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.

 

Feng Shui for Prosperity

With the Chinese New Year approaching, people tend to think about bringing more prosperity into their lives. 2012 represents the year of the Black Water Dragon, which needs the water element to prosper. This is a time to add a water feature to your Career and Wealth sectors of your environment. My daughter just enhanced her wealth area, which is her bedroom and walk in closet. She refreshed the  walls with a neutral eggshell color  and added opulent purple accents. (The primary color representing wealth)  She also decluttered and organized the closet, and hung a lavender 30 mm. round faceted crystal in it.  Looking at the pictures below, based on the Chinese New Year I would recommend adding a small bubbler fountain in the bedroom to call in the Chi. With positive affirmations, her prosperity is bound to increase.

        

        

Feng Shui's Treasure Map

Whether you realize it or not, your home environment is constantly either supporting, or sapping 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.

The Bagua:

One of the most provocative, powerful and important tools in Feng Shui is the Bagua (Ba-gua) Map, represented as a grid of nine sectors.  I call this the “Treasure Map” to enhancements.  The Bagua comes from the Chinese Book of Changes, “The I Ching,” and literally means “eight trigrams.” These trigrams form the basic building blocks, or treasures that hold the most significance in our lives: career, knowledge/self cultivation, family/health, wealth/prosperity, fame, love/marriage, children/creativity, and helpful people/travel.  Each of these building blocks is represented in the Bagua map, and are formed around a ninth sector which is the overall center, or grounding element of your life.

The home’s main entrance is always located at the bottom of the grid, (in the knowledge, career or helpful people sector). Once you have identified where your entrance falls in relation to the map, you can identify where the remaining areas of your environment fall.  Now your home can begin to tell the story, and shed some light on issues you may be facing in your life.

What happens if one or more of these sectors is missing from your home or business environment? I can help you make structural or symbolic enhancements to anchor these areas.  I invite you to share your Feng Shui questions with me.                                                 

                                                                               BAGUA MAP

WEALTH PROSPERITY	FAME REPUTATION	LOVE MARRIAGE RELATIONSHIPS
FAMILY FRIENDS HEALTH	CENTER GROUNDING	CHILDREN CREATIVITY
KNOWLEDGE SELF-CULTIVATION	CAREER	HELPFUL PEOPLE TRAVEL

                                                                                                                           

                                                                              Entrance Quadrant

Successful Feng Shui Decluttering Tips

What are your most successful  decluttering strategies? I encourage you to start a list. This will help others on their journey to create harmony in their lives.

Feng Shui - Open new Doors through Decluttering

  When practicing Feng Shui, the first step to take is  decluttering.  An organized home can have a calming effect on you, your family and guests. This does not have to be difficult; in just minutes you can begin to make changes that can turn your home into a comfortable, peaceful haven.

What works is balance. You can begin to transform your home from chaos to paradise with the “few minutes a day technique”. I call it the “Salami Method of Time Management”, taking one slice at a time.  Organizing possessions and eliminating clutter can be viewed as an adventurous mission that opens portals to your personal paradise.  By getting rid of the things you no longer want or need, you revitalize your home and make room for what you really DO want to flow into your life; you enhance your happiness, clarity and peace of mind. In Feng Shui everything counts, so your storage areas are as important as the most lived-in areas. In other words, if your room is orderly because everything is stuffed into a closet, you are not practicing Feng Shui.

Clutter is defined as any items that are disliked, unused, in excess and/or unorganized.  To begin choose a space you consider cluttered, such as a closet, storeroom, cabinet, desk drawer, table top, or kitchen cupboard, then follow these simple steps:

As you’re organizing and decluttering, ask yourself these questions:

“Do I love it? Do I need it? Does it represent or support who I am now? What pleasant or unpleasant memories does it hold? Does it need repair, and am I willing to restore it right now? If I’m letting go, will I sell, lend, or give it away, and when?”

Label 3 boxes or bags:  Throwaway, Giveaway, and Stowaway. When you have separated all items into 3 categories, put the throwaways in the trash immediately, prepare and label the giveaways to go to their new homes (family, friends, and charities) and make sure you remove them from the space and give them away within a week. Stowaway the items you are keeping to their proper places with love and gratitude.

 Your environment displays your consciousness, and there’s no more revealing place to look than behind closet doors. You’ll know that you’ve succeeded in reinstating balance when you respond positively to every part of your home, and can easily put your hand on everything you need at any time. Congratulations!  Now watch for the helpful people, opportunities, and things that flow into your life because you have let go of the old and made room for the new.

Symbolism of 3:

The numbers 3 and 9 are auspicious in Feng Shui, because they are said to bring luck. I have read that to open fresh opportunities in the New Year, it is recommended to get rid of 27 (3x9) items from your house. Symbolic, yes…but it also helps clear the clutter. My husband and I make game of finding 27 items each before New Year’s and donating them, then we visualize doors opening.

               Enjoy the holiday season!  I invite you to share your decluttering stories.