Excited About a New Piece of Art? Feng Shui Can Help You Find the Perfect Placement

In Feng Shui our homes can become nurturing places for us mentally, physically and spiritually. To accomplish this, we have to make sure that our surroundings accurately reflect who we are as individuals and who we aspire to become. Keep the energy in your home vital by treating it as an important aspect of your life. We are all different, and therefore, we are fortunate that there are numerous ways to enhance the energy flow in your home. Feng Shui is about finding the personal Ch’i enhancers that match not only the Bagua area but also your personality and style. 

Of all the Ch’I enhancers, I find that working with colors and art gives you almost instant gratification. Art is the soul of a room; it gives it energy and life, and it is easy to identify how it enhances the Feng Shui of a space.  To enhance the Ch’i in your home, choose art that elicits positive feelings and makes your heart sing. Remember that in Feng Shui everything is alive and is constantly talking to you. What you surround yourself with can nourish or drain you. Therefore, ensure that every art piece in your home is one that you love and that portrays a serene or inspirational subject matter. Art depicting violence, death, distortion, or negativity is not recommended. They say that “A picture is worth a thousand words.”  What is your art telling you?

To get the most benefit from art and colors, match them with the function of each room. Choose romantic and sensual for the bedroom, lively, colorful art for the living room, and powerful and motivational for the home office. Use the Bagua map to help you choose the appropriate art and colors that correlate with the goals in your life.   Each of the nine areas of the Bagua is associated with colors and art representations. For example, if you want romance, and your Love and Marriage area is in the dining room, choose art that is romantic and appropriate for your dining area. If you wish to improve your health, and your Health and Family area is in the bathroom, display art that evokes radiant health and vitality. 

Career Area:

* Art - paintings, photos pertaining to moving water (oceans, rivers, etc.), asymmetrical shapes, and black frames                                                                                                                                                 * Colors – black or dark colors

Knowledge and Self Cultivation Area:

* Art - paintings, photos representing calm nature scenes (forests, ferns, vineyards, etc.), columnar shapes, and wooden frames                                                                                                                         * Colors – blue and green    

                                                            

Friends, Family, Health Area: 

* Art - paintings, photos representing fresh, healthy vibrant flowers, family, friends and/or you in a healthy state, columnar shapes, and wooden frames                                                                                   * Colors – blue, green, and floral

          

Wealth and Prosperity Area:

* Art - paintings, photos or sculptures representing opulence and wealth, tall round leaf plants, bubbling fountains, triangular, cone shapes, and wooden frames                                                                              * Colors – purples, blues, and reds

                                                        

Fame Area:

* Art - paintings, photos or sculptures representing celebration, animals, birds, stars suns, fire, upward movement, inspirational quotes, triangular, cone shapes, and wooden frames                                            * Colors – Red

                                                          

Love and Marriage Area:

* Art - paintings, photos or sculptures representing romance, pairs of items, pictures of you and your significant other, pictures of couples, triangular, cone shapes, and wooden frames                                   * Colors – reds and pinks

                                                       

Children and Creativity Area:

* Art - paintings, photos or sculptures representing creativity and whimsy, pictures of children or child art, round shapes, and metal frames                                                                                                            * Colors – whites and pastels 

                                                        

Helpful People and Travel Area:

* Art - paintings, photos or sculptures pertaining to spiritual guides, and/or mentors, places you have traveled to or aspire to visit, pictures of mountains or natural stone, circular shapes, and metal frames                                                                                                                                                                          * Colors – white and grey

                                                             

Center Area:

* Art - paintings, photos or sculptures representing earth scenes, deserts, wheat fields, yellow flowers or trees, rectangular shapes                                                                                                                               * Colors – yellows and earth tones

                                                   

Look at the art you have in your home. Jackson Pollock said, “A painting has a life of its own.” What is each piece “saying” to you?  No matter how positive and creative you may be in your inner world, if your home or work surroundings are contradictory or present energetic barriers, you are likely to find it difficult to manifest all that you desire. By paying attention to the flow of energy around you, beginning with the art and colors that surround you, you can align your inner intentions with your outer realities to make your life a conscious act of creation.

What Color Should I Paint My Master Bedroom? Feng Shui Can Advise.

Master Bedroom – Your Romantic Boudoir

One of the most important rooms in Feng Shui is the master bedroom.  Therefore, what you do with this bedroom has far reaching implications to your wellbeing, harmony and relationships. The best master bedroom colors are found in the warm skin tones of all races of people; from light beiges, tans, cocoas, pinks, peaches, subtle yellows, earthy reds, copper, gold, bronze amongst others. The colors that are too cool and do not work in master bedrooms are pure white, grey, black, blues, and greens because they create a chilly room versus a sensual one. 

