How to apply Feng Shui

How does feng shui work? I don't mean getting a compass, drawing up the floor plan and creating a bagua, I mean, how is it applied?

The Five Element Theory is the key. It doesn't matter if you use the compass method, the flying stars method, or the black hat method. To properly apply 'cures' or solutions to feng shui issues, you use the five element theory.

The feng shui elements are essentially different phases of chi, and are represented by physical characteristics such as shape, color, or material. There are five kinds of chi: Water, Fire, Wood, Earth, and Metal. These are the five elements, and shouldn't be confused with the actual elements. They are different phases of energy, and there are three different flows: destructive, supportive, and draining.

The supportive (or creative) cycle of the five elements is where each energy 'feeds' the next.

The destructive cycle of the elements, obviously, is where the energies destroy one another, and the draining cycle calms an element that may be out of balance. Here is a summary:

Water supports wood, destroys Fire (if Wood is weak) and drains Metal. Wood supports Fire, destroys Earth (if Fire is weak) and drains Water. Fire supports Earth, destroys Metal (if Earth is weak) and drains Wood. Earth supports Metal, destroys Water (if Metal is weak) and drains Fire. Metal supports Water, destroys Wood (if Water is weak) and drains Earth.

If you have an overabundance of the feng shui element of Metal in your home, you can use objects that represent either Water or Fire, depending on just how much Metal you have. If you don't have enough Soil, then use things that support Metal as well as Soil.

If you are having relationship issues (or just wish you had a relationship to have issues with), then you do need to draw up the floor plan, and decide which method you are going to use. The bagua used in Black Hat is not the same as the one used in the Eight Mansions.

If you use the Black Hat method, and you find that your Relationships area is in the bathroom, maybe you are flushing that type of energy down the toilet. Now, the element that is active in the Relationships is Earth. The Earth element will destroy the Water element, unless you use some Metal to support it. Metal element objects are round or spherical, made of metal, and are metallic or white in color. A round white porcelain bowl with chunks of pyrite would do it (and no rust). A round mirror would be okay.

In the Eight Mansions method, the bagua is the same as far as shape and number of areas, but there it ends. There are eight different baguas, and the one you use depends on what direction your house sits in. For every bagua, there are four auspicious directions, and four inauspicious directions. There are no designated aspirations in the Eight Mansions; but you still use the five elements to balance out the lucky and unlucky areas.

Let's use the Gen trigram, and say that your bedroom is located in the Disaster location, which here is in the South. This location promotes disputes and legal issues, so you really just want to calm the chi that you find here. To do that you would use objects from an element that either destroys or drains Fire, the element that is present in this spot. Looking at the chart above, we see that you can use either Water, to destroy it, or Earth, to drain it.

Only in rare occasions do you actually want to destroy an element. So I would suggest artifacts from the Earth element, such as painting the walls in earth tones, or carpeting in those tones.

Use squat furniture, like a futon, pictures of mountainscapes, and maybe a cotton quilt.

You do not want to use any Wood element here, as Wood supports Fire, and we already have an issue with that element being too strong here.

I hope that this helps you figure out how to apply the principles of feng shui, at least a little bit. Check out www.western-world-feng-shui.com for more information.

Raelynn Manitz began studying feng shui in 1999, and runs a website for feng shui advice at www.western-world-feng-shui.com

Business Prosperity And Feng Shui

Whilst it is clear that not everyone is destined to own and run a business and certainly there are a lot of budding entrepreneurs entering the world of business today. Effort, energy, attitude, skill and knowledge are all factors that govern, at least to some degree your ability to own and run an efficient and highly profitable business. Another factor that can impact on the degree of business success that you experience is ? Feng Shui.

Feng Shui is the force that is said to be able to influence your destiny. It is able to modify the standard and level of your success. And there is an abundance of evidence from many satisfied customers, globally, that claim Feng Shui assists in changing the level of gains or losses in business.

There are two types of Feng Shui environments. The first is the physical, commonly known as ?Form School? and this refers to the actual visible surroundings. Examples of this are; the external environment such as the general landscape, mountains, rivers, roads, other buildings, the internal design and layout of the building, the position of our desk, chair and settee. Each one is considered to bestow some Feng Shui influence in your life. To this end, there are certain ?shapes? that can reduce prosperity and especially if you are searching for New Premises then you would do well to keep them in mind.

Sharp pointed objects; Sharp edges facing a building are considered a physical ?sha?. A curved blade, a road, a river, a flyover with the curved edge facing your building is considered bad Feng Shui. This is usually explained as the blade of a sword cutting through the building. However, the truth is, that it is considered to be inauspicious because your prosperity is turning away from you. Indeed the reverse configuration, i.e. when the curve of a road, a river or any of the above is embracing your building it is considered beneficial and is often called the ?jade belt?.

Water cutting the feet; a building standing right at the water front with little space between the foot of the building and the ocean or river is not particularly good. In this situation the water is considered too strong and symbolizes a lack of a strong foundation.

A building such as a police station is said to be related to violence. A Church, temple or religious building is said to absorb the beneficial influences of the surrounding environment, leaving little prosperity for its neighbours. Other sites such as hospitals, funeral parlours, prisons and graveyards are associated with sorrow and misfortune ? therefore not good neighbours to have.

