Feng Shui--said "feng shway"--is the Chinese art of design and placement. It literally means "wind and water," and refers to the principles of flow and easy movement in both indoor and outdoor places.
Here are five fast Feng Shui tips to improve your home office.
1. What you see is what you get. What's the very first thing that a visitor to your home office would notice? Is it clutter? Is it the great view out your window? Both can be detrimental to your business.
Your visitors should see one, important object or focal point, which is a symbol of your business successes and your expertise. It could be a display of your awards. It may be a painting or a poster showing the best of what you sell. But, it should evoke a mental "Oh, how wonderful!" response from visitors, and remind you daily of your business achievements.
2. Display nothing higher than eye level. Many people maximize available space by using the tops of cabinets and bookcases for storage. Tall storage fixtures are fine, as long as there is visible evidence of their stability. One solution is fancy hardware that holds the fixture to the wall.
However, Feng Shui suggests that anything that could land on someone's head during a dramatic earthquake--no matter how unlikely--can send a subliminal message of "something's about to fall on you."
Have you ever felt an uneasy sense of "loose ends," or as if something is about to land on you, out of the blue? This could result from objects stored too high overhead. In your home office, it's vital to find alternative storage, out of sight.
3. Keep your entry as open as possible. From the "wind and water" viewpoint, it's important to leave maximum space around entering visitors. A coat rack or literature display may seem a practical idea, but if it's too close to the door, it can reduce the inflow of business and income.
Pretend that you're wearing a huge, fluffy raccoon coat when you enter your workplace. Or imagine that your aura extends at least a foot from your body in all directions. Enter your home office and walk around. Would your coat (or aura) get snagged on anything? If so, put it somewhere else. You and your office visitors should feel entirely at ease as they move around your office.
4. Keep your desk as clean and uncluttered as possible. Some people think that a stack of papers makes them "look busy." Remove all but the most essential tools from your desk. A fresh flower or two is fine; otherwise reduce desk decor to a minimum. The space that you create on your desk also creates space for greater success and new business.
5. Remove all clutter from your office. Even if you work alone at home and no one sees your workspace, the clutter has got to go. Whether it's one small pile related to a project, reference books stacked on the floor, or a chronic storage problem throughout your home office, clutter symbolize snags and snarls in the flows of your business.
April Fool's Day is the signal for spring cleaning! Set an alarm for 15 minutes daily, and do nothing but clean and organize your home office. By keeping your office fresh and clutter-free, you'll improve the general sense of well-being--and professionalism--in your work. You'll feel better and your business will benefit.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Try feng shui for romance
Some lonely hearts are eschewing Internet dating and instead putting their faith in feng shui in a bid to find their romantic soul mates.
It is not a common sight yet to see feng shui, the ancient Chinese art of geomancy, advertised as a romance enhancer, but it may not be long before it becomes an accepted part of dating in big cities where singles frequently battle to find love, devoted practitioners say.
People like Los Angeles advertising art director Alicia Schiefer insist that feng shui works to improve one's romantic life.
"It's worth it to do it," she said. Using the peach blossom technique in feng shui, she entered into what she says was a very satisfying long-term relationship.
The 44-year-old Schiefer, who went through a difficult divorce, business doldrums and a death in the family, was on the verge of returning to her native Peru to be near relatives, but a judge barred her taking from her sons out of the country.
The hard times came crashing down as Schiefer hired Janice Sugita, a feng shui consultant and interior designer, to jump-start her business.
Sugita, noticing her client's single status, told Schiefer that romance could be hers with a few easy feng shui techniques.
Feng shui is increasingly becoming accepted in the West as a way of increasing business prosperity and maintaining health, harnessing the universal energy of life, or qi, to create a harmonious environment.
"Not only will you be able to improve your surroundings to attract romance, but you can increase your personal energy that will make you feel more energized and attractive," according to Sugita's E-book "The Feng Shui Equation."
The formula for stirring up romantic energy is simple enough. Fresh flowers are placed in water in a wide-necked vase. The colour of the flower and the vase must be the same and can be determined by checking a person's birth date on a feng shui chart or by having a reading done.
The chart also determines the best direction for the flower arrangement. Then, one must sit back and wait.
