All You Need To Know About The Feng Shui Bagua Map

The feng shui bagua map is an octagonal shaped map which allows you to evaluate in feng shui terms any living or working space. The feng shui bagua is a very important feng shui tool and indispensable when we wish to harmonize a place and the elements in it.

According to the feng shui bagua map, each part of your house corresponds to a different life aspect. The life aspects are nine and each one of them has its own characteristics and elements. By properly harmonizing each of the bagua areas within your home or working place, you will be harmonizing each area of your life.

The nine life areas symbolized in the feng shui bagua are: prosperity, fame and reputation, relationships and love, family, health, creativity and children, skills and knowledge, helpful people and travel, and career. Prosperity is the area which you should pay attention to when you are having money related problems, its color is purple and the elements you should use in it are wood and water.

The feng shui bagua life area called fame and reputation is the one which should be paid attention to when wishing a reputation improvement of any kind; it is represented by the color red and its most important elements are fire and wood. Relationships and love area is the one which should be improved when looking for starting or improving a relationship of any kind; its color is pink and the elements are earth and fire.

Family is another feng shui bagua life area and you can harmonize family boundaries by working on it, its colors are green, black and blue and its main element is water. Health, another life area represented in the feng shui bagua map, can be improved by working on that area of your house. Health colors are yellow, brown and orange, and its main elements are earth and fire.

The next feng shui bagua life area is creativity and children. Creativity and children should be harmonized when having problems with children in the family, when wishing to have children or when wishing to improve our creativity. The colors of this area are yellow and earth tones, and its element is metal. On the other hand, the colors you should use in order to improve the skills and knowledge life area are black and green and the element you should add is earth.

Helpful people and travel is another feng shui bagua life area and it can be improved by using the colors white and black and by making sure it contains the elements metal and water. The life area of career can be harmonized and improved by using blue and white in the space which corresponds to it as well as by adding some metal in it.

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

How I Used Aromatherapy and Feng Shui in my Home Office

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Laugh, Celebrate, And Nourish Your Souls With Friends And Family Using Feng Shui In The Kitchen

Kitchens are the center of home life. This is where we laugh, celebrate, and nourish our souls with friends and family. Generations of families have taken substance, done homework, and had important conversations around the kitchen table. For these reasons, if for none other, we owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to create an atmosphere of warmth and harmonious balance in our kitchens. One of the easiest ways to achieve this harmony is by using Feng Shui and kitchen design to enjoy a space intended for the preparation and eating of food with loved ones.

In the optimum home environment the kitchen is located in an area that is not clearly visible from the front door. If the kitchen is seen from the front door the occupants of the home may develop problems with digestion or even eating disorders. Guests to the home may feel an instinctive need to eat and immediately leave. Fortunately there are remedies for this situation. After all, there is no way a person can predetermine the lay out of a home unless they design and build it themselves. Installing a folding door or curtains in front of the kitchen door is an effective way to fix the situation. The busy activity of the kitchen won?t distract from the positive flow of chi. With Feng Shui and kitchen design, there aren?t any problems that can?t be corrected.

Once any kitchen placement issues have been corrected, it?s time to study the lay out of the kitchen. In Feng Shui and kitchen d?cor the room must be kept clear of debris and spotlessly clean. Clutter is not useful in generating good energy. Take the time to clear out and arrange the counters, cabinets, and open surfaces of the kitchen. Be sure to keep an eye out for the problem areas, like the top of the fridge and table tops. Enlist the help of the other occupants of the home to help prepare the kitchen for Feng Shui practices.

Appliance placement is particularly imperative in combining Feng Shui and the kitchen. The person cooking absolutely must be in a position of prominence in the room. Ideally the stove will be placed in such a way as to allow the cook to clearly see all of the kitchen. If the stove must be placed facing a wall, there are ways that you can remedy the situation. The simplest and fastest way to do this is to place a mirror or other reflective surface on the wall. In this manner, the cook will be able to see the entire kitchen in the reflection. The larger the reflective object is the more potent the correction will be in the room. The stove is also a symbol of health and wealth. Obviously the health aspect comes into play through the nourishment the appliance provides the family. In terms of wealth, it is related to the fire element. Actually, a good cook who is practiced in the Feng Shui tradition will be sure to use all of the burners equally. This ensures that the occupants of the house will receive money from multiple sources. Die hard Feng Shui practitioners avoid using a microwave oven to prepare their food, as this can lead to an unsettled frame of mind. After all, the work you are putting into your new Feng Shui kitchen is intended to create an environment rich in good chi and balance.

The stove should hold a specific place in relation the other appliances of the kitchen. Like elements should be grouped together. For example, the water elements of the refrigerator, dishwasher, and sink should be situated together in the kitchen space. The fire elements of the stove and microwave oven need to be placed together for optimum spacing. Feng Shui and kitchen design is fortunately one of the most common sense oriented ways of creating a space. You will find with the new look comes better usage of this vital space. Think of it as creating a warm, positive environment for your family and designing a space that is ideal for creative, efficient cooking. Feng Shui is a win-win situation.

When you consider that Feng Shui is such an ancient philosophy, it is clear how long kitchens have served as the center of family life. Imagine how much more memorable and meaningful family celebrations will be when held in a Feng Shui kitchen. The positive flow of health, wealth, and good chi can?t help but add a feeling of unity and well being to all that are fortunate enough to enter your personal space. The Feng Shui and kitchen design are relatively easy to accomplish. It is a matter of choosing the correct kitchen lay out and color designs. Before you know it, your kitchen will be the most restful, welcoming area of your home.

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!