Feng Shui Offices Bring Career Success

Whether in your home or at work, your office can act to empower or disempower you.  Make your home/work office your place of power; what you do there leads directly to your prosperity and success. 

 

“The act of turning the places where we work into places that we love, can transform our own lives, and will in turn positively affect the lives of everyone around us.” Denise Linn

 

Recommendations for creating powerful home and business offices:

· The most important recommendation is that your desk is placed so that you’re sitting in the room’s most powerful“command” position. You want to have a perfect view of the door. It is also best to have a solid wall, not a window, behind you. If you can’t move away from the window, put plants, shades of furniture as a buffer between you and the window. If your desk is built in, and you can’t reposition it, put a mirror on or behind your desk to reflect the door.

· As always in Feng Shui, being organized is critical. Powerful, productive Chi cannot find its way through piles of papers, files and office equipment. Your productivity will skyrocket if you adopt an organizing strategy and stick to it.  This office corner not only is cluttered but the chair has it's back to the door.

 

·        Sharp angles and corners promote irritation and aggression, so camouflage them with plants, fabric, or small hanging items such a crystal. When buying new furniture choose designs with rounded corners. Circular and oval tables are the best for sustaining harmony at meetings.
·        Your chair, or “throne” should be the most comfortable and ergonomically correct for you.
·        Choose a desk large enough to store all of your work and give you adequate working space. Ensure that all wiring is hidden in desk openings, or behind screens or plants.
·        This is a place for powerful art and colors that represent your career and contributions to the world. As in applying the Bagua to your entire home, you can apply the same Bagua to your office beginning at its front entrance.

 

The areas in your office should take on the qualities of the Bagua area in which they reside. Stand at your office door and face the room. Determine if you are entering from Knowledge, Career or Helpful People, and arrange the room accordingly. By placing objects in your office that anchor the various Bagua areas you stimulate and sustain your creative juices and provide your office with meaning and balance.

Nature Objects Enhance Feng Shui

Objects from nature can enhance the Chi in your home when they connect you to the special experiences you’ve had outdoors. Bowls of shells, baskets of pine cones, and collections of rocks, stones and fossils van bring back many memories, especially if you gathered them yourselves with your loved ones. These memories associated with your objects of nature help you keep connected to the natural world, even when living in a city without a garden. These objects are pretty low maintenance, requiring only occasional cleaning.

The shell below was collected and painted on a romantic trip to Mexico with my husband.

                                      

The rock shaped like a heart was picked up while on a walk on Pismo Beach. One of my favorite places to stay with loved ones.

 

 

Mirrors - The "Aspirin" of Feng Shui

Mirrors are called the “aspirin” of Feng Shui because they are used to cure many architectural challenges. They activate, expand and circulate the Chi throughout interior spaces. When properly chosen and installed, they can visually enlarge small rooms, double beautiful views, make walls disappear, send energy back in uncomfortable situations and keep the energy flowing in the house.

Mirrors make rooms active. They are great for lively rooms such as living rooms, family rooms, offices, bathrooms and kitchens – in fact, the bigger the better, but they are not meant for relaxation rooms such as bedrooms. The rule for bedrooms is one or fewer.  When hanging mirrors, ensure that the people using them are not cut off in any way, and avoid fragmented mirrors as they create confusing energy. The before and after pictures below show a man being disempowered by his mirror – and then the noticeable difference when the correction is made.

Mirrors are wonderful for opening up small spaces that would otherwise feel confining. Hung directly across from hall doors, they make the wall disappear and give the impression of more space. Mirrors hung across from windows will increase light, as well as the perceived size of small foyers, dens and home offices. If a Bagua area in missing a mirror on the adjacent wall will push the wall back and fill in the area.  

Also mirrors can be used to reflect what’s behind you when your back is to the door – when you’re sitting at your computer for example.

In Feng Shui mirrors are also used to push the energy back from where it came. Of you have an unsightly view of power lines, a neighbor’s yard or negative energy from an impossible neighbor; you can hang a small mirror that faces in that direction. It can be places on a fence, a door, window or tree and can be hidden by bushes so that it’s not readily visible. Hang it in the spirit of goodwill, with the intention that the energy will shift and create good Chi.

