7 Feng Shui Fundamentals for Children's Bedrooms

Feng shui is a very popular and intriguing concept in home design today. In addition to the life benefits it provides, it also offers a roadmap, so to speak, of not just how to decorate... but why. In short, it offers you, the homeowner, design with purpose. For a child's room this purposeful design is especially important.

Feng shui gives parents a guide for decorating your children's bedrooms, and perhaps more importantly, a reason for adding particular elements -- something standard decorating practices don't always offer. What does that mean exactly? Well, when it comes to a child's bedroom, feng shui dictates everything from correct bed alignment, proper bedroom choice, essential decorating and design elements, i.e., do's and don'ts (no vicious animals, etc.) for a child's room, even how to influence the child to be studious and well-behaved -- all things most parents would appreciate knowing.

The purpose of feng shui in a childs bedroom is the same as every parents objective in decorating their childrens rooms: to create a healthy, happy environment that fosters education, good health, happy relationships with parents and siblings, and respect for parents. Children and parents can enjoy success and healthy relationships if the environment supports them.

Naturally, children must feel safe, secure, and cared for to thrive. By putting interest and effort into your childs room, you are showing your child that you believe the childs space, and therefore, your child, is important. The tips presented here are some of the fundamentals of feng shui for children.

1.Place a happy picture of the parents in the childrens rooms.

This subtly exerts the authority and prominence of the parents as heads of the household. It is also one of the quickest and most effective ways to bring a problem child into line.

2.Align the childs bed to the widest part of the room.

Make sure your child can see the door from his or her bed easily, but is not in direct line of the door. Your child should also not share a wall with a toilet or see a toilet or bathroom from the bed as this can cause health problems.

Bunk beds are not advised. If possible, try to have a separate bedroom for each child. If this isnt possible, there are lots of decorative ways to create division and privacy within a room.

3.Create a space for study and accomplishments.

Having a dedicated space, including a desk and lamp where your child can study, demonstrates to your child the importance you place on education and your childs educational achievement. If this has been a source of problems, make the study position in the NE corner of the bedroom. Also make a place on a south wall, if possible, of your childs accomplishments. Doing so reinforces that you are proud of your childs efforts. Display drawings, crafts, awards, trophies, ribbons, or other special items, such as tests with good scores or letters from teachers. Place items here that have brought special recognition.

4.Make the childs room a healthy place. Water pictures, aquariums, or sounds of water that can be heard from the bedroom can create an unhealthy environment and may even lead to respiratory ailments. This is especially important if the child has any health problems, particularly asthma.

5.Clear the space so your child can rest and be creative.

Jammed closets and drawers, beds with boxes, shoes and other items underneath must be cleaned out. Creating space and visual openness helps your child to feel less pressured, and more likely to be imaginative and creative. More is definitely not more when it comes to kids. Give them a visual rest and clear out all the stuff they havent played with in a month or more.

6.Use light, color, and artwork in the room to make a happy environment.

A childs room should stimulate, not dampen, the childs spirit. Make sure there is adequate lighting for the desk, for a bedside table, and that windows can be closed off for privacy.

Rooms that are painted blue (unless its a bright or light-colored shade) or other dark colors can be depressing and create too much oppressive energy. Bright colors, such as yellows, light greens, purples and pinks are good choices, with yellow being the optimal choice.

Monitor the images your child sees being certain to eliminate images of ferocious or dangerous animals or violence. These are poor symbols for making a child feel safe in the bedroom. Select items for the room that inspire and intrigue a child to learn and that foster his or her sense of security.

7.Position children in the correct bedroom locations.

If possible, boys should be placed in the east or north bedrooms and girls should be placed in the south or southeast or west bedrooms.

Kathryn Weber is a certified master practitioner in feng shui and the publisher of The Red Lotus Letter, a FREE weekly feng shui ezine. Subscribe by logging on to www.redlotusletter.com. Her articles have been featured in Seventeen Magazine, Indy Star newspaper, and SelfGrowth.com, among others.

