dilly and have second thoughts . Don't lay a stumbling block in front of the buyer by making extra demands.

For both your mental health and to reassure the new owners you can even buy them a new gift - such as a new door mat or keychain.

Now it is your turn to start moving out promptly , thoroughly and efficiently. You might even move furniture and large items out sooner rather than later to a rented storeage space. Again this is as much for your mental health as to reassure the new owners.

You will be the ideal role model for the realtors in your area. It makes for more space- prepares you mentally and packing will be half done.

Remember by leaving things to the last moment you limit your options. Everything will be rushed . Things will go wrong. Remember Murphy's Law that what disasters can happen will happen.

You are going to move anyways . The decision is made . So why make it harder on yourself . In addition you will be in a much better bargaining posituon for vendors such as movers and carpet cleaners.

As in life preparation is everything in selling your home.

Hopefully you are moving along for good positive reasons rather than misfortunes in your life.

Amy Goodmann Senior Analyst Substantial Incomes frxforex@yahoo.com www.forexforexforexforex.com www.substantialincomes.com

Top 7 Ways to Feng Shui Your RV!

2008-05-19T00:17:00.000-07:00

An RV serves as your home-away-from-home. Therefore, you should consider it to be your palace on wheels. If you're a new RV-owner, you probably have a number of ideas for decorating your road machine. Also, if you have an interest in Oriental culture, you might consider employing some feng shui tactics when outfitting your RV.

Consult a Feng Shui Master

In order to make sure that you get it right, it's best to consult a master of the trade. He or she can provide you with helpful guidance when preparing your living space.

Put Your Seating at Right Angles

It has been said that sitting directly side-by-side is unlikely to inspire conversation. If you want to promote harmony with your partner, make sure you're seated at right angles in your gathering space.

Use Posters in Your Dining Area

Posters are pleasant to gaze at--especially at mealtimes. Since, for safety reasons, you can't hang artwork on the walls, consider mounting posters instead. Be sure to keep the posters of your travels away from your RV ranges and cooktops.

Be Sure to Make Your RV Colorful

Color is a wonderful mood enhancer. It can also be quite soothing to you for those long stretches on the road. The more color you can infuse into your decorating, the better.

Park Your RV in an Appropriate Spot

It's best to park your RV in a road adjoining the camping spaces. That type of location will make you feel far more secure.

Be Careful Where You Place Your Bed Make certain that your bed is not located in a space overlooking electrical poles. Otherwise, the electric fields from the poles could interrupt sleep.

Consult Some Good Books Another worthwhile option is to consult some books on feng shui. These can offer you a myriad of ideas for improving the livability of your RV. In fact, you might find a number of tips you never thought of before. Another handy book to have on board is your RV cookbook! It's also a good idea to engage in some experimentation. In other words, find the feng shui tips that work for you. In this way, you'll create an atmosphere that you can enjoy season in and season out, all year long.

Feng Shui ? Its Concept And Benefits

2008-05-16T22:39:00.000-07:00

You may be living an unhealthy life if you?ve never heard of Feng Shui. Feng Shui is based on the idea that if you place your belongings in a certain order your life will become more balanced including your health.

One school of Feng Shui involves the use of colors. If you choose calming colors in your home you will feel calmer. For instance having a bright red bedroom can actually lead to stress and uneasiness. A shade of purple might be a much better choice.

The color of your home is not the only aspect of Feng Shui that can impact your health. You should also focus on aspects of the different rooms. The belief in Feng Shui is that when the kitchen is kept clean, well lit and the air is fresh, your food will be healthy as will your eating experience.

The bathroom is one room where we all have to be wary of bacteria build-up. This is essential in Feng Shui along with the idea that the bathroom needs to be free of clutter. Make-up, brushes and creams and lotions should be kept in order. Feng Shui also suggests that keeping the lid of the toilet closed is a very healthy choice and should be taught to every member of the family.

Exercise is essential to everyone?s life and this is also true of those who practice Feng Shui. There is one exception to the rule of daily exercise though and that?s where the placement of the equipment should be. It?s advised by every school of Feng Shui not to place the exercise equipment in a room where you rest. This means moving your rowing or stepping machine if it is now stored in your bedroom.

Keeping your home free of clutter is a very important part of Feng Shui. If you have small children make certain that you clean up after them each day and try and teach them when they are young to keep their rooms neat and tidy. This will set the stage for a life-long habit of creating a healthy space.

You can use the techniques and ideas behind Feng Shui in other spaces as well. Many people organize and design their office space to utilize the principles of Feng Shui. If you spend eight or nine hours a day in your office you want to make certain that the space is working towards your good health. Consider painting the walls a calming, tranquil color and remove any unnecessary distractions from the room.

Feng Shui is an interesting and believed effective way to add to your good health. Keeping your home as a place that helps you feel relaxed is always a wise idea.

Read more from Claire Quaty at: Blogoltre.com - Health Resources

How To Bring Balance and Positive Chi Into Your Home with Feng Shui

2008-05-15T22:50:00.000-07:00

It is taking the world by storm. That?s right, more and more people are joining the new age revolution and seeking out the help of Feng Shui to change their lives and bring balance into their world.

Meaning literally wind and water, Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of placement based upon a philosophy of the movement of chi or natural energy through our environments. While much of the art was recorded by Choo-he of the Song dynasty, it is thought that Feng Shui has much deeper roots. By following the patterns of nature, a Feng Shui practitioner will advise on the placement of everything from an individual object in the home or workplace to the positioning of a building upon property. Feng Shui shows us how to support the flow of energy in our lives to improve one?s health, financial situation and love life.

How does it work?

Feng Shui works in a multiplicity of ways. At its very core however is the notion of properly locating manmade structures and objects in their natural environment so that man and nature work in harmony to optimize the universal energy. The idea is that you take inspiration from the world around you to better your inner self and the circumstances in which you live.

Improving your life with Feng Shui is easy. To start this life changing journey, you first need to consider the basic framework, shape and structure of your home. Houses are all built differently, however, their form tends to resemble one of four basic patterns namely: a square, rectangle, L-Shape or U-Shape. The idea of Feng Shui is to transform your home into a square or rectangle.

Before you start any physical amendments to your family home, it is best that you sketch a blueprint of the changes you have in mind. You want to make sure that your home is going to benefit from Feng Shui in the fullest way possible. Once you make changes they will be difficult to reverse. You need to be organized in preproduction to ensure you get it right the first time. Remember, you are changing your house and life for the better, not the worse.

On a large sheet of paper, draw a sketch of the home you wish to Feng Shui. Include any areas that jut out, such as a garage, or a greenhouse. Make note of any areas that cut into what would make a perfect square or rectangle, such as an alcove. Note where each room is when you make your drawing. All areas under a common roof are considered part of the house. And note where the front door is located.

If you live in a U-shaped or L-shaped home, you will need to make some adjustments because chances are you?re not fully experiencing some area of your life. The goal of Feng Shui is to restore balance and harmony, and one of the ways you can do this is by completing the square. To overcome the missing areas, you can build an arbor in the space, landscape with large potted trees or add a sculpture or wind chimes. This will help symbolically fill in the missing area.

Completing the square

In order to complete your square, you?ll fill in any area missing from your L-shaped or U-shaped drawing with dotted lines so you create a complete square. If you already have a rectangle or square home, you don?t need to do anything to complete your drawing.
Once your house sketch is in the form of a square or rectangle, divide it into nine parts. Split the length into thirds, then split the width into thirds.

That is all that is required in sketching your own plan. Now you?re ready to begin the process of Feng Shuiing your home or work space.

Some general tips

Once you have ?completed the square? of the general lay-out of your home, there are plenty of smaller internal adjustments that will optimize the flow of good energy in your house. Here are five introductory tips to bringing feng shui into your home.

1) Indoor water features can be very powerful ways to enhance your life. By installing an indoor water fountain in your home and placing it in an open, central position you can attract the good things you want into your life.

2) Make sure shoes are not left lying outside your front door. It is important that the main door to your house is clear and open. If shoes, boots or slippers are left in the entry to your home, wind is likely to travel past the shoes, catching unpleasant odors, bringing bad energy and potentially illness into the home.

3) In the kitchen, make sure your stove is not positioned opposite to refrigerator or washbasin. Likewise your stove should not be opposite a washing machine or toilet. If it is, try to move it. The conflict between fire and water will lead to arguments and disagreements between couples and family members.

4) Remove television sets from all bedrooms. Televisions bring an unwanted further dimension to your room, which will absorb good energy.

5) Make sure there are no mirrors opposite your bed or at the side of your bed. Mirrors that are placed opposite your bed are thought to attract a third party into the relationship.

Feng Shui is gaining popularity in the Western world. Taking time to research this art to bring it into your home is certain help you find the harmony you need.

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5 Powerful Feng Shui Principles You Can Use Immediately In Your Home!

2008-05-15T02:50:00.000-07:00

In Chinese feng shui translates to wind and water. As a form of knowledge and mystical instruction it dates back several thousand years to ancient China. Thousands of years ago, the rulers of China needed to consider carefully the geography and layout of the country, since constructing any buildings, bridges or infrastructure depending on the land. In particular builders needed to carefully plan their constructions around the severe winds, mountains and water masses, as well as the propensity of China to flood. Because of these earthly considerations, the word feng shui (meaning wind and water) came about.

In America, we became acquainted with Feng Shui back in the 1840's during the California gold rush when many families from all over the world came to the US to seek their fortunes in gold. These days we are all know about feng shui and it is a common principle that modern people use to help organize their lives.

Indeed we can thank the many Chinese immigrants that flocked to the United States in the 1800's since they brought with them their belief systems, which included a faith in the principles of Feng Shui. In this day and age we tend to use a more basic version of this knowledge, but it continues to prove it's worth.

The origins of Feng Shui

The Chinese originally devised the principles and philosophies of Feng Shui in order to decide where to bury significant people, in particular members of dynasties and royal families. It was initially taken up to select burial sites for the wealthy, as well as palace locations for royalty. Scholars that practiced feng shui analyzed the signs and signals given from the earth to make a decision as to where to construct buildings and bury the dead. For example, they would consider which trees were clearly affected by wind, looked for rocks, and streams.

Based on these early observations, the book of the I Ching (meaning "Book of Changes") was written. At its core, Feng Shui functions as a rulebook to working with nature, following a life that respect and reveres the earth, and acting with integrity towards our immediate environment as well as the planet more generally.

Feng Shui really must be experienced to be believed. Ask anyone who has ever taken up the practice and they will tell you that it not only turned their life around but also saved it as well. Feng Shui really is the most practical guide to better living that the numerous new age remedies have to offer.

Feng Shui provides principles that not only improve your inner self but also your lived in environment. Many people that organize their lives around the framework of Feng Shui report that it brings a balance to your life force. Not only does it built a platform for a balanced life style, it also brings harmony and serenity even in this day and age of hustle and bustle and confusion.

The principles of Feng Shui

To improve your life through Feng Shui, it is imperative that you follow the guidelines of balance and harmony that are at the root of Feng Shui. According to Feng Shui, the universe is composed of three components. Every living being, every plant and every object is supposed to represent one of these three element which are Yin, Yang and Chi. Yang is male in nature where as Yin is female in nature. Together Yin and Yang are two forces which are responsible in creation and sustenance of all living and non-living objects on earth. Chi is the force that is created through the natural interplay of Yin and Yang.

Chi (or positive energy) should always be able to flow freely through any space in order to help us being in balance with the elements surrounding us. Chi is what brings us what we desire in life and allows us to be prosperous. Chi is based on the natural energy exchange which exists among everything on earth.

Get Started And Implement These Powerful Yet Simple Tips

Learning about feng shui takes time, and there are very many principles to follow. That said, bringing positive energy into your home is relatively easy and can involve only a few simple adjustments. Here are 5 powerful tips to get you started.

1. You should never crowd furniture. Each piece of furniture should have space around it to allow chi (or good energy) to flow freely.

2. Never place beds, chairs, sofas or desks right across or with their back towards the main door. You and your guests should never positioned with your back right across the entrance door.

3. Do not concentrate too much of one energy in one place. Your house should balance fire, water and metal to be in balance, you should avoid placing to much fire, earth or wood in one area.

4. Do not position elements in opposition to one another. For example a fireplace or stove should not be across from a wash basin, fish tank or toilet. The clash between fire and water will cause disharmony in the house.

5. Illuminate dark corners since they concentrate too much negative yin energy. Place a light or a plant in shadowy areas to disperse the darkness and allow chi energy to flow into the space.

Incorporating the principles of Feng Shui into your home is sure to help you better balance your life.

Learn how you can make your Dreams, Wishes & Prayers all come true! This amazing Rare Book has changed thousands of lives for those people who are lucky to gain access to it! Download your FREE copy today. For a limited time only, discover what you have the innate abilities to be

Feng Shui Improves Life

2008-05-12T23:04:00.000-07:00

Copyright 2006 Rob Daniels

Business people as well as common folks throughout the world improve all aspects of their lives using Feng Shui. Although the exact origins of feng shui are debatable, it is thought to have originated in China about five thousand years ago. According to Feng Shui cultural and social issues are influenced by natural, metaphysical and cosmological factors.

Anyone that has researched Feng Shui history knows that this level of interaction between all things is the theory of chi. Although chi is present everywhere, it pools in special places which are very auspicious in feng shui. When a less than auspicious placement occurred, Feng Shui cures were sought to change the flow of energy. This inclusion of nature into the living environment is the first point in Feng Shui and it provides solid ground for higher levels above. The art of Feng Shui is the balancing of energies through adjusting the relationships of particular items in the environment. In Feng Shui, a home and family were lucky if they were blessed to be placed in the most auspicious surroundings.

Feng Shui is an ancient discipline which shifts the chi (life force energy) in your home to improve your life. It is becoming better known in the West for one good reason: It works wonders. One of the basic rules when decorating with feng shui is to make sure that the path of energy, whether good or bad, cannot flow through your home. This happens when windows are directly across from each other, or doors are directly in front of a window. When good energy flows through your home, you can have good luck one day and bad the next, since the good energy has just flown through. When bad energy flows through your home, it is believed to cause more than just bad luck, including death and pain. Although the bad energy can flow out of your home, it leaves its wrath and can be hard to fully get rid of.

When a neighbor's driveway points toward your front entrance, counter it by affixing a pa-k'ua mirror to the door. Pa-ku'a mirrors are usually available at Chinese gift stores. A pa-k'ua mirror can also be used against sharp, pointed objects directed at your house for instance, TV antennas, protruding tree branches, or spiky architectural features. Place a large mirror behind the stove so that you won't be surprised when someone comes up behind you. Hang a mirror up at the end of a hallway so that it does not seem like a dead end. If the West section is missing in your home, you can install a bright light or a mirror to partially remedy this problem. You can also activate the West section of your bedroom as well. Do not sleep facing a mirror. The water element of the mirror will cause ill health. Avoid having any water feature in the bedroom such as aquariums, paintings of rivers and lakes, computers or televisions.

Avoid sleeping in a room where a toilet or washing machine is located upstairs. Sleeping underneath an exposed overhead beam will cause headaches, depending on where the beam 'hits'.

Arrange furniture so you can face the doors while sitting. Make the environment much more comfortable by arranging seating areas away from drafts and adjusting lighting. Clean up clutter to encourage relaxation and help you to find things easier.

Widen the front walkway to your home to make it more inviting. Be sure paths between rooms and through rooms are wide and easy to use. This allows you to walk around easily, as well as promotes chi. Oil your doors so they don't squeak, reducing mental irritation.

Fresh flowers will spread their fragrance all over so decorate flower vases with beautiful red roses and tulip flowers and place them at different corners in the house. One of the basic rules when decorating with feng shui is to make sure that the path of energy, whether good or bad, cannot flow through your home. This happens when windows are directly across from each other, or doors are directly in front of a window. When good energy flows through your home, you can have good luck one day and bad the next, since the good energy has just flown through. When bad energy flows through your home, it is believed to cause more than just bad luck, including death and pain. Although the bad energy can flow out of your home, it leaves its wrath and can be hard to fully get rid of.

To arrange furniture always start with an empty room. Once a room is empty, you can then fill it one piece at a time. You should begin with the larger pieces, like the couch, bed, television, etc. When placing each item, analyze whether the object is relevant to the area and whether people can flow through the room without running into anything. Ask yourself if you really need it in the room you are working on, or if it would better fit into another room, or if you should donate it, to goodwill. You do not have to put everything back into the room that you took out. Get rid of whatever you have left after arranging each room. This is considered clutter and can slow down your positive energy.

Arrange furniture so you can face the doors while sitting. Mirrors are good in most rooms, but once again avoid their use in the bedroom (invites third parties into the relationship) and also they should not face the front door as this causes Chi to bounce back and out the door. They are good for use in long corridors, kitchens with stoves facing the wall and living rooms where you cannot see the front door from when seated. Make the environment much more comfortable by arranging seating areas away from drafts and adjusting lighting.

