Basic Feng Shui Cure #8: Elemental Colors Balance the Chi for Good Fortune

Note: This series explores the 9 basic Feng Shui cures.

Color plays an instrumental role in Feng Shui. Colors evoke different moods based on our personal preferences, cultural traditions, and simply the way they can open or close a space.

For instance, white or beige is a great color for a foyer or small, narrow hallway, as it makes the space seem wider and more welcoming. In China, red is considered a color of good fortune, and is a good color for a door or accent colors in a room.

You can also use the color that corresponds to the element in that section of the Ba Gua. In other words, black or purple would activate the wealth section of your home.

Finally, you can employ the elemental color cycle in your home to balance the chi of a space. The five-elemental color cycle, in spite of its name, can be used in versions of either three, four, or five colors. You can learn more about the five elemental color destructive and creative cycles in the article, “Use the Feng Shui Five Element Color Cycle to Change Your Life.”

Color selection in Feng Shui relies heavily on personal preference and intuition, but understanding the psychology and culture behind certain colors can help lead you in the right direction when picking the colors for your home.

Basic Feng Shui Cure #7: Use Bamboo Flutes For Protection

Note: This series explores the 9 basic Feng Shui cures.

In Feng Shui, Bamboo flutes symbolize safety, peace and stability. Along with mirrors and wind chimes, they are one of the most common Feng Shui cures. Bamboo is known for its strength and sturdiness.

A bamboo plant placed on your desk will activate the section of the Ba Gua in which it resides.

Hollow and with multiple segments, bamboo shoots symbolically lift the chi up through the flute. They can be used as cures for:

- exposed ceiling beams
- slanted ceilings that create a sense of stress and oppression

To cure these situations, hang two bamboo flutes with red ribbons tied around them, slanting inwards, directly on the beam. This shape mimics the upper portion of the octagonal Ba Gua, representing good fortune.

Bamboo flutes can also be placed under the bed or couch that is situated beneath the beam.

Flutes that resemble swords are used to ward off negative chi and evil spirits. Hang them in the doorway to help guard against theft or home attacks.

For Lack of a Bamboo Flute (or Two)...
Jesse James and Sandra Bullock's former Southern California home could have used some bamboo flutes. This popular Feng Shui cure could have even helped to strengthen the couple's marriage and prevent divorce.

In these photos, you can see exposed beams in the living room directly above their furniture, and another beam above their bed, which may have led to the infidelity in their marriage by symbolically separating the couple.

Basic Feng Shui Cure #6 - Use Electrical Devices to Activate Sections of the Bagua for Increased Wealth and Fame

Note: This series explores the 9 basic Feng Shui cures.

When the ancient Chinese first began using Feng Shui, of course, there was no such thing as electricity. Modern Feng Shui masters had to find ways to account for these devices and their affects on the chi of a home, apartment or business.

Today, electrical devices including stereo sound systems, television sets, and, of course, lights, are employed as one of the nine basic Feng Shui cures. In general, electrical objects have a very active, lively chi, and are useful to brighten a space when more energy is needed.

No Place in the Bedroom
Electrically powered objects should be kept out of the bedroom -- and especially the master bedroom -- as they can create stress and detract from a good night's sleep and the peaceful, calming atmosphere of a bedroom.

If you require an electric or battery-powered alarm clock to wake up in the morning, point the clock so it is facing away from you. The lights may keep you awake at night, and, if you can't sleep, there's nothing worse than watching the minutes rush by as morning approaches. This only adds to insomnia.

Electrical Energy to Raise the Chi
In most areas of the home, electrical energy is positive, carrying uplifting chi that will activate that segment of the Ba Gua. An air conditioner in the wealth corner will have the same effect as a water feature -- improving the financial situation of the home's residents. A television in the fame corner is an effective way to become more well-known in your industry or vocation.   

Basic Feng Shui Cure #5: Use Heavy Objects for Stability

Note: This series explores the 9 basic Feng Shui cures.
 
