Chi, feng shui’s amazing life force, is a powerful energy that surrounds us in an ever-evolving, ever-moving way. Also known as the ‘Breath of Life’, it is in every natural or manmade space, yet it can’t be seen. Every living and inanimate thing possesses chi. Feng Shui is all about how to harness it, redirect it, deflect it and energize it to bring our lives into greater balance.

Types of Chi

The best way to describe Chi is to think of wind and water. Both wind and water can be still and unhealthy, can flow freely and smoothly or can be transformed into a strong wind or raging torrent respectively. So too can chi be still and stagnant (negative), flow gently and pleasantly (positive) or can be harsh and destructive (harmful chi). The idea is to harness the good chi, remove the harmful chi and redirect bad chi to gain that perfect balance of good energy around us.

Positive chi (feng shui’s ’sheng’ chi) is present whenever you can see, smell, feel, touch, taste or intuit something which brings you pleasure. It is the gentle flow of energy in and around your home, room or environment which is constant and friendly. It gives us a feeling of wellbeing, makes us feel happy and productive in our work and relationships and energizes us in positive ways.

If we aren’t feeling particularly positive in a particular location, there could very well be negative chi (feng shui’s ’sha’ chi) present. It is found in things and places that cause you displeasure and distress such as aggressive people, excessive clutter, offensive smells, noise pollution, etc. Surrounding ourselves with too much continuous negative chi over a period of time can have a devastating affect on our health.

The worst kind of chi (feng shui’s ‘poison arrows’), can be even more damaging to our lives. The poison arrows or killing breath energy, comes from buildings, structures or objects that appear to attact or confront you, usually in the form of sharp protruding corners or straight lines. Examples of these are seen with bookcases, sharp rooflines or a straight road leading to your main entrance. Situations such as these can lead to grave misfortunes or sickness.

Forces of Chi

The ancient chinese believed that chi can be catagorized into three main forces: heaven, earth and human. Heaven chi is the energy that emanates from the sky, from the heavenly bodies, the planets, the stars, sun and moon. Earth chi emanates from the earth’s magnetic field and is found in the landscapes of our evironment, the mountains, river and valleys. Human chi is personal energy that we possess and that we’ve had since birth. This type of force shapes how we interact with others and our evironment. Disintegration of personal chi results in deterioration of health and the complete absence of chi results in death, hence the ‘Breath of Life’.

Understanding how to manipulate chi energy in your surroundings is essential to using feng shui correctly. Different life areas can be targeted according to the position and layout of your room and home and special objects or enhancements can be used to control the flow or stimulate the energy of chi. Feng shui can therefore activate luck, love or fortune in this way. It’s the relationship between the areas, the energies and the elements that result in success or failure in your feng shui endeavours and achieving your life goals.

Changing your environment the right way to see a change in your life is basically the essence of feng shui. The life force of feng shui is known as chi which is energy, and comes in a positive and negative forms.

We’ll use these feng shui interior design tips to enhance the flow of positive chi in our home and eliminate any negative or stagnant energy that may already be lurking. Negative energy may have been attracted to your space and even trapped there, which reflects on those who live there with bad luck in many different life areas (wealth, love, health, career, education, fame, children, networking and families). So lets’ not waste another second and get to work on our feng shui interior design techniques that will help transform the energy in your home and your life.

Clutter, clutter, clutter

First things first. Before attempting any kind of re-arranging and home design, you have to get rid of any clutter. All of it. Store it away, throw it away, anything to clear the space in your living areas. I’m talking about those magazines and papers that don’t get looked at, those messy wires, junk mail, clothes, dishes etc

Clutter acts like obstacles when chi tries to flow freely. The more obstacles, the slower the flow of energy and sometimes it can even be trapped with just too much clutter. It becomes stagnant, unable to move and therefore goes bad, bringing you all sorts of unfortunate luck.

Stay on top of your cleaning and maintenance of your clutter free areas because before long, it will build up again without you realizing. Also, if you have any broken items, either fix them and restore their working condition or throw them away. Broken and unused items attract bad energy. Not only will you have the foundations to a more harmonized environment, you’ll have a much clearer mind-set all round, which will help you to focus on what you want to achieve with your feng shui interior design.

Come on in…

The position of the furniture in your living room must be welcoming to anyone who enters the area. You must have full view of the entrance to your house and windows from your seating area and preferably have it positioned with the back against the wall to symbolize support.

Try to keep the number of seats or sofas in even numbers and be sure you don’t ‘aim’ the chairs towards the all mighty and powerful TV. In fact, the TV shouldn’t even be seen here at all, try to keep it hidden in some kind of cabinet when it’s not in use, along with the VCR and DVD player and any other electromagnetic radiating device.

This introduction to feng shui interior design is a powerful beginning to creating the positive environment you need to achieve the goals you want. Whether it be to increase your wealth, health, happiness, attract love, helpful people or any number of amazing possibilities, you’ve started on the right track. Of course theres lots more exciting and easy-to-do techniques that will help you along your road to harmony and success with feng shui, so get ready for the life you’ve been waiting for!

Success in life is a result of taking action, and if you’re reading these feng shui interior design tips, you’re ready for change and on your way. Travel well my friend, and happy feng shui-ing!

Within your home, pay particular attention to the beds, tables (dining, desks, etc.), chairs (sofa, armchairs, stools, dining, etc.), bookshelves and cupboards (cabinets, wardrobes, etc.). Notice how they ‘fit’ in the room and with other furniture in the room. Depending on the room and its location, the consequences of a bad arrangement can cause anything from lethargy or illness to career or marriage problems. Let’s look at a three key important pieces that we probably all have in our family homes.

The Bed

The most important item in regards to feng shui furniture is the bed. If your bed is facing the wrong direction or has obstructions in its path, then you probably haven’t had a good nights sleep in a while. Lack of sleep can be disastrous over long periods and can even affect your finances.

Where possible, the best layout for the bed would be in the corner diagonal to the entrance to the bedroom, with your bed head against a solid wall. This will ensure a peaceful sleep and subsequently, a peaceful life. Never sleep with your feet facing and in line with the door to the room. This is known as the ‘death position’ because back in the old days, if there was a death in the family, the deceased corpse would be placed in this position to the front door, ready to move on to the next world. Another bad position would have the bed facing the bathroom door. This would cause huge financial loss.

It is important that from in the bed, the occupant has an unobstructed view of the door, without being too close to it.

The Dining Table

Food to the Chinese is synonymous with good well being and fortune. A family that eats well and has enough to eat is said to attract money to them. This is why if you place a mirror in your dining room that reflects the table and the food you eat on it, in feng shui, this essentially represents the doubling of the family’s wealth.

The dining table itself should be in proportion to the room, neither too large nor too small for it, and ideally it would be of an auspicious shape. Excellent shapes are round, square, rectangle if not too long and the pa kua or octagon shaped table. The round table is the best as this shape is encouraging to the flow of chi between family members who eat there.

The Sofa

According to feng shui, furniture in the living room essentially affects the social life and relationships between family members and friends. The placement of the sofa, settee and coffee table can either enhance relationships or cause tension, conflict and hostility.

The best arrangement would be to have none of the chairs or sofas with their backs facing the entrances to the room or too close to the coffee table or to other chairs. In feng shui, furniture groupings that simulate the octagon shape are very auspicious but the ‘L’ shape of placements should be avoided. These shapes either encourage or discourage the flow of chi around the room. In feng shui, furniture in your living room should not overwhelm the rest of the house.

Here are some other feng shui furniture tips that you should take note of, for other areas of the home:

• Bookshelves cause ‘poison arrows’ which act as blades cutting into the occupants. Make sure bookcases or shelves are covered or the books blend in with the bookcases to avoid these arrows or use feng shui cures.
• Never place any chairs with their back to any entrance or door to a room
• If you have a multi-storey house, avoid sleeping directly beneath a toilet, washing machine or stove.
• Never clutter your room with furniture or any objects. Too much furniture is not good to the flow of chi through your home.
• Overhead beams are bad to have over any feng shui furniture where people sit and spend their time, especially the bedroom. Hang a wind chime from the beam if this can’t be avoided.
• Never have your stove facing your kitchen’s main door, toilet or bathroom door, master bedroom door or staircase. The stove or rice cooker if you have one, resembles the family’s prosperity and wellbeing. It should never be positioned between two sinks as this can cause misfortune and loss.
• A family’s fridge should always be well stocked.
• Desks should be placed where you can see the doors and windows to the room but also to have a solid wall behind you.
• Beds should be in proportion to the occupants of the bed. Taller people who sleep on short beds can cause illnesses and larger beds for shorter people can cause resentment and jealousy.
• In feng shui, furniture color also contributes to the yin (light colors) or yang (dark colors) of your room. There needs to be a balance between the yin and yang energies of your room so make sure that there are no items of furniture that are too bold or overpowering to the rest of your room.

Follow these simple feng shui furniture tips in your home and you can ensure that your family will be happy, healthy and as prosperous as can be.

The Color of Money

In some countries money is green, some blue, yellow or even pink. However, feng shui wealth has a much stricter set of colors and it’s only a wise use of these that will bring you the wealth luck you desire.

Red is a yang good luck color especially used in auspicious times like Chinese New Year and birthdays when people are given small red packets containing money, symbolizing goodwill. Red is used to attract good fortune and generally symbolizes happiness, warmth and prosperity.

In Chinese culture, it’s also believed that black water is auspicious for attracting money, now one of the common feng shui symbols of wealth. Other colors like gold and yellow which are the traditional colors of the emperor and imperial families are also said to be auspicious. Times of new beginnings and growth are symbolized by green, representing spring and is also auspicious.

A Three-Legged Toad?

Yes, you read that right. With it’s roots deep in Chinese mythology, the three-legged today is a symbol that represents wealth. Usually having a string of connected coins along the side of it’s body, six each side, one in it’s mouth and sitting on a pile of Chinese gold ingots (ancient Chinese currency). The frog should be placed facing the main entrance of your home or building and is said to suck in wealth chi (energy).