Rob Daniels is a long term practitioner of Yoga and Pilates additional articles available at Pilates Shop http://www.pilates-shop.net and Yoga Store http://www.yoga-store.net

Improve your Feng Shui: Understanding Chi

2008-05-11T22:39:00.000-07:00

First, let's say it out loud: chee. (If you've been saying "chai," don't feel bad-most of us did at one point or another!)
Easy to say, harder to understand. Chi is one of those words that, like shalom in Hebrew, has many different meanings in modern English. It can mean energy, life force, or breath. It also means vapor, a nice metaphorical variation of its basic definition. That said, we instantly see why this concept is so very important to the study of feng shui.
But chi also has a larger meaning, one that is very much more than the sum of its parts. Chi is a "breath force" of energy-unseen but very much felt-that radiates life into and through all living things.
As Such, chi is a focal point not only of feng shui and other Asian disciplines, but of Chinese medicine as well. Whereas Western doctors typically treat a symptom, Chinese doctors seek to cure or realign the body as a whole in order to have the body perform at its peak and to eliminate one or more medical issues at any given time.
Anyone who has had acupuncture or shiatsu massage already knows about chi. These practices are both based on the existence of a network of meridians running throughout the body-meridians that must flow unblocked if chi is to function maximally and we are to feel our best.
While blood carries oxygen and nutrients, chi carries thoughts, ideas, emotions, and dreams. What you think-and the way that you think - has a great deal of influence on outcomes in our lives. This goes way beyond the rather hackneyed idea of the "power of positive thinking."
How is this so? Because chi is much more than a concept; it is actually an energy force that pervades both living things and inanimate objects. Thus, manipulating our chi has everything in the world to do with the success or failure, happiness or sadness, which we experience every single day of our lives.
What are the effects of disharmonized chi? Here are three prominent examples.
? Negative chi, caused by excessive light and artificial energy (such as air conditioning), can cause mental and physical exhaustion.
? Strong chi (like that produced by dampness and drafts) can result in two polarized attitudes, depending on the person: either excessive emotion and overexcitement, or depression and lack of direction.
? Fast-flowing chi (which you can feel on very windy days) can make one over talkative and paranoid, fearful of personal attack
Just as placement and position have everything to do with achieving the best flow of chi in our physical environments, so too does our physical countenance. How we dress and wear makeup, and even the food we eat, have a direct result or our chi.
And, why, precisely, is our chi so important? In Chinese medicine it is the unencumbered flow of chi that is seen as a prerequisite to good health. Unlike Western medicine, which treats individual health symptoms, Eastern medicine treats the body as a whole Thus, doing whatever necessary to unblock our chi is of prime concern to our physical and psychological health.
What does chi have to do with Feng Shui Chic? Almost everything, as it turns out. How we dress and wear makeup, and even the food we eat, have a direct result on our chi. To learn more about how to change your life with feng shui and to buy the book Feng Shui Chic visit
Carole Meltzer?s website.

Carole Swann Meltzer is a world-renowned Asian-trained feng shui master who is widely quoted in major consumer and trade magazines. She has appeared on national television shows such as The View. Visit her website at carolemeltzer.com to learn more about her products and services.

Feng Shui --the Myth And The Marvel

2008-05-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

It is possibly the most ancient design movement known and yet has made itself an avant-garde design craze. Although, over three thousand years old, the idea of Feng Shui has received much attention in modern day. Surf the net or the local bookstores and you will find numerous resources on the subject. It has taken the Interior Design industry by storm and has found a way into university classrooms all over the world. It has been revered as an art. It has been shunned as superstition. It is controversial, which means it is interesting. So let's take a brief look, shall we?

Feng Shui ("wind-water") is an ancient Chinese practice dealing with the arrangement of a space and its elements to bring balance to the environment and those who dwell within, more basically, living in harmony with your surroundings.

This ancient philosophy says that being in tune with the elements and energy around you will bring you the most balance in life. These elements are Earth, Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood. The energy is Ch'i (pronounced 'chee').

Ch'i is the life force, and it is present all around us, all of the time. The purpose of incorporating Feng Shui into our homes is to attract Ch'i and to raise positive energy levels. The Chinese have utilized this in the construction of large buildings and homes, aligning the corners of the structures with the corresponding directions of the four cardinal directions--north, south, east, and west. The ancient Chinese tended to build their homes according to the directions and meaning of each.

Astrology is incorporated as well. Depending on the individual?s year of birth, each direction has different meaning. Those dealt with include positive directions (prime, health, longevity, prosperity, etc.) and negative directions (death, disaster, the six shar, and the five ghosts). According to Chinese life principle, there is no getting around the negative directions. Though, it is believed that utilizing Feng Shui in your home can keep the Ch'i in balance, and the positive and negative in harmony.

In this day and age, not many of us have the option of choosing our land so freely, as we have settled down already or dwell in apartment buildings. Unfortunately, we can't very well pick up and turn our homes to suit our individual Ch'i. This is where Feng Shui designers have found their calling. Placement of furniture, certain deco, as well as color use are considered imperative factors in the Feng Shui culture. Here are a few interesting and random examples.

Furniture Placement:

- Move the bed to face your health and longevity direction.
- Always have a bed against one wall, as this gives the individual stability.
- The oven and the sink should have space between them, as they represent opposing elements; water and fire.
- The living room is the central gathering room and where most families spend their time. Try to put the main area of focus (television, sound system) in the corner that represents health. This way, when the family lounges together, they are facing a positive direction.
- The Chinese believed that no matter how big the family, there should always be at least eight chairs at the dining table. If more or less, the number must always be even.
- Face the desk that you work at towards your creative direction.

Decorations and Accessories:

- If one of your positive directions lie in the South, and there is a Southern wall with no window in your home, add a mirror. This gives Ch'i room to flow with no ending point.
- The bathroom of your home is the place for Ch'i to pool--and in its most negative environment. Bathrooms are typically small, and are associated with destruction. Mirrors, and house plants should be abundant in this area.
- The living room or bedroom are good places for oil paintings and art, as these are objects of prosperity.
- The study, or the area where you do so, should be filled with objects of creativity. Fill the area with artwork, pottery, and house plants. If there is no window above your desk, guess? Add a mirror!
- Round objects represent money. So, in the living room, and study, try round rugs, tables, and coasters.
- Wind chimes, wind chimes, wind chimes! Anything associated with wind will help Ch'i flow freely.

Color:

The central colors of importance to Feng Shui include green, red, yellow, white, and black. Although the meaning and directional significance of each differs depending on your source, each color represents one of the five elements (Earth, Fire, Water, Metal, Wood).
- It is important that the color of your bedroom correlate with your element. Mine is water, which seems to be associated with white or blue.
- The kitchen is the one place in the house most susceptible to hazard. Green is the safest color to use here.
- The study is an important area for free air, and open mindedness. Yellow or white will keep the area amicable.

For more information on color use, check out the Quick Guide to Color Effects and Meanings blog.

Whether or not you take the ancient art of Feng Shui on board, it is quite an impressive subject as well as vastly immense--I have only just touched the bare minimum here. Aside from the apparent mysticism, its principles touch upon the chic mannerism of modern design as well. More and more designers and clients are designing with meaning and with spirituality. In my opinion, this is wonderful!

Every type of art has spiritual root and meaning--it's the artist that makes it distinct. As always, my best design advice is to understand what touches you and manifest it into your space. Peace be with you and may your Ch'i flow free!

Breiana Cecil of OverstockArt.com graduated from Ball State University with a Bachelor Degree in Interior Design and in Studio Art. Breiana is an avid enthusiast of the art and design world and intends on continuing her contribution to the industry. Talk to Breiana on the ArtCorner Blog today!

Life Reading Vs Feng Shui, Which is important

2008-05-08T22:39:00.000-07:00

Should we focus more on Personal Life Reading (Heaven Luck) or Feng Shui (Earth Luck)? This has always been an argument.

Which is more significant? Heaven Luck or Earth Luck?

To start off, let's first talk about life reading.

Now, what is the purpose for getting your personal life reading analysis? May we assume is to better avoid the unpleasant and improve your overall luck?

What can you do?

To be answering the question again, one should focus on both Heaven and Earth Luck and not also forgetting our own actions, the Human Luck.

Jon Sim

Geomancer & Feng Shui Master of http://www.art-of-fengshui.com,

Art of Asia Classical Feng Shui.

Feng Shui Elements - Bring Harmony And Balance To Your Home

2008-05-07T23:03:00.000-07:00

Lots of people are confused about the feng shui elements. What are they? What do they mean? How do they relate to your home? In this article, I'll shed some light.

The feng shui elements, simply put, are the five guiding points of your life and, when used correctly, they will create the best environment for your home. Feng shui elements are about centering your home and creating harmony. In a moment, I'll give you some ideas for how to accomplish this.

But first, What are the five feng shui elements? Great question! They are Water, Fire, Wood, Metal and Earth.

And what do the elements represent from a decorating perspective? The feng shui elements stand for specific
character traits and, supposedly, they define the world in which we live. Let's examine each a bit more closely:

* Water: Learning, winter, and travel. It is represented by the color black.

* Fire: Energy, summer, and danger. It is represented by the color red.

* Wood: Creativity, spring, and change. It is represented by the color green.

* Metal: Business, autumn, and success. It is represented by the color white.

* Earth: Patience, stability and the center of all things. It is represented by the color yellow.

Now, you might be asking, "What does all this really mean?". Here's what feng shui advocates believe. When you bring the five feng shui elements into alignment then all is right with your home. When the elements are out of balance, you could experience problems. These two states are referred to as the Productive and Destructive cycles.

The Productive Cycle seeks patterns of harmony, such as these: wood fuels fire; fire turns to ash and covers the earth; earth turns to minerals and metals; metals can melt to water; water feeds wood.

When the cycle is Destructive, however, the pattern changes to something like this: wood takes from earth; earth, to feed itself, takes water; water douses fire; fire destroys metal; metal destroys wood.

Okay, okay...I know these cycle definitions sound a little like mumbo jumbo. So, let's get a little more specific and determine how this could affect your home. First remember that the Feng shui elements must come together corrctly to create a balance that is essential to making your home harmonious.

So, how do you achieve a balance? First and foremost keep in mind what each element represents. Next, remember that if a room is dominated by one color or "element" this will be destructive. For example, while you may absolutely love the color green (wood), you should not decorate your entire home in this one shade. This will ignite the destructive cycle because the wood element will be overpowering without other feng shui elements to
soften or balance it out.

What would be better is to use all the colors for your home. No, you don't have to paint the walls in each room with a different color to match the feng shui elements. Instead, you can find splashes of the colors in accessories and accents, such as knickknacks, throw pillows, etc.

Feng shui elements mean incorporating ideas of natural and harmony into your home. Its principles are not embraced by everyone. The debate span from the hardest of skeptics to the most ardent believers to those not sure of what their opinions may be. Whatever the truth, however, feng shui elements have a universal idea within them--finding harmony in your life and your home. This is something we all could use.

Michael Holland is the creator of Home Decorating Made Easy. His web sites offers lots of FREE decorating tips and ideas for decorating your home.

Feng Shui In The Home - Is It The Right Style For You?

2008-05-06T22:35:00.000-07:00

The use of feng shui in the home is the source of some debate for many would-be home decorators. Some people believe in its healing powers while others think it's nothing more than the lastest hyped up fad.

However, if you are like most people and don't have a strong opinion either way about this subject, then allow me to shed some light. Below is an explanation of what feng shui is and what it represents. But more importantly, you'll be able to determine if it right for you and whether you should you use feng shui in the home.

Feng shui in the home can be a source of relief for some people and disbelief for others. Some home decorators swear that balancing the five elements (wood, water, fire, metal and earth) creates warmth and harmony.

One key aspect of this balancing act consists of using colors and shapes that represent the elements and rearranging furnishings to complete the effect. Other decorators, however, are more skeptical and see feng shui in the home as just hogwash. They don't believe it is neccessarily to have all the blancing in place to create a beautiful room.

So, which side of the fence do you come down on? Does feng shui in the home have any appeal to you? If so, are you drawn to it because you feel that you need balance in your life? Or do you simply seek a new creative twist for decorating your home? Either way, feng shui may still be worth trying.

Feng shui stresses creating an enivironment of harmony in the home. By melding the five elements together in a productive and harmonious cycle, you just might enjoy their pleasing characteristics. Feng shui advocates say that, if your home is dominated by only one or two of the elements instead of having them all represented, the home's level of "Chi" will be weakened. This, in turn, could result in problems for those living there.

So what do you think? Does this have any appeal to you? If not, no problem, but you could be missing out on something that could also be a lot of fun.

Whether you're looking for spiritual counsel and view feng shui as a possible answer, or if you're simply tired of the way your home looks now and desire a more flowing design, feng shui could help. Of course, some feng shui advocates believe that, if you are not seeking balance in your life, you should bypass feng shui decorating all together.

There's certainly no reason to take that advice. While feng shui may not serve its original intent, it can still result in absolutely beautiful rooms. The rooms in your home can flow seamlessly and seem more uniformed, instead of looking like a messy garage with items and accessories all jumbled. The great thing about feng shui is that it can help bring a finished and polished look to rooms that seemed disorganized.

So, is feng shui the right style for you? It your choice, but I think it's more than worthy of a try.

Michael Holland is the creator of Home Decorating Made Easy.com. His web sites offers lots of FREE decorating tips and ideas for decorating your home.

Achieve A Balance - Feng Shui All The Way

2008-05-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese belief that involves studying natural and the built environments. The arrangements of these objects affect the yin and the yang, as well as the energy of a room. Feng Shui has developed into many different versions based on religion, geography, symbolism and culture. One commonality of all Feng Shui practitioners, Of course, is the belief in energy. Different schools of Feng Shui have progressed into seven different forms.

1. The Compass School

The first school of thought is the Compass school. The compass school uses 8 trigrams of the I-Ching. These 8 trigrams are known collectively as Pa Kua, that is based on the eight main directions of a compass. Each of these directions is associated with a specific chi. A southern direction, for example, is vibrant energy and is associated with the middle of the summer.

2. Eight Mansion School

Another school is the Eight Mansion School, also known as the Eight House Feng Shui. This school of thought is based on the individual number of a person. The number of the man living in the home is used to bring harmony and balance to the home. Furthermore, people using this system have both lucky and unlucky numbers, with the west numbers being 2, 6, 7, and 8 and the east numbers being 1, 3, 4, and 9.

3. Form School

The Form school of thought is based on the landscapes shape and uses four symbolic animals. These animals are used to identify the type of landscape. The Form school is easy to use along with the Compass school to increase chi both in and out of the home.

4. Black Hat Sect

The Black Hat Sect is another school of thought. The Black Hat Sect used a fixed entry point for determination of the life areas. It is similar in philosophy to the Compass school, but the areas are different. In addition, the Black Hat Sect mixes psychology, Buddhism and basic design principles, as well.

5. Nine Star Key School

Another school is the Nine Star Key School. This form used stars to help identify lucky and unlucky days. Using complicated math formulas, this school can pinpoint when a person will get married and the astrological sign of the person to be married to. This form is very inflexible and is based purely on science. The Nine Star Key will also tell the practitioner what house he lives in and makes suggestions on how to live based on the house.

6. Flying Star School

The Flying Star philosophy is the most common Asian form of Feng Shui and is based on astrology and numerology. This form is difficult to understand and to learn. It, too, is based on mathematical principals and is used to determine a persons fate.

7. Four Pillars School

The final school of thought is the Four Pillars. This form is not very common and is based on astrology according to the persons date of birth, right down to the minutes. This form is also used to determine a persons fate.

8. The Five Elements

After determining that school of thought is best for an individual, it is important to also understand each element. These five elements are: Earth, Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood. The elements are capable of destroying each others energies and forming a continual cycle. Through the use of these elements, balance and harmony can be created in a home. If these elements are used incorrectly, Of course, the energy can be destroyed or lessened.

Each of the five elements is also associated with a color, direction, and number.

Earth (Brown/Beige) - 2,5,8 - Southwest

Fire (Red/Purple) ?? 9 - South

Water (Blue/Black) ?? 1 - North

Metal (Grey/Reflective) - 6,7 - West

Wood (Green) - 3,4 - East

Each of these elements has both a destructive and a productive cycle and must be used carefully.

The productive cycle uses the following pattern:

Water ?? Wood ?? Fire ?? Earth ?? Metal

Water feed feeds Wood for it to grow. Wood then feeds Fire and produces Earth. Earth, in turn created Metal. Metal holds water and, thus, continues the cycle. To keep this cycle flowing, bring into the room the elements before and after the main element

The destructive cycle reduces energy and can be used in a room where one element needs to be lessened. It follows this pattern:

Water ?? Fire ?? Metal ?? Wood ?? Earth

Water puts out Fire and Fire melts Metal. Metal cuts Wood down and Wood clogs Earth, while Earth muddies Water.

9. Using Feng Shui

Every room needs to be balanced with each of the five elements. Some elements can be heavier than others due to size; chair might score as three counts of an element while a throw pillow only counts as one.

For more great feng shui related articles and resources check out http://anxietyplace.info

How to Predict 2006 FIFA World Cup Winners Using Feng Shui

2008-05-05T23:01:00.000-07:00

The Chinese 5 Elements Feng Shui Principle can be applied to predict all 2006 FIFA World Cup Matches. With the Chinese 5 Elements system, you can predict every FIFA World Cup Match with more than 70% accuracy.

To predict, you need to know the Chinese Feng Shui 5 Elements. The Chinese Feng Shui 5 Elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. When these elements interact with each others, they create the constructive and destructive forces. There are only 4 interaction probabilities. Therefore, the methodology is rather easy to master.

1. The Producing Cycle.
(Wood Produces Fire, Fire Produces Earth, Earth Produces Metal, Metal Produces Water and Water Produces Wood)
When Wood produces Fire, what it means is that the Fire element is at an advantages position compared to the Wood element. On the other hand, the Wood element is at a disadvantage position.

