10 Feng Shui Tips For A Better Life

Have you ever walked into a house that somehow just felt more like a home? Perhaps you?ve looked back fondly on a year where everything just seemed to come together for you. You may have often wondered what it was about that time or that place that made you feel like everything just clicked. Probably you passed it off as coincidence; being in the right place at the right time. What you might not have considered is that it may be have Feng Shui at work for you.

Feng Shui (pronounced fung schway) is, in simple terms, the ancient Chinese Art and Science of placing things in our immediate environment in such a way as to improve our health, balance, security, and prosperity. It has been a carefully guarded secret for most of the last 3000 years. Now, anyone can enjoy the benefits of Feng Shui in their own home or workplace. Many businesses, home owners, decorators, and architects, make Feng Shui a part of their everyday lives.

How you use Feng Shui can go from the complicated to the very simple. It is best to start with what you are comfortable with and go from there. If all you feel up to is decorating one room with good Feng Shui, then that is fine. Some people even buy their home keeping many Feng Shui ideals in mind.

The key to good Feng Shui is in the movement and flow of energy, or Qi (pronounced chee.) Here are ten quick tips you can use to improve the flow and use of Qi in your life:
1) Remove your shoes before you enter a home. This leaves your problems outside the home.
2) Make sure to prepare and enjoy one meal per day at the table as a family.
3) Keep knives put away in a drawer or cupboard. Do not display them, even in a block.
4) When sitting or standing in a home or office, always face the door or its reflection.
5) Keep your bathroom and laundry room doors closed. Also keep the toilet seat down.
6) Never sleep under white blankets.
7) Arrange your bedroom such that you do not sleep with your feet pointing towards the door.
8) Arrange your bed so that you are not sleeping next to a wall with a meter box in it.
9) If you front door is directly in line with the front door of the house opposite you, place a Ba Gua mirror above the front door to reflect the image.
10) It is never acceptable to have a Ba Gua mirror in the house, they are much too powerful.

Many of these tips are considered common sense, which should make them that much simpler to integrate into your daily life. Which of these Feng Shui Tips will mean the most to you in terms of your sense of balance and harmony within your home will depend on you as an individual. Some tips will make a lot of difference for you, but perhaps not as much for other members of your family.

These Feng Shui tips are really just the tip of the iceberg. There are many more ways to enlighten your environment and improve the flow of Qi in your home. Start with these tips as they will make a world of difference. Then you can progress and improve the Feng Shui of your home at your own pace.

Charles Chang is a Feng Shui enthusiast and author. He enjoys helping others learn feng shui through his articles and website.

There is No Place to Hide From Feng Shui - Even Temporarily

I once heard this definition of extroverts and introverts: Extroverts process information and issues by talking with others. Introverts do so by going within.

I am definitely an introvert, and have set my life up so as to have a lot of time and space to myself. This is how I function best. I know what feeds my soul and I also know when I dont do these things everything in my life is affected.

Sometimes I need a reminder of the importance of these things.

During a visit to New Zealand recently, I had occasion to stay with a family member who was so excited to see me, she wanted to spend lots of time with me and include me in every cup of tea. She was being a good hostess she is also an extrovert. So, where she gained energy I was fast losing it. I did have some space for myself, but not enough. I assumed that a week like this was fine. I also didnt fully unpack my suitcase, partly because there wasnt anywhere to put everything, but also, I thought its only for a few days.

I know the effect of being surrounded by clutter, and I know I need lots of space physical and emotional. I know the effect of tolerating things that bug me. I also know that sometimes in the past it has seemed like too much trouble to act on my needs.

One of the big things I learned is that it DOES matter. Even temporary situations affect me. I learned there is no room for unconsciousness around my environment there is no place to hide. I learned I need to respect my being an introvert. Its part of what makes me unique. Its part of how I express myself and give myself to others. And when I dont respect this aspect of myself, part of me shuts down and everyone misses out.

When I look back on my time in New Zealand, the visit that was most successful was with a friend who is an author and also an introvert. He made sure he had time to himself, which also gave me space.

I eventually took care of my needs by finding a Bed and Breakfast to stay in for my last week. With great good fortune the owner was going out of town, so I had her whole, huge, sunny house to myself. I unpacked my suitcase, made my room inviting, and so created an environment that supported me. Everything looked different from this place, and from there it was a lot easier to create a balance between visiting and quiet time.

The Feng Shui in your life is about more than just your environment. When you dont get your needs met physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, your energy is blocked and this will stop the flow of prosperity, creativity, relationships in your life and will prevent you from being all you can be. Your very life energy is affected.

Is anything blocking the flow of energy in your life right now?

Where are you cluttering up your life, emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually?

Is there anything in your life you are telling yourself is only temporary?

What would it take to make a change now?

What do you know, but need to remind yourself about in terms of your needs?

As an extrovert, or an introvert, what feeds your soul? Are you incorporating that in your life?

Visits with family are often the most challenging in terms of being ourselves. How do you take care of your needs while with your family?

When you are thrown into an unfamiliar situation, what happens? Do you make sure your needs are met or do you let them slide? What do you tell yourself?

Do you have a situation coming up maybe people coming to stay, maybe you visiting someone where you can begin to plan ways to have your needs met?

In your home, or when you are in a temporary situation, what can you do to make a sanctuary for yourself? What can you place in your environment to give you a feeling of belonging?

Some of my clients have found a way to create a sense of place when traveling. They have gathered a collection of things that have significance for them. When they travel they place them on the bedside table or somewhere they will feel their energy.

Some people have a favorite throw or they might take their own pillow with them. Dont forget the power of journaling. Keeping up this practice will give you clarity and space.

In Feng Shui, the intention is to create a flow of energy in your environment to support you in creating the life of your dreams. A life that flows and is easy and where you can be your authentic self. Your environment either supports you or drains you. By paying attention to all your environments you will create an environment of success for yourself.

2003, Vicky White. All rights reserved. May be duplicated with attribution and copyright notice intact. http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Vicky White is a Certified Feng Shui Consultant and Life Coach who works with clients both locally and internationally. Get your FREE 7-part e-course Your Secret Weapon: Powerful Feng Shui Tips To Give Your Business The Competitive Edge at http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Feng Shui For Widows And Divorcees

I am sure some of you may read the title and think, ?OK, this should be good; I will read it for entertainment and if I get more, all the better.?

The practice of feng shui uses the ancient Chinese art of Chi. Chi is energy. It has nothing to do with religion. There are many practitioners out there, all around the world. My purpose in writing this article is to share with you how I benefited from it. Allow me to start at the beginning.

A couple of months before my husband died, I came across an ad in the paper for a feng shui practitioner advertising her services. Interested, I decided to clip the ad out of the paper and put it aside until later. I had never practiced this art myself; however, I like others had read about it in various articles and was intrigued..

As I shared, when I saw the feng shui ad, my husband was dying. We both knew this fact. We had also just moved to a new town a few months earlier and into a new home. When we moved, all I could do was put the furniture in the house. My husband and I were in the fight of our lives?. for his life. (I hear your question: Why would you decide to move if your husband is dying? That answer, will have to come in another article.) So when I saw the ad a few months later, I knew I couldn?t act on it.

After my husband died I pulled the ad out of the drawer and called the practitioner. I needed distraction from my pain and getting the house in better shape was the recipe. Jan, the feng shui practitioner, was very nice on the phone and she asked lots of questions to get to know me. I learned a bit more about what this practice really entailed. I thought it was just about placing furniture in a room, in the best position for chi movement. (I thought I was smart because I knew the word and meaning of chi) I learned that Jan is a traditionalist when it comes to this art. She practices the Black Sect tradition. I had never heard of this or any other tradition. I thought it was all the same; little did I know.

We made an appointment for a consultation at my home. She let me know up front that this would take about 4 hours. WOW, I thought she would just come and make a few suggestions and be gone. Anyway, I can?t tell you everything she did because it would be unethical for me to do so. What I can tell you is that it was a wonderful experience. I implemented all of her suggestions. It took me a while to do so, but I got it all done.

Funny thing though, I started noticing shifts in my energy and what was happening in my life, as I would make the changes. A part of me thought the shifts were flukes, but that wasn?t the case. Being a skeptical person, I really started paying attention to the things that were happening to me. I also noticed that people who visited my home, rarely wanted to leave it. They told me that my home felt welcoming and relaxing. They leave their cares at the door. In fact, at times it is necessary for me to hint to a person that it is past my bed time or that I have to run an errand.

My original intent in having a practitioner use feng shui in my home was to simply receive help in putting my furniture in the best locations. What I got was so much more. I know this sounds strange but having my home in balance has helped me heal from losing my husband. It is my refuge and my place of peace. I travel a lot and I love the places I go. But, I am always happy when I enter my front door. It is as though the house welcomes me home.

If you are someone who has lost your spouse, you have to look at your environment when it comes to healing. There is a direct correlation between your environment and how well you heal. We all want to live vibrant robust lives and one of the best ways to do this is to balance your home. Is your environment safe; is it comfortable? How does your home make you feel? Have you ever thought about enhancing your healing process by enhancing your home?

I am not suggesting you go out and buy a book on feng shui. As I stated earlier, there are a few different schools of feng shui; and most of the books don?t make the distinctions. I have heard people say they get confused because one book tells them something and another says something else, concerning the same subject.

The best way to learn what your home needs is to hire a practitioner. These people have been to school to learn this art. Some have practiced for many years. There is no way you can read a book and know how to apply it?s suggestions to your situation.