Gold-Fish

Aquariums are popular feng shui symbols of wealth. In an aquarium, it’s best to use goldfish for attracting wealth. Eight gold colored fish and one black fish should be used. Gold colored because gold represents wealth and eight because it’s a prosperous number in feng shui numerology and one black fish for protection. Eight sounds like Cantonese for the word ‘prosperity’, it symbolizes prosperity in the future and it’s written in an unbroken line symbolizing continuous flow.

An aquarium that’s aerated is best as the movement stimulates to flow of energy. Also, be sure that it’s well maintained and cleaned often. Stagnant water represents negative energy which is what will be attracted if the aquarium is not cared for. It’s best to put the aquarium in the wealth corner of your home for optimal benefit.

As you can see from these three very popular feng shui symbols, wealth can be attracted into your life by using the right symbols in the right areas of your home, in the right way. Misusing them can bring worse effects than having them at all so it’s important to understand their role in bring you prosperity before you put them into action. There’s much much more to learn about symbols and there are lots out there, but you can start safe from here and see what works best for you. Here’s to your wealth success and happiness with feng shui symbols!

Stale, stagnant energy often felt in winter, or a very quiet, closed up space is very yin energy. Too much of this energy can result in ailing health of the occupants of the home, anything from a cold to more serious long-term illnesses and depression. Your home could be making you sick. Music is very much yang energy. There needs to be a balance between yin and yang energies in any room or home for feng shui to work its magic. There needs to be a good flow of the energies circulating so that you can be effective in your efforts for increasing your health, wealth, love, happiness and abundance using feng shui.

Using music for feng shui, or feng shui music, is great when you’re spring cleaning or clearing out the clutter. Make sure you open those windows, light up the room and crank up the music and feel the energy moving. If you do this every day, you’ll not only air out your room, get rid of that negative energy and get that positive energy flowing, but you’ll also feel so much better. Music has a way of lifting our spirits. And it can be any music that you like, it doesn’t have to be pan pipes and violins. As long as there’s not constant loud angry yelling or negative cursing in your music, it will heal your home and its occupants.

Although you can use any type of music, there are certain sounds that have extra power in feng shui. Music that is pleasant to the ear or gets you moving, dancing or tapping your feet will help. Anything with drums and trumpets create great feng shui music. If you play these instruments, practicing them in the south corner of your home will activate fame luck. Bells and windchimes are also great in this area. Being instruments of metal, these are good in the south but must be kept away from the east and southeast.

Remember there should be a balance of yin and yang energies in a room so never play music all the time as this will create an imbalance of yang energy. Also, if your room is brightly painted with bold colors (very yang), than loud music in the same room will again create too much yang energy.

So next time you’re feeling a little down, a little ill or maybe even lacking some energy, a cheap, quick and easy pick-me-up would be to put on your favorite CD, crank up the volume, and sing and dance your way happy with feng shui music.

The way in which these objects interact and their locations can help or hinder the energy for attracting the particular luck we desire, whether it be for wealth, fame, love, children, mentors, career, education, relationships or health. These feng shui elements are a core concept and should be fully understood to get the most benefit from using feng shui.

The Cycles of the Elements

Productive Cycle

The feng shui elements can be arranged in a cycle which helps to understand their power. Each element creates the next element to the right in the cycle, hence we see which elements work well together.

The productive cycle is as follows:

Water > Wood > Fire > Earth > Metal … (then repeat) …. > Water … (and so on) …

From left to right, logically it shows that water produces wood, wood makes fire, fire produces earth, earth creates metal and metal in turn makes water, and so the cycle repeats itself.

Let’s look at an example of how this productive cycle works in feng shui. We know that wood is the element which strongly represents your wealth energy in the southeast corner of your home, office or room. This means that we must energize the wood element in this area to attract more wealth. According to the productive cycle, we also know that water makes wood, so this element will also work to attract wealth energy in this corner. Both wood and water of the feng shui elements will work well together to help attract more money to you if energized in your wealth corner so placing items such as a leafy green plant, or water feature in the southeast corner of your home, will help bring you wealth luck.

Destructive Cycle

As the productive cycle can produce positive results, the destructive cycle of the feng shui elements alert you to what you shouldn’t use together because these cause negative results and can harm any intentions you may have for that particular area.

The destructive cycle is as follows:

Wood > Earth > Water > Fire > Metal … (then repeat) … > Water … (and so on) …

From left to right again, it shows that wood devours earth, earth destroys water, water extinguishes fire, fire consumes metal and metal in turn demolishes wood, and so the cycle repeats itself.

Let’s look at an example of how the productive cycle can work against you. We know that wood is the element for attracting wealth in the southeast corner and water helps it, but according to the destructive cycle of feng shui elements, metal destroys wood. This means that any objects representing metal, such as metal wind chimes, bells, jewelry or magnets should not be hung in this corner as it will be harmful for wealth prospects. Make sure that any metal objects in this area is removed or bad money luck will befall you.

Properties of the Elements

Each of the elements are associate with certain colors which can also be used to activate its energy. You’ll find these below with locations and examples of objects which represent these elements.

Format: Element – Colors – Locations – Examples

Wood – Green shades – East – Paper, Plants, Furniture, Pictures of Wood

Water – Blue or Black shades – North – Fountains, Aquariums, Pictures of Water

Fire – Red shades – South – Bright lights, Fireplaces, Candles, Pictures of Fire

Metal – Gold, Silver, White – West – Coins, Jewelry, Wind chimes, Pictures of Metal

Earth – Brown shades – Center – Pots, Flowers, Ceramics, Globes, Pictures of Earth

Now that you know about the cycles of the elements, you are better prepared to activate them in your home in your favor. Find the area you wish to attract luck for, find the strongest associated element, then use the productive cycle to identify the helpful element and the destructive cycle to identify the harmful element and rearrange your area accordingly.

Remember that balance is key. Too much of one element can be overpowering and more is not necessarily better. Add a little at a time and see how it works for you. With the right balance and using your new knowledge on the feng shui elements, you’ll soon achieve wealth, health and happiness for you and your family.

From small family owned and run grocery stores to international banks, these same business feng shui practices work for any type of business of any size, even if you work for someone else, feng shui will work for you.

If you’re after a promotion, looking for better business opportunities, wanting to increase sales, bring in more customers, increase profits or just be more productive, then you can employ these simple business feng shui tips in your office, home office or place of business.

• If you’re in a job that requires you to be sitting much of the time, it is important to make sure you always sit with a solid wall behind you and so you are in full view of all the doors and windows into your office. This is a strong business feng shui position representing support and strength and ensures that you’re always aware of what’s coming in and going out.

• Ideally any furniture at your place of work, including shelves, tables, desks, etc. should have rounded corners or be round in shape to eliminate the creation of poison arrows or negative chi cutting through your space, from sharp protruding corners. If sharp edges occur, they can be cured by placing plants at both ends the desk.

• Any plants in the workspace should also not have sharp edges in their leaves for this same reason. A money plant would instead be a good addition to any workspace or desk and should be kept near the cash register or safe or any place where money is kept or needed.

• Ensure that there are no empty boxes or empty containers, such as empty vases near the main entrance to your room or business. Feng Shui energy or new chi will be sucked into these empty spaces as it enters the room and leave nothing left for the rest of the workplace. It is important to have the good chi circulating freely in and around your environment.

• Any communications devices such as the fax machine, telephone, computer, etc. should be placed in the wealth area of your room. This area can be found using the Bagua map (find one on my website). This will attract more business, customers or clients to you.

• You can also place your cash register (if you have one), petty cash box and any invoice books or sales records in this wealth area. In the book, you should also place 3 gold feng shui chinese coins (round in shape with square holes in the center) tied together with red string or ribbon. This will attract more money to your business.

• Clear the clutter of the room and your work desk (if you have one). This is especially important as clutter can block the flow of energy and create bad stagnant energy in your work area. Having a clear desk will subsequently help you clear your mind resulting in better and more productive work being done.

• Mirrors are great to have in the office, but must be used correctly. A mirror symbolically doubles what is reflected in it so placing a mirror next to your cash register or sales book for instance will double your intake of sales and wealth. Make sure that your mirrors reflect only positive things and things you ultimately want more of.

• Mirrors can also be used in your workspace to create more light in your room, creating a more soothing place in which to work. According to the Bagua Map, mirrors can also be placed in the Southeast, East and North direction for good business feng shui. Be careful not to reflect the main entrance in any of your mirrors as this will reflect back out any good luck coming to you.

Using these easy business feng shui tips will have you and your business benefiting from the greater flow of positive energy, attracting more of what you want and reaping in the rewards of ultimately greater wealth luck from the universe.

According to the Bagua Map, the south west corner of your home or bedroom is your love corner. If you live with friends, family or flatmates, then you will probably want to restrict your feng shui love zapping to your bedroom for privacy as well as effect. This corner is ruled by the element of earth and helped by the element of fire. We’ll need to refer to this information later.

Clear the Clutter

The number one rule for feng shui designs is — remove the clutter. Make sure there is no clutter in your bedroom because, as we know, clutter can cause negative and stagnant energy to build up restricting the flow of chi which in turn can have devastating effects on our lives. Throw away anything old and unused and remove any unnecessary furniture. Then sweep, dust, vacuum or mop the room.

The object is to get the space as clear as possible to allow the flow of positive energy to circulate in our bedrooms and also subsequently to help clear our minds of negative thoughts, worries and problems.

Now we’ve cleared the room of clutter, we need to clear the air of negative energies, perhaps from past loves or bedroom partners. We can use feng shui designs to do this by simply opening those windows, changing the sheets, airing out those pillows and mattress, spraying the room with your favorite perfume or scent and putting on some loud fabulous music to help get the energy circulating. Make sure to remove any sentimental objects attached to the memory of past loves including photos and letters.