2. The Weakening Cycle.
(Fire Weakens Wood, Wood Weakens Water, Water Weakens Metal, Metal Weakens Earth and Earth Weakens Fire)
The Weakening Cycle is the reverse expression of the Producing Cycle. Fire weakens Wood means that Fire consumes Wood as fuel and thus the Fire element is at an advantages position. Since the Wood element is being consumed, therefore, it burns itself out.

3. The Controlling Cycle.
(Wood Controls Earth, Earth Controls Water, Water Control Fire, Fire Controls Metal and Metal Controls Wood)
The Controlling Cycle is also known as Destructive Cycle. Fire controls Metal means that Fire has the power to overcome Metal. What it means here is that when Fire is being applied on Metal, Metal will go deformed and thus can be shaped into any other shapes. In this case, Fire element is at an advantages position and Metal element is at a very bad position.

4. Matching.
(Wood Matches Wood, Fire Matches Fire, Earth Matches Earth, Metal Matches Metal and Water Matches Water)
When Fire Matches Fire, it means Fire brings luck to Fire. In this case, both teams bring luck to each other. Therefore, we must find other comparison methods (Producing Cycle, Weakening Cycle and Controlling Cycle) to draw a better conclusion.

Since every team has got uniform; uniform has got colors; colors have got the elements. Therefore, we are able to predict all the 2006 FIFA World Cup matches using the Interactivity of the Chinese 5 Elements.

But before we start, you have to know the colors and their elements.
Wood element: Green and Chocolate
Fire Element: Orange, Red, Maroon and Red Purple
Earth Element: Yellow and Brownish Tan
Metal Element: White, Silver and Gold
Water Element: Blue, Gray and Black

Since every match has got two sessions, therefore the shirts represent the first half of the match and the pants represent the second half of the match.

For example,

Team A has the following uniform:
Goalkeeper: Blue Shirt (Water Element) / Black Pant (Water Element)
Players: White Shirt (Metal Element) / Red Pant (Fire Element)

Team B has the following uniform:
Goalkeeper: Yellow Shirt (Earth Element) / Green Pant (Wood Element)
Players: Orange Shirt (Fire Element) / Blue Pant (Water)

In the first half of the match, Team A Players' White Shirt vs Team B Goalkeeper's Yellow Shirt. It is Team B Earth Produces Team A Metal. Therefore, Team A will very likely to score a goal. Then, we compare Team A Goalkeepers' Blue Shirt vs Team B Players' Orange Shirt. This is Team A Water Controlling Team B Fire. As such, Team B Players are not likely to score a goal. As a result, Team A's luck is stronger than Team B in the first half of the game.

In the second half of the match, Team A Players' Red Pant vs Team B Goalkeeper's Green Pant. The is Team B Wood Produces Team A Fire. Therefore, Team A can score goal(s) again. Then, we compare Team A Goalkeepers' Black Pant vs Team B Players' Blue Pant. It is Team A Water matching Team B Water. It is not conclusive. In this case, we need to compare both Team Players' pant colors. When we do the comparison, It is Team B Water Controls Team A Fire. Therefore, Team B can also score goals due to the weak defense of Team A.

In the first half of the game, Team A has stronger luck than Team B; Meanwhile, in second half, it is considered an equal. In overall, we can judge that Team A has more advantage than Team B and thus the winning chances are higher.

If you wish to know the predicted results of every match, you can go visit: http://www.winning-soccer-prediction.com/worldcup_prediction/

You can also download "How to Predict 2006 FIFA World Cup Winners Using Feng Shui" Report. The listing price is $27. But You can download the Report for FREE before July 4 2006. To download the Report, just go to: http://www.winning-soccer-prediction.com/worldcup_prediction/

How to apply Feng Shui

2008-05-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

How does feng shui work? I don't mean getting a compass, drawing up the floor plan and creating a bagua, I mean, how is it applied?

The Five Element Theory is the key. It doesn't matter if you use the compass method, the flying stars method, or the black hat method. To properly apply 'cures' or solutions to feng shui issues, you use the five element theory.

The feng shui elements are essentially different phases of chi, and are represented by physical characteristics such as shape, color, or material. There are five kinds of chi: Water, Fire, Wood, Earth, and Metal. These are the five elements, and shouldn't be confused with the actual elements. They are different phases of energy, and there are three different flows: destructive, supportive, and draining.

The supportive (or creative) cycle of the five elements is where each energy 'feeds' the next.

The destructive cycle of the elements, obviously, is where the energies destroy one another, and the draining cycle calms an element that may be out of balance. Here is a summary:

Water supports wood, destroys Fire (if Wood is weak) and drains Metal. Wood supports Fire, destroys Earth (if Fire is weak) and drains Water. Fire supports Earth, destroys Metal (if Earth is weak) and drains Wood. Earth supports Metal, destroys Water (if Metal is weak) and drains Fire. Metal supports Water, destroys Wood (if Water is weak) and drains Earth.

If you have an overabundance of the feng shui element of Metal in your home, you can use objects that represent either Water or Fire, depending on just how much Metal you have. If you don't have enough Soil, then use things that support Metal as well as Soil.

If you are having relationship issues (or just wish you had a relationship to have issues with), then you do need to draw up the floor plan, and decide which method you are going to use. The bagua used in Black Hat is not the same as the one used in the Eight Mansions.

If you use the Black Hat method, and you find that your Relationships area is in the bathroom, maybe you are flushing that type of energy down the toilet. Now, the element that is active in the Relationships is Earth. The Earth element will destroy the Water element, unless you use some Metal to support it. Metal element objects are round or spherical, made of metal, and are metallic or white in color. A round white porcelain bowl with chunks of pyrite would do it (and no rust). A round mirror would be okay.

In the Eight Mansions method, the bagua is the same as far as shape and number of areas, but there it ends. There are eight different baguas, and the one you use depends on what direction your house sits in. For every bagua, there are four auspicious directions, and four inauspicious directions. There are no designated aspirations in the Eight Mansions; but you still use the five elements to balance out the lucky and unlucky areas.

Let's use the Gen trigram, and say that your bedroom is located in the Disaster location, which here is in the South. This location promotes disputes and legal issues, so you really just want to calm the chi that you find here. To do that you would use objects from an element that either destroys or drains Fire, the element that is present in this spot. Looking at the chart above, we see that you can use either Water, to destroy it, or Earth, to drain it.

Only in rare occasions do you actually want to destroy an element. So I would suggest artifacts from the Earth element, such as painting the walls in earth tones, or carpeting in those tones.

Use squat furniture, like a futon, pictures of mountainscapes, and maybe a cotton quilt.

You do not want to use any Wood element here, as Wood supports Fire, and we already have an issue with that element being too strong here.

I hope that this helps you figure out how to apply the principles of feng shui, at least a little bit. Check out www.western-world-feng-shui.com for more information.

Raelynn Manitz began studying feng shui in 1999, and runs a website for feng shui advice at www.western-world-feng-shui.com

Feng Shui Study

2008-05-03T00:07:00.001-07:00

Feng Shui is relevant to any body. You can practice Feng Shui in any situation and living environment. Anyone who is interested in knowing about nature and is interested in improving the quality of life forself and others is sure to be benefited by Feng Shui study.

But before you take up the Feng Shui study it is important to know that there are many schools of Feng Shui and there are many variations that exist within each school. What ever school you might consider for your Feng Shui study, remember the basic principles and theories (Feng Shui elements, concept of yin and yang, Feng Shui Colors ) would remain the same but there can be some variation in the tools that are used for analysis and interpretations.

The following information provides you a brief introduction to various schools of Feng Shui:

Flying Star Feng Shui

Flying Star or Xuan Kong Feng Shui is the most advanced level of Feng Shui study, it adds a time dimension to a building's energy. The advanced Compass School also integrates the Eight House Theory to provide a comprehensive & professional analysis of a house.

Feng Shui study under this school enables you to predict the good times and the bad times from year to year, month to month and day -to-day based which are based on the natal or the birth day chart of each house.

Feng Shui consultant of this school suggests enhancements for every home after a complete Feng Shui study is made to know how the nine different "stars" or energies are moving or flying to different compass directions every year, month, day and hour. Base Charts of all nine periods are constructed based on the study. The residents' dates of birth are also taken into account. The school also gives consideration to the form as it affects the stars.

Compass School Feng Shui

Compass School divides the structure into the eight compass directions using a lo pan compass. Each person has four good compass directions and four bad compass directions which are based on their year of birth and gender, the person either belongs to either the East Group or the West Group. A building's sitting direction determines whether it is an East or West Group structure. Each compass direction has a Feng Shui element associated with it: water, wood, earth, metal, or fire. A Feng Shui consultant who is proponent of this school suggests best compass directions for sleeping and working which can tremendous affect for improving your life.

Form School Feng Shui Under the 'The Form School of Feng Shui' one makes a systematic Feng Shui study to understand how the shapes and forms of the surrounding landscape and waterways affect people living or working in a structure. The four cardinal directions of the compass are represented by four animals which are the Green Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Red Phoenix of the South and the Black Turtle of the North. Interior forms and the layout of the structure are also analyzed and Feng Shui consultation is made by understanding the many implications of the color.

Western Feng Shui/BTB (Black Hat Sect Tibetan Buddhist)/Pyramid

This is a modern version of Feng Shui developed in the mid 1980s and is a combination of Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism ,Psychology and Traditional Feng Shui and is based on a more spiritual approach. The structure is divided into eight sections and a bagua or Ba Gua map is aligned with the entry door, rather than actual compass directions. Each section corresponds to a different life aspiration. The Feng Shui study gives more emphasis on placing of symbols. The Feng Shui consultation also draws from modern psychology and design principles besides the ancient wisdom. Its guiding principle is that changing the subtle energetic (Chi) alignments and flows in a given space can change a situation's inherent intention, hence changing the fate of its inhabitants.

Feng Shui Study

One can go for Feng Shui study for any of the Feng Shui School mentioned above in a distance learning mode. There are available many certified continuing education providers on the internet.

The Feng Shui study helps you to have deep and clear understanding of the energetics of environment; discovering how to begin balancing and positively activating energy in your working and living environments. It is only after a proper Feng Shui study that you are in position to explore new ideas and techniques and learn to extend the basic principles of Feng Shui to healing your body, mind and spirit.

Wang's aim has been to create a total system for anyone interested in Feng Shui--not just the physical aspect of it, but also the promise of universal harmony, of spiritual contentment. http://www.thespiritualfengshui.com/ website is more than a mere website on Feng Shui and Feng Shui element. Wang has major emphasis on wealth and prosperity through feng shui by placing it at right

Bedroom Feng Shui

2008-05-02T00:09:00.000-07:00

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art, where placement of objects in a room depends on the movement of chi or natural energy of our environment. Based on the patterns of nature, a Feng shui master will tell us where to place every individual object in our home or workplace. A master will also provide advice on how a building should be positioned on a property. Feng Shui shows us how to support the flow of energy in our lives for better health and prosperity.

The best location for a bedroom, according to Feng Shui is in the rear of the home. This is where it is said that all "restful" energy lies. In order to preserve this energy the bedroom should have only one door connecting it to the rest of the house. It is best that the bedroom is not located over a garage. If it is, to preserve a restful sleep, one must use heavy solid objects on the floor or hang a mirror on the garage ceiling so that it will reflect the image of the car away from the bedroom. If a kitchen is located over the bedroom, place a mirror on the ceiling of the bedroom reflecting downward, sealing off the bustling activities occurring in the kitchen.

There should always be a door connecting the bedroom and the bathroom, and the door should always be kept closed. Feng Shui recommends not having a television in the bedroom as it causes less interactions between couples. If one is present, it should be covered when not in use. A work station in the bedroom is also discouraged as is exercise equipments because these release opposite energies than that of restful energy.

Mirrors in a bedroom can be a problem as they are said to reflect one's negative energy when one is sleeping, thereby causing nightmares. This principle applies to any object that reflects like paintings, computer screens or metal surfaces.

Feng Shui recommends that a person sleep with legs facing away from the door because such a position is referred to as the "coffin" position. Colors in the bedroom should be subtle, as should the colors of bedroom furniture. Clean up clutter in the bedroom including closets for good energy.

Bedrooms are rooms to go to for peace and relaxation. To distract negative energy Feng Shui encourages a good circulation of natural energy and plenty of fresh air.

Bedrooms provides detailed information on bedrooms, bedroom furniture, bedroom sets, bedroom accessories and more. Bedrooms is affliated with Antique Bedroom Furniture.

The Spiritual Feng Shui

2008-05-02T00:07:00.000-07:00

Feng Shui (pronounced "fung shway") is an ancient Chinese art whose name translates from the Chinese as "wind and water." Feng Shui is a lyrical phrase that poetically evokes the heart of this ancient practice.

Wind and water are, first and foremost, natural elements (two of the five elements that comprise all of nature). Wind is the earth's breath, and water is the invigorating lifeblood of everything that exists on our planet.

Both wind and water have tremendous energy that drives Feng Shui's practices and techniques to fill your life with positive energies. Feng Shui, at its very core is a means of arranging the basic elements of life--and all the things that you surround yourself with on a daily basis-- to create the optimal and harmonious flow of vital life energy, just like the flow of water and wind.

How Feng Shui works

Feng Shui is no magic. It is a collection of practical, time-tested solutions based on the fundamental properties of elements that are used to change the negative aspects and introduce the positive aspects of each element to your living environment--and change your life for the better.

Feng Shui has had a huge impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the globe--and you can have its benefits work for you! By simply changing the interior of your home, changing the colors of your walls, or relocating the furniture in your bedroom, you can enjoy the positive effects of Feng Shui.

Feng Shui information - some Key Points
Good Feng Shui requires an open mind, heart and spirit. Feng Shui releases negativity from your house and life. It opens up a whole new space within you for positive thoughts, love, contentment and prosperity. Don't let negativity enter when you practice Feng Shui. Holding onto negative emotions and past anger can only hinder you from making progress through Feng Shui and creating a wonderful future for yourself.

Practicing good karma is a cornerstone of Feng Shui. Be generous and give of yourself in order to receive in kind from the universe and others around you. You are living a life that is ill-suited to you, your personality, your dreams, your family, your essential self...and your home is symbolic of this.

Feng Shui helps you to enhance your living space by changing one or more elements in the room. As you learn more about Feng Shui, you will begin to understand the significance of each and every practice that is related to Feng Shui.

By embracing Feng Shui, you embrace the fact that you deserve balance, harmony, and spiritual fulfillment. You deserve empowerment and clarity. So, let Feng Shui help you reach out and take hold of all those things--you, your life, and your future all stand to benefit immensely if you do!

Subscribe to our bi-monthly newsletter and/ or buy my e-book for authentic information on the various aspects of Feng Shui.

Remember that Feng Shui is not only about changing your physical surroundings, but it is also about changing yourself from within. The Spiritual Feng Shui is a spiritual technique that transforms you at both physical and metaphysical level.

Physical Feng Shui -- just moving around furniture -- is incomplete without the support of mental and emotional Feng Shui. Until you practice Feng Shui in its totality it is of little use!

Wang's aim has been to create a total system for anyone interested in Feng Shui--not just the physical aspect of it, but also the promise of universal harmony, of spiritual contentment. http://www.thespiritualfengshui.com website is more than a mere website on Feng Shui. Wang has major emphasis on wealth and prosperity through feng shui by placing it at right position in office, bathroom etc.

Basic Concepts of Feng Shui

2008-04-30T23:29:00.000-07:00

Feng Shui is the Chinese art of placement that is thousands of years old. In Feng Shui, your surroundings or environment can be a reflection of your life. You can thus influence your life in positive ways by making appropriate changes in your environment and surroundings. Below is an outline of several things you can do to start applying Feng Shui principles to your home.

Evaluate your home using the bagua: The bagua is the map of life's valuable qualities. Your experiences, at any given moment, can fit into one these nine areas of the bagua. These areas include: Wealth and Prosperity, Fame and Reputation, Love and Marriage, Family, Health, Creativity and Children, Knowledge and Self Cultivation, Career, Helpful People and Travel.

The bagua (map of qualities) is overlayed onto your home. Then it is possible to evaluate and analyze your home in relation to the areas of the bagua. Are there areas in your life that you would like to improve? Use the bagua to work on the areas of your home that correlate with areas of your life you would like to improve.

Clutter: One basic and important principle in Feng Shui is clearing your clutter. Clutter is our home symbolizes clutter in our lives. It can present itself as procrastination, feeling overburdened, or avoiding things or tasks that need to be addressed. It can also drain your energy, and leave your feeling fatigued.

By cleaning our clutter, we are making room for new experiences in our lives. For example, by cleaning your desk, getting rid of old papers, organizing the drawers; you are making way for new experiences in your business life.

Chi Enhancers: After evaluating your homes life areas using the bagua and then cleaning your clutter, you may consider using items known as chi enhancers. Chi enhancers are items to place in your home that will attract chi. Chi is the vital life energy. We want to attract more chi in our homes to provide harmony and balance in our lives.

Crystals are beautiful chi enhancers that can be used anywhere in your home. By placing the chi enhancer in a certain bagua area of your home that needs uplifting, it will contribute to bringing harmony and balance to that area of your life and home.

Water features are another type of chi enhancer. Water features include fountains, fish tanks, birdbaths, etc. In Feng Shui, water brings good luck and wealth. Wealth can be financial wealth, or spiritual and emotional wealth or fulfillment.

Water features can be placed inside or outside the home and can contribute to a soothing and relaxing environment. One key point, the water features, of course, must be kept clean to promote positive chi.

