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 #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.

Is Your Home “Making” You Spend Money?

There are many reasons people spend money -- even money they don't have. J. Money offers fantastic budgeting and financial tips on his blog at Budgets Are Sexy.com. But if you've been following financial advice and still can't seem to attract wealth into your life -- there could be other factors at play.

Feng Shui is an ancient eastern art and science that helps people harness the chi (life energy) of their living environment to help them achieve their goals and live a more fulfilling life. Unfortunate home layouts, floor plans that prevent chi from moving smoothly through a space, “missing” areas of your home and other “Feng Shui don'ts” may contribute to your financial issues.

The Universe is energy (chi). We are energy. Even money -- and the things money can buy -- is made up of energy. By making sure all the energy in your space is aligned to work together, you'll see greater success in all areas of your life.

Feng Shui Results
I recently visited the home of a client who is an aspiring musician and actress. She confessed she hadn't been writing much music and hadn't seen much success in her career recently. We moved her piano to the “wealth” corner of her living room, and encouraged the flow of chi around that space. This video of my audition for a Feng Shui televison program on Oprah's new network, OWN-TV, reveals the amazing results she experienced.

Feng Shui Factors that Block Wealth -- And How to Fix Them

Let's look at some common factors in people's homes that may be blocking their financial success. Do any of these situations sound like your home?

Staircase leading directly to your home's main entrance - A tall, narrow staircase that begins at your entryway causes chi to rush out of your house rapidly -- and with it, your opportunities for income and, quite often, your cash. If you find yourself spending money beyond your means, getting hit with emergency expenses regularly, and if money seems to leave your hands as quickly as it enters, the staircase could be contributing to the problems.

To slow the flow of chi down the staircase, hang wind chimes  from the ceiling at the bottom of the stairs, between the staircase and your front door. The best wind chimes have five tubes, representing the five elements in Feng Shui.

Bathroom in clear view of entryway - If your bathroom is in the clear view of your entryway, you may experience wasteful spending. Your money may literally get “flushed down the toilet.” Keep your bathroom door closed, and hang an octagonal mirror on the bathroom door to deflect the chi.

Dirty/unused stove - Your stove, along with your home's entryway and your master bedroom, is one of three most important areas of your home, according to Feng Shui principles. Your stove represents your wealth, career, and how people view you in the world. If your stove is dirty, broken, or you don't use it frequently, you may find your career and income adversely affected.

Keep your stove clean, and make an attempt to use all four burners regularly -- even if you're only boiling water.

You can also place a mirror behind and to the side of your stove, in order to “multiply” your wealth.

Missing “wealth corner” - Feng Shui consultants use a plan called a “ba gua,” which divides your home into nine separate sections. If you lay out the ba gua over your home's floor plan, the Wealth corner will be in the left back corner if you are standing at the doorway and looking into the room. If chi can't flow freely through this corner -- or if this area of the room is cluttered or missing -- it can lead to money problems. Placing a water element, such as a small fountain or a fish tank with live fish, in this corner will encourage the flow of chi and help improve your financial situation.

Use Your Intention to Attract Wealth
Feng Shui consultants use a combination of practical means and Feng Shui cures to help clients improve their situation. Mindful spending and following the principles outlined by J. Money on this site, combined with following these easy Feng Shui tips, can help you improve your financial situation.

3 Simple Ways to Feng Shui Your Front Door

We've often said that the entrance is one of the three most important areas of your home. But what about your front door, specifically? When you stand in your doorway, you should feel a sense of balance in the home from all directions. Here are three more Feng Shui factors to consider when you first enter your home.

1. The front door should open into the widest part of the room. If it doesn't, there are a number of cures you can employ. You can re-hinge the door so it does. If this is impractical, you can mirror the wall facing the door opening, so you can see the rest of the room from the doorway. You can add an automatic light that comes on when the door opens.

If a bedroom is located behind the direction of swing of a front door, this could lead to unrest for the people who sleep in that room. Hang a shopkeeper's bell on the door to avert physical danger and misfortune.

2. If your front door opens onto a long narrow corridor along the center line of your home, you may have financial problems caused by chi rushing rapidly in and out of the home. Hang windchimes or Clear, Faceted Swarovski Feng Shui Crystals along the corridor to slow the flow of chi. You can also use mirrors to give the illusion that the corridor is wider.

3. The best color for a door is green; this color will bring fortune and luck to the people inside the home or apartment.

Feng Shui a Factor in Celebrity Divorce?

TMZ reported that Sandra Bullock and Jesse James finalized their divorce last week. Meanwhile, an article on ShelterPop revealed that Jesse James is selling his 3,600-square-foot Mediterranean-style villa in Sunset Beach, California. 

Photos and videos of the house and property reveal some interesting Feng Shui mistakes that may have contributed to the couple's divorce and, as Sandra Bullock called it in the TMZ article: “discord or conflict of personalities.”

Exposed Beam in the Master Bedroom: While the bedroom provides symmetry with matching nightstands and table lamps, an exposed beam directly above the center of the bed spells trouble for a couple. Beams on the ceiling overhead, virtually dividing the bed in two, create a sense of downward pressure and can cause a relationship to split.