                                       

                                                       Walls a soft mushroom color

In the master bedroom the art and pictures should represent the qualities of the Love and Marriage area of the Bagua: pairs of items such as figurines and candles, pictures and art reflecting couples and romantic representations, pictures of you and your significant other.  It is not recommended to put photographs of your children and family in your master bedrooms. Photographs of your family are better served in areas of your home where family is dominant, such as living rooms, family rooms, playrooms and hallways. The bedroom is a romantic oasis, not a place to display photos of mom, dad or the kids. 

                       

Singles Bedrooms 

Whether male or female singles looking for love need to create a romantic boudoir to prepare your room for another; two nightstands, two lamps, two throw pillows on the bed. Remove exercise equipment, family pictures, excess dolls and stuffed animals. Enhance the room as you would the Love and Marriage area of the Bagua, with pairs of items, and romantic art depicting pairs of subjects such as people, animals, flowers, trees or sculptures. All these further energize your desire and intention to be romantically involved. 

Furnishings and Décor

Televisions in bedrooms tend to activate you and do not allow for restful sleep. I like many others like watching TV in bed, but I find I get better sleep when I turn off the TV, close it up, and read for a few minutes before “lights out”.  The key is to keep the TV in a cabinet or armoire so it can be closed upon retiring.  If this can’t be done, I have recommended placing a decorative drape over the TV so that the electromagnetic screen isn’t staring at you all night.

             

                                                     

                                                                           TV in armoire

Bedrooms should be relatively free of clutter; especially avoid accumulating clutter under the bed, as it obstructs the flow of Ch’i. Also avoid keeping exercise equipment or home office items in bedrooms as they signify work. 

The rule of thumb for mirrors in the bedroom is “one or less, and not facing the bed.” Mirrors are too active for the tranquility of bedrooms. If you or your children have the misfortune of having large closet door mirrors, and find it hard to get restful sleep, you may consider curtaining them at night or adding decorative wooden or screen like panels instead. 

Enjoy the rejuvenation powers of your bedroom. Nighty night!

Virtual Feng Shui Consultations Are Easy, Fun, and Very Rewarding

Feng Shui is the study and practice of arranging your environment to help you achieve your life goals. What better way to enjoy a Feng Shui Consultation than in the comfort of your own home?

Throughout the pandemic all my consultations were virtual. The upside of this is that it allowed me to spread Feng Shui energy to all corners of the U.S., and internationally including Canada and South Africa. 

All it takes is a picture of the layout of your home and pictures of each room. Then we arrange for a two-hour phone consultation.

Are you ready to make some changes in your life? Just Facebook Message me (Maria McCullough) for more information. 

Useful Feng Shui Corrections for Common Concerns

"Do what you can, with what you have, with where you are.” Theodore Roosevelt

In Feng Shui there are not many hard and fast rules, but rather recommendations. The most important thing is that you live with you love. The exceptions are areas that can specifically drain your Ch'i, or vital life energy. For these areas there are a few rules that when followed create a more balanced environment, and hence a more balanced life.  In an ideal environment the Ch'i enters through the threshold (Mouth of Ch'i) and meanders happily and slowly through the house, moving in a circular direction through each of the Bagua areas back to the center and continuously around. It does not get trapped in closets, stumbles over clutter, or shoots through windows, down toilets or rushes down stairways.

When structural imbalances occur there are specific Feng Shui cures and corrections that when applied will keep the negative energy from wearing away at us.

I’ve discovered  two basic concerns that have arisen through a number of home consultations:

1)  Stairways and Hallways,  2)  Large Windows Facing the Front Door

These are referred to as “Rivers of Ch'i” - where the vital energy flows too fast and out of our lives.

Stairways and Hallways – Raging Rivers

We call stairs raging rapids and rivers because they can become powerful waterfalls of Ch'i, especially if they point out the front entrance. In this case the nourishing Ch'i pours right out the door, often taking health and good fortune with it.  Rooms at the top of a staircase are continually pulled with the force of the decent, while rooms at the bottom are flooded with too much energy.

                                                            

                                                            Beautiful staircase but Ch'i is flowing out of the home. 

Corrections: When you’re working with stairways that face doorways you need to do your best to stop the flow of Ch'i from rolling out the door, by installing some kind of aesthetic barrier between door and stairs, such as a screen, plant, furniture or art.  When this is not possible, hang a mirror above or next to the door facing the stairs, or hang a round faceted crystal above the bottom step to catch and recirculate the Ch'i.  Be careful not to accentuate the waterfall design by hanging art in a descending order. Use your art to uplift the energy by hanging it in a straight line.

