An Amazing Feng Shui Gift Opportunity

Are you looking for  the perfect gift to give? A gift that will keep on giving, and can help your friends, or family enhance the energy of their home, and consequently help them achieve their goals. 

Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese art of placement,  professes that making a few simple changes in your home can have an immediate and powerful effect on your personal well-being, as well as on the material aspects of your life. I call it empowerment through environment! You create a supportive environment for yourself by decluttering and enhancing the spaces in your home to help circulate the Ch’i.

The recipient of this valuable gift will be able to schedule an in person, or virtual consultation at their convenience. At that time they will:

• Learn the history and focus of Feng Shui.
• Learn how to apply the Bagua to the layout of their home, in order to locate each of the the areas related to their life.
• Identify their areas of greatest need, and their goals.
• Learn numerous ways to  declutter, and enhance the areas related to their goals.
• Experience positive shifts in the energy in their home and in their life.
• Receive a written report.
• Be able to connect with me for complimentary questions via email or text throughout their journey.

This is an amazing opportunity. Just text, or email me if you would like to purchase this once in a lifetime gift. 

Yes! Feng Shui Can Help You Achieve Your Life Goals

Are you looking to realize your goals? Feng Shui creates an environment that radiates out positive energy and nurtures your life. With easy Feng Shui enhancements, you achieve your life goals, and this workbook is designed to lead you to success in eight easy steps.

With over a decade of experience as a Feng Shui consultant, I have witnessed the power of Feng Shui to dramatically transform people’s lives. The goal is to go slow and take it one step at a time, which is why I created this workbook in a reflective step-by-step format.

Get ready to make those important changes in your life! My book will be available on Amazon this Winter. Stay tuned. I call it your personal Feng Shui consultation in a book, with lots of space for self reflection, easy to follow action steps, real life examples, and numerous testimonials from clients who found success through Feng Shui.  

                       Empowerment through Environment!

Enrich Your Home’s Feng Shui by Removing Excess Clutter

Our granddaughter loves to create beautiful works of art at her craft table, but soon the table becomes a huge pile of cut up papers, glue, paint etc. There was an excess of materials and not an organized way to replace them when done. My daughter came up with a solution to remove the excess and create an open area with a space for everything, as well as a magnetic board for her to display her masterpieces. She loves this area and it is enhancing the Ch’i in the Children and Creativity Area of her home.

                                                  From excess clutter to organized art area

How Clutter Affects the Bagua

There is often a correlation between excessive clutter and problems that occur in one’s life. For example, a cluttered desk or closet in the Wealth and Prosperity area can lead to feeling stuck with finances. Look at your home with Feng Shui eyes. What are you holding on to that is keeping you stuck?

Decluttering Made Easy

“I can’t keep up with my work . . . I go from one fire to another . . . I feel so overwhelmed . . . I don’t know where to begin . . . I feel blocked . . . I have no energy . . .” Do you hear yourself or others around you saying such things? Look around. Do you see piles of unfiled papers, items stacked everywhere, blocked doors, overstuffed closets, broken items . . . in other words, excess clutter?

It is time to clear the excess in your home that are holding you back. 

The task does not have to be difficult. You can transform your home from chaos to a comfortable, peaceful haven with the few-minutes-a-day technique I call the “Salami Method of Time Management”—slicing off one piece at a time. Think of eliminating clutter and organizing your possessions as an adventure that will open doors to new opportunities. By getting rid of things you no longer want or need, you will revitalize your home and make room for what you really do want to flow into your life, bringing you more happiness, clarity, and peace of mind. 

Feng Shui views excess clutter as a manifestation of two types of chaos: Active chaos and passive chaos. Active chaos is the clutter that results from your creating something, such as while cooking, painting, remodeling, reorganizing, etc. This clutter will be cleared when the project is completed. Passive chaos is the clutter that stays in piles in closets, under beds, in garages, and generally all over the house. This is the clutter that blocks the flow of the life energizing Ch’i and consequently drains your life. In Feng Shui everything counts, which means that your storage areas are as important as your most lived-in spaces. In other words, if your room is orderly because you have clutter stuffed in your closets, you are not practicing Feng Shui. 