Feng Shui Lighting

 

Lighting can greatly enhance the Chi in your home. There are numerous options including incandescent and halogen electric lights, candles, oil lamps, fireplaces and natural light. Improve the Chi flowing through your home by illuminating dark corners, camouflaging sharp angles, and warming gloomy rooms with lighting. Consider leaving low wattage lights in all the time in rooms with no natural light, or consider installing a light tube as in the picture below.  This home office was an interior room in the Career area, which was always dark. The natural light now pouring in has greatly enhanced career energy.

 

Lighting can also be artistic, and be used to balance the elements. Light itself represents the Fire element, but the colors and shapes of the fixtures bring in the other elements. The red hanging lamps in the picture represent 4 of the 5 elements (red – fire, yellow-earth, wavy lines – water, metal – the fixture) they hang above a flower arrangement (wood) creating a 5 element display. The gold glass wall sconce represents earth, water, and fire. It is used to illuminate a long hallway.    See more beautiful hand-blown glass at www.nourot.com.

 

In all cases choose fixtures you love! Collect lamps that add personality to your décor. Let the light that fills your home be a reflection of your taste and creative expression.

Feng Shui Enhanced Kitchens

Kitchens are very important rooms in your home because, in Feng Shui, food symbolizes health and wealth.  The idea behind this is if you are prosperous you have more money to purchase food and stay in good health. Therefore enhancements and locations of kitchens in a home are very important. One of the most auspicious locations is in the Center Area, because kitchens are considered the “hearth” of a home, and the center is the area for centering and grounding. In this location earth tones and ceramics help with enhancement. In other Bagua areas the enhancements need to align with the attributes of that particular sector. (To read more go to Newspaper Columns - Aug. 2011)

For instance some pictures below demonstrate how our kitchen in the Love and Romance area is enhanced with pairs of items, shades of red and pink, and romantic representations.

There are a few other specific enhancements that can be made in all kitchens – no matter where located: 1) Always declutter kitchen countertops. Put away items you don’t regularly use. Make plenty of room for meals to be enjoyably prepared and for the Chi to flow. 2) Keep your knives completely out of sight when not in use (use a drawer knife block rather than one on the counter). 3) If the stove is located next to the kitchen sink, place a healthy plant, flowers, or bowl of fruit between them to represent the wood element, thus balancing the elemental relationship between the sink (water) and stove (fire).

 

Feng Shui's Joyous Lake

In Feng Shui the middle right area of your home is known as the Children and Creativity area; also known in the I Ching as “Joyous Lake.” This is an important area because it’s associated with pleasure, generosity, encouragement and creativity. The essential idea of this teaching is that by encouraging others to fully express themselves; we bring success and pleasure to ourselves. Parents and teachers are energized when they encourage their children to learn and grow through creative expression. This is true of our own creativity; we all need encouragement and admiration from our family and friends so we can blossom into full creative expression. Being supporters and cheerleaders for each other is very important!

This area of your home can be enhanced through whites, pastels, metal items, whimsical art, pictures of children, or items created by children or yourself. This is an excellent spot for children’s rooms or craft rooms. In my home this area is my laundry room, so I have enhanced it by hanging numerous collage frames of pictures of my daughter through the years. I can do laundry and take a trip down memory lane as I watch her grow up. Where is this area in your house?

 

Blue Moon

The beauty and power of the Blue Moon.

Blue Moon - Time for Feng Shui Inner Work

Tonight, August 31, 2012 we will be blessed with a Blue Moon.  The "blue moon" refers to the rare occasions when there are two full moons within the same month. The second full moon is termed the blue moon. This is an extremely rare and powerful moon.  During the entirety of the 20^th Century there were only 40 instances in which a single month contained two full moons. A blue moon literally happens only about once every two and a half years. The next one won't occur until 2015.

The blue moon is noy only something  that occurs rarely, but it also has a history of portending luck, and having magical qualities. The occurrence of a blue moon is the perfect time to plant the seeds of long-term goals that will blossom in the sun of a future day.  Any goals forwarded and planned beneath the glow of the second full moon of the month are thought to have benefitial  qualities. The potency of the magic of the blue moon is said to be concentrated and passionate.

