Feng Shui Tips

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Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Apartment Living and Feng Shui

Feng Shui and Apartment Living: Feng Shui Resources at Dragon Gate: "Feng Shui and Apartment Living
28 Jan 2003

People often ask whether or not apartments apply the same Feng Shui principles as houses. The answer is, yes. Another popular question is whether or not apartments automatically have bad Feng Shui. The answer to that is, no.

What makes apartments more challenging to enhance or correct than houses: There is no land or outside environment to remedy or control. Sometimes the most effective remedies for health and prosperity are things you do to the space just OUTSIDE your home. With an apartment, the focus has to be totally with the interiors.

There are some limits with apartment living when it comes to your neighbors. Sharing walls with people can subject you to sounds and smells that you would have an easier time separating yourself from in a house (although not necessarily!) Clients in houses have told me numerous upsetting stories about neighbor disputes from all sides.

Some ideal Feng Shui remedies involve structural changes. These too are usually limited or not allowed at all in apartment living. Sometimes it doesn t hurt to ask. When I was married and in our first apartment, we had a very dark entrance at the top of the stairs. My husband asked the landlord if he could install a skylight at our own expense and the landlord agreed. It was easy and cheap for my husband (the architect) to do, and the landlord knew it was an improvement to the property.

APARTMENTS ARE MORE DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND THAN HOUSES

The front and back of any structure has to be identified before complete analysis can be made. In Feng Shui, we call the front side "facing" and the back side "sitting." This is not always obvious. In fact, most of the time, an apartment FACES its window side. The brighter, more yang side of the apartment is often looked at as the face and windows the eyes looking out.

Apartments often have less than ideal entrances. They are usually dark (coming from the building s interior hallway). In small apartments, the kitchen is sometimes the first room you see when entering. It is generally better when the kitchen is not the first room you see because of a Pavlovian effect. It is also better when a kitchen has an exterior window.

Aside from some of the things just mentioned, apartments can have just as good or better Feng Shui than a house, depending on other compensating features. Is there a lucky floor you can choose in a multi-level building? Feng Shui numerology suggests picking a floor that matches your personal Trigram. (Based on your birth date) Since I value practicality over everything, my suggestion is to be as far away as possible from the garage entry gate or the building s trash dumpster! The top floor will have the best views and this can make the same size apartment feel bigger. This is one reason why they are more expensive.

MORE FENG SHUI MYTHS EXPOSED:

If you have heard that you should never put a fountain or an aquarium in the kitchen, this is incorrect. This misinterpretation of the elements is that the presence of water will extinguish the fire that a kitchen symbolically represents and somehow this will destroy your prosperity.

Sometimes the kitchen ends of being a good location of the house for water and it can benefit the whole house. Remember, any advice which says "always do this" or "never do that" is going to be general advice at best, and sometimes totally irrelevant to your unique space.

ANOTHER MYTH:

"When your fish die in your aquarium, it means that they absorbed something negative that would have happened to you." I doubt this! I think it means that you didn t take care of them properly.

AND ANOTHER MYTH:

"Don't keep books in your bedroom; they are too stimulating." This is another pseudo-FENG SHUI nonsense theory.

AND YET ANOTHER MYTH:

"Don't place your bed's headboard against a wall shared with a bathroom." This is another New-Age pseudo-FENG SHUI recommendation. Don't take seriously.

MYTH #345

"Don t have a skylight in your office as it provides a way for wealth to leak out of the room." Not true. Why would a skylight leak wealth any more than a window? Chi actually glides along all surfaces: floors, ceilings, and walls. Skylights can be great additions to spaces that would otherwise be too dark (yin). That in and of itself is counter-productive to creativity and prosperity. The preceding FENG SHUI myths came directly from a little book which was written by a well-known FENG SHUI practitioner in Southern California. It is a veritable gold mine of trash FENG SHUI and I am so grateful to the author for putting so much bad advice all in one organized book from A-Z. As I write my own book, which will expose all the fake FENG SHUI being perpetuated, I don t have to rack my brain to remember all the myths I have heard over the last ten years. This little book has helped me enormously in my research!



Karta Diamond

Kartar Diamond is a certified consultant and instructor from the American Feng Shui Institute. Her teaching schedule includes weekly classes in many parts of Southern California. Her consulting business, Feng Shui Solutions, specializes in existing residential and commercial property, as well as the design phase of new buildings and additions. Kartar's clients have included architects, designers, therapists, medical practitioners, artists, CEO's, entertainers, attorneys, restaurant owners, schools and photographers."

Great article! Really great article! I myself am stuck in an apartment and got great information from this article. I sure hope you do too.

Sam, Feng Shui Tips

Atrracts More Money With Feng Shui

ArticleCity.com - Feng Shui Atrracts Money: "The first thing that you need to do is get yourself a good compass and determine what is in the southeastern corner of your home. The Southeastern sector of your home governs both your cash flow as well as your faith in the idea that you will always be able to create money.