Smudging

If you think the build up of past energies is still heavily present in your bedroom, you can go one step further by performing a powerful space clearing ritual known as smudging which will clear those negative energies right out and restore balance. Buy a smudge stick, usually made of sage, and an incense holder. When in your bedroom, light the end of the stick and blow it out, like incense, then place in the holder. As it smokes, walk around your bedroom making sure that all corners are affected with the smoke. Then place it in the middle of the room and allow it to burn down. Once the smoke has settled and the space is clear, we can now utilize the power of feng shui designs’ love principles and enhancements to attract love and romance into our lives.

Decorating the love den

Now comes the fun part – decorating your bedroom using feng shui designs. Here are some basic principles to follow when decorating.
Keep your display new and changing to keep the spark alive and the energy vibrant.
When shopping for items or objects, think pink and think sexy, hot and romantic. Pink is the color of love so tune in to that color when decorating your bedroom. Red may be too overpowering, so pink is the way to go and earthly yellows are good too.
Don’t overdo a display or color. Remember, you need to create balance in your bedroom. Too much of a good thing is not so good.
Two of everything should be displayed. Everything should be paired to resemble a relationship of two sides. Singular items or more than two, will not give off the right signals.

Remember the elements of earth and fire are good in your love corner according to feng shui designs. Think of objects and designs that resemble these elements for full effect and remove anything resembling wood or metal as these will harm your efforts.

Examples of ideal love objects to display in the southwest love corner of your bedroom.
Don’t use all of these objects at the same time. Mix and match them as you see results then go with the feng shui designs that work best for you.

• Crystals – especially natural quartz or raw amethyst. If your southwest corner has a window, hang your crystal on a string above the window so that the light can reflect through the crystal and shine out your intentions or if you have it, a crystal chandelier would be a great love energizer in this area.

• Sun or earth symbols or motifs, or a globe.

• Terracotta, ceramic or earthenware pots, jars or bowls – place artificial silk flowers or peacock feathers in them.

• Candles or bright lights – a pair of pink candles that are lit every night can increase your chances of attracting love. Keep the love corner well lit.

• Pebbles placed inside a crystal or glass bowl, filled with water and a floating candle that is lit every day will draw auspicious love energy your way. The pebbles can be any color, but earthy and pink hues will work best.

• To particularly enhance your marriage prospects, get your hands on a couple of lovebirds or duck pictures or statues, chinese red lanterns or decorate with chinese love knot feng shui designs.

• Artificial peony flowers – never use real flowers in the bedroom.

• Artwork or photos of happy couples in metal frames – never display a photo of you on your own or this will attract singledom.

• Two bookends or statues.

• Two vases with artificial flowers.

• The Chinese double happiness symbol.

These are just some examples of feng shui designs for zapping your love area and life, but if you can incorporate the principles with the right elements and colors, then you can create your very own feng shui designs of symbols or objects that represent love and romance and that are personal to you. And of course, as always, send out your intentions every day and be open and ready to accept love and romance into your life and you’ll soon have Mr. or Ms. Right or Mr. or Ms. Right Now, knocking on your door.

The Early Years

Feng shui (pronounced fung-shway) and the way it should be practiced can be found in ancient feng shui history texts like The Book of Songs or Shih Ching as it’s known. The methods were documented over the course of many years starting in the ninth century BC.

Over the next century during the Han dynasty, the Book or Record of Rites also known as Li Chi was compiled by Kuo Po, detailing how feng shui applied to the positioning of graves. This was from around 206 BC to 224 AD, however much later during the Sung dynasty from 960 AD to 1279, much more feng shui development was documented by Wang Chi and showed how it applied to house building.

Feng Shui Today

For many, the one man in feng shui history who’s responsible for its development over the years, laying the base for the way we know it today is Kuen Chok. He studied the art for many years during the Tang dynasty and wrote a lot on the subject and gave us the knowledge of feng shui practice as it used today.

Still as heavily used today as it was back in feng shui history, just a visit to Hong Kong can reveal many feng shui principles in action by millionaire tycoons, financial districts and family homes alike. In fact, Hong Kong’s terrain and geographical profile contribute greatly towards it’s wealth and prosperity energy. The island is wisely known to provide good feng shui with the mountain peaks behind and harbor to the front, all along the famous financial strip.

All houses and buildings are constructed with a feng shui consultant involved in the early stages of planning to combat negative forces that may exist and to help make the spaces more auspicious. Lessons from a long documented feng shui history teach us how to benefit the most in our modern world. Many offices even have eight sided rooms, one building even has a huge hole through it’s center to allow negative energy to pass through its frame without affecting the good fortune of it’s occupants.

Cautious measures are always taken to ensure buildings are designed to allow good energy to flow freely throughout their structures. After all, it would be a very costly mistake try and correct a whole building after construction if you later realize that it’s bringing you grave misfortune. Best to get it right first time for a strong, positive start.

From five thousand years ago until this very day, feng shui history has openly taught us the best ways we can benefit from the natural energy of the universe and use it to ultimately balance and harmonize our lives. It makes perfect sense to give ourselves the best chances we can of success, love, wealth, health and happiness so our lives can be truly fulfilling for us. It helps us to achieve all we desire and share every new glorious day to enjoy it!

House Shape
The ideal feng shui architecture for your house shape design is square or rectangular. Any regular shape will allow for balance and harmony in the symmetry of the shape of the home. Irregular shapes such as L shapes or U shapes that have missing corners of a complete regular shape, may create money problems or marital discord accordingly. Remedies to correct these irregular shapes would include using lights or mirrors placed appropriately to give the appearance of an extension of the home.

Room Layouts
Feng shui architecture favors room layouts that are regular in shape also and where indivdual rooms are  not disproportionally too small or too large than each other. Ceilings should be high enough not to feel cramped but not too high that you feel overpowered. They should be in good proportion to the rest of the house.

The Living Room
As the living room is the main public room of the home, when guests come to visit, it should be large, open and welcoming to encourage the accumulation of positive chi. Never have the living room higher than the dining room or kitchen as the positive chi of the occupants will instead attach itself to the visitors instead.

The Kitchen
The kitchen in a feng shui architectured home, should be placed on the right side of the house and beside the dining room where the family eats. If it is too far away from the dining room this will lead to disagreements between family members, particularly between the parents and children. The kitchen should be clean and airy allowing positive chi to circulate gently. A mirror in the dining room reflecting the table and the food on it is very good for abundance and well being.

Bathrooms and Toilets
Bathrooms and toilets should not directly face an opposite door. In fact you should not be able to easily see the toilet from outside the room it is in. The toilet is where the wealth or luck of the occupants can be flushed away so the doors to the bathroom and toilet should always be closed. They should ideally not be located in the north area of the house as this will flush away the career opportunities of the breadwinner.

When employing feng shui architecture, the layout of rooms in the house should ideally encourage chi to move freely and smoothly from room to room throughout the house. Avoid any straight lines between the entrances from one room to the next.

Doors
Feng shui architecture places great importance on the main door of the house. This door, as a rule, should be solid, open inwards, be a good size and shape as compared to the rest of the house, be oriented correctly, free from poison arrows and open into a wide, bright room or lobby. Any defects in the main door can result in extreme bad luck of the occupants, so it is important to take heed of these factors. There should not be anything blocking the chi coming into the house through the main door, so keep the front of the house open and clear and the room or lobby well lit and welcoming. Make sure the front door is not directly in line with your back door as your luck will come in and go straight out through the back, not staying long enough for you to enjoy it.

Employing feng shui architecture on your home, means never installing three doors in a direct line to each other, especially if the front or back door is one of them. The chi is moving too fast in this situation. Hanging a wind chime on top each of the doors or a divider screen before the middle door can remedy this problem. All doors in the home should be regularly shaped, face each other squarely and be of the same size to each other.

Windows
Windows throughout the home should be regularly shaped and open completely, preferably outward. Windows that open inwards are considered harmful for career and money making opportunities. Feng shui architecture does not recommend windows that slide up or down, nor to look onto an offensive view such as a tree trunk, sharp object or pole. Too many windows in a house will cause discord between the parents and children of the house though windchimes or crystals can remedy this.

Stairs
When considering a multi-layer home in feng shui architecture, the stairs between levels of the house, should be broad and curve gracefully from the first storey to the main floor into a large hall, but they should not be spiral staircases. Nor should they start from the front main door as this will send chi straight out. The steps should be solid and not have open holes between them as this will result in money to flow out. Bannisters should be round and smooth and not contain any deadly poison arrows. Staircases should also be well lit to conduct good Chi to the sleeping areas upstairs.

Hopefully with these feng shui architecture design tips, you can incorporate some simple feng shui principles into the plan of your dream home for the best possible start to a lifetime of happiness and success.

Feng Shui Bedroom Tips: #1
Clear the Clutter

The number one rule of feng shui-ing any area, is to clear the clutter. It is so easy to understand how it accumulates. We procrastinate putting things off for later, we don’t have the time now as we are always in a rush, we don’t throw away things in case we need them later, we have things we’ve been meaning to repair, we keep things for sentimental reasons, and we always believe we will fit into those skinnier clothes that don’t quite fit us now. As harmless as it seems at the time, we don’t realize that not only does clutter trap stale stagnant bad energy causing bad luck, but this bad energy weighs on us mentally and physically exhausting us more subconsciously every day. The only way to clear our minds and feel more alive and invigorated is to open that window, let in some fresh air and clear away all that clutter so that bad energy can flow out and more positive energy or chi can flow through. Make sure your bedroom is well ventilated and air circulated and avoid storing anything under the bed. In Feng Shui, bedroom tips such as these will help not only clear your room, but also your mind.

Feng Shui Bedroom Tips: #2
Bed Placement

Your bed should ideally be placed in a position where if you are lying on it, you have a full view of all doors and windows into the room. It’s also best to have your bedhead against a solid wall. This is so no one can enter your room unseen, which makes sense for security as well as feng shui. Never place your bed in line with the door where your feet are facing the door. This is known as the coffin position and results in a very bad energy pattern that interferes with restful sleep. Also never have anything hanging over the bed, whether it be mobiles, beams, mirrors, etc. as these things can drain you of energy. If any of these can not be avoided, you will need a feng shui cure to counterbalance this bad energy.