Plants are also good chi enhancers for the home. Plants must be kept healthy and in good shape for chi enhancement. Silk or real plants both work well. Avoid dried flowers. Since the plants have already died, they will not attract chi.

Animals and pets are also good chi enhancers. Their life and presence is a powerful attraction for chi. The animals must be well looked after and their homes or special areas kept clean and cared for.

Anything moving and flowing also contributes to bringing chi into our homes. Wind sculptures, wind chimes, flags, etc are examples of some items that can be used to encourage chi. Placed on the front porch or entrance attracts the chi though the door and into the home.

As you can see, there are many things you can do to begin applying Feng Shui principles to your home. Consider Feng Shui as a way to improve your home and life.Amy Toplikar is the developer of alternative-stress-management.com This website offers information about Feng Shui, Qigong, aromatherapy, and meditation. To learn more please visit http://www.alternative-stress-managment.com.

A Touch of Feng Shui in the Garden

2008-04-24T22:51:00.000-07:00

From the beliefs, culture and mythology of China, Feng Shui was born.

It is an ancient belief in the art of placement.Literally translated, Feng Shui means wind and water symbolizing the two major forces of nature. Feng Shui promotes a scientific and philosophical approach to design and site a home, public building and spaces to maintain harmony with the nature. This harmony is believed to allow light from the spiritual realm to shine upon those who believe and adopt the principles to their home and environment.

Interpretation of this belief has expanded into many directions. Over the past few years, Feng Shui has swept through the Western world/ culture according to what's practical, adaptable and suitable.

This is the wonder of Feng Shui- it allows for differences, and innovation according to the beliefs of a particular culture. It inspires personal perspective and creativity.It fosters harmony between man and his environment.

Adapting some of the principles of Feng Shui encourages a gardener to create a place which radiates more than beauty to please the eye. It is the visual attraction of a garden that draws people to it. But be aware of unseen and subtle energies taking place in the garden.

Today, a garden is an extension of the living space of a person or a family. It offers a place to entertain, a respite from the busy and chaotic world, a private space to relax and reflect, at times, a place to seek healing.

Sans the tools, a touch of Feng Shui, can enhance and actually generate positive vibrations outdoors and into the inner sanctum of the gardener.

With intuition, common sense and dedication,simple rules of Feng Shui can be applied. It promotes a garden that is friendly to Nature and ultimately infuse creative and vibrant energy and ensures the positive flow of chi.

Balance

Balance is a very important aspect of Life. It is the Yin/Yang in practice. It is opposing yet complementary.Tidbit: public parks exhibit the yang space, a private garden shows the yin.

A garden design that incorporates a balance of plants, ornaments and furniture is appealing to look at. If it's visually attractive, and it feels good, it is a gardener's pride and joy. The energy must be vibrant.

The Elements in Feng Shui

A little attention to the elements in a garden provide an atmosphere of peace and harmony.

Fire Color: red, and purple Plants with pointed leaves Structures/ornaments: pyramids, obelisks,lights trellis/ support for plants This is a powerful element, don't let it dominate the area.

Wood Color : green. All plants are wood element, it is the shape and color that suggest other elements. Trees and shrubs strongly represent wood element. Structures/ ornaments: decking, planters, logs, and furniture

Earth Color: yellow, orange, and brown Structures/ornaments: soil, rocks, stones, walkways, fences A walkway or fence that dominates the garden slows down the flow of chi.

Water Color: dark blue, black Structure/ornaments gravel, meandering paths, water features, glass.

Metal Color: white, silver Structure/ornaments: bowls, domes, and hammock.

Working with the elements

The natural world beckons. Gardening has ignited passion for creating a magical world of plants, colors, ornaments and design, with Nature as the canvas for the artist. A garden fills a space that would otherwise be void and saturated with stale energy.

It is with the shapes, colors and garden ornaments and structures that spells balance and introduce the elements to bring out positive energy.

Ponds are popular features, Perhaps unknowingly,ponds represent the lake, rocks and pebbles stand for the mountains. Water symbolizes wealth and a good collector of chi, so long as it is not stagnant. Careful choice of ornaments can create a balance of the elements in a pond.

Take a cue from Nature- it tries to achieve balance between shape and color. Whatever feature you add, proportion is important.

There are ways to remedy existing structures. Add some pots along a straight walkway to give it a feeling of meandering. Add a splash of colors to make it look interesting.

Appeal to the senses

Sight A visually attractive garden touches upon the sub-conscious .It is leaves an impression that can impact deep into the psyche. Clutter anywhere is annoying. It hinders the flow of chi. In the garden, it is important to keep it free of debris and clutter.

Arrangement of plants, mixing plants with a variety of color and blooming periods, and giving thought of the flowering season adds balance to a garden.

Sound No one wants to live in a noisy neighborhood.There are sounds in the garden. Bees and birds bring about welcome sound. Gurgling water can be soothing. A bamboo wind chime sends out gentle sounds resembling the rustle of leaves.Leave the leaves for a little while and listen as you crunch through in the fall.

Smell The natural sweet scents from a garden is superior to the most expensive perfume.Enjoy the fragrance from your garden wafting through the air, especially with the evening breeze.

Touch My four-year old great niece fascinates me when I see how carefully she touches things around the garden- from the little animal ornaments the leaves.and flowers. She does not pick the flowers, she tries to feel the softness with her little fingers. I have little colored stones at the bottom of a bowl that glimmers under the sun, she approaches these quietly as she timidly dips one little finger to feel them.No, nothing bites her little finger. She does this with so much concentration that anyone who watches her has to experience the sensation of "touching."

Other suggestions:

For focus, use smaller potted plants in a group or one large pot For abundance, fountains and water features

For illumination, lights for particular features

For stability use urns, large pots, rocks and stones

Show off your achievement or passion with art collection

Wind chimes to stir up energy and create movement

To receive gifts of the earth and the Universe, empty pots, dishes and urns.

This article barely touches upon the basics of Feng Shui. But, it's a start.

Bonnie Moss writes to inspire and motivate her readers to reach deep within their hearts and soul to find more meaning to Life .Visit her website: http://goldencupcafe.tripod.com

Feng Shui Bathroom Wealth

2008-04-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

Feng Shui has tried, true, and time tested wealth strategies that integrate theories based on Feng Shui Elements. Feng Shui colors and tools such as the Feng Shui Baguato provide followers the secret keys to lasting prosperity. If you did a Feng Shui Study, you would be fascinated by the relationship Feng Shui establishes between the bathroom and wealth. Read on and you will not only help you discover new ways to improve prosperity but will also provide to deepen your understanding of this popular practice which has strong spiritual and scientific basis

Even if you're a Feng Shui beginner, you're probably familiar with Feng Shui bagua (Feng Shui map of a space), and know that family area is a good place for the living room, or that a Feng Shui office is best placed in the knowledge, wealth or career sectors. You may also know that Feng Shui bed room is best placed in the marriage corner of the Feng Shui house. But do you know where the Feng Shui bathroom should be located if you're seeking wealth? Probably not but that's o.k. This article on Feng Shui bathroom wealth was written specifically to highlight the importance of a 'Feng Shui bathroom ' -- how it can increase or decrease wealth in your home.

As most of the Feng Shui practices have strong scientific basis, there are two important rules of thumb that you need to remember when deciding the location of a bathroom. First you need to know that, the bathroom and toilet are primarily governed by and driven by the element Water. In Feng Shui, Water is associated with wealth, prosperity, career and good cash flow. Secondly, you should keep in mind that bathrooms are associated with elimination and waste. With these two considerations in mind, it is easier to understand the main rules that apply to the layout and location of this space.

Without a clearly marked out space in Feng Shui bagua, the bathroom is a little out of place anywhere, but thanks to the time tested Feng Shui wisdom, you can easily identify problems with your bathroom (cash flow blockages, drained finances, etc.) that are detrimental to your wealth (it can block your cash flow, drain your finances, and add to your financial stress). Although some of locations are more troublesome than others, one of the best Feng Shui tips to keep in mind here is that a defective bathroom plumbing has a draining effect wherever it is located.

According to traditional Feng Shui some bathroom locations which can have negative effect on your wealth. These locations include:

Bathrooms next to or above the front door. Bathrooms on the second floor directly above the kitchen or front door Bathrooms in the center of the office Bathrooms under the stairs

It may seem restrictive but the reasons are sound when you reason using Feng Shui principles. For instance a bathroom in the front hall, close to the door, or a bathroom at the end of straight hall way can drain Chi away before it has a chance to circulate through the rest of the house.

Wang's aim has been to create a total system for anyone interested in Feng Shui--not just the physical aspect of it, but also the promise of universal harmony, of spiritual contentment. http://www.thespiritualfengshui.com website is more than a mere website on Feng Shui. Wang has major emphasis on wealth and prosperity through feng shui by placing it at right position in office, bathroom etc.

4 Fengshui Ways for an Unforgettable Door Appeal

2008-04-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

Sell homes with Fengshui door appeal. Or, you could be missing potential sales and profit. The front door is the mouth of the chi. A handsome door brings good health, wealth, and longevity. Although houses come with many door, there is just one door which is use more often. Fengshui encourages the use of the front or main door. Passing the front door, you are leaving the outside world. Once you are inside, you can see the true color or personality of the home owner.

Positive Energy Flow

Without any clutter in front or back of the door, the positive flow can easily go inside. You may also check for obstruction on the door path. Door should smoothly open and close.

Make the Guardian happy

The guests must be able to clearly distinguish the front door. With a properly placed light, the front door tells the direction to go. Think of light as a guardian. And, remember to replace used up light bulbs. Or, it will ruin the positive energy. Consequently, it may lead to financial loss and illness.

Color Personality

The color of the door tells something about the home owner. A red door symbolizes fame and fortune. Although Fengshui recommends a red door, many doors come in a variety of colors. Yellow says friendly and cheerful home owner. And, blue says introvert and quiet home owner. Lastly, the green is simply the color of life.

Size Matters

The size of the door must conform to the size of the house. An extra large door leads to financial difficulty, while an extra small door leads to petty arguments. Additionally, the doorframes are the poles that support the family. A sturdy and straight poles increase the potential fortune.

Dennis Estrada is a webmaster of mortgage calculators which provide resources, and calculators for mortgage and real estate.

5 Fengshui Ways to increase Curb Appeal

2008-03-31T03:37:00.000-07:00

Curb Appeal makes you stop the car. And, take a look at the house. On the path to the house, the buyer already knows if they want to buy the house in 30 seconds or less. Fengshui creates a positive energy, and welcome feel to your home. Ming Tong in Fengshui means bright place and refers to curb. The curb must be inviting and promoting to stay longer.

Stimulate emotions with colors

Colors play an important factor in our emotions and senses. The warm colors (reds, yellow, and orange) build fun, and excitement, while the cool colors stimulate peace, calm, and relaxation. To warm up the curb, you can add colorful flowers in the garden, varnish any wood around the house, and paint doors and window with red accent. Too cool up the curb, you can add more grass, shrubs, and trees.

Glossy means healthy

Look at the trees, plants, shrubs, and flowers if they have panoramic colors. You can tell the health by the shine, and color. Trimming the dead plants, leaves, and flowers, you promote the healthy lifestyle.

Fast Energy

A direct path to the doorway creates fast energy. On the other hand, the meandering path slows and relaxes any potential buyer. A water fountains, fish ponds, pathway lights, special step stones, and beautiful flower slow down the energy and builds interest. The buyer can stop, and admire for a while.

Obstacles and Clutter

Obstacles and Clutters decrease the welcome feel of the home. You may consider organizing the porch, cleaning the path, moving the garbage bin, and trimming the plants.

Feed the senses

Appeal to the senses by adding sound and fragrance. With healthy garden, wildlife comes to appreciate your garden. The birds serenade the buyer and guest. And, the flowers sends heavenly aroma.

Dennis Estrada is a webmaster of mortgage calculators which provide resources, and calculators for mortgage and real estate

Securing The Safety of Your Home With The Ancient Art of Feng Shui

2008-03-29T05:32:00.001-07:00

I was elated to discover this detached house with a big garden that was available for rental in a quiet suburb when I was first transferred to another town to work as an engineer.

It was located at a cul de sac, the house being the last house in the row. I thought it was perfect..quiet, newly constructed and with a good neighbor who was a banker.

Without reservation, I rented the house and my family shifted in a week later.

3 months later, I almost lost my life. I was travelling as a passenger in a friend's car when someone lost control of his car, and crashed into the Honda car I was travelling in, killing the front seating passenger. I was at the back and had a smashed face, and was warded in the hospital and had to stay another month for medical treatment.

But how is this related to the house I was staying in then?

In fact, I was never a fan of feng shui, the ancient chinese art of geomancy.

When I was warded in the hospital, my neighbor who was a banker and also a chinese scholar, visited me and began to spill the beans.

The house where I was staying was facing bad "chi" or an aura of bad atmosphere was emancing from the house that was facing directly opposite my house. The occupant of that house was a monk who works as a "chanter" who performs the chanting ceremony over the dead. This is a chinese practise for those who have died, the chanting being akin to prayer to make the way easier for the dead spirits to depart.

According to my neigbor, every day when this monk returns home, he brings along the bad "chi" from the dead, and which then emants out towards the direction of my house.

A shiver went down my spine when I heard this news.

In my imagination, I could almost see evil spirits following this monk and congregating at his home before fanning out in the direction of my house.

But what about my neighbor? How did he protect himself against this bad influence of "chi'?

"I hang out a mirror," this chinese scholar said. This mirror when hung outside reflects and deflects the bad chi and mystically protects the inhibitants from ill effects and ward off evil. This is the ancient art of feng shui at work", he added.

Three months after the accident I recovered to leave the hospital, I was not ready to remain a day longer in that rented house. I did not hang out a mirror. I had enough and the solution was to just shifted house. We moved out!

I met my banker neighbor friend 5 years down the road. I asked how he was. " I have never been better," he replied, " and my mirror has always done its job".

Yes, we can protect our house, ourselves and belongings with the most sophisticated security alarm systems. But apart from this, where we choose to believe in the anciet art of feng shui, we need a simple mirror to be hung outside our house to ward off bad "chi" and evil.Are you a believer of the ancient chinese art of feng shui?

Feng Shui Design - How Does It Help You Enhance Chi In Your Home?

2008-03-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

Feng Shui design helps you to take beneficial and effective actions in your home or living space so that your house can have an optimal flow of Chi.

The Feng Shui design ideas discussed in this article can help Feng Shui beginners to understand some of the fundamental principles of Feng Shui as well as how they can apply for the principles and enhancing their homes and lives.

Like the positive and negative energies (yin and yang) existing in nature, every room and every home has both positive and negative areas. There are strengths that already exist, just as there are weaknesses. The Feng Shui design changes that are carried out in a house are always meant to help enhance the weak areas and decrease Chi that is too strong, ultimately yielding a balanced, harmonious feeling that is the cornerstone of a contented and successful life

Feng Shui Design And Power Areas

A concept commonly used in a Feng Shui design is the idea of 'power' areas. Feng Shui recognizes nine power areas inside buildings--some have excellent supportive energy, some are much less favorable.

A power spot is an area of the home which can be as big as a room or as small as a tiny little nook, but this particular area has strong associations with your life (or parts of your life) that mean a great deal to you at a particular point in a given time frame. Feng Shui power spots are unique to each person, family and home. They are determined not only by the things that are going on in a person's life presently but also by the design and architecture of their particular living space.

According to Feng Shui, power spots are unique to each person, family and home and some of these are determined not only by the things that are going on in your life right now but also by the design and architecture of your particular living space.

Wang's aim has been to create a total system for anyone interested in Feng Shui--not just the physical aspect of it, but also the promise of universal harmony, of spiritual contentment. http://www.thespiritualfengshui.com website is more than a mere website on Feng Shui. It is a platform for people with similar or contrary views to come and share their thoughts, discuss, debate, as

Crystal Feng Shui

2008-03-29T03:49:00.000-07:00

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Feng Shui Mistakes To Avoid In The Bedroom!

2008-03-28T03:02:00.001-07:00

While considering each individual's best sleeping direction and avoiding his or her "Lonely Pillow" direction. (Both are determined by your year of birth in relation to your gender.) There are several environmental factors to consider when choosing the position of your bed, such as:

Large MIRRORS - aren't recommended in the bedroom, because they aren't conducive to a restful nights sleep. Mirrors reflect light... light is Yang Qi, which is active energy. By reflecting light mirrors stir-up the Qi in the bedroom, where you want the Qi to be more Yin / still and restful. Besides, mirrors could reflect your bedroom activities to the neighbor. This wouldn't create a feeling of security and safety in the bedroom. Plus, if the mirror is in your "Lonely Pillow" direction, it will cause you to be single.

Headboard against a wall! The wall provides stillness of energy to provide a restful nights sleep. You want the Qi to be still at top of your head. If you angle your bed in a corner, there will be too much movement in the Qi at the top of your head for you to have a good night?s sleep. When there is a window above or behind the head-of-the-bed, be sure the window is closed when you are in bed, because a closed window stops the movement of Qi. After all Qi moves with Wind & Water.

Clear view of the bedroom entrance... without being in-line with door. If you're in-line with an OPEN doorway, you'll be hit directly by the Qi coming through the OPEN doorway. I emphasize OPEN, because the majority of Feng Shui books fail to mention that a door must be OPEN for the Qi to move through it. After all doors, like windows, stop the movement of Wind & Water. So if you have no choice but to sleep in-line with the door... CLOSE the door, or at least keep it ajar to direct the Qi away from the bed.