This is a perfect time to  concentrate on your Feng Shui Inner Work. Focus on you visualizations, affirmations, lists of what you are grateful for and your many blessings. Visualize it, and with the power of the Blue Moon your chances of achieving your goals is greatly enhanced.

Feng Shui Hallways

People don’t usually think of hallways as “rooms.” They just lead from one part of the house to another and are usually treated as “non-rooms”, remaining dark and plain.  Long, thin hallways are like rivers of Chi, forcing us to hurry through them. These can be slowed down by hanging round faceted crystals a few inches from the ceiling every 10 feet or so.  Ideally we want to be pleasantly drawn and enjoy a hallway’s special décor.

Think of where the hallway is aligned to the Bagua, and enhance it with the attributes and colors of that area, choose the lighter shades of the spectrum to enlarge them.  This is a perfect opportunity to create a gallery for displaying paintings, photographs and posters – especially anything with depth that will widen the area. Wider hallways can be made narrower with furniture, bookshelves, carpets and plants.

Lighting in hallways is very important. Bring beauty to the area with track lighting, sconces and interesting lamps.  Treat every inch of your house as a special gift to you and you will reap the results!

My hallway above is enhanced with my father's art and beautiful hand blown glass sconces from the Nourot Glass Studio. www.nourot.com

Garages and Feng Shui

In Feng Shui EVERYTHING COUNTS, including closets and garages.  If you are building your home, keep your garage detached from the main house to ensure good air quality and a more peaceful flow of Chi throughout the house.  Unfortunately, that is not the case for most of us. Garages tend to be built in the front right or left of homes, either in the Knowledge and Self Cultivation, or Helpful People areas. Both of these areas are very important in your life, therefore what your garage looks like is critical to your harmony.

Avoid the tendency to let the garage become a chaotic storeroom. Make it a place you enjoy seeing every day. Leave plenty of room to drive in and out, without worrying about hitting piles of stored items. Install shelves and cabinets for storage, design attractive work areas.

The garage is often the last room you see when you leave and the first when you return. Make is a beautiful and inviting place. Make it a “real room”, hang art and pictures representing its area of the Bagua, paint it an auspicious color, add travel posters,  pictures of family, beautiful lighting and carpeting.

In our garage we have hung a large round faceted crystal in the center, and placed travel pictures and pictures of our spiritual guides. We also created a vision board inside one of the closet doors with pictures and positive affirmations of what we want to have come into our lives.  Outside, in a small flower garden by the garage we planted white flowers surrounding a small angel blowing toward our house. Whenever we feel that our synchronicity is off, and that we keep hitting stumbling blocks, I say, “Honey, it’s time to clean the garage.” We take a few hours to organize, dust, polish, sweep, and state our affirmations once again.  We immediately feel the shift in energy, plus our garage is once again pleasing to look at.

                                     

                                      

Feng Shui With Gardens

If your home is considered the "heart" of your property, the garden is considered the "aura". Your garden is your personal passport into nature. It keeps you connected to the rhythms of life, while replenishing and sustaining the Chi that meanders through your home. Whether a flower or vegetable garden, vibrant nature in your yard attracts vibrant Chi into your home.

When applicable, use gardens and landscaping to complete the shape of your home. If your home is not a complete square or rectangle anchor the missing areas with a pleasing combination of trees, flowerbeds, garden sculptures, large rocks, decks, patios, fencing, lighting, specialty gardens and water features. There is no end to what you can do and the missing area becomes an enhancing outdoor area.

Make sure you have an attractive view from every window and door. Be nourished by a lovely view each time you look out. Camouflage or screen unsightly views with trees, trellises with climbing vines, and hanging gardens. An inspirational place to rest the eye is a gift you give yourself every day.

In the pictures you'll see red flowers with a whimsical border the fame area,  a red mirror added to the love corner reflecting a bistro set with two chairs, and a bicycle planter used as a greeter at the entrance. Have fun with the palette that flowers provide!