Feng Shui Bedroom Tips: #3
Mirrors

Mirrors reflect energy which can be disturbing to your sleep. Make sure that when you are sitting or lying on your bed, you cannot see your own reflection in any mirror. If you share your bed, having a mirror reflect it can show more than two people in the relationship which can promote infidelity. Make sure any offending mirrors are covered or removed from the bedroom altogether. If you have a mirrored wardrobe door, slide it open so you can’t see your reflection or try to cover it up.

Feng Shui Bedroom Tips: #4
Electrical Appliances in the Bedroom

It is bad feng shui to have electrical appliances in the bedroom. Most of these give off electromagnetic radiation or frequencies even when turned off, which are detrimental to a good night’s sleep. Try to limit the amount of appliances in the room. Remove the tv, computer and video. Use batteries in your digital clock radio and keep it at least 2 meters away from your head. If you need to use an electric blanket, preheat your bed and when you are ready to sleep turn it off at the power point. Remove any plugs from their sockets when not in use.

Feng Shui Bedroom Tips: #5
Furniture, Decor and Colors in the Bedroom

Make sure the decor in the bedroom is not overpowering. Bold, bright colors can be too strong for the  bedroom which can upset the balance of energy and disrupt your sleep. Colors should be restful and calming. Light, airy tones are good for a small room, as they give the illusion of wider spaces and freedom, whereas a larger room can be made more comfortable and cosy with darker colors.

Try to minimise the furniture in the bedroom as this can lead to overcrowding. Furniture should be placed in positions that complement the bed but make sure that no poison arrows (direct arrows of chi) protrude from their corners onto the bed. For this reason, open bookshelves should be avoided in the bedroom. Never place any water features, aquariums or pictures of water in the bedroom as this can energize the chi too much causing disruption in sleep. Fresh flowers and real plants should also be avoided in the bedroom for this reason.

Following these simple feng shui bedroom tips will not only help create the physical and mental peace and harmony that we all want to experience from the time spent in our bedrooms, but it can also promote long lasting restful sleep and ultimately make our bedroom the private intimate retreat it should be.

Feng Shui Coins Characteristics

These coins are usually gold colored in appearance and represent Yin and Yang on their respective sides. Symbolizing the unity of heaven and earth, these coins have Chinese characters on each side and it’s important to know which side is which. A collection of four Chinese characters means you’re looking at the Yang side, only two characters are on the reverse, the Yin.

Feng Shui Coins for Attracting Fortune

The coins have great potential to attract good fortune in your life, increasing your prosperity and wealth luck to bring you all you desire. As with everything in feng shui, it’s absolutely critical that you learn the right way to use the coins in different situations for increasing your wealth.

You must ‘activate’ the coins to maximize their potential for bringing you prosperity and fortune. You can do this by taking 3 of the coins and tying them together with red string, thread or ribbon. Now, you have your 3 coins, all tied up, so… what do I do with them you might be thinking. Well, there’s lots of different ways you can use the coins to bring you wealth, and some specific places you can put them to attract wealth in specific ways. Let me show you what I mean.

A Wealthy Happy Home

For bringing wealth and good fortune into your home, you must place the feng shui coins in your auspicious corner which is the south east corner according the your Bagua map. Here the coins can put put to best use for enhancing your wealth energy and bring great prosperity that will bless the people living here.

An important thing to remember is when placing the coins on a table top, on the wall and hung up, put them Yang side up or out (the side with four Chinese characters) to better help vitalize the money energy in your life.

Activate Your Order Book and Increase Sales

If you run your own business you can use the 3 coins energized with red thread symbolizing flowing chi to bring you more sales and therefore, wealth. Stick them to your order or sales book and make sure they’re still Yang side up. Your business can now benefit from thriving wealth energy that’s now attracted to it.

This is an extremely useful tip that’s been used for years by managers of retail stores the world over, especially Chinese stores. You can use the exact same principle for other important documents like invoice folders or even customer files, effectively helping to increase wealth by attracting more customers, higher paying customers and therefore more sales.

Another way to help bring wealth and prosperity to your doorstep is by putting the feng shui coins, you guessed it, on your doorstep. Get nine coins tied together by thick red thread and bury them under the pavement that leads to your store or home, even under the welcome mat. This will greatly increase your sales, turnover or wealth that enters your home or business.

Wealth at Work

Attracting good fortune doesn’t have to limited to your home or business. Most of us spend at least 9 hours a day at work, whether that’s in an office, cubicle or room. Your wealth luck can even be working for you while you’re at work by taking the 3 coins and sticking them, Yang side up to the south east side of your desk, office space or in the corner of your room!

So no matter where you are, now you know how to make the I Ching feng shui coins help attract wealth, good fortune and bring prosperity into your life, and help achieve those dreams and goals you’ve been reaching for.

Here’s to your new good fortune, wealth, prosperity, health and happiness with feng shui coins!

In my opinion, the ideal gift would really depend on the person you’re giving it to, and which parts of their life they’d most like to positively affect. For many people, myself included, the gift of money is one of the most generous and it allows it’s recipient to further use it to reach other goals in their lives. It’s always a much welcomed gesture.

In feng shui, there are particularly powerful symbols that represent wealth. They can prove to continually attract prosperity into the life of those who use them wisely. Money is a wonderful gift and in feng shui, the symbols that attract it do so over and over again, which makes them an ideal gift that keeps on giving!

Let’s look at some of the most powerful wealth and prosperity symbols, how they work and hopefully give you an idea which wealth attracting feng shui gifts are right for you.

Golden Rice Bowl

Being considered prosperous and seen as successful often comes from ones material possessions. Much more than that though, to be truly prosperous is to be living in the flow of nature, healthy and happy for a greater well-being. In Chinese culture, greater well-being and eating well go hand in hand towards a more balanced life. It’s because of this reason that a Golden Rice Bowl is considered a symbol of great wealth in feng shui, and would make a valuable feng shui gift for anyones home.

Make sure it’s placed in the wealth and prosperity corner of your home (south east) to ensure full benefit of the wealth energy.

Chinese Jade Plant

As with all parts of your life, your wealth and prosperity area is represented by a feng shui element, in this case, wood. Plants are traditionally a great gift for any home, but for a feng shui home, this wood based gift will help to attract more money and general prosperity into your life. One of the best plants to choose for your feng shui gift would be the Chinese Jade plant. It has succulent healthy leaves that suggest wealth and some Chinese homes even have an actual real jade ornament of the plant to further stimulate the wealth energy.

Make sure they keep an eye on the plant, keep it healthy and be sure to replace it if it becomes dried or starts to wilt. Dead flowers represent stagnant bad energy and must be removed immediately.

The Chinese Gods of Wealth

A visit to a Chinese supermarket or local china town is where you’ll find these very popular symbols of wealth, the three star gods Fuk, Luk and Sau. Translated literally means wealth, affluence and longevity. They are a collective group always standing side by side and can be seen in almost every Chinese home. They’re believed to bring great good luck to your home, especially wealth luck, which is perfect for our feng shui gift ideas.

Fuk is placed in the center of the three. He symbolizes wealth, happiness and is a head taller than the other two deities. Next is Luk on the right, the god of high rank and affluence. He holds in his hand the scepter of authority and power. Sau stands on the left with a walking stick in one hand, a peach in the other and a very pronounced rounded head.

Other symbols like the laughing Buddha with his big belly and happy face are commonly believed to bring wealth and luck into your home and would also make an excellent feng shui gift.

Ancient Chinese Coins and Red Ribbon

Another very popular feng shui gift for maximizing wealth luck are Chinese coins with the square holes in the center, bound and further energized by red string or ribbon. You can hang 3 coins by their bound thread like a mobile in the south east corner (wealth corner) of your home. You can tape the 3 coins to your work table, or even your sales invoices books (on their south east corner) to energize your luck with money. Even bury 9 of these coins underway your pathway entrance to your house or under the entrance mat to your apartment. This symbolizes money traveling to your doorstep, perfect!

You can readily find these feng shui gifts online or in local Chinese stores in most major cities. Choose the gifts you think the recipient would benefit from and enjoy the most. Remember, tell them where (south east corners) and how, ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ to help them achieve maximum reward from the great wealth energy attracted by your generous gift. Soon you’ll have built such a great reputation for giving the best feng shui gifts, people will be faking their birthdays just to receive them from you!

As you might already know, feng shui is very powerful and can be used effectively to target certain parts of your life like your career for example, and enhance the energy you need for the success you want. However, you have to know the right way to do it. Implementing feng shui the wrong way could have extremely negative effects which will unknowingly slow your efforts down, or even undo them.

Working with the right colors and elements to activate this energy, you’ll be able to bring about success in your career whether you work at home or outside in an office environment. Let’s start focusing on your feng shui career success and luck right now by using the following principles and guidelines.

Your Career Area

Each area of the Bagua map relates to different parts of your life and is also governed by a particular element. Your feng shui career area is located North when using the bagua, and is best represented by the water element. According to the feng shui cycle of productivity, water is produced by metal and so metal can also be used in this area to help energize the effects of water. By water I mean anything that symbolizes, contains or shows water can be used to help represent the presence of the element. Things like paintings, fish tanks, symbols and pictures, and the same goes for the metal element. Metal is complimentary to water and both can be used, but water is simply the more powerful element in this area and so the focus should be more on that.

Don’t forget about the cycle of destruction that exists too. Certain elements destroy and effectively weaken the other elements if they are present in the same area. Wood, earth and fire related objects should not be here at all. For example, wooden picture frames, plants, candles, red, green and other earth tones should be avoided in this area so your efforts for feng shui career success aren’t weakened.

Energizing Objects for Your Career

Your career energy, either in your home or office, can be enhanced very easily by introducing a small aquarium or water feature in the North sector. In feng shui, balance is extremely important so don’t make the feature too big or it will dominate the area, bringing imbalance, drowning you in negative energy and consequently bad feng shui career success.

