Feng Shui tips

The first step in applying Feng Shui to your home is orientation, using the Ba-Gua scheme as a template. To make the Ba-Gua template, cut a piece of cardboard 3x3 inches square, divide it into 9 equal parts, and label it thus:

4 Prosperity 9 Fame 2 Relationships
3 Family 5 health 7 Children
8 Knowledge 1 Career 6 Patrons

Note 1 Career, should point north. These 9 areas relate to specific aspects of your life. By applying the diagram to your home or workplace, you can establish which rooms correspond to which areas of your life. Make changes in the designated area and it will change the corresponding area of your life.
Number 1, Career, tells you about yourself, your life path and how you value yourself.
Number 2, Relationships, includes those you have with your partner, business partner, and neighbours. If there is clutter here, or if plants placed there refuse to thrive, you must work on your relationships to effect corresponding changes.
Number 3, Family, relates to your roots, ancestors, family, and the relationship you have with your parents.
Number 4, Prosperity, indicates how easy or otherwise it is for you to create, and retain wealth, both tangible, and intangible or spiritual.
Number 5, T?ai Ji, is the centre of health, and well-being. Essentially, this is the most crucial area in which to control the flow, and circulation of Qi.
Number 6, Patrons, designated as the domain of spirits, and gods, this area represents all those who offer protection, support, and help in needful times.
Number 7, Children, denotes creativity, and activity. If you?re feeling stagnant in this zone, change something to encourage the flow.
Number 8, Knowledge, refers to education, and intuition, and shows how readily you cope with change.
Number 9, Fame, represents your public standing, the way others perceive you. This depends on inner maturity, and strength of character.

Place appropriate mementos in each designated area. Remember, the overriding principle is to encourage the flow, and circulation of Qi. Avoid clutter, and mess, which prevents the flow. More importantly, it will encourage the opposite of Qi, Sha Qi, or negative energy to accumulate, bringing depression, and tiredness. Qi flows out of windows, long straight passages, and especially through doors opposite windows, so site plants, lamps, and other items of furniture to encourage Qi to circulate in your home, and delay its swift passage.

Place plants in front of all sharp edges to block them, and use mirrors to strengthen Qi or diminish Sha Qi energy. Use crack-free mirrors to maximise the flow, and reflection. Watch the flow of smoking joss or incense sticks to determine what you need to change to channel, meander or circularise the flow.

Water must be flowing, not stagnant. Place natural objects such as pieces of wood, crystals or quartz stones in openly visible parts of the room, at different levels. Plants also represent a natural source of the peaceful, relaxing effect produced by the colour green.

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.