Feng Shui, One Man's Self-Discovery

In this time of stress and fear of the unknown, with companies imploding and war and terrorism all around us, it's important to have good tools to remain centered and focused.

I had heard a lot about Feng Shui, it sounded interesting but was skeptical. I went to my neighborhood Feng Shui supply store to see what I could learn. I met a rather knowledgeable woman named Fee Lo Mee, she obviously wasn't Asian. She said the name helped her online sales of Feng Shui paraphernalia.

After she got a little background on me she determined the most important thing was to get a Chinese Dragon and a little water fall. I was to display this in the Southeast corner of my room to bring me maximum wealth luck. Also, since I need all the side income I can get, she advised getting a three legged toad and put him on my desk. She also tried to get me to buy windchimes and some fish figurines, but I told her I wasn't so concerned with career luck I just wanted more money.

As we chatted about her online business, I mentioned I wrote for a website. When she heard that it was all I could do to escape the store with just a small crystal globe. You see a crystal globe brings great success, wealth and recognition in literature, publishing, media and communications. I guess that sums up what I do--especially the literature part--so I was sure to put one in my shopping cart.

I hope the wealth luck works because the merchandise was over $100, which included a few I-Ching coins tied with red and gold thread to keep in my pocket for added luck.

At this point, I must admit, I was pretty excited to get home and properly place my new "energizers" in my home and office. But Ms. Mee was not done with me. She pulled aside and softly mentioned, "Feng Shui is not only about symbols and placement, it involves the whole person, including their dress." I looked at my clothes and looked back at her and she nodded slightly with that "yes I'm talking about you" look in her eyes. So I let her begin.

First thing, never ever wear faded or worn jeans like I did, it attracts poverty and bad luck and she let me know it (oh so that's what the problem's been!). Next, make sure you're always well groomed. You don't have to dress fancy, but make sure it's balanced and harmonious. And of course dry your clothes outside in the daylight to absorb purifying yang chi energies.

She started to tell me about kua numbers and elements and colors and shapes and how I should add these into my wardrobe. I told her I was pressed for time and I'd come back again to pick up that information. I really had nowhere to go, but I felt I had all the feng-shui information I could handle for one day.

Well it's been a few days since my trip to see Ms. Mee and everything is properly placed. I feel excited about the new me. Of course nothing has really changed, like anything I have to give it time. Now I'm thinking about learning about how to feng-shui my whole house. I don't really know anything about it, but I hear it really is great.

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!

Feng Shui ? Its Concept And Benefits

You may be living an unhealthy life if you?ve never heard of Feng Shui. Feng Shui is based on the idea that if you place your belongings in a certain order your life will become more balanced including your health.

One school of Feng Shui involves the use of colors. If you choose calming colors in your home you will feel calmer. For instance having a bright red bedroom can actually lead to stress and uneasiness. A shade of purple might be a much better choice.

The color of your home is not the only aspect of Feng Shui that can impact your health. You should also focus on aspects of the different rooms. The belief in Feng Shui is that when the kitchen is kept clean, well lit and the air is fresh, your food will be healthy as will your eating experience.

The bathroom is one room where we all have to be wary of bacteria build-up. This is essential in Feng Shui along with the idea that the bathroom needs to be free of clutter. Make-up, brushes and creams and lotions should be kept in order. Feng Shui also suggests that keeping the lid of the toilet closed is a very healthy choice and should be taught to every member of the family.

Exercise is essential to everyone?s life and this is also true of those who practice Feng Shui. There is one exception to the rule of daily exercise though and that?s where the placement of the equipment should be. It?s advised by every school of Feng Shui not to place the exercise equipment in a room where you rest. This means moving your rowing or stepping machine if it is now stored in your bedroom.

Keeping your home free of clutter is a very important part of Feng Shui. If you have small children make certain that you clean up after them each day and try and teach them when they are young to keep their rooms neat and tidy. This will set the stage for a life-long habit of creating a healthy space.

You can use the techniques and ideas behind Feng Shui in other spaces as well. Many people organize and design their office space to utilize the principles of Feng Shui. If you spend eight or nine hours a day in your office you want to make certain that the space is working towards your good health. Consider painting the walls a calming, tranquil color and remove any unnecessary distractions from the room.

Feng Shui is an interesting and believed effective way to add to your good health. Keeping your home as a place that helps you feel relaxed is always a wise idea.

Read more from Claire Quaty at: Blogoltre.com - Health Resources

Improve Your Health, Happiness, and Prosperity by Making your House Feng Shui Compliant

It might sound crazy or foolish, but the Chinese have been successfully fixing their lives with the practice of feng shui for centuries. You see, there is a positive energy force in the world (which the Chinese refer to as Chi) that you tap into every time you feel good or have a happy moment. This energy force flows through your house and your life - or maybe it doesn?t and you need to attract it! It?s not hard to do. Heck, it wants to come in and help you, but you have to welcome it in and create an environment that it will want to stay in.

I am an account executive, and several years ago I found myself in a real sales slump. My wife had briefly read an article in the paper about feng shui and suggested that I put a mirror and a plant on the ledge behind my home-office desk. I had no objections. A plant sounded nice, and a mirror was a little odd but it did let me see when somebody was walking up behind me which I liked.

My sales numbers picked up immediately and so I asked my wife more about this feng shui stuff. She didn?t know any more so I went to the book store and picked up a paperback on the subject. I guess I was willing to try anything, and having seen good results from just a dabble in it probably opened my mind enough to be able to let it work for me.

The first thing the book had me do was clean up my house. Chi doesn?t like clutter, and the reason is, people don?t like clutter either. We tend to train ourselves to ignore it, but in the back of our mind we know about it and so does the Chi. In order for Chi to flow all clutter must be cleaned up and neatly organized. This necessitated an intense house-wide cleaning project, but I was very satisfied when it was done. That?s good, as the Chi is attracted to positive feelings.

Next came the strategic decorating, in accordance with the ?Bagua? map. This is a chart that tells you which areas of your home correspond to which areas of your life. Each of these areas attracts Chi better with the use of certain colors and certain elements (earth, wood, water, etc.). Also common sense creativity comes into effect; we hung a picture of France in the ?travel? area of our house.

Finally, we implemented the use of recommended feng shui tools that keep the Chi flowing into, and not our of, our home. These tools include things like water fountains, wind chimes, and crystals. For example, a toilet that is visible from a bathroom doorway drains the Chi right down the plumbing. But hanging a crystal between the door and the toilet at least partially remedies that problem.

My wife and I had a field day getting the home up to feng shui standards. Afterwards we really like what we had done and felt good about it, which of course is the magic that makes feng shui work. Within several months I was one of the top producing reps at my company, no kidding! Don?t knock it until you?ve tried it. The most you have to lose is your messy house!

Andrew Kasch is an account executive and feng shui convert. You can learn more about specific feng shui techniques at his web site: http://www.fengshuihouse.info