If you work in your bedroom, which you should really avoid doing, don’t use any type of water feature as it will bring bad energy. The best thing to do is find a quiet room or section in the north area of your home. Find a place where you can focus on your work and your feng shui water and metal efforts, so you can leave the bedroom and preserve your sacred resting space.

Your feature should have flowing water. A water feature that’s motionless represents stagnant chi and therefore bad energy which is much worse than having any water there at all. Your feng shui career luck will be best enhanced with a feature where water can flow freely like a small waterfall, swimming healthy fish or even oxygen bubbles created by the pumps the keep water moving in the tank. These are all ideal ways to energize the water element in your career area for more success.

Although ideal, sometimes having a water feature in your office just isn’t an option, but don’t worry. Water can still be represented by pictures or photos or amazing waterfalls or flowing rivers which can still be extremely effective in energizing your feng shui career area. Remember, always put your efforts for enhancing career energy on the north wall according to the bagua. If hanging pictures isn’t even an option, you can use the colors associated with water and your career which are blue and black. Use these colored objects or decor to help energize and maximize your efforts.

Don’t forget, you can also include metal items here like coins or magnets for example, but make sure they don’t overpower the water element.

Feng Shui Fun in the Office

Wherever you work, simply employ these feng shui career cures to the north area or your space (according to the bagua), either at home, the coffee shop, or even on the fifth floor office. If you work in a cubicle or office environment with a desk, make sure it’s positioned so that you have a full view of the rooms entrance and windows and ideally with your back to a wall for support.

If possible, choose a desk with rounded corners and not sharp ones. Sharp corners are known as poison arrows and attract bad energy. If sharp corners can’t be avoided, counter their effects with plants on each side of the desk. Remember, clutter-free environment are always best in feng shui to allow the energy to flow freely and stay healthy. Keep it tidy, even in your drawers and you’ll be well on your way to achieving your feng shui career success!

Bouncing the Bad Energy

Feng shui mirrors are a common cure used to correct a number of ‘illnesses’ that can be found inside a home. The Shar chi or killing breath is bad energy that comes from these bad feng shui areas can be combated with a mirror. It’ll bounce the negative energy off it’s reflective surface, diverting it’s course into your home and lead it away from you, if it’s positioned right of course.

As with all feng shui cures, take care with this and make sure a clear course out of your home is reflected in the mirror so that the bad energy doesn’t stick around. Aiming it at a doorway (not the main door) or window would be ideal. A word to the wise, you should make sure that your mirrors do not reflect the bed of the master bedroom or the toilets.

On a positive note, convex mirrors are thought to be especially powerful as they reflect your entire room and disperse good energy steadily throughout the space.

The true power of mirrors comes from their ability to reflect, but remember, mirrors aren’t the only things that can reflect. For example, the glass screen of your TV also acts like a mirror and should be treated in exactly the same way. This is an important thing to keep in mind and is something that’s often overlooked in feng shui, but now you know.

Mirrors and Money

In feng shui, mirrors can be great in your dining room. A full length mirror is ideal to help reflect the food on the table and everyone around it. This will effectively double the bounty on the table, therefore your wealth, and also the friendship between everyone around it.

Something important to remember about mirrors is that they should never be positioned so that they ‘cut-off’ someones head. I don’t mean stick the mirror out horizontally from your wall, ready to slice anyone who walks by, very bad feng shui by the way. What I mean consider the tallest person in your home and make sure that you hang the mirror on the wall, and position it higher than that person so that they’re head isn’t missing from the mirrors reflection.

Here’s a great tip for increasing your wealth using feng shui mirrors. If you have your own business with a cash register, or even a personal savings box in your home, you can use a mirror to effectively double your wealth. Simply put a mirror on the wall next to your cash register, and make sure it’s fully reflected. Putting it on a side wall is best as you’ll still get the positive wealth reflection and won’t be reflecting the entrance of your store or room which is very important.

In this case with feng shui, mirrors that also reflect a doorway will present a way for your wealth to leave you out of the reflected entrance, so be very careful with this placement. It’s also generally wise to keep the register hidden from view from the outside.

Adopt a positive feng shui attitude when performing this cure, visualizing your financial goal and then prepare to double your turnover!

When feng shui mirrors are used properly and with the right mind set, they can be an extremely powerful tool to help enhance the positive energy in many different parts of your life and ultimately bring you the harmony, happiness and wealth you’ve been searching for!

Your feng shui living room will be a great help in achieving lots of other goals you may have in life, so let’s get to it and start enhancing, vitalizing and harmonizing energy for your wealth, health, happiness and more!

Clutter See, Clutter Do

For those of you who are new to feng shui, let me tell you about clutter. If feng shui has an arch enemy, clutter would be it’s name. It’s possibly the worst hindrance to any efforts you may try to put in effect and is quite possibly the reason why there might be some bad energy in parts of your life at the moment, things not going well, unhappy or even unlucky.

In a feng shui living room, it comes down to things like magazines or newspapers scattered around, even cups and ashtrays. Anything that’s untidy, unused, too busy or just plain messy will cause problems and the bigger the mess, the more problems and I’ll tell you why. Positive energy that exists in your home needs space to flow and breath in and around your entire home, and clutter simply blocks the energy, tying it up and keeps it from flowing freely. Clear the excess clutter in your living room so that chi and even people can easily and effortless move around and you’ll be well on your way to a feng shui living room thriving with good energy.

Room with a View

To make your feng shui living room more inviting it needs lots of fresh air and natural light. Make sure that your furniture is positioned with a full view of the entrance to the room, not with your back to it. It’s important to have solid structure behind you when your sitting, like a wall for example to help support your vulnerable side, so position your sofa with it’s back to the wall, facing the entrance and you’re good.

Poison Arrows

Sharp edges are called poison arrows in feng shui and will attract bad energy, which is unfortunate because lots of us have dining tables or coffee tables that are square or rectangular. As soon as you get a chance, get rid of the old sharp edge tables and find some oval or circular replacements to stop the negative energy from rearing it’s miserable head. It’s also a good idea to use fresh flowers and fruit on the table to bring fresh lively energy to your space. Keep an eye on them and change them whenever they need it to keep them fresh because dried lifeless flowers and rotten fruit will cause stagnant negative energy to enter your room.

Inspiring Images

In feng shui, living room space is great for framing your favorite photos of loved ones, holiday snaps and just happy inspiring pictures, displaying them for all to see. Place them either on tables, hung on the walls or on shelves and make sure that you never put just one picture by itself. Singular pictures create an isolated and lonely feeling in your space so keep them in groups or pairs and you’ll be fine. Books and ornaments can also be displayed in groups on shelves or books cases but remember to keep them tidy and clutter-free for great flowing feng shui energy.

Does Your TV Control You?

Your TV may act like the centerpiece of the living room, like in a lot of peoples homes. We tend to angle all of our chairs and sofas towards it, zoning out and relaxing in front of our favorite shows. However, you must realize that the TV is counter productive to family interaction and is a huge hypnotic distraction to anyone who sees it. Also, it emits electromagnetic radiation whether it’s switched on or not.

It’s because of this reason that feng shui suggests that if you must have a TV, try to keep it stored out of view, in a cupboard along with all of the other electromagnetic appliances like DVD players, VCRs and stereos, and only reveal them when needed. This approach will also keep the room much neater, less clutter and cables and will provide you with a feng shui living room that’s full of positive energy.

I’ve experimented with having a TV switched on for only 2 hours per day maximum, for around 18 months! From my experience I can tell you that you will become so much more productive (like finishing those projects you never got around to), you’ll also more social with the people around you and much more positive, which is the most important thing.

Sitting in you feng shui living room and watching the TV news only to found out some poor girl has been kidnapped or someone has died just doesn’t make sense, you’re effectively inviting negative thoughts and emotions into your mind which is very powerful and should be avoided at all costs. The less negativity you expose yourself to, the more potential to be happier and more positive in with your own thoughts you’ll become, which is what feng shui teaches us. Change your environment to see a change in your life. After all, you control the TV and not the other way around?…Right?

Your feng shui living room will now not only be a great place to enhance positive energy, harmonizing your home and life, but it will be a space that’s so clutter-free and inviting, it will be very welcoming to any guests you have over in the future. You can really feel the difference in a feng shui living room. So, clear that clutter, sort out your new storage areas for your electrical appliances, put your inspiring and happy photos on your wall, add some fresh flowers and sit back, relax in your positively thriving living room energy.

Feng shui explains that objects as small as coins or as large as the ocean all play important factors in creating a harmonious environment, full of good chi.  Where as coins can easily be moved or repositioned according to a feng shui principle, something as large as the ocean cannot be moved, repositioned or gotten rid of.  Typically, this is where feng shui cures can come into play, to help balance out an area of your home by taking action that absorbs or redirects the negative energy caused by external factors outside of your control.  They can also be used simply to enhance your wealth, love, health, creativity etc, there doesn’t always have to be a particular ‘illness’ affecting your energy and your home to it, you may just desire to enhance certain areas of your life using specific feng shui design remedies.

One of the most powerful feng shui design remedies or cures is the use of the dragon symbol inside your home.  The symbol is a very auspicious and traditional feng shui design remedy and represents strong yang or male energy.  Additionally, if the dragon has a pearl of crystal grasped in it’s claw, it means that it attracts power, wealth and an abundance of opportunities.  Having a feng shui dragon anywhere in your home is auspicious but it’s best to place them in higher energy areas, not in areas like the garage, or closet and also place the dragons at eye level, not too low or high.  More than one is fine too but do not place typically more than five in your home, five should be maximum.  The dragons are available in variety of colors and materials, so a green dragon  would be good to place in the east area of your home in increase health, where as a golden dragon will increase your wealth, and should be placed towards the southeast corner.