Bathrooms mustn't be seen from the bed. With bathrooms it is a sanitation issue. Keeping the door closed or at least ajar is the simplest solution. Moving the bed would be another solution.

Sharp corners , caused by oddly shaped rooms, pointed directly at the bed or bedroom door are considered an 'Angle or Metal Sha'. These cause instability and insecurity to the relationship as well as health problems. Some remedies for this type of sha (negative affect) are rounding the sharp edge off the corner, concealing it with molding, or positioning the bed in another location.

Avoid large exposed beams above the bed , which cause various problems depending on their position. Move beds and other occupied furniture out from under exposed beams. If it is impossible to move the bed, conceal them with an actual flat ceiling or use thick multi-colored tapestry-type fabric by stapling the cloth as if it were an actual ceiling over the bed.

* When the beam is chopping across the body, health problems in that area of the body will develop. Once again we are dealing with the harshness of a direct hit of Qi, which is being directed downwards off the sides of the beam.

* Beam dividing bed between two pillows , from head to toe, the harmony of the union is in jeopardy. The Qi coming down from the sides of the beam could cause separation or divorce.

A bed positioned between two of the unseen energy patterns. To find these unseen energy areas, divide the width and depth of your entire home by three creating a tic-tac-toe type grid. If your body is divided you will have health problems in the region where the two energy patterns bisect your body. When a bed is divided from head-to-toe between the two pillows by an unseen energy grid line, the occupants are sleeping in two different energy combinations... which cause relationship problems. A couple described it best when they said "it's like we're sleeping in the same bed in different rooms." The solution is to move the entire bed into one section of the house grid. Hopefully, the section with the best energy combination.

P.K. Odle?s easy to follow Classical Feng Shui guidance shows you how to improve your Finances, Health & Relationships. Get more tips/articles in her FREE email newsletter, The Feng Shui Advantage MONTHLY! at http://www.fengshuiadvantage.com

Feng Shui

2008-03-27T04:37:00.000-07:00

Feng Shui is a Mandarin phrase meaning - Force of Wind, Flow of Water. As old as Chinese culture itself, the name originated around 6000 BC. Feng Shui is described in classical texts as ?Auspicious heavenly influence, beneficial topography, and harmonious human actions.? In essence, it?s a means of superimposing divine, archetypal order on the earth, and living in accordance with the Tao, or Way of Heaven. Ultimately, it aims at maximizing the positive environmental forces, or Qi, molding the landscape if necessary to enhance the flow thereof. Its other purpose is to divert, and neutralize the negative Sha Qi forces. Chinese alchemy, especially as outlined in the Secret of the Golden Flower, when applied to Feng Shui, aims to ultimately transcend the inter-death state by building the imperishable diamond body.

More mundanely, Feng Shui considers our residences to be a direct extension of ourselves. It provides the means of living in harmony with nature, and how to benefit from the positive energy, or Qi, in our living environment.

Many Feng Shui Schools have developed over the millennia, reflecting the multi-faceted nature of the discipline, however, most are a combination of the Form, and Compass Schools.

Feng Shui Schools

The Compass School based on the 8 trigrams of the I Ching, known as the Pa Kua, which, in turn, is based on the eight compass directions. Each direction being associated with a season, and a specific energy or ?element?, (more correctly, 5 stages of change).

The Form School, is based on the morphology of the landscape: topographical features, soil quality, and watercourses. The ?Regulating the Qi? school was concerned with finding the ?the Feng Shui spot?, and made detailed studies of the land, and watercourses, and concerned itself with locating the ?dragon pathways?, the ?Dimai? or arteries , and veins of the earth.

Eight Mansion/ House Feng Shui, is based upon an individual?s Kua number. Initially, the male householder?s Kua number is utilized to bring the house into harmonic balance. Each person has auspicious and inauspicious directions, discoverable from the birth-date. The auspicious directions relate to success, health, romance, and development, while the inauspicious directions relate to bad luck, obstacles, illness, and destruction.

Nine Star Key uses the stars to establish lucky, and unlucky days. Astrology dictates when, and whom to marry. Each year, the Nine Star Key reveals what astrological house holds sway, and how best to live in accordance with its principles.

Black Hat Sect, relies on the Ba Gua diagram, which is an orientation device. It allows one to pinpoint the 9 areas of the home: prosperity, fame, relationships, family, health, children, knowledge, career, and patrons.

Flying Star is based on a combination of numerology, and astrology. It allows one to avoid continuing sickness, arguments, bankruptcy, legal problems, loss of wealth, relationship problems, health problems, and accidents.

Four Pillars, based on Chinese astrology, delineates the individual relationship with the zodiacal animals relating to the year, month, day, and hour.

There is much interchange of concept, and methodology between each of these schools. The best way is to experiment personally to find the most temperamentally suitable.

The History of Feng Shui

2008-03-27T04:36:00.001-07:00

Feng Shui is an element of the Mysteries of China, but ultimately, it?s transcendent; its inspirational sources are the archetypes of the noumenal realm and its medium is the Tao ? the Way of Heaven: the principle of wholeness, and rhythmic balance through cyclic change. Feng Shui acts as the interface between the invisible noumenal realm ? ?Kan? (Heaven),, and the phenomenal realm ? ?Yu? (Earth). Previously, Feng Shui was called 'KanYu' ? ?between Heaven and Earth?.

In pre-dynastic times, the antecedent of Feng Shui was Xiangdi. This practice helped the Chinese determine the most appropriate site for settlement and the location of shrines, temples, and fertile lands.

The two most seminal elements of Feng Shui, however, are the ?River Chart?, and the ?Lo Writing?. The ?River Chart? (Ho T'u) was a diagram borne from the Yellow River on the back of a dragon-horse during the reign of the legendary Fu Hsi. Of whom it is said:
"He looked up and contemplated the forms exhibited in the sky (the constellations), and he looked down contemplating the processes taking place on the earth. He contemplated the patterns of the various habitats and places."

The ?Lo Writing? (Lo Shu) also emerging from a river - the Lo River, inscribed on the shell of a tortoise. Referred to as the ?Ba Gua? or ?magic square?, it?s an arrangement of numbers reflecting the cosmological order of the seasons, directions, and 8 trigrams.

Integral to this was the Five Element Theory, having its origins in the dynamics of yin, and yang, it depicts their evolution into five fundamental powers, agents, and phases of change: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The exposition of which was outlined in the Nei Ching, a medical compilation c. 400BC.

From the 11th century BC to 246 BC, divination, and astrology were practiced using oracle bones, and also for determining solar and lunar eclipses. Zhan Bu elucidated the mechanics of water movement, and that of underground streams.

From 475 to 221 BC, the I Ching began to exert a significant influence on Feng Shui. The Form (regulating the Qi), or Mountain Top School focused on landscapes, studying topographical features, soil quality, and watercourses. It located the the Feng Shui or power spots, and mapped the dragon pathways or energy lines of the Earth. Contemporaneously, Taoism and Confucianism, especially the concept of the ?superior man? (ch?n-tzu), began to profoundly influence Feng Shui, introducing the concept of decisive intervention in terrestrial events inspired by the archetypes of heaven.

The next phase of Feng Shui evolution was inspired by Guo Pu's the 'Book of Burial (276 -324), and Form School principles of siting became well established in Chinese literature.

Between 960 ? 1279 AD, Feng Shui bifurcated into two major schools -the Form and Compass Schools. The Compass School (Regulating the form of energy), used a form of Ba Gua compass to dowse the Feng Shui of the environment. During the Song Dynasty, the Book of Yin Yang Celestial Poles was written by a Feng Shui master, Wu Jin?Luan, who persuaded Yang Yun-Sung to establish one of the first formal schools of Feng Shui in Take Jingo Province.

These are the major elements in Feng Shui?s development.

Feng Shui consulting

2008-03-26T05:53:00.001-07:00

After your rigorous apprenticeship efforts to gain proficiency in Feng Shui theory and practice, it?s now time to apply your skills for remunerative gain, or charitable works.

You will, no doubt, have specialized in one, or more facets of Feng Shui. Those specializations may have been divination using the I Ching to discover an auspicious time to commence a new project, or the likely consequences of an action; Chinese Ba Zi Astrology, or the Four Pillars Of Destiny to advise on life chances, to forecast future events, or establish the root causes of an illness, and the necessary remedies; the appropriate siting of a residence, or office depending on the personal Feng Shui configuration of the householder, and his family, or the joint configuration of the employer, and his or her staff; advice on interior d?cor, and color combinations to be utilized in a home, or office; reharmonizing ground that is prone to Sha Qi, negative or geopathic energy, and maximizing the flow of Qi; collaborating with a Chinese medical consortia, Feng Shui being the eighth part of the ?8 Rays of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the others being: acupuncture, herbal medicine, Wushu (Chinese martial arts), and Qigong (breathing exercises), food energetics, moxibustion, meditation, and astrology.

A word of caution however. Most people are still mystified, and locked in the mind-set of the Western paradigm of physical cause, and effect. They do not appreciate the existence of the other 6 universal dimensions, or the Chinese mode of thought, termed synchronicity by C.G.Jung. Most significantly, many are totally unaware that the electro-magnetic field of the earth is reflected in the geomorphic electro-magnetic matrix; the operational basis of Feng Shui. Accordingly, expect prejudice, requiring tolerance, and understanding to offset it.

One should also be aware that as a spiritual discipline, it is counter-productive to be mercenary as regards remuneration for your Feng Shui services. It is a subject that will need much consultation of the I Ching, and meditation to achieve the optimum balance between appropriate payment, and avarice. Also, be aware, any skills you have built up may be taken away from you if you are too materialistic.
Let?s examine a potential Feng Shui assignment. A client approaches you complaining that their house has been on the housing market for a year with no sign of a sale. You might diagnose it as a case of geopathic stress, the signs of which are: ant, and wasp nests; cats being attracted to the garden; poor sleep, illness, and constant tiredness; relationship breakdown; house stuck on the market for ages. Accordingly, your remedy might be to conduct a dowsing survey with two copper rods. Clearing lines of geopathic stress from a property is similar to performing acupuncture on the human body. The careful application of "earth acupuncture needles" will then enable you to banish or neutralize the negative aspects of the energy field.
If you are conscientious, your reputation will spread, and you will be assured of a fulfilling consultancy for the rest of your life.

Feng Shui tips

2008-03-24T23:57:00.000-07:00

The first step in applying Feng Shui to your home is orientation, using the Ba-Gua scheme as a template. To make the Ba-Gua template, cut a piece of cardboard 3x3 inches square, divide it into 9 equal parts, and label it thus: 4 Prosperity 9 Fame 2 Relationships 3 Family 5 health 7 Children 8 Knowledge 1 Career 6 Patrons Note 1 Career, should point north. These 9 areas relate to specific aspects of your life. By applying the diagram to your home or workplace, you can establish which rooms correspond to which areas of your life. Make changes in the designated area and it will change the corresponding area of your life. Number 1, Career, tells you about yourself, your life path and how you value yourself. Number 2, Relationships, includes those you have with your partner, business partner, and neighbours. If there is clutter here, or if plants placed there refuse to thrive, you must work on your relationships to effect corresponding changes. Number 3, Family, relates to your roots, ancestors, family, and the relationship you have with your parents. Number 4, Prosperity, indicates how easy or otherwise it is for you to create, and retain wealth, both tangible, and intangible or spiritual. Number 5, T?ai Ji, is the centre of health, and well-being. Essentially, this is the most crucial area in which to control the flow, and circulation of Qi. Number 6, Patrons, designated as the domain of spirits, and gods, this area represents all those who offer protection, support, and help in needful times. Number 7, Children, denotes creativity, and activity. If you?re feeling stagnant in this zone, change something to encourage the flow. Number 8, Knowledge, refers to education, and intuition, and shows how readily you cope with change. Number 9, Fame, represents your public standing, the way others perceive you. This depends on inner maturity, and strength of character. Place appropriate mementos in each designated area. Remember, the overriding principle is to encourage the flow, and circulation of Qi. Avoid clutter, and mess, which prevents the flow. More importantly, it will encourage the opposite of Qi, Sha Qi, or negative energy to accumulate, bringing depression, and tiredness. Qi flows out of windows, long straight passages, and especially through doors opposite windows, so site plants, lamps, and other items of furniture to encourage Qi to circulate in your home, and delay its swift passage. Place plants in front of all sharp edges to block them, and use mirrors to strengthen Qi or diminish Sha Qi energy. Use crack-free mirrors to maximise the flow, and reflection. Watch the flow of smoking joss or incense sticks to determine what you need to change to channel, meander or circularise the flow. Water must be flowing, not stagnant. Place natural objects such as pieces of wood, crystals or quartz stones in openly visible parts of the room, at different levels. Plants also represent a natural source of the peaceful, relaxing effect produced by the colour green.

Feng Shui for a small apartment

2008-03-24T04:41:00.000-07:00

Striving for harmony is in a human nature. And while European tradition pays more attention to help one find himself, gain harmony of thoughts, wishes and actions, the East worked out thorough rules of a human's co-existence with outward things, which it perpetuated in a very popular now Feng Shui doctrine.

Believe or not It's you to decide whether believe Feng Shui postulates or not. But before you blame this doctrine in incapacity, it will be useful to remember that in China it has already exists for more than 4 thousands years and holds its positions till now. Moreover, it gains popularity among educated and cynical Europeans, who are pretty tired of sparseness and chaotic state of modern world.

May be, our stresses, diseases and other troubles really come from wrong arrangement in space and careless treatment of energy of "live Earth"? Anyway, we always have choice. When you feel everything goes wrong in your life, you may give way to despair and stay in this state endlessly, and you also may try to change something and why not starting this process with your own home?

Fight with reality Kind intention to change your home, taking into account correct redistribution of energy, usually faces impossibility to observe all necessary conditions thoroughly. And enthusiasts often leave the road right on this stage. They do want to do everything right way, but constrained conditions don't allow taking into account surrounding landscape.

Of course, you cannot interfere in the process of laying of foundation, change arrangement of lavatory, remove sky-scrapers, towering nearby, but surely you still can do something. Firstly -

Down with rubbish Cleanness and absence of rubbish - is one of Feng Shui principles, necessary for normal circulation of Ch'i energy (energy of life). Start your changes with general cleaning. Pay attention to each corner, sort out each wardrobe, arrange cleaning of stockroom. Get rid of unnecessary things, broken cups, vases and tights cruelly. Don't keep old slippers and completely broken fridge.

Present unclaimed things to your friends, poor people or bring to church. Rules of good form state - if something is still untouched in your wardrobe for more than a year, this mean it is useless for you and you can bravely pass it to "good" hands.

But before you arrange grandiose cleaning, look in lunar calendar. This event should be planned on waning moon. And you should not dust the floor towards front door (you will sweep out money), but towards kitchen.

Fumigation After all old dust is removed, and excess rubbish finds its shelter in a garbage can, pass to next stage of energy cleaning of room - fumigation. You can do this process with help of a candle, aromatic sticks or a tuft of herbs. You can replace fumigation by douching with holy water.

During the process of cleaning you should move from threshold clockwise, stopping in each corner (negative energy is accumulated there). After cleaning take a shower. While you were fighting for "clearness of environment", the whole bad energy accumulated on you. The best of all would be using cold water, of course, if your health slows you.

To fix a result of energy cleaning, use amulets. They can be traditionally eastern: statues of elephants, dogs or flying dragons (they stand guard over front door). Bunches of onions, garlic, herbs or special Feng Shui amulets will be ok too.

In small scales After you clean the whole apartment, it is right time to think about its correct d?cor. Here you will have to reveal great keenness of wit and inventiveness. First of all, you should determine parts of the world, using compass, and decide, which zones (of wealth, health, carrier, family etc.) you would like to accentuate this moment.

Choose necessary parts of apartment, according to your priorities. You can do it with help of different wall-papers, "multi-layer" lightning or furniture. For example, to activate a zone of knowledge, it will be god to put book shelves there, zone of family will be accentuated with additional lightning, and in a zone of glory you can put "witnesses" of your achievements (medals, diplomas, cups).

Center of apartment brings a special loading. From it energy disperses in all other sectors. That is why it is so important to stir up this zone correctly. The simplest way is to put a rug or crystal bright chandelier in it.

Behind a screen Bunk requires special attention. While we are sleeping, our body fills with power and health. So you should not put a bed near window or home plants (they take energy away), and also near "achievements of progress" (computer, TV-set, CD-recorder), which evolve bad energy.

And you should not also hang any shelves above your bed. Apart from the fact that conglomerations above a bed prevent energy from circulating, they are also rather dangerous.

In small apartments a bed also plays a role of a sofa too. Of course, Feng Shui does not like furniture-transformers, but what should we do. A screen will help you to correct this situation. In the night it will enclose your bunk, in the afternoon - writing-table.

Useful space In small apartments each meter is important. In Feng Shui too. You should not miss attendant rooms: kitchen, bathroom, toilet, pantry and balcony.

In kitchen you need to separate elements of fire and water. If your gas-stove is situated too close to a sink, separate these zones with something made of wood, for example with a cutting board.

Bathroom and toilet "wash out" energy. To avoid this, you need to shut doors to these rooms carefully. As well as a lid of lavatory pan. In combined lavatories you should separate main parts (bath - lavatory pan) with a screen from each other. If sanitary arrangements turned out to be in a health or wealth zone, due to an unhappy planning, try to bring a negative effect of this situation to minimum. For this you just have to place mirror doors to these rooms, this way they will "disappear".

As for pantries, you should not create a storehouse for unnecessary things of it. Some things, necessary in your everyday life should be kept there: vacuum cleaner, fan, ironing-board.