Feeling unsettled? Does your life lack stability? Do you jump from job to job, or always fear the next big change, simply because you're tired of flitting around without direction?

If you crave stability, placing heavy objects -- or symbolically heavy objects -- in various segments of the Ba Gua can help.

Outdoors, you can employ large stones or boulders to activate different sections of the Ba Gua. For instance, if you want greater job security, place a boulder in the career section of your yard. However, make sure the rock is not too close to your front door, or you will risk feeling “blocked” and stuck.

If you fear that your partner may leave and want a more stable marriage, place a heavy object in the marriage section of the Ba Gua. If your health constantly fluctuates and want greater consistency with good health, a stone, statue or rock garden in the health section of the Ba Gua will attract better health and longevity to you.

Heavy Objects Indoors
Indoors, a small rock garden that is symbolically heavy can suit the same purpose. You can activate different sections of your home, a room, or your desk using heavy objects.

The Chinese often rely on a symbolically heavy object called a “Yu” to add stability to a certain area of life. A Yu is a small Chinese ink pot with stones in the bottom. Placed under the bed in the master bedroom, a Yu will add a sense of stability and security to your love life and also help you sleep better.

Learn more about how to add stability to your life with heavy objects.

Basic Feng Shui Cure #4: Use Moving Objects to Disperse Killing Chi

Note: This series explores the 9 basic Feng Shui cures.

Moving objects -- wind-powered or electrical -- can activate positive chi and also block the effects of killing chi.

What is Killing Chi?
Killing chi, or Sha, is chi that carries with it misfortune. It comes from architectural features like the corner of another building pointed directly at your home or apartment, the corner of a square post pointing at your front door, or from buildings with negative connotations and energy, such as funeral homes.

If your neighbor has a steeply slanted roof and the eave points directly at your home, this carries sha. Likewise with the end of a road at a t-intersection, or the end of a dead end. People who live in these houses often have misfortune.

Mobiles, Windmills, Whirligigs and Weather Vanes to Disperse Negative Chi
A weather vane pointed at the source of the sha will deflect the negative chi. Windmills will help disperse rushing chi -- positive or negative.

Indoors, mobiles can be used (in the same way as wind chimes) to disperse rushing chi down a long hallway or at the bottom of a staircase.

Moving Water Features
There's something relaxing yet revitalizing about a water fountain, geyser or waterfall. These features on a property or within a home activate positive chi and can attract financial wealth to a home's inhabitants.

Basic Feng Shui Cure #3: Living Objects Bring Good Fortune

Note: This series explores the 9 basic Feng Shui cures.

Few things are more full of life chi, vitality and rejuvenating power than living objects. Living objects that represent Feng Shui cures include:

- Plants (living or artificial)
- Flowers (potted, fresh cut, or artificial, which symbolically represent life chi)
- Aquariums and fish
- Trees

Plants
Plants can be used in Feng Shui indoors and outside to activate a specific section of the Ba Gua, help circulate chi and provide hope and good fortune to a home's residents. Used in a business, plants and flowers attract clients, good business, opportunities and positive chi.

Within the home, you can use plants to:

- Resolve shop corners that create “poison arrows” leading to illness and unrest
- Mask pillars that may make the inhabitants of a home or apartment feel “blocked”
- Help the flow of a chi in a space with an awkward step, such as in a sunken living room
- Complete the corner of a room

Flowers
Flowers can also be used indoors or out to activate a segment of the Ba Gua -- especially if they represent the elemental colors that correspond to that section of the Ba Gua. In other words, white flowers in the children and creativity section of a Ba Gua may help with fertility, while purple flowers in the wealth corner may help improve your finances. Learn more about how to attract positive people and wealth into your life with flowers in this article.

If you use fresh cut flowers, be sure to replace them before they die. Dead flowers are not ideal in a home.

Trees
Trees are powerful Feng Shui cures that can also create Feng Shui problems by blocking the flow of chi if not properly placed.

A tree in front of your door may create a sense of feeling stuck or blocked. But a tree placed behind your home, but not so close that it touches your home, will create a sense of security and protection. Learn more about how to protect your health, wealth and family by planting trees.