Here are some specific feng shui design remedies and cures to fit a certain imbalance in your space or office, some of them may apply to you. Especially when we go out to work and spend a large percentage of our time in a certain environment, we need to make sure that we can allow good chi to flow freely.  In most cases, feng shui design remedies and cures are needed for people who work in offices where the environments layout is predetermined and cannot change, even if it does not reflect good feng shui.  Don’t worry, just follow what I suggest below for the most requested feng shui design remedies for office problems, and you will be on your way to creating a space that positive energy can thrive in, and that will in-turn, turn your life around.

Illness – While sitting at your computer, you should be able to see outside, but you cannot, what can you do?

Cure – If there is no way to position yourself to view outside, hang a picture of a soothing outdoor scene, or even a calendar with images of nature and the natural environment so you eye can see it at a glance.

Illness – You should always be situated so that the main entrance to the room you are in is easily within your sight, but what happens if you can’t see it, and cannot position yourself to do so?

Cure – This is important, you must be able to see the entrance of the room you are in.  An alternative would be to use a convex mirror, the kind you can attach in your car to view more traffic in your blind spot.  Attach it to the side of your monitor so you can always see the entrance.

As you can see, feng shui design remedies can immediately impact the energy in your space, dispersing the negative chi and inviting positive in and around you.  There are thousands of feng shui design remedies, each as specific and personal to the problem itself and the person in their surroundings.  A great understanding of feng shui principles can put you in good stead to curing any bad feng shui you may experience, or simply use the ancient art to increase your happiness, wealth, luck or love currently in your life.

Remember, our thoughts also have energy, good and bad, and are extremely powerful, so visualize your goals, whatever they be and create your own positive energy too. Feng shui design remedies are a great way to immediately impact your life, but are no substitution for the understanding of how the feng shui principles actually accomplish this.  Knowledge is power, the power to change your life. However knowing is not enough, we must apply.

You should know that with good and bad energy or chi, like attracts like.  So when whenever we create positive energy, we attract more of the same, and unfortunately the same principle applies to bad energy, which we don’t want. So think positive to create your own energy, attract more of it, and use feng shui design remedies to create a environment of positive energy, and all you desire in your life can be yours!

Just as a baby is attracted to and more susceptible towards bright colors, we may not realize it, but so are we. This does not mean that we should paint all our walls bright orange and paint the sun on our ceiling however. An overdose of one color can tip the balance out of our favor. While the color red may evoke confidence or passion, too much red may invoke anger. To get that right balance of energy, there are some things you need to consider when using them in your environment.

In feng shui, colors that are balanced with yin and yang color energy in the right areas, can enhance positive energy and the harness of chi for optimum benefits. Using feng shui and colors evoke feelings which can be positive or negative. We need to strike a good balance in energy and color in order to create a good balance of harmony in our homes. We do this with the help of the Five Elements theory.

The best feng shui colors to use are those according to the five elements:Fire, Earth, Metal, Wood and Water. Each of these elements can then be used in specific areas according to the bagua map to enhance different areas of your life. Before we look at the colors associated with each of the five elements, first let’s have a look at how feng shui and colors are perceived and the feelings they invoke.

Yin and Yang Colors

Yin Colors promote healing and relaxation. The Yin colors are:
Blue – increases calmness, peace, honesty, truth, trust, inner peace, kindness, spirituality
Black – money, income, emotional protection, power, stability
Purple – stimulates intuition, imagination, meditation, physical or mental healing, magic, mystery
Green – supports balance, harmony, love, communication, nature, acceptance
White – confidence, purity, sterility, youth, cleanliness, goodness, trustworthiness
Pink – innocence, flirtatiousness, gratitude, appreciation, admiration, sympathy, love, beauty

Yang Colors promote enthusiasm and positive energy for motivation. The Yang Colors are:
Yellow – fun, happiness, concentration, wisdom, joy, intellectual energy
Orange – energy, enthusiasm, optimism, inspiration, vitality, endurance
Brown – work, earth, environmental, simple, back to basics, order, convention
Red – luck, money, joy, protection, good fortune, action, courage, vitality

Feng Shui and Colors and the Five Elements

Fire
Denotes passion and high energy
Associated colors: red, orange, purple, pink, strong yellow
Direction/Area – South : Fame
A balanced fire element will help you achieve fame and recognition or encourage a favorable reputation

Earth
Denotes nourishment and stability
Associated colors: light yellow, light brown, beige, earth tones
Direction/Area – Northeast : Knowledge and Southwest : Relationships and Center: Health
A balanced Earth element will help create stability, nourishment and protection for all your relationships

Metal
Denotes clarity and precision
Associated colors: grey and white
Direction/Area – West : Creativity and Northwest : Helpful People
A balanced metal element will help you live with clarity and efficiency

Water
Denotes sensitivity and calmness
Associated colors: blue and black
Direction/Area – North: Career and Life Path
A balanced water element will help and support you in your career plans

Wood
Denotes health and vitality
Associated colors: brown and green
Direction/Area – East : Family and Southeast : Wealth
A balanced wood element will help you with the energy of health, growth and abundance

When feng shui colors are used in the right areas, encouraging the energy of the elements, then they promote the effects of that area and create greater harmony and balance in your life and in your home. Feng shui decorating with colors can complement each other and also conflict, in terms of chi. It would help to learn about the productive and destructive cycles of the five elements to see which corresponding feng shui colors can be used together, and those that should not.

Wealth is associated with the southeast corner of your home and this is where you should focus all of your efforts. The southeast corner is represented by the wood in the five elements and water feeds wood and helps it to grow in accordance to the cycle of productivity of Feng Shui. Activating wealth using this principle, means that any symbols of water like paintings, motifs of fish or oceans decorating the southeast walls is a great idea. Combine this with actual sources of water such as gold fish bowls, small fountains or desktop water features and you are well on your way to creating the most effective ways to vitalize your prosperity energy, and keep it flowing strong. The water used must be calm, free flowing and clean, so a dirty fish tank or picture of an unused fountain would not help.

Installing a fish tank is not only a great way of introducing a low maintenance pet into your home, but also a very popular method for increasing your wealth and prosperity in Feng Shui. Activating wealth in this way is well known amongst feng shui consultants. If you choose to have a fish tank or bowl, make sure that you place it in the southeast corner of your home, that the type of fish you get for it are goldfish and there should be a total of eight in the tank. Eight is a very lucky number in feng shui. Also, it is a good idea to have one black goldfish among them to absorb any negative energy (sha chi) in the room. If this sounds like too much of an investment of your time and money, pictures of water scenes or fish will have a similar impact. In feng shui, activating wealth is all about creating the positive energy and harmony in your surroundings, so the pictures you use must represent harmony, calmness and also abundance, such as a beautiful still lake surrounded by lush, breathtaking forestry. The overall effect of the different techniques will not only create a more harmonized, happy home and life for you, but wealth will now most certainly be coming your way.

The impact of the water element in the southeast corner of your home is the reason why fish aquariums or miniature fountains have become so popular for Chinese families. This idea can be maximized even further if you have a garden outside your home. In Feng Shui, activating wealth energy can be promoted or enhanced inside as well as outside your home. You can build and install a small gold fish pond, a water fountain or even a well which would all contribute to your wealth if placed in the right corner, but remember to make sure the water is clean and free flowing, enabling the attraction of positive chi. Ultimately, this will help you to achieve optimum prosperity and harmonization in your home and life, and keep it flowing for years to come.

There are many more principles, cures, and techniques to learn in feng shui. Activating wealth, attracting love and creating happiness are some of the major reasons people look to feng shui for answers. The answers lie within this ancient wisdom and it’s many forms, and those who seek to learn more and more can only increase their potential for creating and attracting more of what they want in their lives and less of what they don’t. The information I’ve given you here will be a strong starting point for activating your wealth, but when you combine these techniques with other feng shui principles like the flying star, four pillars or the five elements, you can then start to truly understand how to utilize all this ancient art has to offer, and dramatically change your life forever. Using feng shui, activating wealth and attracting abundance and luck, is easier than you think.

It’s where we recharge out tired bodies, at peace with ourselves while we sleep. Positive chi and fresh air should be able to circulate well in this environment to help less distractions in this quiet place. Use these helpful feng shui decorating guidelines to create a bedroom fit for you’re needs.

Ideally the bedroom should be positioned away from the front door. This is not always possible without a few room changes taking place. Being located away from the front entrance to your home is called the command position. Chi usually travels from doorways towards windows so your bed should not be positioned anywhere in between or blocking this. Place your bed far away from the door, but so you can also see the door from where you sleep. A sense inner security will be created from this position.

When sleeping, try to make sure that your head is positioned away from the window to stop your energy going out of it and making you feel tired when you wake. Before you go to sleep, try to remember to close the bathroom door too.

Having a strong head board on your bed is also a great way to protect and recharge your chi. The head board is believed to represent a solid mountain that is behind you while you sleep, principles from the 5 elements, and provides great benefit. Something to be aware of is the natural flow of chi in our bodies, it goes in and out of our bodies through that hands, feet and top of the skull.

Another important element to be aware of in feng shui decorating is our bed side tables should have softer more rounded edges as opposed to sharp or square edges which would ‘cut’ incoming chi focused towards the occupants. Again, if the bed is for couples, both should have a bedside table each to represent stability on their relationship.

The position of the bed is important for couples, try to keep it at equal distance from the walls, it symbolizes equality within your relationship.

Having a mirror in your bedroom is useful but you must make sure that it is not positioned at the foot of your bed or where you are able to see your reflection as you sleep as this is very negative.

Feng shui decorating goes much further than just re-positioning furniture, lighting is extremely important too. As far as lighting in your bedroom goes, softer lighting is best and must not be positioned directly above your bed.

Commonly, people keep their personal computers in their bedrooms. This should be avoided, they are not compatible with the harmony your are trying to create, and must be separated.

Clearing all of the clutter from underneath your bed and removing unwanted things is recommended. When trying to create an environment that enhances energy and promotes wellness, you should always be aware of and remove and clutter in your feng shui decorating quest. It blocks the free flow of energy and causes it to become stagnant with nowhere to physical move through. Stagnant energy is bad energy and will heavily affect all of the positive changes you’re trying to cerate with your feng shui decorating techniques.