                                                                                                                               A garage filled with excess to a more organized one

To begin decluttering, first pick up the items that are in plain sight and return each to its designated place.  Then either donate, toss, or recycle the excess items you no longer want or need. 

Once you have cleared the space of the visible clutter, move to a drawer or a shelf in a closet. Avoid overwhelming yourself and declutter just a little bit every day. For example, if a dresser is the first thing you see as you enter the room, clear the visible excess clutter from the top of the dresser first. Then move in a counterclockwise direction around the room clearing other areas of visible clutter. On another day, return to the dresser to declutter the top drawer, the next day the second drawer, and so on. Give yourself permission to remove items that you no longer use, are broken, or that hold negative memories. Either pass them on or toss them out.

                                                                                                                            A busy bedroom with excess items to a more peaceful one

Decluttering and removing excess items a little bit every day does not take long, and the results are noticeable almost immediately. You will start to feel the positive energy flowing through your home, your personal energy will be renewed, and life-changing opportunities will start coming your way. 

Increase Your Wealth and Prosperity the Feng Shui Way

When you express gratitude, you are really reflecting your prosperity. Prosperity does not refer solely to financial wealth. It also encompasses the richness of your life. Are you rich in friends, family, love, community, health, talent, career, self-fulfillment, inner peace and/or finances? How prosperous are you? You can easily take positive steps to contribute to your own prosperity—and Feng Shui can help. 

Feng Shui utilizes your positive connection with your environment to help clear the way for blessings to enter your life. 

In the I Ching, the Wealth and Prosperity area of your home or business is called “Persistent Wind.” It is not about winning the lottery or hitting it rich in the stock market but about steadily gathering resources to secure present and future happiness on all fronts. 

Begin your prosperity work by culling and organizing the old to make way for the flow of new abundance. Take time to look at your home’s Wealth and Prosperity area and ask yourself, “Is the area enhancing or draining my prosperity? What can I do to improve this area of my life?” 

In the Feng Shui Bagua, the Wealth and Prosperity area is located in the back left of your home or business.

The Elements for Wealth and Prosperity

The elements for the Wealth and Prosperity area are Fire and Wood. The Fire element is represented in any shade of red, ranging from pink tones to burgundy and purple; cone and triangle shapes; any type of lighting; anything derived from animals; art representing people, animals, suns, stars. Adding representations of the Wood element, such as plants or items made of wood, helps to nurture the Fire enhancements. And because Water feeds Wood, incorporating all three elements further encourages the flow of Ch’i. Picture a beautiful fountain surrounded by purple plants near a wooden table with a deep burgundy or red umbrella.

To help your prosperity I flow into your life, try a few of the following enhancements:

• Begin by decluttering the space.

• Add any shade of purple, red, or blue, which evokes the feeling of richness.

• Enhance with vibrant live or artificial plants having rounded leaves.

• Install water features such as fountains, waterfalls, or aquariums. Water will feed the Wood                      element, which in turn feeds the Fire element. Prosperity flows in with water,                                            both in the Wealth and Prosperity and Career areas. 

• Display art in the colors purple, red, or dark blue, that represent wealth, or depict                                       large family gatherings.

• Display valuable possessions.

• Add affirmations calling in prosperity.

Try a few of the  following  enhancements for the outside of the area:

• Continue enhancing with the colors purple, red, and blue in flowers, pots, cushions, umbrellas.

• Add a water feature flowing toward the home or business.

        (Waterfalls or 360-degree bubbling fountains work well here in letting prosperity flow.)

• Call in the Ch’i by adding flags, whirligigs, mobiles, or wind chimes.

What to Avoid in the Wealth and Prosperity Area

• Anything old, worn, and in poor condition

• Clutter of any form, which blocks prosperity from flowing

A Wealth and Prosperity Area Not Located Within the Bagua

If your Wealth and Prosperity 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 corner structurally, such as building a trellis or deck, planting flowers in a flower garden or planter boxes in the purple spectrum, adding a fountain, a seating arrangement or a figure representing wealth and prosperity. 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 a picture of a prosperity representation on the wall by the missing corner. If the missing area happens to be a parking lot, you can draw a small symbol of a dollar sign, Yin/Yang sign or the trigram for persistent wind in the exact location, closing off the corner. In a lawn or dirt area a piece of rose quartz can also be buried pointing up in the exact corner to symbolize anchoring.