You should also clear balcony off various rags, bottles and broken skis. As for a form of a balcony, it is better, if corners of your "verandah" will be round or splay (form of trapezium).

After you change your apartment, making it comfortable and attractive, wait a little, look what you will get. Your life will start changing, following your home. If good events will come, then this means you did everything correctly. If no, you still have something to work with.

Yana Mikheeva is the creator of All about women site, it is an on-line resource for women and about women. Here you can find articles on various subjects, such as: diets, receipts, health, cellulite, figure, aromatherapy, wholesome food, psychology of relationships, pregnancy, parenting, fashion and many others. She also has Blog for women

The Unique Relationship Between Wind Chimes And Feng Shui

2008-03-24T04:40:00.000-07:00

There is a harmonious marriage shared by wind chimes and the natural forces of nature. As air current moves against the striker or clapper of the wind chimes, it knocks against the tuned pipes, which in turn sends waves of a reverberating ?song,? carried along by the wind. The resulting delicate balance of peace, grace, and harmony isn?t as hard to achieve as one might think. Although there are many different schools of thought, the basic philosophies of balance behind Feng Shui, and recognized forces of nature, remain the same.

For centuries the Chinese have believed that there is a logical way to organize their living and discipline their thoughts, to better achieve harmony and live peaceably within the forces of nature. That same attitude has become increasingly popular in the Western culture. Feng Shui isn?t as much a religion as it is a state of mind.

Good, as well as bad, happens to everybody. But, it is the way in which we handle negative or bad experiences that will determine whether or not our souls are at peace and our lives happy. We can choose to live unhappily, in discord with the rest of the world. Or, we can seek happiness by accepting the bad with the good, while at the same time seeking to create a more perfect balance. What does this philosophy have to do with wind chimes?

Irritating background noise filters into our lives daily, causing distractions and stress that are incompatible with harmonic living. By incorporating an atmosphere of peace and tranquility with the use of a wind chime, we also add interest to our home d?cor or garden yard d?cor.

The greater benefit realized, however, is the inviting sense of calm that permeates our very being as positive energy flows. Many people even feel a sense of awe as they listen to the fluid music created as elements of nature connect.

Wind chimes are beneficial for covering over negative background noises such as traffic, barking dogs, and other unwanted sounds that filter into our living space from others less harmonious minded. They are as eye appealing a compliment to our landscape and home d?cor as they are stirring to our souls, providing a sense of well-being.

Wind chimes also make meaningful anniversary gifts, and make perfect gifts for Mother?s Day. Why? Because a wind chime is symbolic of peace and harmony. They are symbolic of the feng shui attitude of compatibility: working with the forces of nature to create a positive, tangible energy flow.

It doesn?t matter if your living space can be described as Southwest d?cor or a more unique home d?cor hard to define using conventional home decorating terms. There are so many sizes and styles of wind chimes, one is sure to enhance and compliment your home or garden yard d?cor.

Use wind chimes to increase your privacy by blocking out unwanted sounds, while inviting a positive atmosphere of peace and calm; one good way to bring the benefit of feng shui in your home.

Stephen Betzen is a loving husband/supporter/and friend to his wife Rachel Betzen. Rachel and Stephen are dedicated to socially and ethically responsible business practices. Lovers of gardening and simple living. Buy your wind chimes online.

Feng Shui careers

2008-03-21T04:51:00.000-07:00

"Deal with things in their state of not-yet-being put them in order before they have got into confusion" The secret of Feng Shui Tao Te Ching, Ch 64

The craft of Feng Shui being multi-faceted affords great scope career-wise. But it also subjects one to the rigours associated with the Martial Arts, and the timeline of a medic. Ultimately, it should have 10 stages of progress, each increasingly more difficult, yet bestowing wider responsibility and wisdom with each accomplished step, paralleling the progress of the sorcerer's apprentice.

The Feng Shui training program: initially, some form of yoga, T'ai Chi and meditation to gain physical discipline, concentration, sensitization and insight. Next, a lifetime study of the I Ching, the quintessence of Chinese wisdom and Jin-Shu, the biographies of famous Feng Shui masters.

After which Kanya, the study of heaven and earth, the combined study of geography and astrology in relationship to man. Following which, mastering the Compass School -, the use of the Ba Gua diagram and the Lo P'an compass featuring the 'twenty-four directions' or 15 degree zones of the magnetic circle to help determine the Feng Shui of the situation, and the use of astrological charts and numerology to measure the auspiciousness of a dwelling.

Following this a study of the tenets of the Form school such as Dimai, the dynamics of mountain ridges, valleys, and rivers, and of the arteries of the earth - the 'Dragon Veins'. The examination of the Classics detailing the interrelationship between water, mountains, dwellings and agriculture such as the Water Dragon, which relates the optimum landscape-water interaction e.g. an ideal site, should nestle among watercourses, or the Shui Jing delineating the waterways of China, giving a wealth of information regarding harmony between buildings and landscapes. A general course in human and colour psychology, then perhaps specialization in the use of the I Ching for divination, or Chinese alchemy.

Thus equipped one should be able to offer one's services as follows.

Siting a home

Auspicious siting Banishing sha qi - negative energy Diverting water lines and neutralising other forms of geopathic energy Dowsing and harmonising the dragon veins Diverting 'spirits'

Harmonising the home

Apply the Ba Gua diagram for orientation purposes Interior d?cor and the optimum psychological colour combinations Choosing the best fabrics, and materials Advice on water devices, wind-chimes, crystals, aromatic oils and incenses Avoiding angles, enhancing the circular Placement of fish and plants etc.

Harmonising relationships

Individual and synastric (relational) astrological analysis Yin-yang profiling Taoist philosophy.

Individual destiny

Using western and Chinese astrology, its stems and branches, and numerology to delineate destiny and life paths. Finding the best burial place

General counselling

Using the I Ching and the Lo P'an compass for divination and advice.

One could pursue this occupation on a freelance basis, professionally or corporately. It would be advisable, at regular intervals, to take refresher courses, degree courses, or specialize in order to become a consultant, or councillor. Your level of remuneration would depend upon which one of the 3 employment tracks above you followed. Alternatively, if you were part of a Chinese medical consortia or astrological consultancy, your income would rise proportionally

Home Office Feng Shui: A Crash Course In Arrangement

2008-03-20T04:47:00.000-07:00

Feng shui has gained much popularity - even in the United States.

Feng shui is the ancient art of arrangement and color usage that is presumed to promote balance and the flow of energy in a given space.

Even if you don?t believe in the philosophy of feng shui, applying some of the basic principles of this practice to your home office can help you operate your virtual corporation more efficiently?and may make it a pleasant place to spend the better part of your day.

Following are some quick feng shui tips tailored to the home office space, but you can apply these techniques to any office.

Location
Situate your home office as close to the front door of your house as possible. If you can avoid it, do not locate your office in the basement?the first floor or higher is preferable, because energy flows upward. Basement offices can be painted white, with bright lighting and a fan installed to promote energy flow (or just to make you feel happier).

Desk placement
Position your desk so that you are facing the entrance to the room, with your back toward the wall or a corner. Even outside of feng shui considerations, sitting with your back to the door is disruptive because you won?t know who is coming in to the room. If there are windows in your office room, try to place your desk so the window is to your left if you?re right-handed, and to your right if you?re left-handed. Never position your desk in the center of the room.

Color scheme
Feng shui recommendations for color in the home office vary according to your company?s goals. If your business relies on selling or making deals, the aggressive red is a good choice. Yellow promotes discipline and stimulates mental activity and clarity of thought?a solid color scheme for any home office. Warm colors such as orange and tan represent collaboration and cooperation. This is an excellent option for offices with more than one team member. For writing and other creative business endeavors, consider blue-green, which is soothing and promotes creativity.

You can find out more on to acquire the mindset and behavior of the rich (with or without feng shui), copy exactly what they are doing to achieve financial success, and stay wealthy all your life on Rene Graeber?s website at http://www.smart-ways-to-make-money.com

Feng shui flying stars for 2006

2008-03-20T04:46:00.000-07:00

(From February 4 ,2006 to February 3, 2007)

What is feng shui flying stars ?

Feng shui flying stars is a numbered system that determines how combinations of chi (energy) described by directions and your house trigram number and the annual number, influence your health, wealth and relationships.

You can check your fortune by annual, monthly and daily feng shui 9 flying stars.

When you are planning to move somewhere, or go traveling or start work or school, the yearly flying star direction influences your luck. If you choose good direction based on the annual and monthly flying stars, that will bring you great fortune.
Each number of the bagua reflects a certain kind of Chi (energy). It's important to understand that inherent nature of each number. There are nine stars.

Feng shui 9 flying stars- 1 white water, 2 black earth, 3 green wood , 4 green wood , 5 yellow earth, 6 white metal, 7 red metal, 8 white earth ,9 purple fire.

Lucky stars - 1 white water, ( wisdom, fame, fortune) 4 green wood ( for love and creativity,) 6 white metal ( dignity & fame), 8 white earth ( happiness & good fortune), 9 purple fire(success & promotion)

Unlucky stars - 2 black earth ( illness star ) , 5 yellow earth ( catastrophes ), 3 green wood ( lawsuits, robbery)

Every year, every month, those 9 stars are moving. The direction when unlucky stars come up need a remedy to protect your life.

Here are feng shui 9 flying stars information for 2006.

Zodiac animal for 2006 - dog
Lucky color - lavender purple
Lucky directions - North, Northwest, Southwest, East
Warning directions - West, Southeast, South, center.

For 2006, Never go traveling and moving to West, Southeast and South directions from your house to avoid misfortune such as accident,illness, financial problem, break up.

Lucky directions for 2006

North - 8 white earth

Luckiest direction for this year 2006. Total Happiness, business success, steady progress in finance and good fortune.

Goog to place items in your house or office -

Wealth & success - red pi yao with crystal ball, jade horse figurine
Health - Jade quan yin, Jade happy buddha
Love- rose quartz happy buddha, rose quartz birds

In July, need to place metal remedies such as 6 Chinese coins or coin sword or bronze (brass) dragon or bronze turtle dragon.
In October, Brass wu lou, or bronze Fuk luk sau, or bronze happy buddha.

Northwest - 4 green wood

That's symbolizes academic achievement, creativity, writing & romance, examination, family & Children.

Good to place item in your house or office - crystal pagoda , crystal world globe, world globe

In March and December, need to place metal remedies such as 6 Chinese coins or coin sword or bronze (brass) dragon or bronze turtle dragon.
In June, Brass wu lou, or bronze Fuk luk sau, or bronze happy buddha or bronze quan yin with dragon.

Southwest - 9 purple fire

That's symbolizes success & promotion, happy marriage & have a baby

Good to place items - bamboo wind chime, wood happy buddha, amethist,

In February and November, need to place metal remedies such as Brass wu lou, or bronze Fuk luk sau, or bronze happy buddha or bronze quan yin with dragon,
In August, 6 Chinese coins or coin sword or bronze (brass) dragon or bronze turtle dragon.

East - 1 white water

That's symbolizes wisdom, fame & good fortune.

Good to place items - Bronze turtle dragon, Bronze or brass dragon, bronze happy buddha, bronze fuk ruk sau, One bronze large feng shui coin ( but not in your bathroom and bedroom ).
If your bathroom is here, hang a metal wind chime in front of the bathroom door, not inside.

In September, need to place metal remedies such as 6 Chinese coins or coin sword or bronze (brass) dragon or bronze turtle dragon. In March and December, Brass wu lou, or bronze Fuk luk sau, or bronze happy buddha or bronze quan yin with dragon.

Keiko Entwistle is a fortune-teller using taoism fortune-telling method.She also studied Chinese & Japanese feng shui and created her original feng shui from her experience. http://www.mercurytreasures.com

Feng Shui tips for offices

2008-03-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

What is Office Feng Shui? How can designing and decorating spaces in office with Feng Shui can produce a positive and productive environment? How Feng Shui can work for offices to have better prosperit?. Feng Shui Meaning "wind" and "water," is the ancient art of living in harmony with the natural world. Though the spaces that you live or work in differ the principles of Feng Shui remain the same. Feng Shui in fact is a traditional art of living with its philosophy strongly rooted in spirituality. Feng Shui for offices Money to you may seem like a material thing, but it has many spiritual and energetic repercussions that affect all aspects of your life. Money flows in and out of your life like the wind, touching everything as it passes by. It is important to make sure that this wind is a healing and strengthening force, not a destructive power that causes harm. It is equally important to ensure that the wind blows constantly, at least as a breeze, and that there is never stagnant, foul air (which symbolizes stagnant finances). Feng Shui for offices not only provides the guide lines for living harmoniously in your work environment it also tells you to how you can manage office spaces to yield prosperity.

There are some time tested office Feng Shui practices which can be used for enhancing your workplace. Practicing the following Feng Shui Tips can make office Feng Shui work for you and you would start noticing the changes.

Feng Shui tips for offices Remove clutter

Your office must be organized and arranged efficiently. Clutter according to Feng Shui stimulates negative Chi (energy) and should be kept to a minimum. Remove whatever extraneous materials are lying in your office. By clearing away the physical clutter that you have been confronting on a daily basis, you free up your mental, emotional burden and feel light, cheerful and optimistic in your reinvigorated working space.

Position of the desk

Keep your desk in the commanding position. The commanding position means a position of power, where you have a direct view of the door, a pleasant view out the window and a wall behind you for stability. This position of the desk according to the Feng Shui office offers you the maximum control.

Shape of your desk

Shape of your desk can affect your mood and level of productivity in the workplace. Rounded curves are flowing, encouraging the flow of creativity. A kidney-shaped desk follows the natural curves of the human body and is said to give you a subconscious feeling of inner alignment.

Placing the plants

Place plants in your work and help you stay connected to the natural world. Since the green color spurs creativity and new ideas it helps you to have creative element in the office. In Feng Shui practice keeping plants helps to have positive Chi flow in corners which other wise are neglected spaces devoid of any energy. Green plants also act as a filtering system, reducing toxins and circulating stagnant air.

Choosing the correct light

The best light is natural daylight, so move your desk close to a window but never have your desk directly in front of window or fluorescent lights which cast a glare, causing eyestrain and exhaustion. You may improve your mood and energy dramatically by replacing fluorescent lights with warm lights that don't cast a glare.

Use of Feng Shui colors

Making use of Feng Shui Colors can help you achieve balance in your office. Different colors have different properties some colors can help people feel grounded and secure. Blues, purples or reds are supposed to enhance the wealth and prosperity area of your office. Office Feng Shui and bagua

A Bagua map can help you to make your office a "Feng Shui-friendly" environment. Bagua can help you in placing objects or placement of furniture in your office in areas which in Feng Shui are said to stimulate your discipline, prosperity and creativity. Once you determine the connections between various spaces in your office and 8 different guas of the bagua map, you start to develop a much stronger sense of purpose and focus about the changes you would like to implement in your life. You can make use of Feng Shui Elements for creating a balance between yin and yang energies.

According to Feng Shui for offices you can have: * Your desk and computer in the "career" area * Reference books in the "knowledge" and "self-cultivation" areas * A crystal bowl in "wealth and prosperity" * You can have reception, phone systems/communication system in area marked for helpful people. * You can have a picture of your father or other relatives in the family area if you have an inherited business. Feng Shui and home office The tips mentioned above can also be applied to your home office. But if not possible you can at least take care to change your home office to a Feng Shui office.

For example if your home office is full of creative and dream-inducing objects, get rid of some of them and introduce more logical, work-oriented elements that will help you get right down to business.

Or if your home office is like the other rooms of your office it is having beige or white curtains can be dramatically improved--and the energy invigorated--by using the guide lines of Feng Shui for offices. Something as simple as adding a tall red vase on the floor or atop a table or windowsill can help you have more yin energy. An impersonal office space can become suddenly personalized and imbued with character when you hang a print of your favorite painting on the wall. A stale room will be immediately freshened when you light a scented candle in an aroma you find particularly pleasing.

Adding a sturdy brown desk to the home office where bills are paid promotes practicality in a person who used to be a spendthrift. These are just an introduction to some of the Feng Shui practices. You can have a number of Feng Shui design ideas for your office or home office to increase the balance and harmony.

Discover the secret to happier living by knowing yourself better! Read the e-book on Feng Shui to get in-depth Feng Shui information and practical guide to lead a meaningful life.

Mike Z. Wang is an expert author on feng shui related topics and eminent feng shui consultant

Correcting Wrong Feng Shui Advice

2008-03-18T22:51:00.000-07:00

Feng Shui is an amazing science and the number of masters, disciples, practitioners are growing at an amazing rate. As it gets more commercialized, many of us encounter a lot of conflicting advice and the correct usage of items gets lost through marketing hype. We start seeing items being described as being able to increase wealth, health, prosperity, fame, and solving world hunger at the same time. There is NO item or remedy that will do this. Learn about the common "advice" given and how they are wrong. Many sources of Feng Shui will claim to be "authentic", but hopefully this article will allow you to see through them. You dedicate your resources to this beautiful art and you have every right to know when a source is pretending to be "traditional" for the sake of a sale.