Just like stairs, halls and long corridors in your home or office can act as raging rivers, moving the energy through too fast. Long halls speed people up.

                                           

                 Avoid mirrors facing the door at the end of hallways, rather put a beautiful piece of art to catch the eye.

Corrections:  To balance these hallways need to be broken up into human friendly parts. To slow down a hallway, arrange art, mirrors, lights, furniture and carpets to suggest a series of niches to slow down the Ch'i. You can create points of interest but placing plants, furniture, art and statuary. Avoid placing a mirror at the end of a long corridor, as this doubles the size of the hallway, rather place mirrors on the side of hallways across from doors to rooms which widen the appearance of the hall. 

 Windows – Pathway for Escaping Ch'i

Windows are considered the eyes of the house. They bring beautiful natural light and nourish you with the energy form beautiful views.  But as with stairways, when places directly in front of the front door a pathway is created  which pulls the Ch'i too quickly across and out of the room. Attractive as this may be, especially with expansive water views, this can leave the home “undernourished.  Remember that ideally, we want the Ch'i to meander slowly through the house.

        

                                                        Ch'i flowing directly out of large windows facing front door.

Corrections:   When you have a large window and a door lined up directly across from each other, place something between them, such as an aquarium, a sculpture, plants, flowers or a piece of furniture. You can also soften the window with curtains or blinds. When there is no space for these things, hang around faceted crystal between window and door, or hang a small mirror above or beside the window to redirect the energy back into the room.

                                  

                                                Furniture strategically places to block the flow of Ch'i out of windows.

“I’m always rushing. I feel like I can never catch up.” I heard someone say this the other day and it made me wonder what was causing the energy to rush through her house, and what simple corrections she could make to slow it down. Remember that, our home and work environments are alive and completely interconnected with the rest of our lives. The goal is to keep the vital energy circulating throughout in a harmonious and peaceful way,  creating peace, harmony and balance in our lives.

Feng Shui Enhancements for Energizing Good Health

It is a known fact that keeping in good health requires eating well, getting enough rest, exercise and adopting a peaceful lifestyle.

But sometimes accidents, and unexpected illnesses still show up in our lives. Following your doctor’s orders is important, at the same time applying some easy Feng Shui enhancements to energize the Health Area of your home can also help in healing and warding off illnesses.

Believe it or not, the energy in your home can help you achieve good health. The Health/ Family/Friends area is located in the middle left side of your home or office and is particularly associated with “strength.”

In the Feng Shui Bagua (Ba-gua) Map, represented as a grid of nine sectors, with the center for grounding, the Health/Family/Friends area operates under the premise that it is important to cultivate strong physical health, and loving friend and family relationships to act as supportive foundations through the periodic “shocks” and unforeseen “storms” of life. The Bagua comes from the Chinese philosophy, “The I Ching,” In the” I Ching” the Health, Family and Friends area of your home or business is called “Shocking Thunder” as it refers to the unexpected shocks or sudden unforeseen problems that can cycle through our lives like stormy weather. Good health and relationships with our family and friends assure as much as possible that we will persevere through the bad times of life.  

In Feng Shui flowers represent good health. When health issues arise for you,  or loved ones, an easy Feng Shui enhancement is to place vibrant flowers in the Health area of your home (in each story, if you have a multilevel home), near a picture of you or your loved one in a happy, healthy state. and write or state an affirmation related to the outcome you want to achieve.  

                                                                upstairs enhancement

For instance, when I was asked to return for more follow up tests after a routine mammogram, I placed fresh flowers our Health areas, upstairs and down, near a happy, active pictures of myself and wrote, “The mammogram was negative, no further tests required. I am healthy and thriving.”  That is exactly what happened! I could not be happier. 

                                         

                                                       downstairs enhancement 

Let Feng Shui help you navigate through health issues and lead you to achieving your health goals.

Blessings

Planning a Trip - Feng Shui Can Help Make it Happen

Things are opening up and people are happily making travel plans. Where are you going this summer? Are you dreaming of exotic faraway places, fun family vacations, or even peaceful retreats? How do you get there? How do you make it happen?

Feng Shui can help you achieve your travel goals. Just as in every other facet of life, achievement follows intention, visualization, and affirmations. “Picture it and it will happen...”  Positive affirmation, enhancements and vision boards in the Helpful People/Travel area play a large role. You achieve your goals when you focus clearly on what you want to accomplish and then take action accordingly.