Sample Affirmations for the Wealth and Prosperity Area

• “I feel very comfortable with my finances.”

• “I have an abundance of blessings through my family and friends.”

• “I just signed a lucrative book deal.”

Enjoy all the prosperity your life has to offer!

Variety is the Spice of Life and so in Feng Shui

 

It is so rewarding and fun to enhance your home using Feng Shui principles. There are no hard and fast rules, but rather recommendations to help balance and improve the energy of your home. This positive energy will in turn help you to achieve your life goals.  

Feng Shui offers a variety of Ch’i enhancers for you to choose from. It’s not about just hanging crystals. It’s about finding the personal enhancers that match your personality and style.  All these enhancers are tools to help correct problem areas, balance the energy, and bring beauty into your environment.

Below is a list of possible enhancers. Each serves a purpose. As always in Feng Shui, they must be ones that you love!  You can choose one or more per given area, but for them to work make sure that they bring you joy, and that they are placed with intentionality and affirmations.

v  Art and Colors– These are my favorite ways to enhance. Using the Bagua choose art that represents the area.

v  Career – Moving waterscapes, such as oceans, lakes, streams (Black)

v  Knowledge and Self Cultivation – Calm wooded landscapes (Blues/Greens)

v  Health, Family, and Friends – Florals, family pictures (Blues/Greens)

v  Wealth and Prosperity – Art which represents opulence (Purple, Dark Blue, Red)

v  Fame and Reputation – Art which represents celebration or achievements ((Red)

v  Love and Marriage – Romantic art, or representing pairs (Red, Pink, White)

v  Children and Creativity – Whimsical art, representing children (White, Pastels)

v  Helpful People and Travel – Travel art, spiritual guides, mountains (Grey, white, black)

v  Center and Grounding – Art representing the earth, deserts, fields (Earth tones)      

                             

v  Crystals – Round, glass, faceted ones are hung to anchor missing areas, circulate Ch’i  in tight spaces, and to block Ch’i from escaping.

                    

v  Lighting – Electric, candles, natural sunlight all represent the fire element, and are especially
helpful in the Wealth, Fame, and Love areas.

                                           

v  Living Things – Plants and flowers are especially helpful in the Knowledge and Health areas, although their specific colors can aid in enhancing a specific Bagua area.

                                

                        

v  Mirrors – These are called the “aspirin of Feng Shui” because they can be used to anchor missing areas, enhance the Career area, and block negative energy.

                                             

v  Objects of Nature – Rocks are particularly helpful in the Children and Helpful People areas. Anything like shells or seed pods can be placed where they have the greatest association. For example, in the Love area if they were collected with your soulmate.

                                             

v  Sound Makers and Wind Dancers – These are great for calling in the Ch’i. Windchimes, whirligigs, flags and bells are particularly helpful in the Career and Wealth areas.

                     

v  Water Features – Fountains, waterfalls, fish tanks are particularly helpful in the Career and Wealth areas. Make sure that the water is flowing towards the house.

                                 

Using Feng Shui to Find Your Perfect Home

Lately I’m getting many return clients, who are requesting help finding a new home. They are looking for a new start, away from some of the issues that needed enhancing in their prior locations. 

Are you looking to buy or rent a new place?  After moving in, would you rather hear this, “This house has been so lucky for us! Since we moved in all good things have been happening,” or, “Since we moved here it’s been just one bad thing after another?”  Obviously, you want to feel that moving into a new place has enhanced your life. Feng Shui can help!

Buying a house can be an exciting experience, even if at times filled with fear and doubts. Applying Feng Shui to the process of buying a house is a wise investment on many levels; it will give you peace of mind, as well as assure that your house is a good financial investment.  Good Feng Shui means good energy, and people are always attracted to it! This will sure help with the house sale in the future. 

While looking at the floorplans sent to me by my clients, found myself focusing on the positive as well as the potentially draining Feng Shui features of each house.  