I am a stickler for certifications, so make sure who ever you use is certified. Have them tell you the name of the school and do check them out before hiring them. Also make sure they have been in business for a while. Use your judgment and instincts. I have listed the name of the practitioner I used, on my web site. Feel free to contact her. She is available for phone consultations, if you are not in her area. Hiring a feng shui practitioner was one of the best decisions I made for myself.

?2007 White Lotus Life Coaching - Marie A. O'Neill is the founder of White Lotus Life Coaching. Her specialty is Life Renewal for Widows and Divorcees. Click http://www.whitelotuslifecoaching.com for articles written by an expert on Starting Over.

Want More? Click http://www.whitelotuslifecoaching.com for information on the down loadable self paced ?Starting Over ? A Manual for Living after the Loss of a Spouse?. You can also e-mail her at marie@whitelotuslifecoaching.com to comment on this article or schedule your free 20 minute coaching session.

Guide To Feng Shui Bamboo Plant Care

There are 2 very important factors to Feng Shui Bamboos plant care as follows:-

Soil Factor

Most Feng Shui Bamboos are happiest in a moderately acidic loamy soil. If your soil is very heavy you can add organic material. It can be dug into the soil where the bamboo is to be planted, but the easiest thing is to mulch very heavily and let the earthworms do the work. Spread two or more inches of mulch in the area around the bamboo, and where you want the bamboo to grow. Feng Shui Bamboo is a forest plant and does best if a mulch is kept over the roots and rhizomes. It is best not to rake or sweep up the Feng Shui Bamboo leaves from under the plant, as they keep the soil soft, and moist, and recycle silica and other natural chemicals necessary to the Feng Shui Bamboo.

A low-growing shade-tolerant groundcover plant that will allow the leaves to fall through to form a mulch without being visible will work if you find the dry leaf mulch objectionable. Almost any organic material is a good mulch. Grass is one of the best, as it is high in nitrogen and silica. Home made or commercial compost is great. Hay is a good mulch too but hay and manure are often a source of weed seeds, so that can be a problem. Any kind of manure is good, if it isn't too hot. Limited amounts of very hot manures like chicken are OK if used with care. At our nursery we use a large amount of chipped trees from tree pruning services. This can harbor pathogens that can affect some trees or shrubs, but the bamboo loves it.

Weather Factor

Feng Shui Bamboos can be planted at any time of the year in areas with mild climates such as we have in the maritime Pacific Northwest. In colder parts of the world they should be planted outdoors early enough to become established and to harden off sufficiently to survive their first winter. If the bamboo is planted late in the year, one should mulch the plant heavily and provide extra protection from any cold and drying winds.

In colder climates where Feng Shui Bamboos may be marginal, successful growers usually protect their Feng Shui Bamboos through the winter with a heavy mulch. Even in very cold climates in an established bamboo grove with a heavy layer of Feng Shui Bambooleaves covering the ground, the soil will be soft and friable during periods when the surrounding soils are frozen hard and deep.

Guide to Feng Shui Bamboo Plant Care or visit http://www.bamboofengshui.com

Enjoy More Success And Harmony With Feng Shui Expert

Everyone has a desire to enjoy more success, harmony and balance in life. People make various efforts to make it possible as they put a variety of ideas in practice to make their loved ones happier. Your home is the only place where you spend most of your time therefore it should be much more then just a place to rest at night. The name home itself gives a feeling of relief. So do you feel good to be home when you come back? Does your home contain those positive vibrations to make you more energetic? According to a feng shui expert, every corner of your house releases different kinds of vibrations. If these vibrations are positive then only you can fulfill your desire of enjoying more success and harmony in everything. Every mislaid thing can put negative effect on your personality and environment of your home.

Feng shui techniques make your home more harmonious and comfortable so that you can receive those positive vibrations that are necessary for overall success. If you do not feel like entering in to your home then a feng shui expert can help you in making your home atmosphere livelier. You can energize you home with positive vibrations just though few simple adjustments suggested by a feng shui expert. It is an ancient Chinese belief that a green dragon and a white tiger use to live beneath every mountain and where those animals live together is the most suitable place for making home. They believe that the dragon?s breath crated a ch?i that is really very lackey. This is the basic reason why feng shui techniques insist on using ch?i. ch?i has both negative and positive effects. For creating the most positive effect eng shui experts use gently moving water instead of stagnant water.

Colors have also a significant role in feng shui as feng shui technique mostly uses black and white colors to maintain harmony in any home. In Chinese terminology, these effects are called yin and yang. These are two different aspects of universe such as day and night black and white etc. However; both are correlated and defines each others existence such as there will be no day without a dark night and no grief will be recognized without feeling of glee. Fang shui expert use familiar symbols of yin and yang to define the feeling of completion. This brings completeness in your life and fills your home with vibrant waves.

The very first step that every feng shui expert performs for making your house livelier is evaluation of every corner and room of your home. This process is done through a compass and is very to do. Once you watch him doing it you can also try it yourself. In this process, he examines every aspect such as shape of your home, directions of various rooms and arrangement of furniture and other things. Though a feng shui expert is must to apply this technique but few things that you can do yourself such as keeping the home clean and avoid cluttering so that the procedure may become easier for him.

Amit Bhalla works to help all those who want information about the latest and the best, most happening places in the city. To know more about Feng shui, Feng Shui Tips, local search services delhi, Feng Shui health, Feng Shui love ,Local Search India, Movies in Delhi, http://www.myquest.in

The Feng Shui of Procrastination

What does procrastination have to do with Feng Shui? Actually, everything! Feng Shui is about the free flow of energy in your environment and in yourself. Its also about creating environments that support your success and pull you forward.

Whats the biggest thing that prevents that flow of energy? Clutter. And what creates clutter? You've got it - procrastination! You can procrastinate about anything - things that seem difficult, and things you enjoy, such as writing or taking that time to nurture yourself.

Do you have people to call, letters to answer, things youve been putting off? Maybe you think they will be difficult, or take a long time. Maybe you wonder if your voice will make a difference if you don't like something your politicians are doing. How about your business? Most people have at least one idea they havent got around to that if put into action would make a difference to their bottom line.

Procrastination puts you out of integrity with yourself. In Feng Shui the Fame and Reputation area is about integrity. It's how you are seen in the community - and that comes right back to whether you walk your talk. Do you do what you say you'll do? Are you being true to yourself and your values?

When you dont follow through on your ideas and intentions energy blocks are created. It takes energy to avoid taking action, and it takes energy to deal with the consequences.

Clutter is delayed decisions. It's procrastination. Its stress. It's the same thing as putting a piece of paper in that pile on your desk, telling yourself you'll deal with it later. As the piles grow, your energy becomes clogged. Next thing you know youre spending time looking through your piles for information you've lost because you didn't file your papers where they belonged - in files or in your recycling bin.

There's a fine line between procrastination, and letting the dust settle while you give yourself space to take inspired action. And if you listen to that small voice within you, you'll know which you are choosing.

Committing to action is a very different energy from procrastination.

Tips for Creating an Environment of Action and Abundance

1. Get real about your procrastination habit. Can you take a step back and even laugh at it?

2. Are you telling yourself you don't have time for that project? Is it something you really want to do? How much television do you watch? Is there something you need to remove from your environment to have your life reflect your priorities?

3. Make a commitment to others. Commitments have power. By stating your intention to important people in your life you will be making yourself accountable and creating an environment of support.

4. Become a person who keeps their word. The Fame & Reputation area is directly opposite the Career & Life Purpose area on the Bagua, which means passion, authenticity, flow, integrity and visibility are all connected. Where is your energy blocked? What are you not following through on with others, or in a promise to yourself?

5. Are you waiting for the eleventh hour somewhere in your life? This could be a project due on a certain date, a commitment made to someone, or a dream you are assuming you have forever to live. Make a start now. Starting is often the hardest part and you will be setting something in motion.

6. Schedule time for planning. Instead of wondering where to start on a project you will know exactly what to do next. Break it down into small pieces, put them in your schedule, and give each a time limit so it doesn't expand out forever.

7. Create a physical environment that reflects who you are. Live with colors, items, clothes you love, and of course clear the clutter. A clear desk and office space will support your creativity and prosperity.

8. Hang out with successful and positive people who uplift you. You become like the people you are with, so it's important to create an environment of people who will support your success.

9. Take a renewal day each week to make space for nourishment and inspiration. This is a day for you, with no work, emails, or errands. You're making space for inklings and synchronicity to emerge and for you to hear them.

10. Work with a Coach who will support you in bridging the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. Having a Coach in your corner enables you to be, do and have so much more.

To discover where different aspects of your life are represented in your home or office, See http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/BaguaMap.html

2003, Vicky White. All rights reserved. May be duplicated with attribution and copyright notice intact. http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Vicky White is a Certified Feng Shui Consultant and Life Coach who works with clients both locally and internationally. Get your FREE 7-part e-course Your Secret Weapon: Powerful Feng Shui Tips To Give Your Business The Competitive Edge at http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Embrace Longevity & Romance with These 10 Feng Shui Secrets

Your bedroom is the most important room in your home. It has the greatest effect on your health and well-being. While you sleep, your energy fields are particularly receptive to the effect of any imbalance in your surroundings.

Feng Shui can help you create an environment where your well-being is enhanced, not compromised. These secrets will enhance the energy in your bedroom, improving your health and impacting romance in your life.

1. Create A Sanctuary
How does your bedroom feel? Does it nurture your soul? Remove anything that isn't related to the purpose of the bedroom. It will be creating a conflict of energy.

2. Remove The Television From Your Bedroom A television will affect your relationships, and also your sleep. The television is a more vibrant, yang energy, than the yin energy of your bedroom, which can make it a less relaxing environment for sleep.