In the Feng Shui  Bagua (Ba-gua) Map, represented  as a grid of nine sectors, the Helpful People and Travel  area is located in the front right corner  of your home/office/business. The Bagua comes from the Chinese philosophy, “The I Ching,” and literally means “eight trigrams, with the Center being for grounding.” In the “I Ching” the Helpful People/Travel area of your home or business is associated with the qualities of synchronicity, support and travel. 

 Enhancements for Helpful People and Travel area in your home or business:    

Art, photos, collages or figures pertaining to spiritual guides, and/or mentors or helpful people             

Special places where you have traveled or want to travel  (Create a Vision Board – see below)          

Items in colors of white, black or grey    and items made of metal                                                             

Quotes, affirmations and sayings pertaining to Helpful People and Travel

A Missing Helpful People and Travel Area:

If your Helpful People and Travel area is missing from your floor plan, you can anchor the area by doing one or a combination of the following cures:  Anchor the missing area structurally using the metal element wherever possible, such as building a trellis or deck, planting flowers in a flower garden or planter boxes in white, adding a large stone statue of a spiritual guide or placing a large rock on the corner, or a metal seating area. (This could be a beautiful meditation area).  If the area outside is not accessible, you can symbolically anchor from the inside by hanging a 30 mm round faceted crystal, placing a mirror, and/or  your  travel pictures or vision board on the inside wall by the missing area.

Creating a Vision Board for Travel:

A vision, or a dream board, is an excellent way to focus your energy and display your goals.  If your focus is on travel, you will create a board that will reflect places you want to go. Make a collage of pictures, words and phrases that reflect where you want to be and how you want to feel when you get there.  Put pictures of yourself in the scenario; act as if you’re already there.   

Travel Feng Shui Kit:

Through your visualizing and affirmations, you have now arrived at your destination; but sometimes we don’t have the opportunity to book the perfect room. Whatever the reason, it is smart to travel with a small Feng Shui Kit. You can put one together by selecting small, lightweight items that boost, balance and circulate the Ch’i in any environment. For example, use a jewelry bag containing 4 round faceted crystals on strings, 4 small angels made of thick paper, 4 tea lights in their own metal cups, cleansing incense such as pine or sandalwood. When used, these items can transform a room from grim to agreeable. Also include all the necessary items such as thumb tacks, safety pins, matches, string. Also include a multicolored scarf representing the colors of the five elements (white, black, green or blue, yellow and red hues). Using the Bagua, start at the front entrance to the room and place one crystal in front of a window, and place angels in the Health, Wealth and Love areas. If the room feels especially stagnant, hang a crystal in the center of the room.  Set up a place of beauty in the area where you would see as you wake up; use a 5 element cloth, incense, candles, angels and fresh flowers when available. Choose items that are light and  travel well.

Applying Feng Shui One Step at a Time

People often ask, “What is Feng Shui really?” and “How can I do it?” Being pragmatic and linear, my response is to offer recommendations in sequential steps to the students and clients I work with.  Following these simple steps, you too can begin your journey toward peace, harmony, and the achievement of your goals. 

Feng Shui is NOT a mystery. Feng Shui practitioner, James Jay, put it very concisely: “Feng Shui is a support system for our lives. It’s an ancient Chinese art and science that allows us to create harmony and balance within any environment. When we create that harmony and balance it lends support to our lives. When our lives have support through our environment it’s much easier to achieve the things we want in life such as wellbeing, abundance, love and happiness.”

Whether you realize it or not, your home environment is constantly either supporting or draining your life energy. Making a few simple changes within your home can have an immediate and powerful effect on your personal energy levels, as well as the physical and material aspects of your life. I call it empowerment through environment! Harmony is created through balancing, enhancing, and decluttering one’s space, so you can surround yourself with what you love. 

To correctly tap into this support system, you need one of Feng Shui’s most powerful tools – the Bagua, the treasure map helping you locate the nine important areas of your home related to your life. 

                                     

Over the years I have found that some of my clients are overwhelmed, and don’t know where to begin, therefore being a believer of doing a little at a time, I have developed an easy system for embracing the Feng Shui enhancements in manageable portions. Take it step by step and begin enjoying the benefits of Feng Shui and lead you to achieving your life goals.

I recommend the following steps to my clients:

1) Map out your home using the Bagua. 

2) Do a self-evaluation of your greatest needs (more love, health, prosperity, career etc.).

3) Locate that area of the Bagua in your home.

4) Clean and declutter that area.

5) Enhance the Bagua area using the recommendations in this chapter.

6) Anchor if the area is missing.

7) State or write your affirmations and begin reaping the rewards.

8) Balance the Feng Shui elements.

Take it one step, one area at a time and begin reaping the life changing benefits of Feng Shui!