Use the following checklist when looking for homes or apartments, whether buying or renting:                                   

What to look for outside of the house:

1. Location, and Lot Placement

Be sure your house receives good energy from its surroundings; a clean street, neighbors with well-kept up  homes, and nice front and back yard.  You also want to try to have a pleasant view from the front of the house.  Even if the house does not have an actual view, are the others homes well-kept and are there trees or flowers to enhance the view?

What to avoid 

• No downward sloping land behind the house. You want the house to have a good backing. In Feng Shui this is the classical armchair design with trees or a slope/hill to your back, and trees/shrubs on either side, keeping you grounded and protected. 
• Houses close to a power generator, utility pole transformer, or high-tension wires:  An electro-magnetic field within twenty-five to fifty yards of your home can be highly detrimental to the health and nervous system.
• Houses close to excessive noise: The presence of loud noises will disturb rest, distract from work, and affect intimacy. 
• River, rainwater drainage ditch or roadway behind the house: River, rainwater drainage ditch or roadway behind the house also weakens and undermines the stability of the house. Prosperity and good opportunities are easily "washed away". 

2. Doors

The front door is very important in Feng Shui as this is the entrance of Ch’i or positive energy. Good colors for front doors are any shade or red, which signifies protection and prosperity (and is easy to see), or black which signifies water and the flowing in of Ch’i, the life force energy. Doors should be sized proportionally to the house. Ideally there would be a curved path leading to the front door. Even if the path is not curved, be sure that it can be lined with healthy flowers or plants, lights, or additional elements to create positive energy as you walk to your front door.

 What to avoid 

• Front doors that are blocked by trees, walls, brickwork etc.:   The energy needs to enter freely. If the entry does have blockages, consider how much work it would take to these have removed. 
• A front door that is directly aligned with a back door or large picture window: When you open the front door, can you see straight out the back of the house through a large window or sliding glass door? This may sound like a good thing, but in Feng Shui it is considered negative as it allows the energy to rush straight though the house resulting in a loss of “good energy.” There are corrections for this, ways to slow down energy, but the ideal house would have some walls in-between.  

 What to look for inside of the house:

1. Main Entrance and Foyer

The entrance foyer is one of the most important areas of your home. How well the house is able to maintain and nourish good energy is much determined by what is happening in the main entryway. What do you see as soon as you come into the house? Ideally you would want to see a pleasantly designed living room or hallway. If the first thing you see is a wall,  place a beautiful piece of art (waterscape or natures cape) and an arrangement that would lead the eye in the direction of the energy flow into the home. Avoid placing a mirror facing the entrance, as that would send the energy back out. 

What to avoid

• Stairs directly pointing to your entrance:   Stairs leading immediately up or down directly from your front door create a “river of Ch’i,” flowing the energy away too fast. This is a particularly negative design in Feng Shui, and although there are corrections. It is best to avoid it all together.

                                      

• A bathroom or a closet door as the first thing you see: Bathrooms are known to be drains on your Chi.  They are not conducive to good energy if they are the first thing you see as you enter. Closet doors indicate blockages. Remember that you want the Chi to enter slowly and meander through every aspect of your home, thereby nourishing you. 

2. Room Positioning and Shape of the House

 The floor plan is very important when buying a new home.  In Feng Shui the ideal shape for a home is rectangular with no missing areas.  This way the energy remains in the house and each area of your life is nurtured. These areas, when missing from your home create an impact on your life and therefore it is important to use the Feng Shui Bagua map to analyze the shape or location of rooms of the home you are considering. 

Using the Feng Shui Bagua

In the Feng Shui  Bagua (Ba-gua) Map, represented  as a grid of nine sectors. The Bagua comes from the Chinese philosophy, “The I Ching,” and literally means “eight trigrams,” with the center area being for grounding.  Missing any of these areas in the layout of the floor plan will create a void of energy in that area. 

Room positioning is also very important to consider when relocating. For instance, the ideal location for a master bedroom is in the back right corner (the Love and Marriage area), kitchens work well in the center (the Grounding area of the home), children’s rooms or craft rooms are auspiciously placed in the middle right area (Children and Creativity ), home offices activate the Ch’i in the Fame (Back middle) or Career areas (Front middle). These are not hard and fast, because in Feng Shui all areas can be enhanced, but if you can begin with a house that already has a good structure you are that far ahead of the game.