WRONG: Southeast is your Wealth Corner to enhance
RIGHT: Find your Wealth/Success corner by getting your Kua number
Most people's personal Wealth/Success corner will differ, and don't allow broad generalizations to tell you what is right. We were all born unique, and real Feng Shui knows this. For those whose Kua number is 8 or females with a Kua of 5, Southeast is actually your Total Loss Direction (the most inauspicious direction). If we were to follow the numbers/ratio calculation, 1 out of 2 people will have Southeast as a bad direction (e.g. Mishaps, Five Ghosts, Six Killings, Total Loss) that should not be stimulated. Placing a windchime in the Southeast will actually do more harm than good for you. Yes, following the Later Heaven Sequence, Southeast can be considered to be a Wealth corner, but it's not meant for individuals or normal households.

WRONG: Enhance your way to wealth and happiness first
RIGHT: Identify and remedy the bad sources of Feng Shui first, then only enhance
Proper traditional Feng Shui Masters from Asia will agree on one thing: you work on defence and remedies for your life/home first, and then only think about enhancing. Though in this day age, it's perfectly fine to want to enhance, you should keep in mind the best way to start is by going for remedies that can play dual roles (protective and enhancing). Crystals are great enhancers and in small quantities will benefit the user. I've met a client who was a big fan of Feng Shui and crystals, through her passion she placed many crystals in her NorthWest sector of home and this triggered and amplified the Illness Star in her home bring about sickness to her whole family. Items like Kuan Kong, Chung Kwei, Fuk Luk Sau are great items for protection that will play a secondary role in bringing in benefits to your home.

WRONG: Red is the color of Wealth to always use
RIGHT: Red is to amplify and signifies the Fire element. Use in moderate amounts
Red is an amplifier and should be used in moderation as well as careful consideration. They are also great for enhancing or activating metallic items, but again, they are used in small quantities. I've had a client who was told red was wealth, and thus painted her entire home office red. Unfortunately, this was her Mishaps direction and for that year, the Conflict Star was in that section. By having too much red in one area, will upset the 5 Wu Xing Element cycle, and when there is no balance, there is bad Feng Shui. The only times a lot of red will do good is for the first few days of events that welcome a new beginning. This could come in the form of a store opening, Lunar New Year and marriages.

WRONG: No clutter and a super mess-free/clean home is good Feng Shui
RIGHT: Organized and well kept is good Feng Shui, but your home must have character.
While having a clean and clutter free home is good Feng Shui, don't overdo it. Yes, you want chi to be able to flow freely in your home. Yes, keeping things clean and in good order is good Feng Shui. But you SHOULD have some forms 'clutter' to make it your home. Many of us will have a dislike for many reasons, but part of it is because it's so sterile, clean and to a point 'faceless' that we cannot relate to it or see it as an inviting place. You want your home to be 'lived in' and yours. Many so called Feng Shui Masters will say to keep your home as clean as possible, but having your baby daughter's soft toys on the sofa and her bedroom lying about is actually very good Feng Shui. It's HER home and her place of comfort and happiness. Many will consider her toys as 'clutter', but it's actually nice to have them around. The house is happy and alive with good vibes from her and her items, and this will make the flowing chi around your house the same. Organized and well kept is good. Too clean is bad.

WRONG: Brand new and polished items are best
RIGHT: Earth buried items are more potent because they have more knowledge
In traditional Feng Shui in China, items that have 'matured' are considered to be much more potent compared to the 'shiny and new' items. This is why that many items have been purposely buried in earth/soil so that they are given time to mature and absorb the energies before serving the owner. This is why you will find many earth buried items (ranging from coins to brass figurines) to be a bit more pricier compared to newer versions. Many of us have seen the famous I Ching Coins or Imperial Coins which look new/nice and go for more affordable prices. But if you want them to have more effectiveness, go for earth buried versions of them.

Of course there are many more misconceptions, but this is a good start by identifying the biggest offenders. Though almost everyone is guilty to a certain extent of adding a marketing spin to their products and services, remember to always take it with a grain of salt. Behind each rule and application in Feng Shui, there is always a solid explanation behind it. Learn the logic behind it and empower yourself with this knowledge. Next time you read or hear a source saying they are offering "traditional" or "authentic" Feng Shui, you'll know better.

For more information on remedies, don't forget to visit our website at: www.smilingbamboo.com! :)

Ken Toh is the co-founder of Smiling Bamboo (www.smilingbamboo.com) and strives to preserve the true traditions of Feng Shui amidst all the marketing hype of today. Having spent his life surrounded by Feng Shui and living in both Eastern/Western cultures has given him a firm understanding of bridging the gap of this beautiful science

Feng Shui in the home

2008-03-13T05:21:00.000-07:00

The Feng Shui masters have provided you with the technical know-how for evaluating your home. Implementing the Feng Shui Design and cures in your home has a profound effect on your life. Based on the ancient knowledge and practices, Feng Shui is a spiritual way of life that helps you to imbibe the positive forces of the universe. All the spiritual principles of the Feng Shui also have a strong scientific foundation underlying it.

When you first start looking around spaces in your home you would not be in a position to decide what changes to make, or there can be many areas that you might wish to change; especially if you live in a larger house. But when you let Feng Shui in the home it only tells you where to start, it also tells you the significance of doing so. Bringing Feng Shui in the home design is just not about making physical changes, it is about giving significance to each and every object in your home so that it has positive effect (or positive Chi as it is called in Feng Shui) that particular space, your home and off course your life.

A Feng Shui house is a house where all the objects are in perfect harmony to each other whether we talk about the Feng Shui Elements contained in them or the particular colors that have been used to enhance the space. The Feng Shui is about balancing energies, of animate with inanimate and that of the soul with that of the universe, so that you get the positive energies of the universe flowing through the entire spaces in your house.

Believe it or not, every single household or decorative object in your home is just as imbued with life energy as the natural wonders beyond your front door and it has a scientific basis for it.

Bringing Feng Shui in the home does not ask you to throw out all your furniture, renovate your home, or move to new living quarters as you may have perceived the Feng Shui would lead you to. In quintessence to The Spiritual Feng Shui such upheaval could actually create turmoil rather than correcting imbalanced energies. Similarly trying to fix everything at once is a recipe for confusion and chaos, because in that case you will be throwing the relationships between objects out of whack.

Remember, Feng Shui is all about the connections and energy flow between objects and people, so proceed gradually, in stages, testing out how each small change influences the Chi of the space. Before practicing Feng Shui in your home try to understand its principles, its essence and most importantly its spiritual nature; then and only then you can envision and bring about the specific changes in the objects, environment and quality of life that you desire.

Each area of your life (health, reputation, family, travel, and so on) is strongly associated with various parts of your home. These associations may be determined using the bagua map.

The beauty of Feng Shui is that it suddenly makes visible to us all these things in our home or home design that we have been living with for years, and that have gone unnoticed. We tend to get tunnel vision, so that we are accustomed to our way of life and don't see how it could be any different. But when we view our homes through the lens of Feng Shui, we begin to see the ways in which our surroundings, different objects or the clutter in our house are placing a burden on our spirits. The Feng Shui helps us to be able to identify and pinpoint specific areas in our home that have been letting us down. The spiritual Feng Shui opens our spirit to the whole universe and we learn to recognize elements that have remained invisible to us for so long.

A Feng Shui house is a house where any change that you make, any cure you introduce into your home or home design is a conscious and deliberate (and well thought out) action that you have taken specifically with the intent of improving your life. It is important know that Feng Shui in home works only when the practitioner puts full mindfulness into each task along the way. A careful Feng Shui Study.

Before making any changes in the home design the Feng Shui beginners have to first know about the various Feng Shui Elements, Feng Shui Color and then start practicing Feng Shui in the home design.

When you get the insight into what is Feng Shui you are able to balance the negative energies of the elements that may be present in the objects of your home with using Feng Shui in home design. Similarly practicing Feng Shui in home using color and other enhancement allows the positive Chi to flow through your home and let you have a better and happier life.

The author Andrew Jones is an expert author on Feng Shui related topics. For Details visit:Feng Shui in the home

Feng Shui tips for everyone

2008-03-13T05:20:00.000-07:00

Feng Shui is a process that affects your internal landscape just as much as it affects your physical environment. In order for your spirit to be nourished by the enhancements you make to your home, you must start the entire process by looking inward, and this is an important Feng Shui tip that most Feng Shui consultants like me would offer to all Feng Shui beginners. This in fact is the essence of spiritual Feng Shui which looks at the Feng Shui at a higher level than the other types of Feng Shui which mostly aim at improving at a niche level; be it your office, home or bedroom.

The Spiritual Feng Shui sees the whole concept of Feng Shui at the universal level, the level to which your soul belongs and relates. If you practice spiritual Feng Shui you can never think of improving your life at the expanse of harming your neighbor or your environment. The Feng Shui tips that are offered in the article not only aim to highlight the important points one has to remember before practicing it; it also introduces the Feng Shui beginners to the new horizons that the spiritual Feng Shui can open up for them.

Though the spiritual Feng Shui communicates to your environment, your home, your office through the bodily objects, it heals your soul -- to know how it works it is important for you to remember the following Feng Shui tips. All these free Feng Shui tips have valuable advice contained in them so try to imbibe them before you start your practice.

There is nothing religious about the Spiritual Feng Shui. It talks about purifying your soul, not only the empty or occupied spaces in your house. The purified soul has the radiations that are reflected from you to have strong positive energies; in Feng Shui practice, these positive energies referred to as Chi, which is the universal energy and the guiding principle.

As one would never build a new home on a rotting foundation; likewise, it is essential to clear away the debris of negativity before you create your new Feng Shui space. Only then can your spirits soar with true energy and vitality.

As you come to recognize the importance of cleansing your old attitude and beginning anew, what ever Feng Shui enhancements that you use for a Feng Shui home design seem to be working for you.

Here are some free Feng Shui tips for everyone: Look deep into yourself and don't be afraid to do so! That is the only way to develop and change in a beneficial way. Be honest with yourself - you deserve truth and awareness. Open your palms, close your eyes and reach your arms up and out, as though you are waiting to be picked up or embraced. (This is necessary for unifying your soul with the universe). Imagine the energy radiating from your heart, your lungs, your palms and that the energy is touching everything in its path. Beam the energy away from you, sending it into the farthest corners of the universe. Repeat this mantra: "I am open to positive change in any form it takes."

Before you start feng shui decorating with various Feng Shui elements, my sincere Feng Shui advice to all the Feng Shui beginners is to strictly follow the spiritual Feng Shui tips.

May be as your Feng Shui study goes deeper and deeper you would not mind spending some money for buying e books on Feng Shui, but the absolutely free Feng Shui tips that you just now have are the like the foundation stones for the spiritual Feng Shui practice. Remember that these free Feng Shui tips are going to help you a great deal in your long Feng Shui journey.

Once you are positive about accepting changes in your life the Feng Shui is there to help you in what ever you do; remember that Feng Shui is about focusing intentions, rather than just coasting on auto-pilot. Feng Shui is about getting you back into the driver's seat of your life, it is about accepting responsibility for yourself and your actions not only in this materialist world but also the metaphysical or spiritual world.

Nurturing yourself with Feng Shui practice and making use of the philosophy of Feng Shui in the home design will help you regain your own sense of destiny and purpose within the universe. Before you start any Feng Shui practice, whether it is about understanding Feng Shui Bagua or knowing Feng Shui Elements remember that Feng Shui is a spiritual discipline. It is just not about doing furniture placement using Feng Shui interior design but knowing yourself and your universe better so can get the positive energies from the universe and its objects. Feng Shui elements are nothing different from the elements of universe. If you follow this important piece of Feng Shui advice and bring to practice the above mentioned free Feng Shui nothing can stop you from deriving benefits of Feng Shui.

The Feng Shui masters have provided you with the technical know-how and valuable Feng Shui tips for evaluating your home and implementing Feng Shui techniques and cures. But it is up to you, and only you, to envision and bring about the specific environment and quality of life that you desire.

If you integrate all the above home design tips into your Feng Shui practice you would soon start noticing the positive changes it is having on your life.

Andrew Jones is an expert author on Feng Shui related topics - Feng Shui tips

Significance of Colors in Feng Shui practice

2008-03-12T05:18:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what feelings do you have when you look at bright red rose in the garden? Can you imagine if a garden that does not have colorful flowers but only the green foliage? Early in the morning when you see a newly opened flower in your garden, your heart is filled with joy and happiness. Each flower in the garden has a different color and hue that affects you differently. While the white lily touches your soul for its serenity, the red rose with its vibrant energy elicits a feeling of love and passion. The feeling is different because the flower is reflecting a different color and Feng Shui uses this natural magic of colors to transform your life.

A rose is red because it reflects red color and Feng Shui makes use of this reflected energy to create a balance between yin and yang energies that suits your personality or your environment.

You may be aware of two types of energies (yin and yang) that the colors in Feng Shui represent. You can think of yin energy as like a plant growing from the earth. It comes from the soil, raising itself upward and moving toward the sky. As yin energy moves up to the sky it becomes diffused and dissipated. Yin energies have an element of dreaminess about them and the colors like blue, white, green and purple according to Feng Shui are believed to have yin energies.

If your home office is full of creative and dream-inducing objects or colors, Feng Shui may ask you to get rid of them (at least some of them) and introduce in their place more vibrant colors that will help you get in the right spirit to do some work and be enthusiastic.

Every association you have with a color contributes in some way to how you are. That is why colors play a meaningful role within the practice of Feng Shui. It is very essential for you to understand why toning down or playing up certain Feng Shui colors in your home will help you to achieve the goals you have set for yourself in your life.

The guiding principle in using Feng Shui Colors should be to achieve balance rather than excess. Whether you are planning the color scheme of your home, office, garden or personal appearance, the following characteristics of the colors in Feng Shui practice will give you an insight into how they can be used in Feng Shui design.

Yin Colors & Feng Shui

Yin colors according to Feng Shui are the colors which bring about healing and relaxation. The relation between colors and Feng Shui can be better understood by taking the example of some colors as given below.

Blue: Blue color according to Feng Shui has yin energy and it is calm and soothing. This color has great significance in Feng Shui as it reflects love as it heals and relaxes. Blue creates a feeling of peace and trust. Since it is the color of the sea and sky, Feng Shui associates it with adventure and exploration. Navy blue it the color of intellect and wisdom.

Black: Black color in Feng Shui symbolizes money and income, black is great for careers, especially when combined with metal. It is the Feng Shui color of emotional protection and power.

Purple: Purple, the color which lies at the end of the spectrum, has a great significance in spiritual Feng Shui. The color is excellent for physical and mental healing and Feng Shui associates it with spiritual awareness.

White: The color in Feng Shui represents poise, confidence and purity. Because of its yin energy, Feng Shui uses this color mostly in combination with gold or silver to generate an atmosphere The other yin colors of Feng Shui are pink and green which also have their individual properties that are used in Feng Shui practice.

Yang colors and Feng Shui

Yellow: Yellow color in Feng Shui is considered to be as auspicious as red. Yellow represents sunbeams, warmth, motion, cheerfulness and friendliness. However, according to a noted color Feng Shui consultant, prolonged exposure to large amounts of intense yellow can cause anxiety.

Orange: With a lot of yang energy the orange color has great significance for spiritual Feng Shui practice as it strengthens your concentration. You might use this color when your creative well runs dry. Orange color in Feng Shui is used to give you a sense of purpose. Orange is the color of organization.

The other yang colors of Feng Shui are Tan/Beige, Brown, Red, Mauve, Maroon and lavender and gold. Each color has its significance such as money, luck or romance. These colors can be used in different combinations with Feng Shui elements for balancing the chi of your Feng Shui home, Feng Shui bed room, or Feng Shui office.

Colors & Feng Shui also have a lot to do with the direction in which your home sits. There are different colors that Feng Shui defines for the use in exterior facades of your house. Exterior colors of your house in Feng Shui practice can be used for matching or enhancing the basic house type that you have.

For example if your house is facing towards the south, painting its exterior with white, grey or blue enhances the flow of chi in your home. For houses facing towards East, the colors in earth tones or metal tones are thought to be of much use for enhancing the positive energies of the house.

The above article has been written with the sole aim of introducing you to the significance of relationship between colors and Feng Shui. But in actual Feng Shui practice there are many other factors which need to be given importance, it is very essential for you to understand the core of Feng Shui.

Once you know what is Feng Shui, you are in better position to understand the significance of Feng Shui tips. Remember that opening your heart to universe is more important than knowing meaning of colors and Feng Shui practice, because it is from there that you allow the healing energies to flow in your heart and living environments. The book on The Spiritual Feng ShuiTM has been specially written for Feng Shui study for beginners to bring home the significance of spiritualism for Feng Shui practice.

The author is an expert Feng Shui Consultant - http://www.thespiritualfengshui.com/feng-shui-color.php

Good Business Feng Shui

2008-03-11T04:45:00.000-07:00

At the job a sincere climate should rule according to Feng Shui. The working conditions should be that also boring routine work is settled well. Here would qualify these Feng Shui-rules:

Goods Feng Shui in the boss office and in the accounting office are of importance for the total firm. Rest and insularity in these rooms are especially important.

The access to the boss office should be light and roomy. Offices at the end of long and dark halls count as unfit. The boss office should lie in a higher floor than the toilets.

Aquariums with an odd amount at fishes contribute for flourishing a business. Plants and landscape pictures provide positive energy, named Ch?i. They create harmony in the room.

Which colors are favorable, depends on the type of the firm. Red and gold symbolize good fortune. Therefore frequently Chinese shops and restaurants decorate themselves in these colors. Basically the related colors should mediate a feeling of balance.

Business that drive trade should set up vases with big bloomed flowers. Peonies and lillies are suited for example.