Schiefer lived in a rental for a year and never met anyone. Her peach blossom was in place, but she planned to move. Within a few weeks, a prospective tenant asked to meet her because of how she had decorated the space.
Five years later, she and her partner, Brad Amster, are still together.
"This guy rang my bell. What are the chances you meet someone that comes to your house?" said Schiefer.
Benoit Hug and Ines Beyer have also become believers.
Hug, a baker, was single when he set up his flowers in the bedroom. Three days later, a woman asked him out.
"It was fun to try it out. I had a good experience," he said of the relationship, which lasted a few months.
Within one or two days of putting her flowers in place, Beyer says she got a call from an ex-boyfriend. One week later, two men she had met earlier called her. Feng shui practitioners point out that the technique does have its down side. The random personal attraction created can bring ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands back on the scene.
"It only improves what you were meant to have," said Betty Stone, assistant to Feng Shui Master Larry Sang of the American Feng Shui Institute.
But if you ask Pat Linse, co-founder of the Skeptics Society, an organization devoted to the promotion and better understanding of science, she will not be giving up Internet dating anytime soon.
To her, feng shui romance sounds "charming and poetic. It appeals to the emotions. It could make a person happier and more receptive to a relationship." Linse said it would be interesting to test the technique scientifically by gathering 100 people who do not know the ritual and having 50 of them practice the correct ritual while showing the wrong ritual to the other 50, and then observing whether there is a difference in the groups' outcomes.
Meanwhile, enthusiasts of the ancient art are finding that they can increase their understanding by doing a feng shui travel tour.
The 10-day tour, organized by Feng Shui Masters, takes the faithful to a series of ancient sites in China that represent feng shui's early beginnings.
Locations are beautifully landscaped in accordance with feng shui principles, and special lecturers explain their significance along the way.
"Each person has a different reaction (to the trip), depending on their cultural background," said Johnathan Ng, executive director of Feng Shui Masters.
"A visit to the Hangzhou temple has moved people to tears," he said. "They feel so great, so very positive."
It is not a common sight yet to see feng shui, the ancient Chinese art of geomancy, advertised as a romance enhancer, but it may not be long before it becomes an accepted part of dating in big cities where singles frequently battle to find love, devoted practitioners say.
People like Los Angeles advertising art director Alicia Schiefer insist that feng shui works to improve one's romantic life.
"It's worth it to do it," she said. Using the peach blossom technique in feng shui, she entered into what she says was a very satisfying long-term relationship.
The 44-year-old Schiefer, who went through a difficult divorce, business doldrums and a death in the family, was on the verge of returning to her native Peru to be near relatives, but a judge barred her taking from her sons out of the country.
The hard times came crashing down as Schiefer hired Janice Sugita, a feng shui consultant and interior designer, to jump-start her business.
Sugita, noticing her client's single status, told Schiefer that romance could be hers with a few easy feng shui techniques.
Feng shui is increasingly becoming accepted in the West as a way of increasing business prosperity and maintaining health, harnessing the universal energy of life, or qi, to create a harmonious environment.
"Not only will you be able to improve your surroundings to attract romance, but you can increase your personal energy that will make you feel more energized and attractive," according to Sugita's E-book "The Feng Shui Equation."
The formula for stirring up romantic energy is simple enough. Fresh flowers are placed in water in a wide-necked vase. The colour of the flower and the vase must be the same and can be determined by checking a person's birth date on a feng shui chart or by having a reading done.
The chart also determines the best direction for the flower arrangement. Then, one must sit back and wait.
Schiefer lived in a rental for a year and never met anyone. Her peach blossom was in place, but she planned to move. Within a few weeks, a prospective tenant asked to meet her because of how she had decorated the space.
Five years later, she and her partner, Brad Amster, are still together.
"This guy rang my bell. What are the chances you meet someone that comes to your house?" said Schiefer.
Benoit Hug and Ines Beyer have also become believers.
Hug, a baker, was single when he set up his flowers in the bedroom. Three days later, a woman asked him out.
"It was fun to try it out. I had a good experience," he said of the relationship, which lasted a few months.