 

 

Feng Shui Flowers

Flowers are the quintessential Chi enhancers for our homes. They provide us with the beauty and wonder of nature and help us stay connected and grounded to the natural world. Another alternative to fresh flowers is silk and plastic flowers which have the same uplifting effect.

Just like everything in Feng Shui flowers can uplift the Chi if beautiful and healthy, or deplete it if sick, dusty or depleting. If your plants begin to wilt and look sickly, move them on and replace them with vibrant healthy ones.  Artificial plants need to be kept clean and dust free at all times to have the same uplifting effect.

Orchids are the ultimate flower Chi enhancer; bringing positive energy to every area of the house. I always give people  fresh orchids as housewarming gifts  to help bless their homes.

Think of the qualities of the Bagua areas you want to enhance, and use flower colors to enrich the enhancement: Red flowers at an entrance for Career, white for the Helpful People or Children and Creativity areas, yellow for the Center, pinks or reds for Love, purple for Wealth. Use the beauty of nature to paint a palette of colorful enhancements in your home.

Creating Feng Shui Environmental Affirmations

In an ideal world your home would be an entire Environmental Affirmation. In other words you would be surrounded by objects that lift your spirits; please your senses, have wonderful feelings and memories associated with them, and constantly affirm your harmony and balance. When surrounded by such beauty your environment acts as a giant vessel of positive Chi, constantly nourishing and strengthening your material world.

To reach this goal, begin by looking at the objects and architecture you live with.  Decide what you love and what you don’t.  If you don’t love much about your current home, don’t be discouraged. You can improve it immediately by placing one thing you love in each room. This begins the process of enhancing the Chi flow by attracting the things that uplift you. Begin discarding what you don’t like, and watch your world change for the better.

Dining Room Before and After

This is a perfect example of a client who turned a not so comfortable dining room, with a very “active” mirror into her own “personal paradise.” This dining room is located in the Wealth area of the home, and was specifically redesigned to take on the opulent qualities of that sector. The purple wall, blooming flowers and richly appointed lighting and accessories make this a designer’s dream room, and will surely enhance the client’s prosperity.

 Before

 After

Enhanced Dining Experience Through Feng Shui

Dining rooms are also very important rooms in our home, because like the kitchen they represent a “hearth” or heart of the home where meals are created and shared. This represents nourishment of the body, hearts and spirit.  Unfortunately in many homes, dining rooms are used infrequently only for entertaining, while the family eats in haste in other rooms of the house. 

Reclaiming the deeply nourishing experience of enjoying our meals in a pleasant and serene dining environment, we become more aware of the vital energy (Chi) in our food. Essential vitality is passed on to us with every meal.

Although the dining room takes on the qualities of the Bagua area it is located, with art that relaxes and inspires; Waterscapes in Career, blues/greens and wooded scenes in Knowledge, floral scenes and family pictures in Family/Health, purple opulent art in Wealth, red tones in Fame, romantic art and pairs in Love/Marriage, whimsical pastels and children pictures in Children/Creativity, travel or spiritual guide pictures in Helpful People, and gold earth tones in the Center, there are other very important considerations.

1)      Comfort is very important for the flow of Chi. Make sure your dining room furniture is very comfortable for you and your guests.

2)      Avoid protruding legs or sharp corners that would make leg placement difficult or possibly tear clothing.

3)     Large mirrors are too active for dining rooms, and they tend to make guests self-conscious and uncomfortable. If you can’t remove the mirror quiet it down by placing plants or decorative objects in front.

Relax and enjoy a pleasant dining experience.

                                                                

                                                    

Feng Shui Chaos

Chaos is part of the cycle of life. It helps us become creative, get motivated and keeps us moving forward. But chaos can also work against us, so it’s important to understand the two kinds of chaos.

ACTIVE CHAOS – This is creativity at its best; a chef spinning in a kitchen whipping up a beautiful meal, a painter creating a masterpiece, a quilter cutting and sewing, a new patio being built, or a closet being cleaned. The Chi hums as new creations are forming. The key to keeping this active chaos is to clean up the mess, reorganize and enjoy the creation.