Also, the television, whether off or on, is emitting electro-magnetic fields which affect your health. (Read more about EMFs below)

3. Position Your Bed
The ideal bed position is as far away from the door as possible, and with a clear view of the door from where you lie. If you cannot see the door easily, this will set up an unconscious vulnerability that will affect the quality of your sleep. If it's impossible to see the door, set up a mirror so you can see the door from where you lie.

4. Treat Yourself To The Best Bed For YOU. Considering you spend a third of your life in bed, it's worth investing in the best bed you can buy. Try out several until you find one that works for you.

Your bed holds the energy of whoever has slept in it, so buying a new bed is a good way to support a new beginning in your life. This is especially important after the breakup of a long relationship or after a long illness.

5. Remove Mirrors
If you're having trouble sleeping, check the mirrors. The bigger they are, and the closer to you, the more effect they will have. In Feng Shui, mirrors are used to increase the energy. They are not always suitable for bedrooms, where you want a more peaceful energy. If in doubt - try covering the mirrors at night for a month to see if it makes a difference.

6. Eliminate Sharp Corners Lie on your bed and look around your bedroom. Do you have corners of walls or furniture pointing towards any part of you as you sleep? They will be affecting your health, and specifically the part of your body they cut across.

Remedy this by softening the edges. For the corner of a wall, you can hang a spherical crystal from the ceiling, a few inches out from the corner, to disperse this cutting energy. You could also hang a plant. Soften the edges of a dresser with fabric or by placing a tall plant in front of that corner.

7. Don't Let Clutter Bog You Down! Clutter affects all areas of your life more than anything else, and your bedroom is no exception. Clutter in your bedroom will be affecting your health, your relationships and your prosperity. Clutter prevents the energy from flowing smoothly around your room and in your life.

Clutter is anything unfinished, unused, unresolved, tolerated, disorganized. This can be physical clutter, and can also be unresolved issues with your partner. That's one reason why its recommended to resolve any differences before you sleep.

8. Get A Fresh Perspective On Your Art Art is a powerful enhancement in creating the life you want. Is your art saying what you want it to be saying? If you want to be in a relationship, yet have pictures of single women on your walls, this will not be helping. If you have an image thats disturbing in any way, this will be affecting the peaceful environment you need to create rest for your soul.

9. Remove All Electrical Items Electro Magnetic Fields from electrical appliances are becoming a worldwide health concern, with studies showing they can contribute to various types of cancers and autoimmune diseases. A good way to create a space that nurtures your health rather than harms it, is to remove all plug-in clock radios, TVs, answering machines, electric blankets and any other electrical appliances.

At the very least, move them 12 feet away from you and unplug them. Your long-term health will be affected in direct proportion to the amount of electricity the item uses, how close it is to you, and how long you are exposed to it.

10. Create a nourishing view from your bed What's the view from your bed? Do you look straight into a bathroom, or worse still, into a toilet with it's lid up? Keep your bathroom door closed, or create a barrier with a screen. Make sure what you see when you wake has a sensuous and nurturing feel.

Your health is at the core of your quality of life and your body is your home, while you are here on earth. By applying these Feng Shui tips, you will be protecting your most precious asset.

What do YOU need to do to, to create an environment that works FOR you rather than against you?

2003, Vicky White. All rights reserved. May be duplicated with attribution and copyright notice intact. http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Vicky White is a Certified Feng Shui Consultant and Life Coach who works with clients both locally and internationally. Get your FREE 7-part e-course Your Secret Weapon: Powerful Feng Shui Tips To Give Your Business The Competitive Edge at http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

8 Feng Shui Tips to Make Your Own Buds Bloom

Spring is here and all the energy that was laying low and gaining strength over winter is blossoming forth. Spring is the time for new beginnings. Its a time of increased energy, new beginnings and sunshine moods.

These tips will help you harness this energy.

1. OPEN YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS The air inside your building is up to ten times more polluted than the air outside. This is due to building practices that seal the building against energy loss, and because of synthetic furnishings and carpets which are continually sending toxic vapors into your home.

Opening your doors and windows will bring more energy into your life as this is where the energy enters your homes and rooms.

2. TAKE CARE OF YOUR PLANTS Now is a good time to feed them, dust them, shine their leaves and give them some love. Plants produce movement of air, which helps them remove toxins from your environment. They also produce water vapor which controls humidity.

3. CLEAN YOUR WINDOWS
Often its not until the sun shines on your windows that you can see just how dirty they've become. Create a clear view of your world.

4. BUY FRESH FLOWERS
These will add brightness and vitality to your life. Make sure you replace them when they wilt.

5. WHAT NEEDS DECLUTTERING? Is it time to go through your closet again with fresh eyes? Can you put your winter clothes out of sight? What can you let go of? What do you no longer like or wear? What doesn't show you at your best? How about your garage, your car or your handbag?

6. DO YOU HAVE CLUTTER IN YOUR BEDROOM? Your bedroom is the most important room in your house because you spend so many hours in there. Clutter here will be affecting your health and relationships, and clutter under the bed affects you the most - it will be creating unconscious blocks as you sleep over it.

7. RE-ENERGIZE YOUR GOALS Are you one third of the way towards your goals for the year? What is blocking your way? Do you want to choose a new goal? Choose a goal and commit to taking one step towards it each day. Watch the progress you make and the momentum you create. Do this with a friend or your Coach and check in with them each day. Being accountable to someone else is often what it takes keep focused.

8. REDUCE THE STATIC IN YOUR LIFE Make a list of anything in your life that 'bugs' you and start clearing them up. What distracts you from doing the things you love to do and what distracts you at work? What can you do to resolve these issues?

Spring is a great time to reassess and re-energize your dreams and goals. You are a third of the way through the year and can take advantage of this boost of Spring energy by clearing some space and refocusing.

2003, Vicky White. All rights reserved. May be duplicated with attribution and copyright notice intact. http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Vicky White is a Certified Feng Shui Consultant and Life Coach who works with clients both locally and internationally. Get your FREE 7-part e-course Your Secret Weapon: Powerful Feng Shui Tips To Give Your Business The Competitive Edge at http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

14 Feng Shui Tips to Create Romance & Passion in Your Life

Your bedroom is where you're renewed, energized and romantic. It's your sanctuary. Your bedroom will affect your prosperity, relationships and well-being. Everything is connected.

Whether you're looking for a new relationship or looking to enhance an existing one, these tips will set the scene.

1. Create an inviting sanctuary What is your bedroom saying? Does it reflect who you are, and set the scene for the relationship you want, or is it a room you don't think too much about because you only sleep - or try to sleep there. Want more to happen in there?

2. Let go of past associations You are affected by the energy of everything in your surroundings. Does your furniture remind you of the past? Do you have photos of past partners? Yikes! Let go of anything you don't want to bring into your present or upcoming relationship.

3. Make your bed the primary feature What's in your bedroom with you? Exercise equipment, desk, computer? This energy will conflict with the purpose of the bedroom - serenity, romance and renewal. If necessary, use a screen to separate these different functions.

4. Remove the television from your bedroom A television will affect your relationships, and your sleep. The television is a more vibrant, yang energy, which can make it less relaxing for sleep, and take your attention away from your partner.

5. Position your bed
The ideal bed position is as far away from the door as possible, and with a clear view of the door from where you lie. If you cannot see the door easily, this will set up an unconscious vulnerability that will affect the quality of your sleep and other aspects of your life. A solid headboard will support a strong relationship.

6. Who are you sleeping with? Your bed holds the energy of anyone who has slept in it. Support the beginning of a new life with someone by replacing your bed. And, considering you spend a third of your life in bed, invest in the best possible.

7. Don't let Clutter Bog You Down! Clutter affects all areas of your life more than anything else, and your bedroom is no exception. Clutter here will be affecting your health, your prosperity, and both existing and potential relationships. Clutter will prevent you from creating your dreams.

Don't underestimate the importance of clearing your closet. Clients report this gives them an immediate increase in energy and improved feelings about themselves. Give away anything that doesn't make you feel your best. One client found herself writing her autobiography after procrastinating for 4 years. The more you express of yourself, the better your chance of having a relationship that works for you.

Clutter is anything unfinished, unused, unresolved, tolerated, or disorganized. So, this could be physical clutter, or unresolved issues with your partner or an ex partner.

8. Get a fresh perspective on your art Art work is a powerful enhancement in creating your life. If you're a single woman, having a picture of a lonely woman walking along the beach will not be helping you create someone new in your life. Make sure your art is sending the right messages. Position images of pairs of things in your bedroom and relationship areas of your home.

9. Make space for a relationship One client set the intention for a new relationship in her life, and made space for it by making space in her closet and in her bathroom for the person who would come into her life. She added a second pillow on the bed. Within a very short time she was in a new relationship.

Set your bedroom up for two if you want to create a relationship. Have matching bedside tables and lamps. What represents romance to you? Have pairs of things such as two dolphins, two roses, two candles.

10. Nurture your number one relationship - the one with yourself. Are you being the person your ideal partner or your existing partner will fall in love with? Are you fully expressing your unique gifts? Nurture yourself with your favorite scented candles, music and sensual fabrics.

11. Think back
What did you allow yourself to do while in love? Allow yourself to be that person and do those things. Get in the mood. Write poetry, be wildly sexual, say no to invitations you would rather not accept. Indulge your senses. Treat yourself as the god or goddess you are, the one your partner falls in love with.

12. In the heat of love, what are the things you allow yourself to believe about yourself? That you are beautiful, desirable, treasured? You are still that person. If its a stretch to think of yourself in this way, act 'as if'.

13. Add fresh flowers
Fresh flowers give life to your bedroom, and are a wonderful treat for yourself. Make sure to discard them when they begin to wilt.