Feng Shui tips for offices

What is Office Feng Shui? How can designing and decorating spaces in office with Feng Shui can produce a positive and productive environment? How Feng Shui can work for offices to have better prosperit?. Feng Shui Meaning "wind" and "water," is the ancient art of living in harmony with the natural world. Though the spaces that you live or work in differ the principles of Feng Shui remain the same. Feng Shui in fact is a traditional art of living with its philosophy strongly rooted in spirituality. Feng Shui for offices Money to you may seem like a material thing, but it has many spiritual and energetic repercussions that affect all aspects of your life. Money flows in and out of your life like the wind, touching everything as it passes by. It is important to make sure that this wind is a healing and strengthening force, not a destructive power that causes harm. It is equally important to ensure that the wind blows constantly, at least as a breeze, and that there is never stagnant, foul air (which symbolizes stagnant finances). Feng Shui for offices not only provides the guide lines for living harmoniously in your work environment it also tells you to how you can manage office spaces to yield prosperity.

There are some time tested office Feng Shui practices which can be used for enhancing your workplace. Practicing the following Feng Shui Tips can make office Feng Shui work for you and you would start noticing the changes.

Feng Shui tips for offices Remove clutter

Your office must be organized and arranged efficiently. Clutter according to Feng Shui stimulates negative Chi (energy) and should be kept to a minimum. Remove whatever extraneous materials are lying in your office. By clearing away the physical clutter that you have been confronting on a daily basis, you free up your mental, emotional burden and feel light, cheerful and optimistic in your reinvigorated working space.

Position of the desk

Keep your desk in the commanding position. The commanding position means a position of power, where you have a direct view of the door, a pleasant view out the window and a wall behind you for stability. This position of the desk according to the Feng Shui office offers you the maximum control.

Shape of your desk

Shape of your desk can affect your mood and level of productivity in the workplace. Rounded curves are flowing, encouraging the flow of creativity. A kidney-shaped desk follows the natural curves of the human body and is said to give you a subconscious feeling of inner alignment.

Placing the plants

Place plants in your work and help you stay connected to the natural world. Since the green color spurs creativity and new ideas it helps you to have creative element in the office. In Feng Shui practice keeping plants helps to have positive Chi flow in corners which other wise are neglected spaces devoid of any energy. Green plants also act as a filtering system, reducing toxins and circulating stagnant air.

Choosing the correct light

The best light is natural daylight, so move your desk close to a window but never have your desk directly in front of window or fluorescent lights which cast a glare, causing eyestrain and exhaustion. You may improve your mood and energy dramatically by replacing fluorescent lights with warm lights that don't cast a glare.

Use of Feng Shui colors

Making use of Feng Shui Colors can help you achieve balance in your office. Different colors have different properties some colors can help people feel grounded and secure. Blues, purples or reds are supposed to enhance the wealth and prosperity area of your office. Office Feng Shui and bagua

A Bagua map can help you to make your office a "Feng Shui-friendly" environment. Bagua can help you in placing objects or placement of furniture in your office in areas which in Feng Shui are said to stimulate your discipline, prosperity and creativity. Once you determine the connections between various spaces in your office and 8 different guas of the bagua map, you start to develop a much stronger sense of purpose and focus about the changes you would like to implement in your life. You can make use of Feng Shui Elements for creating a balance between yin and yang energies.

According to Feng Shui for offices you can have: * Your desk and computer in the "career" area * Reference books in the "knowledge" and "self-cultivation" areas * A crystal bowl in "wealth and prosperity" * You can have reception, phone systems/communication system in area marked for helpful people. * You can have a picture of your father or other relatives in the family area if you have an inherited business. Feng Shui and home office The tips mentioned above can also be applied to your home office. But if not possible you can at least take care to change your home office to a Feng Shui office.

For example if your home office is full of creative and dream-inducing objects, get rid of some of them and introduce more logical, work-oriented elements that will help you get right down to business.

Or if your home office is like the other rooms of your office it is having beige or white curtains can be dramatically improved--and the energy invigorated--by using the guide lines of Feng Shui for offices. Something as simple as adding a tall red vase on the floor or atop a table or windowsill can help you have more yin energy. An impersonal office space can become suddenly personalized and imbued with character when you hang a print of your favorite painting on the wall. A stale room will be immediately freshened when you light a scented candle in an aroma you find particularly pleasing.

Adding a sturdy brown desk to the home office where bills are paid promotes practicality in a person who used to be a spendthrift. These are just an introduction to some of the Feng Shui practices. You can have a number of Feng Shui design ideas for your office or home office to increase the balance and harmony.

Discover the secret to happier living by knowing yourself better! Read the e-book on Feng Shui to get in-depth Feng Shui information and practical guide to lead a meaningful life.