A great piece of beautiful decor, a painting for example, should be placed in the area of the room where you usually focus on when you first awake. This will help to inspire you at the very start of the day, putting you in positive state, which is very important and allows for more positivity to come your way.

As you can see, feng shui decorating techniques apply to almost every element the contemporary home already has, so using this introductory guide to place them correctly will start to increase the flow of positive chi in your bedroom, and ultimately, your life.

The bagua map for western feng shui relates directly to different parts of your life. A total of nine aspects of your life are covered and each has it’s own specific characteristics and related elements which are very important to be aware of when decorating your home.

By properly understanding and implementing harmonization techniques in each of the bagua areas, you will in-turn be harmonizing each area of your life.

As shown in the bagua map for western feng shui diagram above, these nine zones correspond to nine major areas of your life; prosperity, fame and reputation, relationships, family, health, creativity and children, skills and knowledge, career and life path, helpful people and travel.

You can use this bagua map for western feng shui to overlay onto the floor plan of any room you want to harmonize and increase the positive flow of chi. Make sure that you position the bagua map for western feng shui so that the ‘career / black / water’ section is where you enter the room via it’s main entrance. This will allow you to correctly layout the bagua map for western feng shui and will start you on your way to improving your life.

Prosperity and Abundance
If you are experiencing money problems, or financial issues of any kind, you will want to focus on the according section of the bagua map for western feng shui. It’s color is purple and you should use wood and water elements here such as fish, money, jewelry, fountains, any red, purple or gold items.

Fame and Reputation
This life area on the bagua map for western feng shui is used for people who are looking for any kind of improvement to the current reputation status, and becoming more recognized. It is represented by the color red and it’s most important related elements are fire and wood. You can decorate your space with items such as feng shui candles, awards, plants, incense, or any red, orange or purple items.

Relationships and Love
If you’re looking to start or improve upon a relationship of any kind, with your boss, a friend, partner or relative, you should focus in this area. It’s corresponding color is pink and it’s related elements are earth and fire. Think of putting paired objects like crystals, statues or pictures of loved ones, round or oval mirrors or just anything pink.

Family and Foundation
Work on this area of the bagua map for western feng shui and expect issues with family, be it boundaries or communication, or otherwise to become much more harmonized. Its color is green, but also black and blue and it’s main element is water. Family photos or heirlooms would be useful in this area.

Health
Whether suffering from an illness or just aiming to improve your all-round health and keep illness at bay, the center of the bagua map of western feng shui corresponding to the center of your space is where you should focus. It’s colors are yellow, brown and orange, and it elements are earth and fire. To achieve harmonization here use bowls and quiet music or anything yellow.

Creativity and Children
If you are wishing to have children, having difficulty with a child in your family or simply want to improve your creativity, focus your efforts here. It’s element to add in this location is metal and main colors to use are white and light earth tones. Keep your computer in this area, artwork or puzzles and of course, white objects.

Skills and Knowledge
Improving your knowledge in a particular area or acquiring new skills is a very important part of life, and this area of the bagua map for western feng shui and corresponding space in your room can help you. Its color is blue or green and the element to use here would be earth. When using feng shui to decorateyour home, be sure to lace bookcases, books or tools for self development here to boost this areas energy.

Life and Career
These areas of your life can be harmonized to improve their effect. It’s color is black and the element to use is water, try using water fountains or mirrors in this space or even images of future goals you want to achieve

Helpful People and Travel
Achieve increased benefits in areas of travel, planned journeys or help from various sources that will improve your guidance, spiritual or otherwise. It’s color is silver or gray and the elements to use here are metal and water. Place images of your destinations, or any travel related items which can also be of a grey color to achieve maximum potential.

The bagua map for western feng shui is a very direct harmonizing technique which is easy to understand and can be used to achieve amazing transformations in all areas of your life. There are also many more related objects which could be used in specific bagua areas but I’ve given you have a good understanding to get started and improve your life right now!

Try it for yourself!

Feng Shui FAQ #1 – What is feng shui and how can it help me?

When moments of bad luck strike, and all is not going well, no matter how hard you try to rectify things and make good progress, you fall back down,  chances are your environment is not supporting you and your efforts.  The space you live in and it’s condition affects you mentally, emotionally and ultimately physically, so it’s vital that it is not cluttered, disorganized or creating chaos.  No matter how hard you try to affirm things and stay positive, it will be an uphill struggle ’till the end.

Changing your space around, organizing things using feng shui’s art of placement will immediately lift your energy and brighten your space which in-turn clears your mind and lets you think clearly, take positive steps without having the need to feel forced to take them.  Your life turns around and new shifts in energy now attract more of the life you want, you’re not stuck anymore.

Feng Shui FAQ #2 – Feng shui, is it a science?

It isn’t yet.  Repeated experiments have not verified feng shui principle theories.  Master’s of feng shui have however collected their own statistical data but it can not collectively be regarded as conclusive.  The way that bad or corrupt chi is portrayed, as having a superstitious quality, is the main reason that scientists have been driven away from this scientific study.

Feng Shui FAQ #3- Is there a cure for every type of ill related feng shui in a house?

The same question could be asked about the diseases of man kind, do they all have cures?
There are many tips, useful and helpful additional things you can do but completely curing every problem 100%  is a tall order.

Feng Shui FAQ #4 – Are traditional feng shui principles still valid today?

Yes, but details within them will need to be modified in order to make sense in our modern world of city and house planning.  They are very different from ancient worlds which traditional feng shui principles would readily apply to.

Feng Shui FAQ #5 – Is it still possible to learn feng shui, even without a master (shifu)?

Of course, educating yourself in as many ways possible will be a great help.  A master to guide you would be of great help but even the great, undisputed feng shui masters such as Yang Yun Song , Jiang Da Hong an Shen Zhu Reng, all learned their art, tips and understandings from books and practices.

Feng Shui FAQ #6 - What types of feng shui are there and which is best to use?

There are a number of schools or types of feng shui, and each has their own branches within them, visualize them almost like a family tree.  Each school has much to offer in understanding feng shui and it’s practices, combining them would give you a very powerful system and would enable you to attract more positive energy into your life.

A reliable method would use a culmination of techniques such as:
Compass Feng Shui to balance, Eight Mansions Feng Shui to determine you personal best directions, Flying Stars Feng Shui to activate positive chi and remove negative chi, Quantum Feng Shui to fix architectural issues with your space, Form School Feng Shui when assessing the landscape of an area and Water Dragon Feng Shui to help attract more wealth to a home.  They are like a tool box, knowing more will enable you to select the right tool for a specific situation.

Feng Shui FAQ #7 – Does feng shui only relate to houses?

No.  The principles of feng shui can be used to analyze the energy of a city, state, country or even the world.

Feng Shui FAQ #8 – How are feng shui readings done?

Using a Lo-pan (compass), a feng shui practitioner would determine the energy characteristics of a particular building and the effects it has on the occupants inside.  Calculations are then completed in accordance to the basic feng shui principles.  Remedies or “cures” are prescribed to problem areas in order to balance the chi so that it’s effects will become much more positive for the occupants.

Applying feng shui in your home is about creating an environment that is in perfect harmony.  The placement objects, what they represent and even the use of color play a vital role in attracting the positive flow of the universes energy, helping it to sweep effortlessly throughout all of your home, creating a space filled with harmony and happiness.

Don’t try to change everything all at once to balance out your life.  This will create chaos and confusion if  the significance of each object and it’s relation to the effects on your life are not completely understood.  This takes time and tackling this to soon in your quest for feng shui harmony may produce  consequences that would throw existing relationships off balance.

Living Room

One of the most important rooms to consider when using feng shui inside your home is the living room or family room.  Using feng shui principles here first will be a wise move, as this is the center point of many homes and where the change of energy and it’s effects will be noticed more.

The lighting of the living room is important, the main source  must be natural (during the day) and should come from the windows creating a very well lit space.

A small living room is not auspicious, and should be made larger if possible, or at least in better proportion to the rest of the house.  Alternatively, it may just seem smaller if you have an over abundance of furniture and ‘clutter’, if this is the case, trim down to the essentials, removed the unwanted and unnecessary. This is a must when utilizing feng shui inside your home, getting rid of the clutter, a crowded living space must be avoided at all costs.

When first entering your home or apartment entrance, you can certainly ‘feel’ the good or bad energy simply from that first impression. If what you’re feeling is closed-in, cramped and confined, you need to do some serious de-cluttering and arrangement of furniture to create a space more conducive to free flowing positive energy, open and inviting.

Rooms that are on one floor but with different heights is not ideal, however if this is unable to be changed structurally, make the lowest level the living room.

Some houses have ceiling beams that are exposed.  If this sounds like your home, you should try to  hide or conceal them in some way wherever possible throughout.

Dining Room

Dining rooms are almost always joined to the main living area in some way, either by doors separating the two or different levels.  Things to consider in making your dining area feng shui friendly are primarily concerning location.  Your dining area should not be situated underneath a stair case or star well of any kind and the main door you use to enter your house should also be a good distance away from the dining room.  Feng shui inside your home is utlimately about creating balance and harmony between the different energies that exist in your space and there are some extremely specific ways to do this.

Placing any large mirrors in or around the dining area is a good idea. They will reflect the happy times shared between loved ones around the dining table.

The shape of your dining table should be unintrusive and have no sharp edges.  A circular shaped table is ideal, or even a square or rectangle shape but with rounded corners is another good option when optimizing the effectiveness of feng shui inside your home.

If you have a toilet on the lower level of your house, that’s fine, but just make sure that the dining table does not point towards or sit facing the toilet door.

As you can see there are some very specific guidelines relating to existing items and their placement according to feng shui inside your home.  Most of us can relate to a lot of things listed here but this is just the beginning in understanding feng shui and how it can work in your space.