14. Always celebrate the love you have in your life, whether its with a partner, friends or family.

* For information on how to determine where the Relationship area of your home or office is see : http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/BaguaMap.html

2003, Vicky White. All rights reserved. May be duplicated with attribution and copyright notice intact. http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Vicky White is a Certified Feng Shui Consultant and Life Coach who works with clients both locally and internationally. Get your FREE 7-part e-course Your Secret Weapon: Powerful Feng Shui Tips To Give Your Business The Competitive Edge at http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

10 Tips to Feng Shui Your Office & Boost Your Prosperity

Feng Shui (fung-shway) is the study of arranging your environment to enhance your life. Every minute of every day your environment is either supporting you or draining you. Feng Shui teaches you to join forces with your environment to make living your best life effortless.

Not only does your environment reflect your consciousness, but also the flow of energy in your home and workplace determines the overall quality of your life and its outcome.

By balancing the energy in your environment, your own energy will be in harmony, and you will draw to you, people and opportunities that reflect this balance. Your environment indirectly determines the type of relationships, finances, career opportunities, etc you attract.

Because we spend so much time in our workplaces, these spaces have a huge influence in our lives. These feng shui enhancements will support you in creating prosperity and balance in your work.

1.CLEAR THE CLUTTER IN YOUR OFFICE

Clutter is anything unfinished, unused, unresolved, tolerated or disorganized. When you clear your clutter you create space for new things and your energy and creativity will increase.

Clutter is like emotional constipation - it bogs you down. Filing cabinets need to be regularly purged and desktops kept clutter free.

2.PLACE YOUR DESK IN THE POWER POSITION

The ideal placement for your computer and desk is in a position that allows you to see the door of your office. If this is not possible, you can restore good Feng Shui by arranging a mirror that gives you a clear view of the door. A small convex mirror designed for use on car side mirrors can be purchased and stuck to the edge of your computer. cost about $3.00.

3.MAKE SURE EVERYTHING AT YOUR DESK ALLOWS YOU TO BE COMFORTABLE

A good combination glare screen/radiation filter to prevent headaches and eyestrain, a comfortable chair that doesnt squeak, comfortable keyboard and arm position, a mouse that fits your hand etc. Anything that causes you discomfort will drain your energy.

4.KEEP YOUR COMPUTER CLUTTER-FREE How is your Inbox? If you see hundreds of emails when you open your Inbox you will feel overwhelmed. Create Folders to file emails you want to refer to. Go through your folders regularly to delete emails no longer needed. Once a week empty your Delete folder.

Is your Desktop full of shortcuts to programs from a past life? Do you have programs on your computer you never use? Computers are great clutter collectors, and like us, they work better if we keep them decluttered.

5.ENHANCE YOUR PROSPERITY CORNER As you enter the door of your office, the far left hand corner is your Wealth and Prosperity corner. What do you have there? Clutter here will definitely be affecting your prosperity.

This would be a good place for a small tabletop fountain, a valuable item or even an affirmation. Blues, purples and reds are the colors of prosperity. Can you include these colors in something that makes you feel prosperous?

6.CREATE A NOURISHING VIEW What do you see when you look up from your desk? If you see a brick wall, this could explain why you feel stuck! Paint the wall a color you love, hang a favorite painting or poster. Make sure what you see as you are thinking, uplifts you and nourishes your creativity.

7.CLEAN YOUR WINDOWS, DUST AND VACUUM What do you see when you look out your window? Do you look at the world through a murky lens? Regularly cleaning your office, and emptying garbage bins daily will keep the energy fresh.

8. BUY A HEALTHY PLANT
A plant will bring life into your workspace and will also absorb toxins in the air.

9.SEPARATE YOUR WORKSPACE If you must have your workspace in your bedroom, try to partition it off with a screen. Work and sleep are two conflicting energies and having a relaxing sleep will enhance your work time.

10. REPAIR OR REPLACE BROKEN OBJECTS Anything that isnt working represents a block to the flow of energy. For example, light bulbs, clocks, doors that dont open smoothly why risk not being at your best?

By consciously creating your environment, your environment will in turn create a quality of life to support you in reaching your potential. Feng Shui has a powerful effect in your life and you can use these enhancements to create a flow of prosperity, energy and creativity in your work life.

2003, Vicky White. All rights reserved. May be duplicated with attribution and copyright notice intact. http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Vicky White is a Certified Feng Shui Consultant and Life Coach who works with clients both locally and internationally. Get your FREE 7-part e-course Your Secret Weapon: Powerful Feng Shui Tips To Give Your Business The Competitive Edge at http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

10 Feng Shui Tips for Selling Your Home Easily & For More

10 Tips for Selling your Home Easily and For More by Vicky White

During the last 6 weeks, I have completed four Feng Shui consultations for people who wanted to sell their homes. Three sold their homes quickly and for good money, and with the 4th , they fell in love with their home all over again, and decided the timing wasnt right to move.

What each had in common was that they waited until they were selling to make improvements to their homes. Some of the changes were removing moss from the deck, removing last years dead flowers from hanging pots, replacing a broken doorbell, painting a laundry they had disliked for 7 years. For one, clearing a large amount of clutter inside the house was all it took to create a shift in energy and a sale. She didnt get around to completing my other suggestions.

In Feng Shui we work with the energy flow in the home, look at missing areas and balance elements, but many simple Feng Shui enhancements are common sense and make a huge difference to the feeling of a home. Just as potential buyers pick up on the feeling of a home, this energy will be affecting you continuously. Why wait until you are moving to make your home and your life really work for you?

If you decided to put your home on the market today, what changes would you make? (If you are renting imagine you own it.) What would you do to get the best price, without spending a lot of money? What would you suddenly find the time to do? What are you tolerating? Why not do it for yourself arent you worth it?

FENG SHUI ACTION STEPS

These simple steps will enable the energy to flow more smoothly in your home, which will have a powerful impact on your life and prosperity. They will also help if you are selling!

1.Repair anything around your home that is broken or not working well.

2.Fix all leaks immediately inside and out. These will be draining your finances.

3.Remove dead flowers and leaves on pot plants.

4.How does your home feel as you approach it? Do you feel welcomed home? What is something small you could do that would make a big difference?

5.Make sure the pathway to your front door is clear of obstacles such as overgrown plants, boxes or newspapers.

6.Walk around the outside of your home. Is there an area of clutter anywhere? This will be blocking your energy.

7.Begin clearing clutter from one room and continue around your house. Clutter is anything unfinished, unused, unresolved, tolerated, or disorganized.

8.Check all doorways to make sure nothing is blocking them from opening fully. Doors that stick or dont open fully, stop the good energy entering.

9.Make sure the street number of your home is clearly visible from the street. This will help money and opportunities find you.

10.Clean your house regularly. This will keep the energy fresh.

Pay attention to how you feel as you complete these items. Feng Shui will create powerful energy shifts in your environment, which will result in the changes you want in your life.

2002, Vicky White. All rights reserved. May be duplicated with attribution and copyright notice intact. http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Vicky White is a Certified Feng Shui Consultant and Life Coach who works with clients both locally and internationally. Get your FREE 7-part e-course Your Secret Weapon: Powerful Feng Shui Tips To Give Your Business The Competitive Edge at http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Powerful Feng Shui Tips for Health & Well-Being

Do you know where the power position is for your bed? Did you know everyone who has ever slept in your bed has left some of their energy there?

Your bedroom is the most important room in your house and your bed is a crucial factor in the flow of energy there. Your bedroom affects your health and well-being more than any other room because you spend so much time in it, and when you sleep you are more open to absorbing the energy around you.

Place your bed in the power position. The beds position in relation to the door is the most important consideration for creating a good flow of energy in your bedroom.

1.The sleeper should have a clear view of the door from their sleeping position. On the deepest level we need to feel protected from unwanted surprises. If this is not possible, you can restore good Feng Shui by placing a mirror to give you a view of the door.

2.The bed should be as far from the door as possible. Ideally it should be in the opposite corner from the door. The farther you sleep from the door and the more of the room you can see while in bed, the more you will feel in control of your environment and your life.

3.Your bed should not be in a direct line with the doorway. If it is, the power of the energy coming in the door towards your bed can create illness, or can split a relationship if it runs up the center of the bed. The worst situation is if your feet point directly towards the door. If you cannot avoid this, you can hang a metal wind chime halfway between the door and bed. The sound of the chime will deflect the rushing chi. Or you can hang a faceted crystal over the foot of the bed.

Your bed holds the energy of anyone who has slept in it. Here are a list of good times to buy a new bed, linens and pillows:

1.You get married create a fresh, powerful start together.

2.After the death of someone you share the bed with this will help you move on.

3.You move to a new house if you want to leave old energy behind.

4.If anyone sharing the bed experiences a major sickness this will support you in creating good health and preventing illness.

5.A relationship ends helps clear out old energy and bring in the new.

Who are you sleeping with? It is highly recommended not to buy a second hand bed. This will be holding the energy of a previous owner and all their bedmates! It can retain sexual energy, emotions and illness.

By placing your bed in the power position and knowing who youre sleeping with you have a better chance of creating good health and romance in your life.

2003, Vicky White. All rights reserved. May be duplicated with attribution and copyright notice intact. http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Vicky White is a Certified Feng Shui Consultant and Life Coach who works with clients both locally and internationally. Get your FREE 7-part e-course Your Secret Weapon: Powerful Feng Shui Tips To Give Your Business The Competitive Edge at http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Feng Shui Tips for the Bathroom

The bathroom has a bad reputation in feng shui, and in some ways this is deserved, as you will discover. But it's not all negative. Comfort, cleanliness, and convenience are key ingredients to good feng shui, and our modern bathrooms provide them all.