What to avoid

• Extremely odd-shaped homes:  The overall problem with odd-shaped houses is that they have no easily defined center and are therefore fragmented. They will also tend to have many missing areas. 
• A garage under the bedroom, or in the Love and Marriage Area:  Garages are very active spaces therefore a bedroom situated over a garage also experiences the same level of activity and tends to disturb one's sleep. Garages tend to also be harder to keep clean, uncluttered, and organized. If you are single, looking for love, or are struggling with a current relationship, the garage’s chaotic energy will add to the problem. 
• A bathroom in the Wealth, or Relationship Area of the home:  Bathroom in your Wealth or Partnership corners tend to act as drains and you may see both prosperity and relationships "go down" the toilet or down the drain. As with any Feng Shui corrections, the appropriate use of colors, shapes and symbols can be used to strengthen these corners to overcome the bathroom's draining influence; but given the importance of prosperity and the fragility of relationships, why not avoid these if you have a choice.

You can usually correct Feng Shui problems and by being be mindful about it overcome the negative energy. Many corrections, enhancements and cures are on my newspaper columns – www.fengshuibymaria.com.  

The goal is to  choose the correct house with good Feng Shui, in order to avoid having to make numerous corrections –so, if you have the choice, why not begin with the best.

Activating Feng Shui Energy While Traveling

Travel season is upon us, and so many are taking the opportunity to enjoy exploring far away lands.

                                                

The key to good travel Feng Shui is to bring it with you internally as well as externally by packing a few enhancing items for spaces you will be temporarily occupying. Because Feng Shui is about creating harmony with the world around you, there’s no better time to step up your travel Feng Shui than while you are in transit, either at or between destinations. 

             

In her book “The Western Guide to Feng Shui” Terah Kathryn Collins goes into detail on how to create a Feng Shui Travel Kit. My daughter liked this idea so much that she created a kit she gave to me as a gift. The following are excerpts from the book, with some of my personal examples.    

Create a Feng Shui Travel Kit. Following Terah’s advice, on trips I always bring a soft Feng Shui travel pouch filled with the following items: 

• A small diagram of the Bagua
  
  
• One or more round faceted crystals on strings
  
  
• Four small items in white, red, purple and green or blue to place in each corresponding corners of the room: White in Helpful People and Travel, purple in Wealth and Prosperity, red in Love, Marriage and Relationships, and green or blue in Knowledge and Self-Cultivation.  I also bring a small picture of flowers to place in the Health, Family and Friends area.                                    (My daughter cut out angel figures from colored construction paper for this purpose.)
  
  
  
  
  
• Four tea lights (scented ones are nice) in their own metal or plastic cups
  
  
• Cleansing incense, such as pine or sandalwood
  
  
• Thumbtacks, safety pins, matches, string
  
  
• A multicolored scarf with colors that represent the Five Elements (white, black, green or blue,       yellow, and red hues)
  
  
• A smooth stone or natural crystal for grounding energy
  
  
• A touchstone that reminds me physically and emotionally of “home,” such as a picture of loved    ones or another item from home. (I have a small picture of  our wedding.)

Start at the front door of your hotel room or rental house or apartment. Referring to the Bagua, place one crystal in front of a window; place blues, greens, or florals in the Health, Family, and Friends area; purple tones in Wealth and Prosperity; white in Helpful People and Travel; and red, white, and/or pink in the Love, Marriage, and Relationships area. If the room feels especially stagnant, hang a crystal in the center of the room. Set up a place of beauty in the area you see when you wake up. You can really energize this space by laying a cloth or scarf that contains the colors of all the Five Elements and adding incense, candles, and fresh flowers when available.

Move the furniture if necessary. You can also use a towel or your Five-Element scarf to cover the TV, which is usually a big hunk of energy staring down at the bed. As always, make sure to keep the room clutter free.    