Also as a part of the ?Form School? principles, there are some guidelines for placement of furniture. What is particularly important in an office environment is the placement of desks. Therefore after determining the entrance to the offices, the next step is to place the desk in the best possible location. The natural position for placing the desk should be at the corner of the diagonal line from the entrance, so that the person can face and see the entrance and has a solid wall behind you. To enhance the symbol of power, the desk should lean against a solid wall.

Sitting on a straight line towards the entrance, or with your back against the entrance, is not recommended.

It is not advised to place the desk in the middle of the room without leaning against any wall. This promotes a sense of floating and thereby a level of insecurity.

The second type of Feng Shui environment is somewhat more abstract and therefore subject to much speculation. Nonetheless, this influence is derived from the invisible, directional forces and has an impact on your life based on your buildings exact degree of orientation and the factor of time. And lets face it, if we think logically, absolutely everything changes with time and so you cannot ignore this very important factor.

So what are these invisible directional forces?? Some of us say they are magnetic waves; others suggest they are cosmic rays, celestial energies etc?.. It really doesn?t matter how you or I translate this more abstract quality ? most of us agree that there is ?something else? that influences our lives. The Ancients from China however, seem to have discovered a pattern to trace the indiscernible influences so that we can predict their movement and, just as importantly they developed theories enabling us to fully utilize these enigmatic forces. These techniques have indeed emerged from a lengthy and committed study of nature thereby providing a solid foundation of Chinese metaphysical views about the universe and nature.

With respect to the invisible Feng Shui inflluences during 2007, there are some adjustments that you can make that will be valuable, at least to some degree, through the course of the year. These modifications can also be placed in the correct sectors of your home as well as your business during the coming year.

You will find a troublesome influence coming from the Northeast bringing with it difficulties and obstacles. If this part of your business is very active such as a front, back or side entrance, a passage, the reception area, boardroom or even the directors office, then this energy needs to be dealt with by placing an all-metal wind chime or metal prayer bell in this area particularly in the months of February, August, and November. Now, this is not always easy to achieve depending on the area therefore, at the very least place a metal object such as a ?five element pagoda? in the appropriate position.

The Centre resonates with the force of sickness during 2007. Therefore you will require a string of six metal coins to be placed in this area, and this is particularly important if a major thoroughfare is located in that area of your business premises.

An energy of arguments is located in the Northwest and so it could be valuable to place a red object or the more traditional option of red paper in this area to help minimise this influence.

Another destructive influence is arriving from the North. Hence, it is best to place Four bamboo stems (only those that grow in water) in a clear glass vase within the North sector.

Finally, do not sit with your back against due West, especially whilst you are working. It is also advisable to not carry out large-scale construction work in the Northwest for the coming year, as this is the location of the ?Grand Duke?. Should your business face Northwest then place a Dragon Tortoise to face the same direction.

Juliana Abram is one of the leading Feng Shui consultants in Australia having been traditionally trained in Hong Kong by Chinese Feng Shui Master Raymond Lo.

Juliana specialises in ?Flying Star? Feng Shui and the Four Pillars of destiny.

Juliana runs her own Feng Shui consultancy ( see http://www.fengshuicentre.com.au )

and her own online Feng Shui store ( see http://www.fengshuishop.com.au ).

Home Staging with Feng Shui

Combining Feng Shui and Home Staging helps my clients sell their homes fast. Statistics show that staged homes sell 50% faster and for 6.9% more than homes that have not been staged. Feng Shui, which is the art of balancing the seen and unseen elements or forces, assists in this process. There are 71,000 homes for sale in the metro Atlanta area.

Home Stagers are trained professionals who know how to change an environment so potential buyers can see themselves living in it. I use Feng Shui because it is practical and makes sense. The first thing we look at with Feng Shui is safety. When this is used for the potential sale of a home then anyone entering will automatically feel safe. We?re dealing with subtle and subconscious forces and sensibilities. People can not always articulate what they feel in a particular environment but they usually know when it feels like somewhere they want to spend time or somewhere they want to leave.

The buzzword for 2007, according to Chinese Astrologers is the combination of water and fire or steam. ?This energy is going to cause big movements and big changes. Working with Feng Shui in any year means balancing all 5 elements. For instance, bring in plants as the wood element. Add mirrors to bring in the water element. Add round or oval objects as the metal element. Display animal prints for the fire element. And add earth tones as the earth element.?

There is more to Feng Shui, than the mere presence of the elements. ?The physical placement of everything causes the energy to flow or be blocked and it is the natural and powerful flow of energy that is the goal. A visually pleasing scene is a by-product of having all the elements balanced in a particular environment.

I am a very practical Stager and Feng Shui Practitioner. As much as possible I work with my clients? existing furniture and accessories. Staging is sometimes referred to as ?use what you have decorating?. Feng Shui is happening all the time. The fun and power is doing it or using it consciously and intentionally.?

Jonni Vann is a certified Feng Shui practitioner and has been practicing for more than 10 years. Home Staging was part of her practice before it was the latest ?buzz word?. For more information go to: http://www.homestagingwithfengshui.blogspot.com or jonnivann@yahoo.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/