One of the challenges posed by the modern bathroom is that there's no good place for it in the ba gua* [the feng shui map of a space], which long predates indoor plumbing. We can look at the ba gua and see at a glance that the Family area would be a good place for the living room, that a home office is well-placed in the Knowledge, Wealth, or Career sectors, and that the Marriage corner of the house is a great place for the master bedroom. But where does the bathroom go?

The bathroom is a little out of place anywhere, although some locations are more troublesome than others. The thing to keep in mind is that bathroom plumbing has a draining effect wherever it is located.

Some very difficult bathroom locations are next to or above the front door and on the second floor directly above the kitchen. These locations are particularly difficult because:

- A bathroom in the front hall, close to the door, can drain chi away before it has a chance to circulate through the rest of the house.

- A second-floor bathroom above the front door floods the main entry to your home with negative energy.

- The water energy in a bathroom above the kitchen will extinguish the hearth's fire energy, and flood the entire kitchen with negative energy. This is potentially damaging to both health and prosperity.

The worst location for a bathroom is in the center of your home, where it will destabilize the energy of the entire home. If you suspect that the bathrooms in your house are affecting important spaces, there's no need to panic. Use these simple feng shui remedies to help keep your health, wealth, and happiness from flowing down the drain:

- Problem: bathroom in an important feng shui area (wealth, fame, marriage, etc.)
Solutions: a full-length mirror on the outside of the bathroom door helps deflects chi so it won't be drained away; keep sink and shower drains closed when not in use; keep the toilet seat/lid down when not in use.

- Problem: bathroom in the center of the home
Solutions: paint the walls red, and place a stone, large crystal, or other earth-type object (such as a heavy ceramic bowl, vase, or statuette) in each corner to help stabilize the energy; a mirror on the outside of the door is highly recommended for this bathroom location.

- Problem: bathroom over the front door or over the kitchen
Solutions: hang a faceted crystal in the center of the room; place a three-inch round mirror on the ceiling directly above the toilet to visually reverse the downward flow of water (use double-sided tape to hold the mirror in place); place earth-type objects in the corners of the room to stabilize the energy; add an image such as a bird or tree to the downstairs area below the bathroom to help lift the energy there.

Bathrooms are places for purification and cleansing, so a clean, sanitary bathroom strengthens and supports this important energy. A dirty bathroom, on the other hand, emphasizes the negative qualities of this room. If your bathroom occupies any of the more challenging locations described above, it is essential to keep it sparkling clean, tidy, and well-lit.

After implementing the necessary precautions described above, you can further improve the chi of the bathroom by making it as pleasant a space as possible. This is where you begin and end the active part of each day, so the more attractive and inviting you can make it the better.

Most of us live hectic, stressful lives, and are in serious need of soothing places where we can relax and unwind. A clean, tidy, nicely appointed bathroom invites you to soak your worries away in a hot bath with lavender-scented bath salts. Make this pampering experience even nicer with candlelight, soft music, and a pile of fresh fluffy towels with which to dry off. All-white bathroom decor can seem cold and clinical; add warmth with pastel-colored towels and accessories, colorful scented candles, and attractive artwork.

Excerpted from The Pocket Idiots Guide to Feng Shui by Stephanie Roberts (Alpha Books, 2004)

2004 Stephanie Roberts

*To learn more about the feng shui ba gua and how to use it effectively in your space, click here.

Stephanie Roberts is the author of the popular Fast Feng Shui book series, available at Amazon. com and Fastfengshui.com. Subscibe to the Fast Feng Shui Newsletter and receive FR(EE) Feng Shui tips in every issue. Visit Fast Feng Shui.com for details.

Using Feng Shui to Embody Your Inspiration

Who inspires you, who makes you envious? The answers will help you design your life!

If there's someone who inspires you, or someone you envy - that is your heart giving you a clue as to what you want more of in your life. These questions will help you embody your inspiration.

1. Who inspires you?

2. What is it about their life that resonates most strongly? Is it what they are doing, or is it how they are being?

3. What could you do to incorporate more of this into your life?

4. The Helpful People & Travel area of your home or office is a good place to put symbols of people who inspire you. It could be a photograph, you could place their name on a piece of paper in a silver box, use an example of their work, or place something symbolic there.

5. The Children & Creativity area relates to projects and creativity. Place a symbol of what this person represents to you there.

6. The Knowledge & Self-Cultivation area represents awareness and knowledge. Place a symbol of the inspiration you would like to embody in this area of your home.

You can place these enhancements in that particular area of your home, or of a room, such as your office or bedroom. Those two rooms are where people usually spend the most time, so will have a greatest impact on you.

For a visual representation of the various areas of the Bagua, what they represent and how to find them in your home, see:http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/BaguaMap.html

Maximizing the Power of Your Enhancements

1. Get clear about what you want to create.

2. Make sure the area is clutter free.

3. Place your enhancements with intention - it makes them much more powerful.

4. Make space for insights, awareness and creative ideas to come to you. You can do this by taking time to just 'be' - no errands, emails or to-dos!

2003, Vicky White. All rights reserved. May be duplicated with attribution and copyright notice intact.http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Vicky White is a Certified Feng Shui Consultant and Life Coach who works with clients both locally and internationally. Get your FREE 7-part e-course Your Secret Weapon: Powerful Feng Shui Tips To Give Your Business The Competitive Edge at http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Creating Powerful Change with Feng Shui

The start of each year is a time of tremendous power. It's an opportunity to press the reset button on your life. Its a chance to look back on the previous year, set goals, create resolutions and wish lists. Unfortunately two weeks into the New Year many people can barely remember what those resolutions were. How about you?

Did you start adding exercise programs, prosperity goals, relationship goals into your life? Did you make space for them?

In designing the life you choose, first you must make space. In Feng Shui, clutter busting is the first step. If you place enhancements in your home or office without clearing the clutter, they will be ineffective.

The definition of clutter is anything unfinished, unused, unresolved, tolerated, disorganized. If all you ever do is remove the clutter from your environment and your life, you will be making space for who you truly are. In my experience, it is the single most powerful thing you can do.

The reason clutter affects you so greatly is that it blocks the flow of energy. If you surround yourself with things that are disorganized, or hold bad memories, or things that remind you of something you would rather not think about, theyll have an effect on your energy. Anything you are tolerating blocks your energy.

If you can bring yourself to clutter bust when you are feeling stuck, watch out!

Here are some of the things my clients have experienced:

- In clearing out her closet, within a few days a client had the urge to begin writing an autobiography she had been trying to write for 4 years. The secrets she cleared out of her closet allowed her to write about the secrets in her family.

- Clearing the clutter from her office a client gaining new clients that same week. This included clearing her filing cabinet and making space for new client files, removing a broken clock from her prosperity corner, and removing a painting from her relationship corner that didnt reflect the type of relationships she wanted with her clients.

- A client cleared out an office and discovered he had made space for a new career path he is much better suited to

- Doing a body cleanse which freed up the energy to gain clarity and to face relationship issues

- After having her condo on the market for some months, this client cleared the clutter in her home and the property sold within 2 weeks

- Another client cleared the clutter in her home, it sold within a week and for much more than expected

- A woman with chronic fatigue syndrome gained a noticeable increase in energy by having someone help her declutter her home, including getting rid of clothes that held memories of her life at the time she discovered she had chronic fatigue

Growth creates clutter. As you make changes within yourself, more of your belongings fit the definition of clutter. Having the urge to discard things in your home or office is a sign of you stepping more fully into yourself and your abundance. If you are growing and changing you are continually creating clutter.

Often its not until you clear your clutter that you realize how it has been holding you in the past. Clearing clutter is the fastest way I know to shift energy and create change.

2003, Vicky White. All rights reserved. May be duplicated with attribution and copyright notice intact. http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Vicky White is a Certified Feng Shui Consultant and Life Coach who works with clients both locally and internationally. Get your FREE 7-part e-course Your Secret Weapon: Powerful Feng Shui Tips To Give Your Business The Competitive Edge at http://www.LifeDesignStrategies.com/

Feng Shui Peach Blossom Romance Method

Peach Blossom Romance Activation Method

This method is only to be used to attract a new romantic partner into your life, this is not a method to bring peace to troubled relationships. Only the Flying Stars Feng Shui method can help smooth over rough waters in relationships, assuming both partners want the same outcome of course!

To use this method effectively, one needs to know their Earthly Branch or Animal character for their day of birth using the Four Pillars Chinese Astrological technique.

Make sure that no one else in your home shares the same Peach Blossom Romance Direction as you before activating this, as they will be triggered off also! Not good for somebody you are sharing your home with, who is in a solid relationship already, as they will develop a wandering eye!

This Earthly Branch Day Character can be found by entering your time, date and place of birth details into the free online calculator on Master Yu's old site, at, http://www.geocities.com/fourpillar/charting.html
Don't worry about the hour detail too much if you are unsure of your exact time of birth, we are only after the day character for the Earthly Branch for this Romance attracting method. Do work out the day character for every occupant within your home and then check the table at the bottom of this page so as to make sure that you are not unwittingly activating the Romantic effect of the Peach Blossom for anybody else.

For those of you who love to do things manually, step by step instructions for drawing this up can be found in "The Complete Idiots Guide to Feng Shui - 2nd Edition" ISBN 0-02-864339-9

To attract a Man: Use a Green spherical vase filled with White flowers.

To attract a Lady: Use a White spherical vase filled with Red flowers.

Make sure the vase you use is spherical, not cylindrical and use the right colour combination of fresh flowers and vase for your preference of partner!