Fish bowls and Aquariums
In Feng Shui, water and water symbols (including the color black or pictures of water) equate to wealth and prosperity. This is why a Chinese place of business often has an aquarium with living fish in the wealth corner of the Ba Gua.

Fish are also believed to absorb negative chi. When a fish dies, it has absorbed all the bad chi it can stand, and the dead fish should be replaced immediately.

Living objects can help the flow of chi and bring good fortune in a number of ways. Besides, doesn't any home feel happier and healthier with living plants and flowers?

Basic Feng Shui Cure #2: Objects that Make Sounds Offer Security and Wealth

Note: This series explores the 9 basic Feng Shui cures.

Wind chimes and bells are the second of nine Ysing Feng Shui cures.

Wind Chimes
Wind chimes can be used in a similar way as crystals, to disperse the flow of rushing chi. A wind chime hung on the eave of a home or terrace of an apartment can help improve finances for the residents, as well as providing a pleasant-sounding greeting to visitors and people returning home.

Wind chimes can also help alleviate depression and laziness, as explained in this post.

The best wind chimes will have a deep, pleasant tonal quality and will be made up of 5 individual tubes to represent the 5 elements of Feng Shui.

Shopkeeper's Bell
A shopkeeper's bell can provide a sense of security to people in a home or place of business. If the master bedroom is located on the top floor of a home, a shopkeeper's bell at the front door provides a greater sense of control to the home's inhabitants.

Similarly, if a master bedroom is located behind the swing of a door, a bell hung on the door can help prevent danger, surprise and misfortune.

A bell hung on the front door will also activate the segment of the Ba Gua in which the door is located, either the helpful people sector, knowledge and wisdom sector, or career sector.

Basic Feng Shui Cure #1: Bright or Light Refracting Objects to Raise Chi

Note: This series explores the 9 basic Feng Shui cures.

Bright or light-refracting objects include mirrors, crystal balls and, in modern Feng Shui, lights.

Mirrors
Mirrors, sometimes called the aspirin of Feng Shui, are often used to create a sense of depth, when:

- a wall is too close to a front door
- a home has slanted walls or ceilings, which can feel oppressive
- to deflect the negative impact of poison arrows, unpleasant views or anything that creates negative chi, such as funeral homes or high-traffic streets

Rules for Using Mirrors in Feng Shui
- Mirrors should never be hung so low that they cut off the top of your head. This can lead to feelings of low self-esteem, tension and even headaches.

- Mirrors should be all one piece, not tiled. Tiled mirrors distort the image, leading to illness as well as feelings of dis-ease.

- Mirrors should not be hung so high that people have to look up to see them. This can create feelings of “not measuring up” or feeling “small.”

- Mirrors should be bright and clear, not dark or smoky. Smoked glass can lower the chi and feel oppressive in a space -- the exact opposite of the effect you want a mirror to have.

Crystal Balls
Crystal balls are often used to slow and disperse the flow of chi. You may hang one between two doors that are parallel to each other (fighting doors) to slow the flow of chi, or at the top and/or bottom of a steep staircase that leads out a door.

Lights
Lights are used almost as frequently as mirrors in Feng Shui. A spotlight can square off the shape of an L-shaped building, replacing a missing area of the Ba Gua. It can also be used to direct chi upward from a valley, especially if a house is located on the hill. This helps prevent money from “rolling away” from the site. Lights in an entryway can make a space seem larger and more welcoming, inviting opportunities into your home.

For outdoor lighting, you may want to consider solar electric lights, which gather solar energy during the day in order to stay lit at night. These are cost-effective and environmentally friendly and can be used to fill in missing areas of the Ba Gua or lift the chi of a downhill space.