Within one or two days of putting her flowers in place, Beyer says she got a call from an ex-boyfriend. One week later, two men she had met earlier called her. Feng shui practitioners point out that the technique does have its down side. The random personal attraction created can bring ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands back on the scene.
"It only improves what you were meant to have," said Betty Stone, assistant to Feng Shui Master Larry Sang of the American Feng Shui Institute.
But if you ask Pat Linse, co-founder of the Skeptics Society, an organization devoted to the promotion and better understanding of science, she will not be giving up Internet dating anytime soon.
To her, feng shui romance sounds "charming and poetic. It appeals to the emotions. It could make a person happier and more receptive to a relationship." Linse said it would be interesting to test the technique scientifically by gathering 100 people who do not know the ritual and having 50 of them practice the correct ritual while showing the wrong ritual to the other 50, and then observing whether there is a difference in the groups' outcomes.
Meanwhile, enthusiasts of the ancient art are finding that they can increase their understanding by doing a feng shui travel tour.
The 10-day tour, organized by Feng Shui Masters, takes the faithful to a series of ancient sites in China that represent feng shui's early beginnings.
Locations are beautifully landscaped in accordance with feng shui principles, and special lecturers explain their significance along the way.
"Each person has a different reaction (to the trip), depending on their cultural background," said Johnathan Ng, executive director of Feng Shui Masters.
"A visit to the Hangzhou temple has moved people to tears," he said. "They feel so great, so very positive."
Feng Shui for Love and Romance – Improve your Love Life through Feng Shui
Are you and your romantic partner not getting along – is there a lot of disagreement conflict when there used to be love and togetherness? Or, do you not have a romantic partner in your life but wish you could find one? Properly applying the principles of Feng Shui might be just what you need to fix that relationship or find a new one, and it might be as simple as making a few simple adjustments. Feng Shui helps with many important life goals, including career, wealth, education, etc. One of the most important, and popular, Feng Shui goals is Love and Relationship. You can use Feng Shui to find a partner or improve your existing relationship. The back right corner of any room or home is the Feng Shui Love and Relationship corner, but your bedroom is the best place to start to improve your Feng Shui Love and Relationship energy.
Examine your bedroom, especially the back right corner of your bedroom, right now and see what items are there – next to your bed, on your walls, in the corners. Is there a garbage pail there? Is that why your love life is in the garbage pail? Do you have a picture of your ex-love there? Is that why you can’t move on? Do you have a picture of your mom there? Something else that is not very romantic? Remove anything that doesn’t scream love and romance to you.
Note the color of your walls, carpet and sheets. If they are depressing, dark, or just not romantic you might want to change them, or improve them with highlights like romantic colored sheets or curtains. What are romantic Feng Shui colors you ask? Romantic Feng Shui colors are pink and peach. Use these colors liberally in your bedroom and Love and Relationship area of your home for optimal romance in your life.
In Feng Shui two of anything represents a harmonious and balanced relationship, and items that are pairs or couples bring good couple energy into your home and life. Do you have two identical nightstands on either side of your bed with identical lamps? You should. Make sure there are two pillows on your bed with matching pillow cases. Is there a picture on the wall? If there is it should be a pair or couple, not one figure, whether it’s an animal, person, or thing. There should not be a picture of a single person or animal in your bedroom because it represents isolation, the opposite of what you are trying to achieve. Your bedroom should represent to you the romantic ideal you seek. Same thing with any statues or figures – they should be matching pairs. Pairs of anything are good to have in your bedroom, especially a Feng Shui romantic cure like love candles or hearts. There should not be any pictures that are not romantic in your bedroom – no photos of children, or sad people. The ideal picture to hang on the wall in your bedroom, if you have a partner, is a photo of you and your partner, preferably a romantic photo or one that reminds you both of a happy and romantic time in your relationship.
Do you have room on either side of your bed, or do you and your partner have to squeeze into bed from the same side? Make room on both sides so you both have room to go to bed, and if you don’t have a partner there will be room for one to enter your life. You want your entire room to have the look you expect it to have when your ideal partner becomes a permanent part of your life and your bedroom. And for some extra powerful romantic energy hang a Marriage & Union Hanger in the back right corner of your bedroom. This double coin hanger represents the perfect blending of partners, and brings good luck to marriage and relationships.
