How To Bring Balance and Positive Chi Into Your Home with Feng Shui

It is taking the world by storm. That?s right, more and more people are joining the new age revolution and seeking out the help of Feng Shui to change their lives and bring balance into their world.

Meaning literally wind and water, Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of placement based upon a philosophy of the movement of chi or natural energy through our environments. While much of the art was recorded by Choo-he of the Song dynasty, it is thought that Feng Shui has much deeper roots. By following the patterns of nature, a Feng Shui practitioner will advise on the placement of everything from an individual object in the home or workplace to the positioning of a building upon property. Feng Shui shows us how to support the flow of energy in our lives to improve one?s health, financial situation and love life.

How does it work?

Feng Shui works in a multiplicity of ways. At its very core however is the notion of properly locating manmade structures and objects in their natural environment so that man and nature work in harmony to optimize the universal energy. The idea is that you take inspiration from the world around you to better your inner self and the circumstances in which you live.

Improving your life with Feng Shui is easy. To start this life changing journey, you first need to consider the basic framework, shape and structure of your home. Houses are all built differently, however, their form tends to resemble one of four basic patterns namely: a square, rectangle, L-Shape or U-Shape. The idea of Feng Shui is to transform your home into a square or rectangle.

Before you start any physical amendments to your family home, it is best that you sketch a blueprint of the changes you have in mind. You want to make sure that your home is going to benefit from Feng Shui in the fullest way possible. Once you make changes they will be difficult to reverse. You need to be organized in preproduction to ensure you get it right the first time. Remember, you are changing your house and life for the better, not the worse.

On a large sheet of paper, draw a sketch of the home you wish to Feng Shui. Include any areas that jut out, such as a garage, or a greenhouse. Make note of any areas that cut into what would make a perfect square or rectangle, such as an alcove. Note where each room is when you make your drawing. All areas under a common roof are considered part of the house. And note where the front door is located.

If you live in a U-shaped or L-shaped home, you will need to make some adjustments because chances are you?re not fully experiencing some area of your life. The goal of Feng Shui is to restore balance and harmony, and one of the ways you can do this is by completing the square. To overcome the missing areas, you can build an arbor in the space, landscape with large potted trees or add a sculpture or wind chimes. This will help symbolically fill in the missing area.

Completing the square

In order to complete your square, you?ll fill in any area missing from your L-shaped or U-shaped drawing with dotted lines so you create a complete square. If you already have a rectangle or square home, you don?t need to do anything to complete your drawing.
Once your house sketch is in the form of a square or rectangle, divide it into nine parts. Split the length into thirds, then split the width into thirds.

That is all that is required in sketching your own plan. Now you?re ready to begin the process of Feng Shuiing your home or work space.

Some general tips

Once you have ?completed the square? of the general lay-out of your home, there are plenty of smaller internal adjustments that will optimize the flow of good energy in your house. Here are five introductory tips to bringing feng shui into your home.

1) Indoor water features can be very powerful ways to enhance your life. By installing an indoor water fountain in your home and placing it in an open, central position you can attract the good things you want into your life.

2) Make sure shoes are not left lying outside your front door. It is important that the main door to your house is clear and open. If shoes, boots or slippers are left in the entry to your home, wind is likely to travel past the shoes, catching unpleasant odors, bringing bad energy and potentially illness into the home.

3) In the kitchen, make sure your stove is not positioned opposite to refrigerator or washbasin. Likewise your stove should not be opposite a washing machine or toilet. If it is, try to move it. The conflict between fire and water will lead to arguments and disagreements between couples and family members.

4) Remove television sets from all bedrooms. Televisions bring an unwanted further dimension to your room, which will absorb good energy.

5) Make sure there are no mirrors opposite your bed or at the side of your bed. Mirrors that are placed opposite your bed are thought to attract a third party into the relationship.

Feng Shui is gaining popularity in the Western world. Taking time to research this art to bring it into your home is certain help you find the harmony you need.

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Feng Shui Solutions For Your Condo?s Kitchen And Office

Feng Shui is the 6,000-year-old Asian practice that blends science, art, and spirituality in choosing the proper placement of buildings, furniture, entrances and exits, as well as in using colors, plants, and water in the home, condo or workplace.