 PASSIVE CHAOS – This is a mess that has overstayed its welcome. It grows in piles in your office, unattended drawers, untidy closets and garages. The Chi has nowhere to flow. Passive chaos stops and drains us. The only way out is to break up the tasks in manageable chunks and tackle them one at a time.                                                                           

The more you let go of the old and organize, the more you attract the new.

Art Complements Feng Shui

   Art of all kinds, including paintings, sculptures, collages and textiles have a powerful effect on your personal energy. To enhance the Chi in your home choose art that elicits positive feelings and makes your heart sing. Your goal is to make sure every piece in your home is one that you love.
   Match your art with the function if each room. Choose soothing, romantic or sensual for bedroom; lively, colorful for the living room; powerful and motivational for home office.

    Use the Bagua Map to help you choose the appropriate art. This Georgia O'Keeffe painting would enhance both the Fame and Reputation area due to it's fiery redness, as well as the Love and Marriage area due to it's representation of a pair of red flowers. Have fun with it!

Feng Shui Entrances

Indoors: As stated in previous posts, the two most important rooms in your home are your master bedroom and your front entrance. The inside of your front entrance is as important as the outside. This is the first thing your guests see and where the Chi (life energy) enters. In Feng Shui your entrance foyer needs to be beautifully inviting. The best painting in the household should be displayed by the front door. If you have the space, set up a welcoming arrangement that may include art, a table with a vase of flowers and/or an interior fountain. When your entry is small hang an attractive mirror, or art with depth to open the space.
 As with the outdoor entrance area, keep the indoor parth free of clutter; avoid toys, sports equiptment, recyclables and mail. If you have a coat rack by the door, keep it organized and not overly stuffed.
  Do whatever you can to treat yourself, your guests and your "chi" to a welcoming first impression.

Most Important Rooms in Feng Shui

The two most important rooms in your home are the master bedroom, which you can read about in previous blogs, and the front entrance.  The area leading up to your front door, as well as immediately inside and outside make up this very important area. This is a place of first impressions, of welcoming your guests and the entrance of "Chi" (positive energy) into your home.  As in your bedroom, make this the most fabulous area ever.

Outdoors: Install a water feature near your front entrance to symbolize your desire to have prosperity flow in (ensure that the water is directed toward your home).  Make the landscaping around your entrance especially lush and inviting.  If possible create a curved, meandering path to the front door, and place interesting garden art and a seating area embellished with beautiful flowers.

In Feng Shui, the color red is often associated with prosperity. Many people paint their front doors a shade of red,  or place red flowers as greeters on each side of the door. Have fun with it, and enjoy the benefits of positive energy flowing in.

Feng Shui Bedroom Views

The view from your bed influences your view of the world. It's what you see first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. Couples who share the same view in the bedroom share the same view in life.  Make it a beautiful, romantic one. Shut, or screen bathroom or closet doors, and create serene views with pleasing art, furniture and plants. Avoid busy, chaotic or sad art.

This picture below is what we  see in the morning.  The glass bowl with the bird was a wedding present to my parents and carries with it romantic memories.

Choose your furnitute carefully. Do the pieces carry "downer" or happy memories? Surround yourself with only the most positive memories.

Make sure there's adequate space for attractive nightstands and lamps on both sides of the bed. Even if you're single you need to prepare your bedroom for two.

More Bedroom Feng Shui

Master bedrooms are better when they are cozy and romantic. No matter how big your bedroom is,  create areas where you can feel nestled, completely secure and sheltered from the world.  A study concluded that the larger the master bedrooms the greater the divorce rate.

Make sure that the art in your bedroom is romantic, and that the view from your bed (the first thing you see when you get up) is absolutely wonderful. The art should be something that both partners find very pleasing so that they can share the same point of view.

It is also important that televisions are placed behind closed doors when not being viewed. The energy they create reduces sleep as well as romance. Placing them in an armoire with closing doors, or covering it with a decorative cloth are wonderful solutions.

Feng Shui for Master Bedrooms

No matter which Bagua area your master bedroom is located, it needs to be treated as a romantic boudoir. Whether you are single, or in a relationship make your master bedroom a sensual place; add romantic music, some sensuous fabrics, include scented oils or candles, and choose art and colors that visually wrap you in their warm embrace. Place PAIRS of items such as candles, pillows, nightstands and lamps in the room to indicate a loving relationship or being open and ready for one.  