To use this method: Once you have worked out your Earthly Branch Day Character, simply locate the vase and flowers within one of the four sectors of your home as indicated in the following table. To work this out you will need to have a compass alignment of your home, and know where the gravitational centre point is.
(These steps are covered in our free online course, at http://www.purefengshui.com )
Then simply place the vase and flowers anywhere within the 30 degree portion indicated for you below in the Peach Blossom Location Finder.

Peach Blossom Romance Location Finder

255 - 285Zi / Rat - Chen / Dragon - Shen / Monkey
165 - 195Chou / Ox - Si / Serpent - You / Rooster
75 - 105Yin / Tiger - Wu / Horse - Xu / Dog
345 - 15Mao / Hare - Wei / Sheep - Hai / Boar

Happy Hunting!

Trained and accredited under numerous Feng Shui Masters, John is now giving away his knowledge for free on his site at purefengshui.com!

Feng-Shui enhancers and cures for your relationship

Although fate, may help you to find a suitable partner, feng-shui can certainly have a strong influence on how your relationship turns out.

When moving in with someone, often the nature of a relationship changes in totally unexpected ways. Areas of your life such as career, family or health, might change for no apparent reason. If both partners move into a new home, then both may be affected.

If the partnership feng-shui is placed correctly and stimulated then the happiness and longevity of the relationship are enhanced and chances of either partner embarking on an outside relationship will be limited.

Feng-shui can cause problems as well as solve them. One of the classic simulators of chi is the fish tank or fountain, but if this is placed on the right-hand side of the main door, it can increase the sort of energy which attracts other women to the husband. It is for reasons like this that the manipulating of feng-shui should be done carefully or get the help of an authentic feng shui consultant .

Good feng-shui in the bed room.
Traditional symbols of romance such as red roses or heart shapes, in the south west sector of the bed room is beneficial. Red is symbolic of fire and fire produces earth. The south west sector is the earth sector, so the color red will help produce more earth and stimulate this sector. It follows that red lights or anything red, particularly in pairs is useful.

Things to avoid
No mirrors over the bed. It will create a double image of the relationship.
Keep the space beneath the bed free of clutter so that the chi may flow freely.
Do not place the color green or live plants in the south west sector. Green is symbolic of the wood sector and destroys earth.
Remove all mementos of past relationships from the room.

Applying these principles of feng-shui will lead to positive changes in your relationship.

Mrs. Lynn Ristich is a Psychic and Feng-Shui consultant,for more than 25 years. http://www.asklynn.net
Author and lecturer, seen on CBS Morning News. Writer of Ask The Psychic in the Chicago Suntimes,and recently published in "Crain's Chicago Business".

Feng Shui - Create Prosperity at the Office by Clearing the Clutter

The essence of Feng Shui revolves around using positive energy, or Chi, to enhance your surroundings. Serenity, prosperity, and wealth follow the occupants of homes and offices with Chi.

Your office should be a pleasant, un-cluttered, well-lit, and inspiring space. The most important thing you can do to increase the flow of chi is to get rid of the piles of clutter throughout the office. If your desk has piles of papers, boxes, files, and post-it notes taped to the computer, chi will get stuck. Your creativity and decision-making skills will be blocked. If your office is orderly and un-cluttered, you will think more clearly and make decisions more easily.

Here are some tips to clear the clutter in your office:
1. Piles of boxes and papers on the floor immediately slows the flow of chi, so get rid of all the piles for a smooth flow.
2. Go through all the piles on your desk. Sort them into your files. Use stacking baskets, file cabinets, and rolling files to keep things organized.
3. Go through your desk drawers. Throw out old pens, old notes, loose paperclips and rubber bands. Buy a desk organizer to keep things organized into compartments.
4. File cabinets and bookshelves can get overloaded with old papers, out-dated manuals, old magazines, and piles of old paper and envelops. These things all create negative energy.
5. Your computer also needs to be cleaned up. Delete old e-mails, back-up files onto a CD and store in a CD tower. Clean up your temp files and Internet cache on a regular basis.

Clearing the clutter will not happen overnight. Give yourself one or two weeks to get your office in order. Try to chip away at it a little each day. Tackle one task at a time. Before you know it wealth and prosperity will be heading your way. Check out this Feng Shui website for more information http//www.168fengshui.com/

Reprinted with permission from Jean Hanson, Virtual Assistant (Copyright 2002, Jean Hanson, VA Office Solution, http://www.vaofficesolution.com). To subscribe to Jean's free newsletter, Office Solutions, visit her website.

Curtains, Windows and Feng Shui

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese philosophy. It is the study of living in harmony and prosperity with nature. Feng Shui means literally "wind water". It is a form of geomancy, trying to understand the relationships between nature and ourselves so that we may live in harmony within our environment. It is based upon the simple thought that our lives are deeply affected by our physical and emotional environment.

One of our chief environments is our house, where we spend most of our time. Feng Shui has advice and solutions to offer, in order to let the "chi", the energy, flow smoothly around the house. Curtains and windows are the most prominent features of our homes. Fabrics, color, material, window arrangement, yes, all these may affect your homes chi. Let's see how to improve it.

Pull the curtains back during daytime to allow sunlight to lighten your house and give the area positive energy.

Keep your curtains closed at night. Don't leave your windows exposed into night as it is considered to bring bad luck.

Blinds and curtain rings should be of natural material. The most beneficial is wood. Avoid plastic by all means!

Curtains should be large enough to cover the window and long enough to reach the floor.

Curtains should have curves to them. When drawn together there should be enough fabric hanging to form pleats and folds.

Make sure that curtains open and close easily.

Curtains that hang limply each side of a window are considered bad Feng Shui.

Keep your curtains and windows clean in order to allow the chi to come inside fresh and clean.

Match your curtains with the seasons to freshen up yours and your chis' mood. Use heavy fabrics for winter and lighter fabrics for summer. Utilize warm colours for wintertime and light happy colours for spring and summertime. Choose shades of green at spring, shades of red, orange and pink at summer, white, grey and metallic colours for autumn and shades of blue in winter.

Windows are best when opening outwards. If a window opens inwards make sure it doesn't face the West, which is the direction that signifies death or ending. In that case, block negative chi with an outward facing mirror or a plant with round leaves.

Octagonal and arched windows are considered good Feng Shui.

You can also utilize colours in your curtains to change colours in each room of your house, adjusting it correctly to specific energies each room should have. Have matching pairs in your bedroom and colours that invite love such as pink or green. For the diving room use red to keep guests energized and excited. For kitchens and playrooms orange and yellow is refreshing and revitalizing. Green is a calming colour ideal for living rooms. Purple signifies richness and transformation, which makes it ideal for spiritual rooms.

Whether you believe in Feng Shui or not, the best way to decorate your house and choose your curtain fabrics and colours is your personal taste and instinct. Add some positive Chi energy and you have the perfect house. Yours!

For more information on Curtains, Window Treatments and Using Feng Shui to bring the Positive Healing Powers of Chi to your Home, visit http://www.curtaincart.com today!

Feng Shui For The Office

Whether you are an employee or a business owner with his or her own office, you can use feng shui to make your office space more productive and harmonious.

Your first step is to stand at the doorway of your office or workspace and map out the areas according to the feng shui bagua. You can download a diagram of the bagua from our web site.

Your main focus will be your wealth and fame areas, although you should also pay attention to the other six areas and decorate them accordingly.

Here are some tips to keep the energy flowing in your office:

1. According to office feng shui guidelines, your desk should be placed at a diagonal to the doorway or directly facing it, rather than with your back to it.

2. If there's more than one desk, place two on a diagonal facing towards the door and any others on a diagonal facing into the center of the room. They should not be placed in rows in a traditional classroom layout or back to back.

3. If the doorways of offices that face each other across a hallway are not exactly aligned, place a mirror on the front of each door.

4. If you face a partial wall or partition when entering an office, place a mirror on the partition.

5. Soften jutting walls with plants. If you don't have a 'green thumb', artificial plants are just as effective as live ones.

6. Break up dull walls with mirrors or paintings.

The feng shui elements that are easiest to blend into an office decor are pictures and photographs. Look for pictures that represent the various aspects and display them in the appropriate areas of the room. Very obvious feng shui symbols may invite unwelcome questions from visitors or co-workers.

Feng Shui For A Home Office

Use office feng shui if you're working from home to maintain a professional approach to your business.

1. Use a separate entrance to your office if at all possible.

2. Otherwise, choose a room near the front or back door of the house or apartment.

3. Separate your office from living areas to keep your business and personal lives separate.

4. If your office space is part of another room, divide it from the rest of the room with a screen or large plants.

5. Take a short walk before entering your office to work each day and another one at the end of your working day. This separates the business and personal aspects of your life.

6. Place your desk on the corner diagonally opposite to the doorway.

7. Don't place your desk under a window, but let the light reflect on it from the side. Some people prefer to have their desks facing east.

8. Leave space between your furniture (bookshelves etc.) and the walls. Feng shui experts suggest leaving a 7-9 inch gap.

9. An important aspect of office feng shui is to keep your workspace tidy to allow a free flow of energy throughout the room.

10. Differentiate between clutter and storage. Stored items don't have to be catalogued and labeled but they should be stacked neatly in a cupboard or in binders so as not to impede energy flow.

Obviously theres a lot more to feng shui than what weve discussed in this article but you now have the basics for applying feng shui to your office space.

When youve made whatever changes you choose to incorporate, take a slow walk through your office and notice your spontaneous reaction. You should experience a sense of ease and flow, as opposed to feelings of claustrophobia, stress or overwhelm caused by too much clutter.