Feng Shui is based on complex scientific calculations, not inspiration or intuition. Our planet is filled with different energies. It rotates on its axis creating cycles of day and night, while simultaneously revolving around the Sun in yearly cycles, and is constantly subjected to a wide array of other forces in the Universe. These physical forces and many different time cycles affect us profoundly. The Chinese have spent centuries observing the effects of these forces and learning how to help humanity live in harmony with its environment. This is the science of Feng Shui.

Using the five traditional Chinese elements (fire, water, earth, wood and metal) to balance the flow of ?chi? (life energy) in your environment, Feng Shui can improve your health and clear barriers keeping you from financial success.

The following are specific pieces of advice from Feng Shui experts on using this discipline to make your condo a happier and more productive place.

Feng Shui Solutions for the Kitchen

In order for the food you eat to give you high-quality and healing energy, it needs to be prepared in a harmonious, well-organized kitchen with a balanced flow of chi.

Follow these basic feng shui guidelines to make your kitchen a place that nourishes and sustains you:

1) In general, the kitchen should be airy and spacious, clean, bright and welcoming. You should have several levels of lighting available.

2) Feng Shui experts consider the color yellow to be very good for digestion, making it ideal for the kitchen. The shade or tone is less important?anything from "butter yellow" to "harvest gold? is fine.

3) Add healthy, organic foods to your diet, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. Good nutrition is good feng shui!

4) Do not crowd your kitchen with complex gadgets, and don?t let your countertops accumulate junk mail or other clutter. Simpler is better.

5) Add a vase of flowers, a live plant, or a bowl of fresh fruit to your kitchen table. Colorful plants bring beauty and uplifting energy to the kitchen. If there?s no room on your kitchen table for plants, display them on your windowsill or whatever other surface is convenient.

6) If possible, avoid locating your kitchen close to the front or back door, which allows energy to easily escape.

Apply these principles to your kitchen, and you?ll feel a difference in your physical health and energy level.

Feng Shui Solutions for Your Home Office

For most people, working from a home office presents two major challenges:

- Keeping your business separate from your home life,

- Missing out on stimulating?though business-related?social interaction.

Of course, working from home offers a lot of benefits as well (no time lost in commuting, more flexibility in scheduling your time), which is why more and more people are choosing this option if it?s available.

Apply these feng shui principles to maximize your comfort and effectiveness while working out of your home.

1) Place your home office as far away from your bedroom as you can. If your floor-plan permits, having a separate office space with its own entrance is ideal.

2) Fill your workspace with colors, images, and objects that make you feel appreciated, successful and creative. Your office should reflect the energy you want to project into the world.

3) Pay attention to the quality of air and the quality of light (natural and artificial) in your home office. If your brain is starved for oxygen and you do not get enough light, you will not enjoy doing your work no matter how much you love it. Consider using full-spectrum lights that mimic the effects of sunlight, and keep at least a few air-purifying plants in your workspace.

4) Position your desk so that your back is not facing the door. Neither should you face a wall while working at your desk. If you must face the wall, decorate it with a vibrant piece of art, or something else that makes you smile and helps relieve tension.

5) Schedule ?clutter-clearing days? on your calendar and stick to them?you?ll be amazed at how much more enthusiasm and energy you?ll bring to work on the days that follow. Clutter drains your energy and can ruin your health and your business.

In addition, there are several important areas in your office that need to be handled in specific ways according to feng shui.

The south part of your workspace is connected to fame and reputation?a more exact translation from the Chinese would be your "Light in the World." Its energy comes from the element of Fire, so avoid having the color blue, mirrors, fountains or images of water in this area, as Water acts against Fire.

The north part of your office relates to your career (your ?Path in Life?). The operative element here is Water, so you want objects and images representing water in this space, as well as Metal (Metal creates Water in the feng shui cycle of 5 elements.) You can also place inspiring pictures related to your career here, using either black or white frames.

The southeast area is related to prosperity and abundance. The feng shui element at work here is Wood, so you need to avoid images and colors related to Fire, and not use very much Metal, either. Display objects, sculptures or pictures that spark thoughts of abundance and ?richness,? in whatever form is most meaningful to you.

Just follow these simple guidelines, and you?ll immediately notice a much higher level of energy in your home office environment.

John T. Ormond has been researching and writing about the Chicago real estate market since 2004. For more information about the Chicago real estate market and selling your condo, visit Best Chicago Condos.