Corners pointing directly at the front door: When you view the video on the real estate brokers' site, you'll notice a corner pointed at the front door as soon as you enter the home. A pillar corner also points at the front entryway. These type of sharp corners represent sha, or killing chi, and can create misfortune for the residents of a home.

Anyone who follows celebrity news knows that a number of factors caused Jesse James and Sandra Bullock to divorce. But a quick glance at their home reveals that bad Feng Shui could have been a contributing factor.

Do you have relationship problems that a Feng Shui consultation may help you resolve?

Clean These Overlooked Places After Recovering from Illness

The last thing you're probably thinking about after getting over a bout with the flu or other illness is cleaning your house.

Cleaning these overlooked things will help keep you and the rest of your household healthy.

Why clean after you've been sick? You may have fought off the bacteria or virus well enough to feel better but you've been leaving bits of it everywhere. You want to avoid exposing your family or roommates to it or yourself for a second round of fun.

Where should you clean? At the household-focused blog Apartment Therapy they offer a list of suggestions gleaned from the post-sickness cleaning routine their friend uses. On the list, launder your bedding in hot water and replace your toothbrush (or boil it) to kill off germs.

Check out the full list at the link below or sound off in the comments with your own post-sickness tips and tricks.

Finally Feeling Better? 7 Places You Should Clean [Apartment Therapy]

- Source LifeHacker

Expand Possibilities by Cleaning Out the “Junk Room”

Most of us have that “one room” in our house. Maybe it's a spare bedroom where we pile everything that we're going to sell or donate someday. Maybe it's a living room that rarely gets used because family and friends prefer to congregate in the kitchen.

If you have a room that you don't use, it could be negatively affecting your life. In Feng Shui, the areas of your house correspond to sections of the bagua, which all relate to different areas of your life. If you have a room that consistently collects dust -- or junk -- the chi can't circulate there.

 If that room lies in the wealth sector of the bagua, you may not be making as much money as you'd like. If it lies in the children and creativity section, it could affect your fertility or your relationships with your kids. If it is located in the marriage sector, you could find that part of your life suffering.

Fortunately, there are four easy fixes to a space that doesn't get used. By encouraging the chi to circulate in that space, you'll open your life to new opportunities.

1. Make an intentional effort to use the room. If the room is a living room, den or dining room, think about why people aren't attracted to it. Is the furniture laid out in a way that encourages conversation? Is the room's decor welcoming? Use Feng Shui to find the optimal placement of objects to encourage the flow of chi.

If the room makes people uncomfortable, change the colors or layout to create a space people can enjoy. You can use the five-elemental color cycle to balance the chi of a room, so that visitors will feel more balanced and at peace in the space.

2. Re-purpose the room into a space you will use. Do you have a spare bedroom that is more like a walk-in closet, with junk, unused exercise equipment and clothes you'll get around to dropping off at goodwill someday? Why not re-purpose it into a space that better fits your life.

Maybe you've always wanted an art studio so you could begin painting beautiful artwork. Or a small recording studio to launch your music career. Or a game room, library or even a home office to launch that business you've been dreaming about. Whatever it is, you can have it. After all, there's a room in your house just begging to be used.

3. Add life to the space. Adding a fish tank, living plants, or even a fresh bowl of fruit (in the dining room) will add living chi and vitality to the space. Of course, you still have to make sure you enter the room and use it regularly, but adding life chi will help make a room feel more welcoming.

4. Space cleansing. Whether you decide to re-purpose the space or to begin using it for its original purpose, the room could benefit from a space cleansing to clear all the negative chi. When I perform a space cleansing for a client, I use a highly effective Chinese technique called Chen Pi Purification, which dramatically improves the energy of a space immediately. So many people have seen their fortune improve after I've performed a space cleansing on their home or apartment. Please contact me if you'd like to learn more.

Don't Let Ceiling Beams Get You Down: 3 Quick Fixes to Raise the Chi

Do you feel as if you're not getting a good night's rest? When you wake up, are you still exhausted as if you haven't slept at all?

Do you suffer from headaches? Do you feel as if life is a constant treadmill, where you work and work but never get ahead? Do you have a feeling of discontent, as if something is weighing you down, but you can't pinpoint the problem?

Several structures in your house -- including ceiling beams -- could cause any of these problems and more.

Ceiling Beams Over a Bed
Ceiling beams over your bed are particularly problematic. In addition to sleep problems, a beam crossing your bed can create medical problems in the area over which the beam crosses. For instance, a beam over your head can cause headaches. A beam over your legs may lead to a leg injury, car accident, or simply a feeling that you can't move forward in life. Beams over major organs can cause illness or an overall feeling of fatigue.

Ceiling Beams Over a Desk
A ceiling beam over a desk, either in a workplace or in a home office, can block your forward movement in your career. If you pay your bills from the desk, it may feel as if you are living paycheck-to-paycheck, always playing catch up and never having enough money to save at the end of the month. You may also suffer from headaches.

Feng Shui Cures for Beams
Fortunately, since exposed ceiling beams are a common architectural feature in many homes and apartments, several Feng Shui cures are designed to alleviate the negative affects of overheard beams.