Marguerite Bonneville is a Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) whose passion is publishing information online. Her web site, Hidden Keys To Wealth, offers a range of resources for people committed to achieving financial freedom. Visit http://www.hidden-wealth-keys.com for NLP and wealth mindset tools, tips on choosing a wealth creation vehicle, and a step-by-step guide to starting a small business.

Finding True Love With Feng Shui

If true love has been eluding you, you could increase the chances of meeting someone you fancy by activating the Romance sector in your home.

Where can you find your Romance sector?

One way is by using your Chinese horoscope. We all belong to one of twelve Chinese horoscopes - Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.

For those of you born in the year of the Rat, Dragon, or Monkey, your Romance sector is in the West.

For those of you born in the year of the Horse, Dog, or Tiger, your Romance sector is in the East.

For those of you born in the year of the Rooster, Ox, or Snake, your Romance sector is in the South.

For those of us born in the year of the Rabbit, Goat, or Pig, our Romance sector is in the North.

After you've located your Romance sector in your house, it's time to activate the sector.

Flowers are often used to activate the Romance sector. There are a number of things you need to pay attention:

1. The vase must be filled with fresh flowers and clear water. You should not have an empty vase.

2. Only fresh flowers should be used. No synthetic flowers. (That would have made things so much easier, wouldn't it?)

3. Ideally, display 4 stalks of flowers.

3. Choose flowers with vibrant colors and without thorns. Never use black or white flowers.

4. Pay attention to the color of the vase.

If your Romance sector is in the East or Southeast sector (belonging to Wood element), you can use a green vase.

If your Romance sector is in the South (belonging to Fire element), you can use a purple or red vase.

If your Romance sector is in the North (belonging to Water element), you can use a black or blue vase.

If your Romance sector is in the West or Northwest (belonging to Metal element), you can use a white or gold vase.

If your Romance sector is in the Southwest or Northeast (belonging to Earth element), you can use a yellow vase.

Wishing you all the best in finding the love of your life!

Logan Wong is a writer with Feng Shui Metaluck, a website offering free Feng Shui tips and resources.

Feng shui dont's

There are some things which you should always try to avoid doing when looking for a feng shui balanced environment since they could be disastrous to such purpose. We intend to help you achieving a proper feng shui balance by detailing some of the most important feng shui donts through the next lines.

First of all, you should avoid living or working in an environment containing too much yin energy. Among the places which contain more yin energy we can find cemeteries, hospitals and churches. Also, you should avoid attracting to much yin into your space by opening the windows and doors regularly and allowing sun light enter.

You should also avoid living in a house that is much bigger or smaller than the neighboring ones. This could bring you misunderstandings and problems with your neighbors. Your house should never be placed facing the end of a road, or hallway in case of an office. Your house or offices entrance door should be clear and free of obstacles; there shouldnt be trees or any structure right in front of it.

You should never place furniture in such a way that there is not much space between them; there should always be space for chi to flow within any space. Besides, you should always avoid placing beds, chairs, sofas or desks right across main doors or with the back towards them. You and your guests should never be with your back right across the entrance door.

It is also important that you don't place too much of an element in the wrong area. If, according to the bagua map, a house area should contain water or metal to be in balance, you should avoid placing to much fire, earth or wood in them. It is also important to avoid dark corners; if you find a dark corner within your house or office, you should make it clearer by illuminating it or by placing a plant at it. Dark places and spots always attract yin energy and obstruct chi from flowing freely and properly, therefore you should always attract light and yang energy to every corner of your house and office.

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.fengshuicrazy.comPlease visit his website and learn all the feng shui tips you'll ever need!

Learn these feng shui love tips and improve your love life

Whether you wish to achieve feng shui love balance or improve your love life through feng shui, here we will detail some of the most important guidelines for you to succeed at it. These feng shui love guidelines must be applied according to each particular situation and wish.

The first feng shui love guideline you should follow is to clean up your bedroom. Your bedroom shouldn't be untidy since that would slow down or stuck the energy flow in it. Energy should flow freely and with energy within your bedroom, and for that to happen it must be clean and tidy.

You should also make sure there is a space for that other person to be a part of your life. In order to achieve this, feng shui love tips tell that you should make room for this new person's clothes and personal things next by yours. Closets and dressers should have some space for that other person to put his or her own stuff.

It is also important that you avoid exercising in your bedroom. Whether if you exercise or keep exercise elements in the bedroom, this wouldn't allow love energy to fill that space. This feng shui love tip is meant to avoid that your love life feels like taking hard work to be successful.

Another feng shui love guideline talks about old relationships. You should make sure there isn't energy from an old relationship around. To achieve this, you must remove from your bedroom anything that reminds you of that old relationship, and if possible from your whole house as well.

Feng shui love guidelines also tell that your house main door should be ready to receive love. In order to achieve this, you must check out that this door opens easily and as wide as possible, without any kind of obstacles for it. And ideally, your bedroom door should open the same way as well.

You should make sure that your bed should be placed opposite the door but not directly in front of it. Besides, feng shui love principles tell that your bed shouldn't have one side against a wall since that would make the person sleeping on that side uncomfortable.

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.fengshuicrazy.comPlease visit his website and learn all the feng shui tips you'll ever need!

Feng Shui And Romance - Using The Ancient Art To Enhance Your Romantic Space

If your love life needs a quick boost, you can use the art of placement to produce the romantic results you desire. Heidi Richards

Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway) is the ancient Asian practice of object arrangement and space planning designed to bring balance, harmony and well-being to your environment. Its purpose is to enhance prosperity, creative, health and romance. Feng Shui fortifies a home with positive energy known as chi. The attainment of positive chi is both an art and a blessing to those who manifest that chi. The word feng means wind and shui means water, each one associated with a good harvest and ultimate good health or good fortune.

If your love life needs a quick boost, you can use the art of placement to produce the romantic results you desire. Relationships need the proper environment to grow. They need the balance of the five elements, too much or too little will find the romance wither. Here are some Feng Shui tips to enhance your romantic space:

1. The first thing you must do is remove clutter out of your romance area (generally this is the bedroom). That means you must remove trash, dirty ashtrays, dead plants and nothing should be stored under the bed. Dust and cobwebs on the fans, walls, light fixtures and ceilings should be cleaned away.

2. Enhance your space with romance colors, such as shades of pinks, reds and whites. Guys, this does not mean it has to be feminine. You can use maroon, grayish tones of pinks and whites to achieve the same results. The key is to not use any one color so much that it overpowers the others. Other good colors include browns, beiges, lavenders, yellows and deeper shades of those are appropriate.

3. If you keep flowers in the room (an excellent way to attract romance into your life), make sure they are always fresh. At the first sign of wilting, toss them out. Silk flowers are an okay alternative, provided they are free of dust. Absolutely no dried flowers as they signify death. Also, make sure the roses are de-thorned. Nothing prickly such as cactus, unless your goal is to break-up.

4. In Feng Shui a Relationship Alter positively stimulates a relationship. Designate a special place in your romance area in which to put items that will encourage a healthy, loving relationship. Things to include in your relationship altar can include a heart shaped pink crystal quartz, a pair of candles, mandarin ducks.

5. Use the Pairs Principle to encourage love. That means two candles, two nightstands, two lights on top, two potted plants, two pillows, two chairs, etc. The Chinese symbol for love is Mandarin ducks. They signify love, romance, fidelity, affection, and loyalty in love.

6. Your bed should be placed in the commanding position of the room. This is to permit the widest possible vision. The door or entry to the room should be easily seen from the bed. And the head of the bed should be against a wall or against a corner. If you have nightstands, make sure one is on either side (a pair) and that the bed is accessible on three sides to attract and keep a partner. The bed should not be placed under a window.

7. The bedroom is for sleep and intimacy. No one should come into your room without your invitation. There should be no distractions such as workout equipment, a television, things that would remind you of work.

8. It is good to hang pink (heart-shaped) crystals and wind chimes in a sunny window to attract good love energy (yang).

9. Pictures of you as a child, your children or other relatives should also be removed from the bedroom or romance area. This space should be reserved for couples and should only display pictures of the two of you.

10. Dim lights will give the room a warm, inviting feeling. No harsh fluorescents or high wattage lighting, here.
While this is by no means the ultimate guide to Feng Shui for Romance, it is a good start. These ten tips will give your relationship area the boost it deserves and your romance the fulfillment it requires. Altar your space and you will altar your love life.


2005 Excerpted from the book, Romance on a Budget www.romanceonabudget.net.

Heidi Richards is an Author, Professional Speaker, and Business Mentor. She is the owner of Eden Florist & Gift Baskets www.edenflorist.com and the Founder & CEO of the Womens ECommerce Association, International www.WECAI.org an Internet organization that Helps Women Do Business on the WEB. BASIC Membership is Free. She can be reached at heidi@edenflorist.com.

Pa-Kua Feng Shui Basics

FENG SHUI BASICS

Feng Shui (literally "Wind and Water" in Chinese), is all about balance and harmony between us and our environment. Just like the Yin and Yang energies, Feng Shui is about balance. Where there is light, there will always be darkness; where there is fire, there will always be water; and so forth.

Feng Shui teaches that every individual interacts differently to their environment. Sometimes, a particular environment - such as a house or office - is so suited to you that you find that everything in your life is great. However, if you have troubled relationships or financial woes, it is quite likely that there is some discord or imbalance between yourself and your environment, manifesting in your daily life.

By subtly modifying your environment, you will be able to restore this balance, and consequently improve your life. Modifying your environment can be as simple as changing the angle or position of your work desk, or by buying Feng Shui items such as mandarin ducks and placing them in proper locations in your home or office.