Choose your colors carefully. The best bedroom colors are skin tones found in all races of people from around the world; including creamy beiges and browns, pinks, yellows, reds and lavenders, as well as the deeper tones of chocolate, coral, raspberry, cream, burgundy and eggplant. AVOID pure white, black, grey, blue and cool greens as they make the bedroom chilly and less inviting. If your walls are already these colors, and painting is not an option, balance the coolness with reds or other warm tones.

Move photographs of children and family to another location. Your romantic life will improve if photos of your kids and parents aren’t staring at you in bed.

The Lunar New Year and Feng Shui

Delving into 2012 - The Year of the Water Dragon By Terah Kathryn Collins Western School of Feng Shui According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the Water Dragon arrives on January 23rd bringing the Feng Shui principle "Everything is always changing" into full play. Although the Dragon's natural element is Wood, 2012 is associated with the Water element, making this the Year of the Water Dragon. In the Chinese Five Element theory, Water nurtures Wood, fueling the Dragon's already powerful strength and vitality. The Water element is associated with spirituality and Wood with intuition, promising to lift spiritual and intuitive veils and enhance your extra-sensory perceptions. Meditation and other practices that deepen your relationship with the Unseen world will go a long way in helping you remain calm, clear, and connected throughout this year's profusion of inner and outer transformations. If you haven't already de-cluttered your material world and released excess possessions, now's the time! The same cleansing and clearing process is also vital within your body, mind, and heart. Create space for the Dragon to land by attending to any stagnant areas in your life. This year's gifts can only be fully received by the unencumbered. The lighter you are on all levels, the better. The only mythical animal of the twelve in Chinese astrology, the Dragon is known for bringing Heaven to Earth and making dreams come true. "Watch what you wish for, 'cause you're going to get it," is a phrase to remember as synchronicities multiply, breathing life into whatever you pray and wish for. Visions you've been holding deep within your heart, such as experiencing loving community, lasting peace, spiritual illumination, and restoration of Mother Earth become potently activated and, like magic, could manifest 'right before your eyes.' And, the changes that accommodate such manifestations can occur in any size or shape, underlining the importance of cultivating your lightness of being and doing. The magnanimous spirit of the Dragon is entwined with a practical, no-nonsense attitude that simply reveals what is so. This is no year for secrets of any kind. Truth will prevail as all that has been personally and collectively hidden is exposed to the light. This could make for some very interesting 'plays' in the Theater of Life. With the growing, flowing attributes of Wood and Water leading the way this year, dreams could launch without a stable platform in place. Feng Shui observes that the qualities of the other three elements - Fire, Earth, and Metal - can balance Wood and Water and help you to birth your dreams into a healthy existence. Attend to the emotional well-being of the people in your life, taking the time to 'tend the fire' and create warm, harmonious relationships. Honor every step of the earthy physical processes that provide a firm foundation and keep you organized. Maintain mental clarity by thinking things through, forging creative collaborations, and refining your choices along the way. Taking all five elements into consideration can widen synchronistic pathways and help you be in the right place with the right people at the right time. This is the year to turn-up the magic in your life and let it shine. Consider how you can weave more wonder into every day. Open yourself to the vast realms of inner guidance and outer communion with all 'who' surround you. Spend as much time as you can connecting with expansive natural settings and drinking in the elixir of Mother Nature's ever-present majesty. Let the Dragon guide you in bridging Heaven and Earth in your life, then step throughthe portals of magic as they open, ready to be enchanted!

More Feng Shui for Prosperity Ideas

When the Wealth and Prosperity Area of your home is missing, or you have a particular financial challenge, you can enhance that area of the Bagua in every room in your house. This client created purple flower vases with silk flowers, glass vases and nine coins. She placed one, with an affirmation, in the back left hand corner of all the major rooms in her house. Good things are happening!

 

Adding a fountain to the Career Area of your home keeps the prosperity flowing in. Make sure that it is either a 360 degree bubbler or pointed so that the water flows toward the inside of your home.