When we rented an apartment in Paris, I noticed that the plants in the window boxes were all dead, and since we were staying one week I chose to purchase geranium plants from a local florist. The change created a beautiful view and helped to activate our Ch'i while there. 

                                                                                                                                        

Creating a personalized space for ourselves in temporary environments allows us to center, unwind, and fully enjoy the fun of traveling stress free.

Synchronicity can be Just a Feng Shui Enhancement Away

Have you ever experienced that helpless feeling when everything seems to be going wrong? 

Have you experienced people not returning your calls, estimates coming in higher than expected, things breaking down or getting lost?  These are examples of your synchronicity being off.  Can Feng Shui help solve problems? Absolutely! Look at the Helpful People Area of your house and with a few easy enhancements begin turning your energy around.

Here’s a perfect example of missing synchronicity:

A client bought a new home and was thrilled because it was almost rectangular with the Wealth and Love Areas intact.  She noticed that it was missing the Helpful People/Travel areas but at the time did not think much about it, being swept away by location, price, and cuteness. Soon after it closed escrow everything started going wrong. Contractors weren’t showing up, costs were more than expected, more things were breaking down; problems also began occurring in other aspects of her life as well, including her job, health insurance, child’s daycare etc. She felt like she couldn’t catch a break! Sound familiar? 

How Feng Shui helped:

Having studied Feng Shui she turned to it for help. She knew she had to anchor the area from both inside and out. Outside she anchored it with a large white flowering plant in a round white pot and replaced a small dead tree with a beautiful blooming one surrounded by flowers. Inside she hung a round mirror and round faceted crystal to push the wall back, as well as a picture of a grey and white mountain. Within a month she was able to move in, renovate a rental unit for close to her budget, find a perfect renter and soon after was offered a lucrative new job: Coincidence or solution?

A year later, surrounded by positive energy, she was able to purchase an even larger home for her family, and is once again putting her Feng Shui knowledge to work. Your environment definitely affects your life. 

Yes, Feng Shui can help you solve problems.

Using the Feng Shui Bagua you can identify your Helpful People Area, and begin to access the energy for solutions to your problems: Attract mentors, clients, customers, vendors, employees or other helpful people in your life and/or create seamless moves to a new home or work location. The Feng Shui Bagua , from the Chinese philosophy, “The I Ching,” meaning “eight trigrams” is represented as a grid of eight sectors, with the Center being the Grounding Force. In Feng Shui the Helpful People area of your home or business is associated with synchronicity. When everything is aligned, people and places give us the inspiration and guidance we need. 

The Helpful People and Travel area is located in the front right corner of your home or business. It is governed by the Metal Element which is represented by any metal or metal paint, the colors white or grey, natural stones and circular shapes. This is why in the earlier example the person used a white blooming plant, white circular pot, a round mirror and a picture of a mountain with grey matting. 

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

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

• Items in colors of white, black or grey

• Things made of any type of metal                                                                                                        

• Natural stones or representation of natural stones such as pictures of mountains                                

• Special places where you have traveled or want to travel                                                                    

• Quotes, affirmations and sayings pertaining to Helpful People and Travel

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

• Garden art reflecting spiritual guides (angels, Buddha, saints).

• Metal items, rocks, and stones, circular or oval shapes

• Items, and flowers in the color white  

• A flag with a white background if Helpful People is your entrance

                                  

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, and push the walls back,  by hanging a 30 mm round faceted crystal, placing a mirror, and/or a picture representing helpful people or travel  on the inside wall by the missing area. 

                                                   

Affirmations:

In Feng Shui, intent plays a significant role in enhancing any area of your home or business. Enhancements need to be made with intentionality; written or stated affirmations are very important, as is for them to be expressed as if they have already happened.  Examples or affirmations for the Helpful People and Travel area: “I have a team of people who support me.” “Contractors are efficient, and work is completed efficiently under estimate.” 

Feng Shui CAN be the solution to some of your problems, and the Helpful People corner is a great place to begin. 

                                              

Relax With Feng Shui

“Mrs. McCullough, can I paint my classroom green?”  

That’s how I got into Feng Shui over 20 years ago. When I was an elementary principal, one of my teachers asked me this question because she wanted a color that would calm her students. 