Your knowledge of the principles behind these decisions (what to do and why do it) will make for a solid learning base in your feng shui quest. It will help you to create harmony, happiness, and increase your own ability to create good chi for yourself, your family or even advise friends. I can think of close friends and family that I have helped, who’s houses and/or life showed symptoms of bad chi.  Knowing that you can help is a great feeling and is one that will be appreciated for years to come in your life and anyone you share it with, simply be following these simple techniques for using  feng shui inside your home.

There are a few principles in the feng shui basics that you must be aware, knowing and understanding these key elements will be vital in achieving optimum benefits from your efforts.  If feng shui is understood and implemented correctly, it can help you bring miraculous changes to the most important parts of your life.  This makes even knowing the basics a very powerful tool and one worth learning, especially if  there are particular things in your life which you would like to enhance.

Attracting love, wealth, harmony and happiness are some of the main reason people look to feng shui which is why it has the potential to evoke life-changing results that you will truly benefit from.

Yin and Yang

Yin (black) and Yang (white) are opposing energies, like negative and positive or night and day, and they relate directly to the balance or harmonizing within the universe.  Peace and prosperity will be achieved in your environment if these opposing energies are well balanced.

Achieving a balance of these elements is the main focus when learning the feng shui basics.  A simple rule to be aware of is that too much Yin creates stagnation and an isolation, and too much of the Yang element creates destruction, chaos and agitation.

The Five Elements

Energy from chi manifests in five forms, the five elements of water, wood, fire, earth and metal.  Chi  is translated simply to mean “life force”.  Chi can impact your life force in two ways, either by strengthening, which is known as good chi or blocking, negative chi. The five elements of chi energy interact with each other in cycles and the arrangement of your living area will depend on knowing these cycles, then applying them in various forms to enhance different parts of your life.

The Cycle of Production creates positive chi and is used to guide the placement of objects in your home.  Each of the elements have their own unique qualities and characteristics which will help you to determine the correct element, in the correct sequence and where to apply it to achieve a productive cycle which is a custom solution to enhancing a particular area in your life.

A non-productive cycle could potentially be a Destructive Cycle, and can lead to bad events and misfortune if elements in your living area are arranged in an destructive sequence. Learning the feng shui basics will provide you with valuable knowledge you can use to prevent the bad and promote the good in your environment.

Balancing the Elements

On a closer inspection of your home, a destructive cycle may be found which could reveal a link to any weaker areas of your life. Don’t worry, this can be treated by simply understanding the feng shui basics I’ve shown you here.  You can create a productive cycle that can correct or balance out a destructive one by utilizing the elements.  This can eliminate any problems areas you may be experiencing in your life and even enhance them if you so wish, creating a life for you that is better than you ever thought possible.

In feng shui there are always methods to balance many areas of your life so that good energy can be maximized and enjoyed.

Being aware of the five elements, their cycles and learning how to balance them are the essential steps in beginning to understanding feng shui and how it can help you.  You may wish to enhance particular parts your life, identify and solve problem areas of wealth, happiness or money, or just simply want to create a harmonious balance of chi in their environment.  Educating yourself as much as you can, and even by just being aware of the feng shui basics at this point will be a vital key and will serve you well in your quest for creating a better life.

If you have ever experienced extremely terrible luck, for example you have become bankrupt more than once or divorced over and over, and it feels like there is a force taking control of the energy in your home, performing these ceremonies can really help to turn things around for you.

It can feel like something is purposefully creating ongoing problems and strings of bad luck for you and you cannot logically figure it out.  Chances are you are dealing with a more spiritual challenge and will need to take a spiritual approach to clear and change the energy, create a better environment for those within. Feng shui ceremonies are remedies that will need to be performed to bless the house and change it for the better.

A rice blessing can help energize the whole house and even you.  Remedies for correcting negative energies that are filling in and around your property and “cure” them to help you have a healthier happier home, free from negative chi that is otherwise not your doing.

Feng shui ceremonies have many ways to address this but I’m going to share with you one of the most effective, heres how:

Standing outside of you house, you must touch all of your finger tips together and hold your hands like this while repeating a short, calming prayer or chant to yourself.  You must do this nine times in order to sooth the mind and body, ready to begin.

Next you will need reasonably large bowl, made from glass, into which you will pour uncooked rice until the bowl is around three quarters full.  If you have an exceptionally property, you will need another bowl.

Cinnabar power is red in color, energizing and positive,  and available from Chinese herbalists.  You will need to add some powder to the rice in your bowl(s).

Liquor is next.  No, you’re not going to drown your sorrows and dwell on your problems, not yet anyway, now it’s time to change things around using traditional teachings of feng shui ceremonies to help you lead a better life. Simply add nine splashes from a bottle that is newly opened.  Now using your middle finger, if your a woman use the left hand, if your a man, the right and stir the mixture one hundred and eight times.  You will also need to repeat a chant or prayer of your choice while stirring, this can be tricky so to help, you can choose to use ten toothpicks, which you can move aside one by one, every ten stirs.

Now position yourself at the mouth of chi on your house, this would be where your entrance meets the street or front path meets the street, depending on the type of house you have. Now throw three hand fulls of rice, one at a time into the air, as high as you can.  Each time, you will visualize the energy and life of the property being vitalized, truly empowered, and also repeat your chosen prayer with each throw.  Feng shui ceremonies such as this house blessing usually involve many steps and must be performed in exactly the right way. It’s also important to note that you should be visualizing what you intend to achieve out of it, positive energy and a better life, always with good intention.

Next, throw three more handfuls side to side, repeating you chosen words, and seeing the bad energy the problems and bad luck being cast aside, leaving your property.

Three more handfuls should be thrown to the ground visualizing the planting and growing of of good things to come into your life. Repeat your chosen words each time you cast the rice.

Start to walk around the perimeter of your home, casting the rice, up, to the ground or to the sides where you feel instinctively that it is needed.  Again you must always visualize the positive seeds your are planting and the energy your are giving the property.  Remember to repeat the prayer at each throw of the rice, while visualizing.

When you reach the front entrance to your home, toss three handfuls of rice at the door to help bless the house itself as well as the land.

The last thing left to do when performing these type of feng shui ceremonies is to cast three more handfuls of rice high in the air, aiming for the sky, and ask for heaven’s blessing.  Now take your middle and ring finger and flick them outwards nine times, visualizing the success of the feng shui ceremonies, and that your dreams of a happy healthier life and home will happen.  You must remember to chant your prayer during this final process of the blessing.

The feng shui ceremonies are now complete.  You can look forward to a far more positive environment, and better life all round in this property.  Make sure that you now focus on feng shui principles inside your home to maximize the positive chi and take your happiness to the next level.  It all lies in your hands now, your home has been giving a revitalizing lift, clearing the bad energy and creating a space of positive and uplifting spirits using one of the most powerful feng shui ceremonies, it’s up to you to take it take it further.  I wish you good luck and positive thought in all you do.

Birds, Dragons, Turtles and Tigers

There are four celestial deities which take the form of the bird, dragon, turtle and tiger and are used to help describe the disposition of chi in a location.  The animals represent land forms, their shape and location are important factors that can help to find a place between them known metaphorically as the dragons’ lair, which represents heaven on earth.  Chi flows according the the earths shape, it’s motion follows the shape of the terrain, it flows within the ground and gathers where the terrain stops. Essentially, you’ll be pinpointing a living location where the chi is pooled together, the lair, which is said to bless the occupants of the home with good health and wealth.

You must first understand the what is represented by each animal so that you can later identify any similarities with any land you’re considering.  Imagine looking at the lay of the land  from above and moving clockwise, the first animal is the crimson bird.  Each animal represents a season, color, and also a yin or yang polarity. The bird represents the south, summer, the color red and yang chi. Typically the features of the land form represented by the bird must be lower than the others in height, it can also represent a body of water like a river or lake, not just a land form.

Next is the white tiger, representing the west, autumn, the color white and yin chi.  The terrain of the tigers land form is typically longer and lower than that of it’s eastern dragon counterpart, but higher than that of the southern bird, these are key points to remember when  applying feng shui outside your home.

The black turtle is next, representing north, winter, black and yin chi.  The turtles land form features should be the highest, above the bird, dragon and tiger.

Lastly is the azure dragon which represents the east, spring, green and yang chi.  The features of the dragons land form should be higher than the western tiger and lower than the northern turtle.

The location of the dragons’ lair, where chi is pooled, is formed by the positioning of the bird, tiger, turtle and dragon, and is where your health and wealth will be enhanced.  There are lots of benefits to  applying feng shui outside your home, which will help you boost the particular energies in your life that need it the most.

In the City

In today’s modern city living, there less places that will be surrounded by such mountainous terrain, but don’t worry if you can’t see any hillside tiger or dragons, just remember the position that is most favorable for the landforms to be in, the turtle supporting behind you, tiger to your right, dragon to your left and bird in front of you.  Applying feng shui outside your home in the city, with many intersecting road locations, sky scrapers and other man-made things may appear to be vastly different than the ancient methods we described before, but there are simple ways to translate their meanings into modern life.

Symbolically, for those of us with inner city dwellings, the creatures can also represent buildings, like your neighbors to the left (dragon) and to the right (tiger).  The turtle would be situated behind you and must not overshadow your home nor block any sunlight. If there are no structures behind you, simply building a large enough fence or row of suitably sized trees will serve as support, security and protection for your back side.

Having any plans or photographs of the land before you buy it will prove very useful in helping when applying feng shui outside your home and assessing it in particular for using the four terrestrial creatures.  It would be best first to focus on the negative factors of the land or building you are considering, and decide if these can be corrected or cured further down the line, rather than finding it’s good points first which could potentially bind you to it’s faults.

There is still much much more to consider when applying feng shui outside your home,  more than what we can learn from the four creatures, but they provide a great start to finding a place of good chi.  Factors such as locations on different road types, facing roads, on the curve of a road and even river courses hold invaluable information that can affect and disturb the balance of your chi.

However, applying feng shui outside your home using these principles as your first steps to finding your ideal road location for your home and will ensure that your chi, health and wealth will have a good balance and the potential to flow freely in your home.