The Art of Feng Shui and the Feng Shui of Art
| A question that comes up often during a feng shui consultation, is how to interpret the effects of art in our home or work place. Here are my thoughts: 1. Art is subjective: if you like looking at a particular piece of art and it makes you feel good, then that is good feng shui in one sense. 2. When an art object or painting or photograph is boldly one color, then it will emanate the element associated with that color. Example: a giant red canvas on the wall is the fire element. (That color may or may not be good for that particular area, but if you have good reason to believe that a certain element is appropriate for that area, then a large display of it via color will enforce the effects.) 3. A picture which has several or many colors will NOT be strong enough to represent one or all of those colors--the energy gets dissipated. 4. Art should not conflict with the function of the room. Example: I once had a client who had a large painting over her bed. It was brash and modern with the actual words "LISTEN TO ME NOW!" sprawled across it. Perhaps a joke, but not exactly the kind of message you would normally want to display for the new boyfriend! 5. Placing a series of pictures along the wall or walls of a room with frames all at the same level will create a subtle second ceiling to the room. Air currents travel along walls, ceilings and floors. This could be good for rooms with ceilings that are too high. 6. In general, placing pictures a little higher on the wall will make the room feel bigger. 7. Art pieces, such as bronze statues or sculptures are definitely feng shui metal remedies. 8. Having an attractive paining on an otherwise blank wall can be a feng shui remedy for a congestive entrance. 9. Having pictures of landscapes can be good for rooms with no windows. ***Recommended Reading: a new feng shui book by Master Gahle Atherton (Feng Shui: The Perfect Arrangement) has now joined the ranks of one of my favorite authentic feng shui books. (A grand total of six!) It is not in stores in America yet, but you can get signed copies from the author by contacting her at www.fengshui.com.au Don't forget the "au" part of the domain name or you won't get Gahle's site. I have a few copies, and I'm ordering more. $20.00 Question from a student: Are new houses better than older houses? Answer: A newer house may be in better structural condition. This contributes to good feng shui. A newer house will statistically have had fewer past occupants. The result is less lingering energy of past occupants, or even the potential for one of them to return as a ghost. These are just a couple of advantages of the newer house. But there are many older homes that still have good ch'i, even better than the new homes which were built against feng shui principles. Second part of the answer: Houses go through cycles that last 180 years, broken down into 9 construction cycles that last for 20 years. Once a house reaches 180 years old, then its ch'i gets renewed, as if it were a new house again. Question: What's the best color for the exterior of a house? Answer: We have eight basic house types, each one associated with a direction. That direction is asociated with an element, and that element has a color. If you paint the house the same color as the element which defines its orientation, then you have an exterior color that supports the house instead of undermining it. You can also use a color which is "productive" to the element that matches your house. As an example: Your house faces East, therefore it "sits" in the West. The real nature of the house is that it is a West type house. West is associated with Metal. Metal colors include grey and white. Those would be good colors for the exterior. Also, since Earth makes Metal stronger, then earth colors would also be strengthening to the house. Earth colors are beiges, oranges, and yellows. What would be a bad color for the metal house? Well, fire melts metal--so a house that was reddish in tones, or salmon colored, would not be an ideal color for this orientation of house. |
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Feng Shui At Work - Climbing the Walls
Empty walls devoid of art --or any decoration-- are depressing, aren't they? The only thing less uplifting than bare walls is ugly walls that have stains and peeling paint where the art should be. Feng shui is about creating harmonious, peaceful, and inspiring spaces that improve one's quality of life at home and at work. If your work environment is depressing, chances are your workers are going to be depressed and not as creative and productive as they should be.
Art need not be expensive to be effective at lifting ch'i (energy). To paraphrase Mae West, art just needs to be good looking and well hung. If your budget does not allow you to buy Andy Warhol originals--or even limited edition prints--you might consider purchasing original art from some local fine artists instead. Attend local art fairs and small galleries to get a feel for what is available. Another inexpensive alternative is framed poster art.
For the work place, art also needs to send the appropriate message. Thought should be given as to what the corporate message actually is. Paintings of naked ladies in the classical style could work beautifully as part of a wellness spa's decor but may not be right for a labor union office, for example. Art in the work place can simply be used to beautify a space, or, it can motivate workers.