The purpose of Feng Shui is to bring peace, harmony, a sense of serenity, and restfulness to you, your home and your life. The serenity you create in your home has a great deal of influence on your outlook. 

There are numerous ways to enhance your home. The most common Feng Shui Ch’i enhancers are:

Colors, art, mirrors, crystals, sound makers, natural objects, animals, flowers, lighting, plants, sound makers, water features and wind dancers.

Of all of these, I always feel that colors make the most difference in a person’s environment. In Feng Shui colors are powerful Ch’i enhancers and add strong healing quality to your home. 

“Color is a power which directly influences the soul.” Wassily Kadinski

                                        

There are areas in your home that lend themselves nicely to peace and rest; the left front section of the structure is particularly related to stillness, while the middle left side is related to health and healthy relationships.  

In the Feng Shui Bagua , represented  as a grid of nine sectors, these areas  are referred to as the “Knowledge and Self Cultivation Area”, and “Health Family and Friends.” They operate under the premise that good health and clarity of mind come from acquiring a peaceful lifestyle.  This can be accomplished through meditation, contemplation, and introspection.  Knowledge is viewed as the seed of wisdom, therefore when we spend time resting, our field of knowledge will be lush and productive.   

                                             

 “One cannot see one’s reflection in running water, but only in still water.” Chaung Tzu

The colors in these two areas, are of course the calming colors, shades of blues and greens. The beauty of adding color to your home is that it can be done in a myriad of ways. Painting walls, replacing carpeting and new furniture is the most powerful and striking, but can also be the most expensive solution. If these options are prohibitive now, accents of colors can be introduced through flowers, candles, fabrics, and art. Your choices are endless!  Consider your home a blank canvas and you the artist.

Why green and blue?

Green - Some scientists believe that our eyes are at the peak of perception to detect the wavelengths corresponding to green, the shade then calms us down. With less strain to perceive the colors, our nervous system can relax.  It also symbolizes nature and attracts harmonious feelings that can diffuse anxiety. It has been proven that walking in a green environment can induce a significant reduction in heart rate. 

Blue – Psychologists believe that blue is the color of the mind and is essentially soothing.  It is known to lower blood pressure, slow down heart rate, and believed to have a cooling and astringent effect.

                                         

In the Knowledge and Self Cultivation area consider blues, greens, and art representing calm wooded scenes. Remember the calming effect nature has on you. 

                                                     

In the Health/Family/Friends area use blues, greens and bring in art representing floral scenes, or add fresh cut flowers, or flowering plants in all colors. Flowers have a healing property. 

                                                        

When my teacher painted her classroom green, her students felt the calming quality, and it strengthened their learning community.  This can happen to you! Use the power of color and calm your world.

Breathe!

                                                    

The Quintessential Feng Shui Ch’i Enhancers – Color and Art

Ch’i enhancers are the basic Feng Shui tools used for treating, stabilizing, and balancing the energy in your environment. The ten Ch’i enhancers taught by the Western School of Feng Shui™ are:

1. Art: paintings, sculptures, collages, collections, and textiles 

2. Colors: the hues represented by the Bagua areas

3. Crystals: round and faceted to circulate Ch’i

4. Lighting: electrical, candles, oil, natural light 

5. Living things: plants, flowers, animals   

6. Mirrors: the bigger the better except for in bedrooms and dining rooms*   

7. Objects of nature: rocks, shells, seeds, natural crystals

8. Sound makers: wind chimes, bells, musical instruments 

9. Whirligigs: mobiles, flags 

10. Water features: fountains, ponds, birdbaths, aquariums

*Mirrors create active energy which is too much for both bedrooms and dining rooms where the energy needs to be peaceful and calm.

Each of these Ch’i enhancers serve a purpose:

Round glass crystals circulate Ch’i, block energy, and help anchor missing areas.

Lighting brings the Fire element to any area.

Mirrors are called “the aspirin of Feng Shui” because the activate a space, block negative energy, help anchor missing areas, and, since they represent the Water element, they help prosperity flow.

Water features help activate the flow of career and prosperity.

Sound makers and whirligigs work to call in the Ch’i. 

But 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 anything 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.