9 Basic Feng Shui Cures to Change Your Life

Feng Shui employs nine basic cures in various forms. These objects can be used to:

- resolve unbalanced shapes
- fix “missing” areas of the Ba Gua in a home, apartment or on a plot of land
- adjust or re-direct the flow of chi
- activate specific areas of the Ba Gua related to different areas of your life

Personal Style is King
It's important, when using these Feng Shui cures, to pay attention to your personal style and your home's decor. While an object like a mirror or wind chimes can probably be found to blend in with or fit almost any surroundings, the danger exists of hanging a myriad of objects from your walls and ceilings that result in a cluttered look.

When you practice Feng Shui cures, your intention is not for your home to look like a gift shop in China town. Any Feng Shui cures should enhance your personal style and decor and make your home more comfortable to live in, while balancing, enhancing or redirecting the flow of chi.

For this reason, color (Basic Feng Shui cure #8) is one of the most frequently used Feng Shui cures. Everything must be a color -- why not use the elemental colors in complementary ways to balance the flow of chi?

Immediate Results
Many people see immediate results after employing one of the 9 Feng Shui cures to improve a particular area of their life -- especially when the cure is backed by strong intention. Taking action on the mundane level will increase the positive results to an even greater degree.

Often, seeing the Feng Shui cures in our home remind us of the actions we want to take to improve our lives. Taking this action, in turn, strengthens the power of the cure even more.

These are the 9 basic Feng Shui cures, which we will explore in depth in a series of upcoming posts.

1. Bright or light-refracting objects, such as lights, mirrors, crystal balls. An octagonal mirror, in the shape of the Ba Gua, is considered especially good luck in Feng Shui.

2. Objects that make sounds (wind chimes, bells and music)

3. Living objects, including plants, flowers, trees, fish bowls with living fish, aquariums and other pets.

4. Moving objects include both water features such as fountains and waterfalls, and other objects that move by wind or electrical power, such as mobiles, weather vanes, and windmills.

5. Heavy or symbolically heavy objects, such as stones, statues, rock gardens or a Yu bowl -- a Chinese inkpot with stones in the bottom -- can help “ground” and stabilize chi, creating a sense of stability and longevity.

6. Electric-powered objects, including televisions, computers, etc.

7. Bamboo flutes are frequently used in Feng Shui to raise the chi of a space and for other purposes

8. Colors - The elemental colors help balance the chi of a space

9. Others - This broad category includes the Ba Gua, as well as rituals we perform with strong intention.

Need help to figure out how you should incoporate these items into your space?

For more info, go here: Feng Shui Consultation Options

Lessons from Cow Camp: Stay Focused to Achieve Your Goals

I often talk about how, in order to achieve your goals, you must first set your intention. It's especially heartwarming to see children apply focus in their life, set their intention, and achieve a goal.

This was the case this July when Alex and Kate Guernsey (ages 7 and 8) hosted the first annual Cow Camp in July. (No, there weren't actual cows, just horses, golf and other fun activities -- and a lot of moo-ing, apparently.)

Back in January, Alex and Kate determined they were not going to go to summer camp, but wanted to run their own, instead.

Their mother, Lana Guernsey, hoped they'd change their minds by the time summer rolled around, or that she could convince them to attend a conventional summer camp. “But no,” Guernsey recalls. “They were steadfast and resolute that they were running their own camp.”

So Guernsey did what any good mother would do: Set parameters to see just how serious the girls were. “I told them they had to have a theme, activities and a plan, just like a real camp,” she shares.

A few days later, eight-year-old Kate presented her mom with a PowerPoint slide show, outline of the camp's activities and a schedule.

Clearly, nothing was stopping them or changing their mind. Impressed by their vision and determination, I stepped up to sponsor the camp, and will be sharing videos and photos of the adventures at Cow Camp over the next few weeks.

Cow Camp gave the Guernsey girls, and their friends, a unique opportunity to take responsibility for a project and see what can really happen when they set their intention and make a plan to achieve a goal.

Guernsey says, "Watching the girls run their camp was a great reminder of what happens when we listen to kids and validate their ideas. The chance to design their own camp gave them a freedom to pursue what they really cared about in a way that doesn't happen very often these days and having a corporate sponsor made the entrepreneurial experience that much more real.”