Mike Z. Wang is an expert author on feng shui related topics and eminent feng shui consultant

Office Feng Shui for the Individual

Just as we incorporate Feng Shui into our homes, having good Feng Shui in your office or workplace is equally as important: especially for those of us who spend quite a fair amount of time in it! As mentioned in the article title, the Feng Shui advice given will focus on you and not the business or company itself. Part of the challenge in making sure you have good office Feng Shui is that we may not always personalize our surroundings as easily as we do in our home. For example, it's much easier to shift our sleeping position in our bedroom as opposed to modifying your entire surroundings in your current workplace. Readers who have home offices will be smiling the most in this case.

Foundation and Support
A strong and solid foundation where your back faces is important. Having your back facing a wall, or some sort of large earth element behind you is optimal. The Feng Shui reason for this is if your back is exposed, you would be open to backstabbing and other dangers that could make you a victim of office politics. If your back faces a window or glass doors, try to put some blinds or even a poster of something symbolizing the strength of the Earth element (best imagery to have is that of a mountain). Having a weak foundation behind you will also result in a loss of credibility at your work place.

Promoting Harmony
Communication is a vital aspect of most offices, and many of us rely on it to get things done. Disharmony with your peers or management will always result in more difficulty, which is something we really should not be having if we want to stay productive! Misunderstandings, flared tempers under extreme duress or even a difference of personalities can make your workplace an unhappy environment in the long run. A small solution would be to have a glass sphere by your worktable to help absorb and cleanse ill intentions. However, the best way to ensure a productive environment where things work as they are supposed to, is to have a Tibetan Harmony Mandala near you. Everybody wins as your colleagues will be less difficult to work with.

Getting Things Done
It would be safe to say, that most of the jobs out there are at times stressful and we are faced with tasks we are not how to fulfill them. Though the success of this task will ultimately depend on the individual and situation, sometimes all you need would be a small push in your favor. This could come in the form of: a stroke of inspiration, a sudden windfall of aid or an external change that would be to your favor. Ji Gong, the Kind Mad Monk is the best enhancer to have for times like these. He is much loved for always humbly helping you by providing an alternate solution or a different perspective so that things can actually work out for you.

The Right Direction
Facing one of your auspicious directions can also help you out alot in your workplace. In general, the best direction to be facing is your Sheng Chi(Success) direction. Your auspicious directions (in this case, your Sheng Chi) would be determined by your Feng Shui Kua number. You can use a lunar compliant Kua Number Calculator to find our your Kua number and your respective auspicious/inauspicious directions. Suffice to say, try not to face your inauspicious directions.

Poison Arrows
Poison arrows are sources of shar chi (negative chi in Feng Shui) and usually caused by sharp objects pointed at you. This could come in the form: corner of a table, edge of a pillar, large sculptures where pointed or sharp tips point at you. You would have to put some effort into finding poison arrows if any and try to remedy them. The best way to nullify or protect yourself from this is to interrupt the path of which the poison arrow will strike you. The most common solution is to use plants or protective metal/earth element objects.

Career Advancement
You can also use Feng Shui to advance in your career and the practice of it is a very common sight in Asia. However, you might not be able to notice it at first glance as many of the solutions implemented have been skillfully merged with the surroundings of the individual. Have acknowledged the issues listed above would help you already, but a bit more implementation wouldn't hurt! A popular enhancer and usually well hidden in the drawers (not to mention used by those from entry levels all the way to top management) would be the famous Eight Immortals Amulet. Each of the Eight Immortals will provide you with their blessings. The blessings range from that of progress, to harmony, to longevity!

Conclusion
Well, this is just the start but would be an excellent list to keep in mind when using Feng Shui for your office or workplace. In our next article, we shall take a more advanced look into office Feng Shui and with discreet implementations to make sure you benefit the most from this knowledge. Be sure to check out our website at: www.smilingbamboo.com for more information on how to use Feng Shui to achieve your aspirations and to simply make everyday an easier day that will be to your favor.

Smiling Bamboo (www.smilingbamboo.com) strives to preserve the true traditions of Feng Shui amidst all the marketing hype of today. Its founders have spent most of their lives surrounded by Feng Shui and lived in both Eastern/Western cultures providing them with an understanding of bridging the gap of both worlds with this beautiful science. For more information: www.smilingbamboo.com