There are many systems of authentic classical Feng Shui. This article describes the Xuan Kong (pronounced "Shu-en Kong") system. Xuan Kong (literally "Mysterious Void" in Chinese) is a complete system which includes complicated formulae to calculate optimal positioning and composition of an environment.

EIGHT MANSION (PA-KUA) SCHOOL OF FENG SHUI

There are a few sub-schools within the Xuan Kong system, including the popular Flying Stars school. The descriptions in this article are based on the Eight Mansion school, also known as the Pa-Kua school. In the Pa-Kua technique, the compass is divided into eight directions, each of which is depicted by a trigram. Each of these directions have different significance. For example, one of the Pa-Kua directions is the personal or relationship direction, which will be of the most interest to someone with troubled relationships. Furthermore, the significance of each direction differs for each individual.

To find out how each Pa-Kua direction affects you personally, you will need to calculate your Kua Number. You can do this by using the Kua Calculator at:

http://www.mandarin-ducks.com/dragongate.html

The calculator will provide you with your Kua Number, and more importantly, what each Pa-Kua direction means to you. In short, four of those directions will be positive and favorable to you, while the other four will have negative connotations for you.

The eight Pa-Kua directions can be briefly summarized as follows:

Sheng Chi (Life Generating) - This Pa-Kua direction is your prosperity and wealth direction. You would focus on this direction if you are interested in financial strength.

Tien Yi (Heavenly Doctor) - This direction is your health direction. You would focus on this direction if you are interested in health and physical matters.

Nien Yin (Relationships) - This direction is your relationships direction. You would focus on this direction if you have troubled relationships and would like to improve your love life and/or your marriage.

Fu Wei (Stability) - This direction is your stability and knowledge direction. You would focus on this direction if you want to achieve tranquility and knowledge.

Ho Hai (Mishaps) - The first negative Pa-Kua direction is your accident or misfortune direction. You would focus on this direction if you want to reduce unforeseen accidents or loss.

Wu Gwei (Five Ghosts) - This direction is your financial loss direction. You would focus on this direction to prevent theft and other financial woes.

Liu Sha (Six Killings) - This direction is your "evil" direction. You would focus on this direction to ward off malevolence against you.

Chueh Ming (Total Loss) - This direction is your loss and death direction. You would focus on this direction to reduce physical loss and death around you.

For more information on the Nien Yin (Love and Relationship) corner, you can read:
http://www.mandarin-ducks.com/love.html

Steven maintains the Mandarin Duck Feng Shui website at http://www.mandarin-ducks.com. It provides information on how mandarin ducks are able to help improve relationships using Feng Shui principles.

Do Feng Shui Remedies Really Work?

THE PREMISE

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art that has been practised for thousands of years. It is based on the idea that there should be a "balance" or harmony in the world. Everything around us has its proper place. If something is out of place and the balance is disturbed, this disruption can materialize as a feeling of uneasiness in the people around it, or as violence or lack of prosperity in the area.

Feng Shui, in all its various forms, acts to restore that balance and harmony. This balance can be in difference ways, such as health, prosperity, wealth and love. And a lot of it really works. The cities of Hong Kong and Singapore are prosperous capitals compared to their neighbors because they are located in places where the Feng Shui is perfect for a bustling metropolis. Even the house of Bill Gates, richest man in the world, is said to be located in the perfect location in the hills to bring its owner great wealth.

But why does Feng Shui not work for some people? In order to answer that, we need to look at its history.

THE HISTORY

Feng Shui originated from ancient China, a land that developed other skills and arts such as medicine, martial arts and the origins of chemical warfare. The knowledge of these skills were highly priced, and the masters of these skills understandably did not want their secrets to be known to others, for fear that the knowledge could be used for wrong purposes, or that the masters would lose their status and prestige once the knowledge became commonplace.

It is therefore expected that the masters might not have handed down all of their knowledge to their students. These students might have compiled whatever knowledge they had, and guessed the remainder that they did not learn from the masters. Some of these students were geniuses, able to replicate the miracles their masters had performed. Others were not so skilled, but used whatever knowledge they had to make a living for themselves. This scenario, when applied to Feng Shui, explains the various schools of Feng Shui that exist today. Some schools do work wonders, but there are also those that produce very little tangible effect.

There are many people who call themselves Feng Shui masters these days, more so now with the growth of the internet. So how do we tell which ones can really help you? Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do. After all, someone can say they are a master of a reputable school of Feng Shui even though they are merely charlatans. The best thing we can do is to find someone who has had their lives improved via Feng Shui, and get the name of the Feng Shui practitioner who helped them.

THE FAITH

However, another important aspect of getting Feng Shui to work is your belief in it. Just like the idols of the ancient Aztecs and the Cross of the Christians, Feng Shui figurines and artefacts act as "focuses". It will work if you believe in it.

For example, in modern pharmaceutical tests, the researchers always say that a drug is successful because it worked on a large percentage (say 75%) of their test subjects. But what about the other 25%? If the drug really works, why didn't it work for them? It could be that their body's physiology was different. But in most of the cases, the reason is psychological. If you truly believe that the medicine will not cure you, it won't, no matter how good it is. "It's all in your mind", as the psychologists like to say.

The same goes for Feng Shui. If you buy a Feng Shui figurine but think it's just some voodoo magic that probably won't work anyway, I can assure you that it won't work for you. You need to have faith in it. If you believe that Feng Shui can help you improve your life, it will.

For more information on Feng Shui, you can visit this Feng Shui page:
http://www.mandarin-ducks.com/fengshui.html

Steven maintains the Mandarin Duck Feng Shui website at http://www.mandarin-ducks.com. It provides information on how mandarin ducks are able to help improve relationships using Feng Shui principles.

webmaster@mandarin-ducks.com

The 7 Feng Shui Fundamentals for Children's Bedrooms

Feng shui is a very popular and intriguing concept in home design today. In addition to the life benefits it provides, it also offers a roadmap, so to speak, of not just how to decorate... but why. In short, it offers you, the homeowner, design with purpose. For a child's room this purposeful design is especially important.

Feng shui gives parents a guide for decorating your children's bedrooms, and perhaps more importantly, a reason for adding particular elements -- something standard decorating practices don't always offer. What does that mean exactly? Well, when it comes to a child's bedroom, feng shui dictates everything from correct bed alignment, proper bedroom choice, essential decorating and design elements, i.e., do's and don'ts (no vicious animals, etc.) for a child's room, even how to influence the child to be studious and well-behaved -- all things most parents would appreciate knowing.

The purpose of feng shui in a childs bedroom is the same as every parents objective in decorating their childrens rooms: to create a healthy, happy environment that fosters education, good health, happy relationships with parents and siblings, and respect for parents. Children and parents can enjoy success and healthy relationships if the environment supports them.

Naturally, children must feel safe, secure, and cared for to thrive. By putting interest and effort into your childs room, you are showing your child that you believe the childs space, and therefore, your child, is important. The tips presented here are some of the fundamentals of feng shui for children.

1.Place a happy picture of the parents in the childrens rooms.

This subtly exerts the authority and prominence of the parents as heads of the household. It is also one of the quickest and most effective ways to bring a problem child into line.

2.Align the childs bed to the widest part of the room.

Make sure your child can see the door from his or her bed easily, but is not in direct line of the door. Your child should also not share a wall with a toilet or see a toilet or bathroom from the bed as this can cause health problems.

Bunk beds are not advised. If possible, try to have a separate bedroom for each child. If this isnt possible, there are lots of decorative ways to create division and privacy within a room.

3.Create a space for study and accomplishments.

Having a dedicated space, including a desk and lamp where your child can study, demonstrates to your child the importance you place on education and your childs educational achievement. If this has been a source of problems, make the study position in the NE corner of the bedroom. Also make a place on a south wall, if possible, of your childs accomplishments. Doing so reinforces that you are proud of your childs efforts. Display drawings, crafts, awards, trophies, ribbons, or other special items, such as tests with good scores or letters from teachers. Place items here that have brought special recognition.

4.Make the childs room a healthy place. Water pictures, aquariums, or sounds of water that can be heard from the bedroom can create an unhealthy environment and may even lead to respiratory ailments. This is especially important if the child has any health problems, particularly asthma.

5.Clear the space so your child can rest and be creative.

Jammed closets and drawers, beds with boxes, shoes and other items underneath must be cleaned out. Creating space and visual openness helps your child to feel less pressured, and more likely to be imaginative and creative. More is definitely not more when it comes to kids. Give them a visual rest and clear out all the stuff they havent played with in a month or more.

6.Use light, color, and artwork in the room to make a happy environment.

A childs room should stimulate, not dampen, the childs spirit. Make sure there is adequate lighting for the desk, for a bedside table, and that windows can be closed off for privacy.

Rooms that are painted blue (unless its a bright or light-colored shade) or other dark colors can be depressing and create too much oppressive energy. Bright colors, such as yellows, light greens, purples and pinks are good choices, with yellow being the optimal choice.

Monitor the images your child sees being certain to eliminate images of ferocious or dangerous animals or violence. These are poor symbols for making a child feel safe in the bedroom. Select items for the room that inspire and intrigue a child to learn and that foster his or her sense of security.

7.Position children in the correct bedroom locations.

If possible, boys should be placed in the east or north bedrooms and girls should be placed in the south or southeast or west bedrooms.

Kathryn Weber is a certified master practitioner in feng shui and the publisher of The Red Lotus Letter, a FREE weekly feng shui ezine. Subscribe by logging on to www.redlotusletter.com. Her articles have been featured in Seventeen Magazine, Indy Star newspaper, and SelfGrowth.com, among others.

kweber@redlotusconsulting.com