Several poster companies even specialize in motivational sayings designed to promote leadership qualities for managers. Health care professionals tend to have their walls plastered with care related images.
Many professional offices prefer to hang diplomas, awards, and credentials in their office spaces. To enhance feng shui, these items should ideally be located in the "Fame & Reputation" area of the office. But these can be depressing, too, if they are poorly framed and displayed, and if they are the only wall art in the room. It's important to have a balance with art for art's sake. Maps, mirrors, tools of your trade and other common objects...all of these can be artfully hung on a wall to create an uplifting ambiance. Use your imagination!
Feng Shui Interprets Exposed Beams
What constitutes a balanced room according to feng shui theory involves not one, but several aspects. Some of those aspects are non-obvious while some aspects are immediately palpable, such as the flaw of a room which is chronically dark or cold.
The look of exposed beams can be architecturally stunning, but when large looming beams hover over a person's bed, they can create an unbalanced flow of chi (air currents) within the room. This can have a predictable affect on the person sleeping below. For example, if a large exposed beam hovers over your waist, it could undermine fertility or cause digestive problems. A large beam that crosses over the knees could trigger or worsen knee problems. When the beam travels length-wise over the middle of the bed, the couple sleeping below can feel divisive. It is as if an invisible curtain divides the connection between the two people.
Feng Shui is a 3,000+ year old metaphysical practice, originating in China, but relevant to everyone since it deals with energy, nature, laws of physics and the environments we all create. The harmful effect of exposed beams is well-documented and a basic feng shui principle is that flat, beamless ceilings are much healthier to sleep under.
What do you do if you have exposed beams in your house? Well, if the room is big enough to handle a four-poster canopy bed, the fabric draped over the frame can work as a faux ceiling and deflect away the downward pressure of the beam. Some people are actually able to drop the ceiling in a remodel and thus eliminate the exposed beams entirely. This is only recommended if you will feel comfortable with the lower height of the ceilings.
Exposed beams in other rooms of the house, such as a den or dining room, should not be a concern. The beams are only a potential problem if you sleep under them or work long hours under them.
Feng Shui Interprets the Haunted House
When we think of a classic haunted house, images from the movies come up. Sometimes the haunted house is depicted as a dark, dingy, old, dilapidated house, secluded and covered with cobwebs. Oddly enough, these really are some of the "yin" attributes which can contribute to a house attracting a ghost.
In feng shui theory, all environments can be described as "yin" or "yang." Yang aspects are lively, bright, airy, cheerful and warm. But "yin" aspects include still, dark, cluttered, stuffy, cold, or damp. Houses that have several of these yin aspects on a chronic basis are more likely to attract or harbor spirits inside.
There are also exterior circumstances which can attract a ghost to a house. This includes a house that is within view of a cemetary. There is a Chinese slang term, where a cemetary is called a "night club," because at night the cemetary gets very lively.
Even bright, cheery, brand new houses can harbor a ghost if they happen to have been built on top of old burial sites or battlefields. As an example, the Chumash Indians spent a lot of time in many areas of Southern California. I have been to a number of homes throughout Southern California where the presence of a Chumash Indian spirit seemed likely. One client even told me that after everyone went upstairs to go to bed each night, she'd smell the smoke of a "peace pipe" from downstairs wafting its way upstairs!
Houses that were built right into a mountainside can also be considered too yin. And sometimes a house will attract a ghost simply because a past occupant may be very attached to the property even though they have died. One client of mine, who lives in the Mt. Washington area of Los Angeles, had an interaction with a ghost on her property shortly after the 1994 earthquake. When she described the physical appearance of the ghost to a long-time neighbor, the neighbor confirmed that it was the man who had built the house many years previous. Perhaps he was just checking on the status of the house.
Is there a remedy to eliminate a ghost? By eliminating all the yin characteristics of a house, sometimes the ghost will leave of its own accord.
Sometimes it takes a willful, meditative dialogue with the spirit before it departs. And there are also some special feng shui remedies which involve opening up a certain door in the house. This is based on a little-known calculation derived from the age of the house and its compass orientation.
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