The Best Place for Office Chair and Desk

Good work can be encouraged. Therewith to work undisturbed, concentrates and successfully at your desk, the following Feng Shui rules count in:

The desk should never stand that the employee has the door in his back. If one does not know, who enters the room, unrest emerges. At best the employee sits with the the wall behind him and has the door in front of him.

Who sits in his office chair with the wall in his back, should place plants and floor-standing lamps behind the desk additionally. If the employee sits with the back to the door , it should be recognizable at least through a view into a mirror, who just enters the room.

Door and window should not be opposite in an office. Otherwise the positive energy, the Ch?i, flows unused out of the room.

Desks frequently are placed in front of the window. That is unfavorable according to Feng Shui because the employee cannot see the door then. The desk is therefore placed better into a corner diagonally. The employee sits behind it and sees both the door and the window. Although the danger exists that the flowing energy gathers itself behind the desk. That can cause back pain according to Feng Shui. Therefore the corner should be defused with a shade.

Unfavorably are work places that lie exactly on the straight line between door and window. The desk should moved out of this line and wind chime should be placed in front of the window.

Peter Bishop

Entrepreneur and Office Chair Online-Business owner from Colorado with a strong interest in eastern culture

Quick Authentic Feng Shui Advice For Your Home

2008-03-11T04:44:00.001-07:00

During a site consultation for a department of the United Nations in Malaysia, one of its employees asked me a question that seems to be asked often: can you give me some quick guidelines for my home without having to go too much into it? And of course, still using classical Feng Shui. House consultations are usually very detailed affairs with many layers of disciplines used and time consuming as each home is unique BUT there still is general advice that can be used without accidentally creating negative effects.

It helps to know which directions should be enhanced and those that are not to be stimulated. If you are not sure of your Kua number, you can use our Kua Number Calculator to find out your Auspicious and Inauspicious directions. Inauspicious directions need remedies and more protection while Auspicious directions should be primarily enhanced. Remember, different people have different Kua numbers and directions, meaning a good direction for you to stimulate may be a bad direction for a loved one. In cases where there are multiple occupants whose good/bad directions overlap: use items that are primarily protective items with a secondary role of enhancing. That way, if an item for some reason is placed in the wrong direction, you're still protected.

The Entrance
Asides from the entrances being entry points for your home, it is also very important in Feng Shui as that's where a very large amount of chi comes in and sets the overall tone of your home. Wouldn't you rather allow good flowing chi into your home instead of negative chi entering and pulling everything down? Here, you would want to set up a filter point choosing for auspicious chi coming in or good chi. A protective item would make sure only good chi (sheng chi) comes in, whereas a wealth enhancer would transform the chi coming in to be auspicious chi. Recommendations: All Protectors (Protective), Authentic Wealth Bowl (Auspicious), Kuan Kung on Horse of Progress (Both).

The Backdoor
The backdoor or exit of your house is frequently overlooked because there is usually more importance stressed on the entrance. The importance of this part of the house increases when depending on how often you use it. For some, it is an entrance to their garden or a more convenient form of exit. If you do not use the backdoor often, focusing on protection takes priority. If it is used very often, then you can also treat it similar to an additional entrance. Recommendations: Kuan Kung God of War (Protective), Lucky Wealth Bars (Auspicious), Inscribed Dragon Tortoise (Both).

The Living/Dining Room
This is usually the place where members of the house would spend a large amount of time together. Be it entertaining guests, watching a favorite show together or just winding down after a tough day at work. This is also a place to maximise the usage of Feng Shui for you to reap the benefits it can bring. Recommendations: Fu Lu Shou Set (Protective), Prosperity Buddha (Auspicious), Lord Chung Kwei Guardian of Harmony (Both).

The Bedroom
This is a place where we rest and recuperate and thus open ourselves to negative or positive influences in our immediate surroundings. Most of the times, health related items are recommended in this section and refrain from putting enhancers that are constantly moving like windchimes. This is one of the best places to promote harmony and soak up auspicious chi. Recommendations: 8 Immortals Wu Lou (Protective), Health Wealth Pendant (Auspicious), Kuan Yin on Arowana(Both).

Well, hopefully this list has provided you with some basic knowledge of how you can use classical Feng Shui in your home properly. I'd also like to take the time to wish you and your an prosperous Lunar New Year! For more information on remedies, don't forget to visit our website at: www.smilingbamboo.com! :)

Feng Shui and Wind Chimes

2008-03-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese art of creating a harmonious environment, is becoming more and more popular in the United States. Pronounced "fung shway," it translates to "wind and water" and its roots in Chinese history date back more than 5,000 years. Originally kept as a secret to assist the Imperial Dynasties, Feng Shui is now helping to create a more pleasant home and work environment for people around the globe.

Wind chimes are popular in the art of Feng Shui; not only pleasing to look at and pleasant to listen to, it is believed that they not only stimulate the imagination and creativity, but that wind chimes also give one a burst of 'chi,' or good energy, whenever they ring. Hanging wind chimes both at the entrance and exits of buildings is said to assist, not only those inside the building, but to help those who are entering, chasing away the negative energies that often cling to us.

Feng Shui wind chimes are beautiful to look at; commonly crafted of bamboo and brass, many are specially tuned to promote good energy and stimulate the imagination. In Feng Shui, it is believed that both the bamboo and the metal of these chimes help heal negative energies that can cause illness or accident. Some wind chimes are made to hang in certain areas, while others are made to sit upon a table or desk, where they can be manually rang, providing an 'instant chi boost'. Feng Shui wind chimes are designed to remind us to be playful and lighthearted, helping us to overcome obstacles that we are faced with, preventing stagnation and attracting opportunity into our lives.

Whether you are a follower of geomancy (earth magic) or just have a love of music, the Feng Shui wind chimes are beautiful to listen to and fill listeners with a sense of tranquility. Few can resist the warm earthy tones and soft sounds that emanate from these wonderful chimes. Whether you wish to create a Feng Shui harmonious environment or not, everyone always enjoys the smiles that these chimes are known to create.

James Hunt has spent 15 years as a professional writer and researcher covering stories that cover a whole spectrum of interest. Read more at www.wind-chimes-guide.info

Fast Solutions with Feng Shui

2008-03-08T03:29:00.000-08:00

Fast Solutions with Feng Shui By BatSheva Vaknin

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art used in the home to create balance and harmony. Feng Shui Practitioners have many tricks of the trade used to get rid of negative energy and promote happiness, stability, affluence, tranquility and peace. With the help of this guide, now you, too, can use Feng Shui to enhance your surroundings.

Here are some Feng Shui fast solutions to allow you to experience maximum fulfillment in your current home:

Color. Color can lift you up or bring you down, so pay attention to the colors you choose for your furniture and to decorate your house. Decide on which color best suits your living room, bedrooms, dining room and furniture by figuring out the energy you would like for that particular room or area.

* Red: Great for energy and excitement. Works perfectly in a dining room to keep folks awake at the dinner table. Not so good for bedrooms and studies, as its properties can make it hard to relax and unwind. * Orange: Stimulates hunger. Softer, lighter shades work great for living rooms, playrooms, and even bedrooms. * Yellow: Inspires happiness and creativity. Use in any room to add brightness and vitality. * Green: A healing and soothing color. A perfect choice for a living room or any room where you want to enhance the energy of balance. * Blue: A healing and soothing color. A perfect choice for a living room or any room where you want to enhance the energy of balance. * Indigo: Yet another color that heals and soothes. Good for a child's room to promote healthy sleep habits. * Purple: A highly spiritual color that promotes richness and transformation. Can be too high of a frequency for a large room, so consider using accents of purple as an alternative to painting an entire room.

Light. Light exerts a strong influence over how we feel. Take care to light each room so that you achieve the appropriate calming or energizing effect.

* Sunlight: Natural lighting is the very best way to brighten a room. * Good Quality Lighting: Second best to natural lighting. If possible, don't skimp when it comes to buying lamps, track lighting, or fixtures for your home. * Bright Lighting: Promotes energy and activity (for a playroom, for example). * Low Lighting: Promotes calmness and relaxation (for a bedroom or study, for example). * Dimmers: Can be purchased at a local hardware store. Dimmer switches give you the flexibility to alternate between bright and low lighting in the same room. With a dimmer, bedrooms can be used to play, study, or sleep, your dining room can accommodate a lively brunch or a romantic supper, and the living room can foster animated conversation or some quiet family reading.

Touch. Designers often overlook the power of texture and how it influences the energy of your home and surroundings. Play with accessories and furniture of different materials to achieve surprising results.

* Rugs: A shag rug emits a playful energy, while a tightly coiled country rug adds a homey, nurturing touch to a living room. Decide whether you would prefer to tread barefoot upon a soft carpet or a cool shiny wood floor. One draws the energy of comfort, the other professionalism. Choose the materials best suited for the energy you would like each room of your home to radiate. * Pillows: Silk pillows add richness and sensuality. Cotton is good for kids or casual relaxation, and fun, fluffy pillows can be employed for a lighter, playful effect in a living room or playroom. * Furniture: Sleek wood furniture conveys a sturdy and reassuring energy, while soft leather couches and armchairs add a luxurious energy to a living room or study.

Smell. Aromas are an easy and inexpensive solution to help you achieve a harmonious home environment. Play with different scents in each room, changing them occasionally to see how the smells aid in energizing or relaxing you.

* Flowers: Flowers can be a terrific addition to any household because of their color and innate positive energy. Easy to forget, however, is how wonderful a room smells when fresh flowers are added. * Candles: Candles look beautiful and have an immediate calming effect on a room. Use different scents for each room, or place various candles with unique smells together in one collection. * Cooking: Cooking provides nourishment and comfort. An added benefit is the wonderful smells of cooking, which contribute to a balanced atmosphere in your home. * Incense or alternatively, Sage: Incense is a fantastic cleansing agent. Use it to erase negative energies, such as after an argument. The scent will permeate all corners of the room, and either relax or invigorate the inhabitants, depending on what type of incense you use.

You! Don't forget the most important element of your home: you and your family. Even plants and flowers play a vital role in livening up an environment. Pets and children are great for adding movement in each room, which, in turn, keeps the energy of your house circulating. Play with these and other Feng Shui solutions, to maintain balance and perfect harmony in your home.Please find the original article and more information about this subject at http://www.homeandliving.com/DesignAdvice.aspx?Category=FengShuiCures When Yale graduate, BatSheva Vaknin is not writing helpful and insightful articles like the one you just read for www.homeandliving.com, she writes plays, screenplays and short stories. In fact, she has just completed her first novel.

If you would like to publish this article on your own site, please feel free to do so. Please let us know the URL of the posted article by emailing the URL to article@homeandliving.com . All we ask is that you include the whole article, without changes, including the link to the original article location, author information, this disclaimer and the following link. Find great home furniture online at www.homeandliving.com...

When Yale graduate, BatSheva Vaknin is not writing helpful and insightful articles like the one you just read for www.homeandliving.com, she writes plays, screenplays and short stories. In fact, she has just completed her first novel.

The 7 Schools Of Feng Shui

2008-03-08T03:28:00.000-08:00

Everyone has heard of Feng Shui, but what exactly is it? Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese belief that involves the study of both the natural and the created environments. To achieve a balance between the 2 affects the energy of a room.

7 Schools Of Feng Shui

There are many different versions of Feng Shui, each influenced by culture, geography, and religion. There are 7 predominant types or schools of Feng Shui:

1. The Compass School uses the 8 trigrams of the I-Ching. They are known collectively as Pa Kua, which is based on the 8 main directions of a compass. Each direction is associated with a specific chi. For example, southern is vibrant energy.

2. The Form School, based on the landscape's shape, uses 4 symbolic animals to identify the landscape. Easy to use, the Form School (along with the Compass School) increases chi both in and out of the home.

3. The Black Hat Sect uses a fixed entry point to determine the area. Although similar to the Compass School philosophy, it has differences. The Black Hat Sect also consists of psychology, Buddhism and basic design principles.

4. 8 Mansion School, also known as the 8 House Feng Shui, is based on the individual number of the person living in the home. That number is used to bring harmony and balance to the home. People who use this system have both lucky and unlucky numbers, with the west numbers being 2, 6, 7, and 8 and the east numbers being 1, 3, 4, and 9.

5. The 9 Star Key School uses stars to help identify lucky and unlucky days. This school of thought uses complicated math formulas to pinpoint when a person will get married and the astrological sign of the future marriage partners. It will also tell the practitioner how to live based on his house.

6. The most common form of Feng Shui, based on astrology and numerology, is the Flying Star Philosophy. Difficult to understand and learn, it is also based on mathematical principals and is used to determine a person's fate.

7. Four Pillars, the final school of thought, is not very common. Based on astrology tied to the person's date of birth right down to the minutes, this form of Feng Shui is also used to determine a person's fate.

5 Elements Of Feng Shui

After determining which school of thought is best for an individual, it is important to understand the 5 elements of Feng Shui. They are: Earth, Fire, Water, Metal, and Wood. Balance and harmony can be created in a home through the use of these elements. If used incorrectly, however, the energy can be lessened or even destroyed.

Each of the 5 elements is also associated with a direction: Earth -- Southwest Fire -- South Water -- North Metal -- West Wood -- East

Beauty And Balance

In a Feng Shui home, all rooms should achieve a balance of these elements, although some items may weigh heavier than others. A chair might score 3 times more than a throw pillow, for example, because of the size difference.

Properly applied, Feng Shui brings both beauty and balance to the home or office.

Visit Feng Shui Home Design to learn more. Ron King is a full-time researcher, writer, and web developer, visit his website at Articles for authors

This article may be reprinted if the resource box is left intact and the links live

Feng Shui Guidlines for Storage Spaces

2008-03-06T04:23:00.000-08:00

Feng Shui Guidlines for Storage Spaces

Professional organizers and helpful-hint sources often recommend storage solutions such as shelves above doors and in corners, hooks on the backs of doors, and peg-board or tools and small appliances. They are masters at maximizing every square inch of a closet with bins, baskets, shelf dividers, and multiple hanging rods. What they don't realize is that, from a feng shui perspective, these techniques can cause as many problems as they solve.

For good feng shui, it's important to leave some of your storage space unused, for doors to open all the way, and to aim for visual simplicity. As you work toward achieving the organizer's dream of a place for everything and everything in its place, keep these guidelines in mind:

Spaces that are completely full block the flow of "chi" (vital energy) into your home and your life. Full file drawers block the flow of new business; full bookcases block the flow of new information and knowledge; a full bedroom closet can block your ability to attract a new relationship, and so on. Wherever possible, keep 20-25% of your storage areas available for new ideas, relationships, and opportunities to flow your way.
Storage units hung from the ceiling create oppressive energy that presses down on whatever is underneath them. Anything stored overhead can contribute to feelings of depression, anxiety, and overwhelm. A pot rack hanging over the stove is considered especially bad because it "weighs down" your finances.
Shelves over a door, or on a wall beside your bed or desk have a similar oppressive effect, and can lead to headaches, poor sleep, lack of energy, or muddled thinking.
A hook on the back of the bathroom door is fine if all you hang on it is a summer-weight robe and PJs. If the hook is piled with three terry robes and a few extra towels, so the door no longer opens all the way, that's a feng shui no-no. Never use hooks on the back of the main door to your home or on bedroom doors; it is essential that these doors open freely and completely, with nothing stored behind them. (That means removing anything stored on the floor behind the door as well.)
Vinyl-coated wire shelves on the inside of a door can be a good way to keep lots of small items tidy; however, they should only be used on closet, cabinet, or pantry doors.
Avoid under-bed storage if you can. If you must use this space, use it for extra bedding and for soft, seasonal clothing such as sweaters. Never store any kind of sharp objects, information (books, videos or DVDs, paperwork), or exercise equipment under the bed; you may have trouble sleeping or feel exhausted no matter how much rest you get.
As much as possible, store things where they are accessible but out of sight. Peg board and open shelving create visual clutter, so limit these to the garage, workroom, or pantry where they won't affect the energy of the rest of the house.
Be thoughtful about how much stuff you display in a room. Filling the den with knick-knack shelves so hubby can have his entire collection of sports memorabilia on display creates visual overwhelm. From a feng shui perspective, it's better to invest in closed storage such as drawers and cabinets and have only a few treasures on display at a time. Change the selection every three to six months, and with each rotation you'll rediscover old favorites. By displaying fewer items at a time, you'll actually enjoy and appreciate your collection more.
Another common problem is family photos and snapshots scattered lavishly throughout every room and wall in the house. Select a dozen of the best ones, frame them attractively, and create a mini-gallery on one wall in one room or hallway. Store the rest or put them in albums. (Okay, okay, you can stick a few on the fridge, too!)
Aesthetics are as important as functionality in feng shui. Keeping earrings and small jewelry in an ice-cube tray or egg carton works, but it's cheap-looking, cheap-feeling, and will drag your energy down every time you use it. It's okay to be budget-conscious, but appearance counts, too. A small plastic storage box is more attractive than an ice-cube tray and you can get one at your local discount, craft, or housewares store for less than three dollars. They even come in pretty colors so you can choose one to match your bedroom dcor.

With these easy guidelines in mind, you can choose storage solutions that will keep your space tidy and create good feng shui in your home. For even better results, remember to get rid of clutter before you put things away. Why waste time and money finding clever storage solutions for stuff you can do without?

STEPHANIE ROBERTS is a feng shui consultant and writer in Maui, HI. She is the author of the popular "Fast Feng Shui" book series and the "Clutter Free Forever!" Home Coaching Program. For more tips and information, visit her websites at http://www.fastfengshui.com and http://www.clutterfreeforever.com.

stephanie@fastfengshui.com