Feng Shui Tips for Your Kitchen

Feng Shui (say "fung shway") associates the kitchen with both health and prosperity. Couple this perspective with the role of the kitchen as "the heart of the home," and you can see that any feng shui problems in this room can have a significant impact on your family. Here are some quick tips for improving the feng shui of this important area of the home.

• Good housekeeping is good feng shui! Keep your kitchen shiny and clean for the best possible energy. A cluttered, dirty kitchen will have stagnant, dirty energy, which interferes with your ability to cook and enjoy healthy, nourishing food. When you are poorly nourished, your ability to work hard and earn a good income will suffer.
• Hidden clutter counts. An excess of stored food in the pantry or freezer can become clutter if it far exceeds a reasonable amount for your family. Old, stale food has old, stale energy, even if the expiration date is still months (or even years) away. Clean out your food cupboards and refrigerator regularly.

• Good nutrition is also good feng shui, so try to add more healthy, organic foods to your diet, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. Start thinking of junk food as clutter that you are putting into your body, and maybe you'll be able to resist that next cookie or donut.
• A stove that is not in good working order implies a problem with financial resources. If any part of the stove (burners, oven light, fan, etc.) does not work, get it fixed as soon as possible.
• An unused stove implies untapped resources or ignored opportunities. Even if all you do is boil water for tea, rotate which burner you set the kettle on so that all of them get regular use! And use the oven, too, from time to time, instead of always relying on the microwave.
• If you stand facing the wall while you cook, this leaves your back exposed, a position that is considered weak in feng shui. Hang a mirror on the wall over the stove so that you can see what's going on behind you while you cook.

• Hanging a mirror so it reflects the stove burners visually doubles the number of burners. This symbolizes doubling of your income; more good food = better health and strength = ability to earn a good income.
• Fire and water fight each other, so the placement of the stove and sink is important. If they are directly opposite each other, this can lead to arguments and conflict within the family. Fix this by placing something green between them, such as a green rug on the floor or a living plant on a table in the center of the room. (A sink and stove that are side by side also weaken the energy of the kitchen. Again, place something green between them.)
• The stove is symbolic of wealth, so it is important to keep its fire energy strong. Wood feeds fire, so plants or plant imagery (or again, the color green) are all good to have around and near the stove.
• Fresh flowers bring beautiful uplifting energy to the kitchen. Place a bowl of fruit, a vase of flowers, or a living plant on your kitchen table, windowsill, or wherever the layout of your kitchen allows. (In feng shui, dried flowers have no life energy in them, so they are not recommended. If real plants are impossible, you can use very lifelike fake ones, but the effect will not be as strong.)
• Since nine is a feng shui power number, and oranges symbolize good luck, you can bring good luck energy into the kitchen by placing nine of the biggest, roundest, most perfectly orange oranges you can find in a bowl in the center of the room, on top of the stove (yes, you can move them while you are cooking!), or in the far left corner of the room. Always keep some oranges on hand, so each time you take one from the bowl you can add another to keep the total number at nine. Be sure to use the older oranges first, so none of them rot or dry out; if it's not good to eat, it's not good feng shui!

When your kitchen is clean, bright, and welcoming, the heart of your home is filled with good feng shui. The care and attention you give to enhancing this important area of the home creates a powerful, positive energy that supports the health and prosperity of your family.

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7 Feng Shui Tips For Spicing Up Your Lovelife

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

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

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

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

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

Your bedroom is your and your homes sanctuary.

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

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

Get it wrong...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Decorate With Your Style Feng Shui

Feng Shui, very flexible art that brings out the best in your design choices by improving the flow of energy, allows you ample room to express your own personality and flair. Although implementing the ancient principles of Feng Shui to create balance and harmony in your environment, you still can preserve your own taste and retain the integrity of a room?s atmosphere. Moreover, Feng Shui techniques are rather easy to practice, and can help you improve your understanding and appreciation of the beauty already existing in your home by uncovering the potential for tranquility and harmony concealed within every space.

Feng Shui need not be considered separately as it works well within any other design scheme blending seamlessly into whatever type of atmosphere you are trying to create in your environment. This is only one reason why Feng Shui is appropriate in a wide variety of venue. Feng Shui?s, unlike other aesthetic schools does not have a strict, dominant look. It can be streamline to suit any space from your work space to your bathroom to your bedroom without significantly altering the basic design scheme. For instance, it is viable to implement Feng Shui in a sleek contemporary office setting or in a Victorian-style or romantic bedroom. One reason - Feng Shui is not about appearances or the specifics of how things should look but about maximizing energy flow and visual harmony, to use in any room designed in any style.

Because you employ objects you already to create new, more harmonious arrangements, Feng Shui lets you create a new atmosphere for any area of your home without eliminating or subjugating your personal style. For example, consider the use of color. Feng Shui often suggests integrating certain colors, e.g. scarlet, in specific areas of a room, however, you can use almost any item colored accordingly to make the Feng Shui decorating system effective. This suggests all that is necessary if you to rummage around in your home?s inventory for anything that has scarlet and reposition it in the right area. This could be anything: a vase, a pillow, a portrait or even an attractive hardcover book. From Feng Shui you learn to use what you currently have for better effect.

Since the process of Feng Shui lends extra influence to the design choices you?ve already made, it means Feng Shui is a skillful way to amplify how your setting reflects your taste. As a result, Feng Shui always reflects your personality during every step of the process from designing, to implementation to the final product. Feng Shui can help you draw out the best in your environment, and from within yourself. When you employ Feng Shui to charge your home, office or even car with positive energy, you will be ensuring that you and your unique style shine most brilliantly.

Candace Czarny,ASID,CFM,LEED AP, "Award Winning" Interior Designer, Feng Shui Expert & author. www.ArtOfPlacement.com is continually ranked "Top 10" in Google and Yahoo. Clients testify of dramatic results!