Paint - Paint the beam the same color as the ceiling to help it blend in, making it less visually (and psychologically) “pressing.” For added Feng Shui benefits, use the five-elemental color scheme in the creative or destructive cycle when you select your colors for your ceiling, walls and floors.

Flutes - Hang two bamboo flutes from the beam at 45-degree angles, suggesting the ba gua. The mouthpieces should be facing upward. You can also hang the flutes vertically with the mouthpieces facing up. Visit here to view and purchase bamboo flutes.

Fake Firecrackers - Hanging fake firecrackers -- in an auspicious red color -- will fill the space with explosive, uplifting chi. If you have beams above your desk, firecrackers will give you more energy and will “raise” the space, making you feel as if the sky's the limit on your accomplishments.

I'm curious to hear from you and your thoughts.

How to Use Feng Shui to Bring Vitality to a Dead End Street

Cul-de-sacs are often called dead-ends for a reason. If you feel drained of energy, tired, and blocked in your life, and you live on a cul-de-sac, your street could be draining your home of life-affirming chi. The movement of chi into a cul-de-sac is too quick and violent, leaving the home's inhabitants drained of energy, depressed and unmotivated.

If the cul-de-sac where you live is square, the homes facing the corners will receive the worst negative effects from this rushing chi -- but Feng Shui cures can abate difficulties. Or if you are in direct line of the road, it may lead to divorce or financial difficulty.

Adding Cures to the Cul-de-sac
If permitted by regulations, you can add an enclosure to the center of your cul-de-sac. This small enclosure should house trees, a fountain, windmill or flagpole. This will slow the flow of chi while keeping it moving through the cul-de-sac, circulating into homes, and leaving in a healthy way.

You may also add flags to your house, and the other houses in the cul-de-sac, or use lighting on the rooftops.

Using Feng Shui Cures on the Homes in the Cul-de-sac
If rules and regulations prohibit adding a structure to the center of your cul-de-sac, you'll have to limit cures to individual houses. To re-direct the flow of chi and counteract the draining effect, you can:

- Place a windmill on the roof
- Add a mailbox or trees
- Plant tall trees in the back yard, especially near a bedroom to protect the bedroom from the rushing chi and help occupants sleep better.

Feng Shui Colors: A Room-By-Room Guide

One of the least expensive ways to give your home new life is a fresh coat of paint. Even those who live in apartments can often convince their landlord to let them paint, as long as they return the walls to plain white before they leave. The investment is minimal -- less than $80 buys three gallons of paint, rollers and brushes to do a few rooms.

But what are the best colors to paint using the principles of Feng Shui? It depends on the room. When you select colors for the floor, walls, and ceiling, make sure to employ the Five-Elemental Cycle using three colors. Also, don't think a ceiling has to be white; light beige or even brighter colors that complement the walls add depth and creativity to a room.

Entryway/Foyer - Small entryways are enhanced by lighting and light, bright colors. Off-white and shades of blue, pink or green represent hope and welcome. Green, black or red are auspicious colors for the front door. As with a fence, avoid a white front door. You can learn more about Feng Shui in your front entrance in this article.

Kitchen - The best color for a kitchen is white, the color of purity and cleanliness. White permits the food's true character and colors to show through -- bright reds, greens and yellows on a white pallet. The kitchen's basic element is fire, and metal (represented by white) overcomes fire to better balance the chi.

Avoid black and gray (water element), because it destroys fire, and avoid red, because it will make a kitchen too “hot,” literally and figuratively. A red kitchen may be prone to fires while the cook will be prone to temper flare-ups. Read more about Feng Shui in the kitchen.

Bedroom - The color of your bedroom will depend upon your age, personal goals, and whether your room is the master bedroom or not. Pink is best for a master bedroom, because the marriage position on the bagua is placed between fire (red) and metal (white), and pink is the blending of these two colors. Pink or red sheets and blankets ensure a “fiery” marriage bed.

For single people seeking a mate, pink or peach is an auspicious color for the bedroom.

For anyone else, subdued hues of greens and blues promote rest. You can learn more about how to use Feng Shui in the bedroom in this article.

Children, on the other hand, thrive in rooms of green, which create peaceful calm and serenity while encouraging learning and knowledge. This article talks about Feng Shui in a baby's nursery.

Dining Room - If you have a dining room where you eat and entertain as a family, pinks, greens and blues work best to encourage conversation and stimulate the palate. There's a reason many restaurants have green decor -- it stimulates the appetite. Avoid blacks and whites unless the goal is to lose weight.

Bathroom - The bathroom should be a sanctuary where you go to prepare yourself to face the day or retreat at night to prepare for sleep. The best colors for a bathroom include lighter shades of green, blues, pink, or white. Black or gray, which correspond to the water element, make good accent colors. Or, you can use pastels or white with bright accents to enliven the space. Remember, as one of the first rooms you visit in the morning, the bathroom is one of the three most important areas of the home in Feng Shui.  

Painting your home in pleasant, Feng Shui colors helps balance the chi within yourself, members of your family, and your home.