According to the classic and traditional rules of Feng Shui (the ancient art of object placement to increase good energy in your life) the items that you place in this part of your should be things that align with the energies of personal abundance.

Things that Create Prosperity:

* The colors purple, red and green. These three colors support prosperity energy in a space. A pleasant still life to attract this energy is a pretty glass bowl containing a purple amethyst, a red carnelian and a green piece of jade. You also might want to consider painting this corner one of these colors or using purple, red and green lighting in this corner. An easy way to enhance the color value in this corner is to purchase a lava lamp in purple, red or green. The great thing about a lava lamp is that it also moves, and in Feng Shui, anything electronic or moving helps keep the money circulating in your life.

* Symbols of wealth: Actual money and gold objects are good to display in this area of your house. A bowl of foreign or antique coins can also augment this sector. You can also find statues of "gold ingots" to your local China Town A wonderful statue to place in this area is of a Prosperity Buddha lifting a gold ingot over his head. You might also want to consider placing a gold or green statue of a Chinese Money Toad (this is a three legged statue of a frog or toad with a coin in it's mouth) or a statue of leaping goldfish

* Fake Money. This is the place to put that fake million-dollar bill you got in a novelty store in a frame and hang it. Some people even keep monopoly money in this area as a symbol of their circulating prosperity. A bowl of foreign coins can also be placed here to magnetize wealth into your life.

* Fountain. This is one the two best places in the entire bagua to place a flowing fountain. The other is your Career sector. Flowing water represents the flowing of money. The Chinese consider wood or bamboo fountains to be especially auspicious when placed in this area.

* Goldfish. This is a great area to put an aquarium. Traditionally the Chinese place eight orange or yellow gold fish and one black goldfish in an aquarium to attract money. The number 8 represents prosperity in Feng Shui. The idea too is that if misfortune hits your family, then the ninth black goldfish will die and receive the misfortune instead of you. You can also buy the traditional Chinese poster of this image in Chinese specialty shops.

* Eight Horses. This is an image of eight horses that can be purchased either a statue or as a poster that adds good chi to this sector. However please note the position of your front door when positioning this poster. Make sure that the direction the horses are running is INTO the house and not out the front or back doors! You can buy this statue in gold, red, green, crystal and orange. When placing it in the southwest, red, green, brass or gold are the best styles to choose.

* Jewels. Treasure chests or displays of real or costume jewelry can help attract the chi of abundance to your southeastern prosperity sector.

* Symbols of Luxury. This is the place-to-place photographs, fine art or statuary that represents the aspiration of "having it all." A toy model of a Porsche, an image of a country mansion or a photograph of a man standing at the highest mountain in the world are the kinds of images that you should consider putting in this corner.

* Jade Plant. The Jade plant is the ultimate symbol of prosperity for the Chinese. It's flat round leaves and compact shape makes it the Asian equivalent of a money tree.

* Fruit Trees. Small orange, lemon or lime trees also contain money-drawing properties and are ideal to place in this sector.

Things That Put You in the Poorhouse:

* Clutter. The planet Venus rules prosperous energy. Venus won't enter a dirty home. Piles of junk serve as an obstacle so that positive energy cannot pool and accumulate in your space.

* Leaks. If you have a kitchen or a bathroom with a leaky faucet in this area than the theory is that your money will also be leaking away.

* Toilets. If you have a toilet in this area and there is nothing you can do about it, then make sure that you keep the lid closed at all times to keep your cash from being "flushed away."

* Kitty litter boxes. Animal toilets have the same negative association as toilets -- especially if they smell bad.

* Broken objects. The theory is that " If it's broke, you probably are too! "Remove anything that doesn't work including clocks that keep the wrong time, dead batteries and similar decrepit items from this area. Also replace any burnt out light bulbs, as it is essential that this area be well lit.

* Dead or withering plants: Anything obviously decomposing is antithetical to the energy of prosperity and should be removed from this area.

* Trash cans. Like the toilet, this item drains vital energy from the prosperity area.

* mages of Poverty or Want: Art that depicts objects or landscapes in a withering, rustic or decomposing state should not be displayed here. Also avoid placing photographs of yourself when you were going through a "broke phase" (such as when you were a student in college or just recently divorced) here. You might repeat the situation!

About The Author

Sam Steven's metaphysical articles have been published in many high-standing newspapers and she has published several books. You can meet Sam Stevens at http://www.psychicrealm.com where she works as a professional psychic. You can also read more of her articles at http://www.newagenotebook.com where she is the staff writer. Currently she is studying technology's impact on the metaphysics. "

When it comes to fountains be careful about which room they are placed in in your home. Used correctly fountains can be a great asset, but used in the wrong way is no good at all!

Otherwise the tips in this article are a great way to attract more money into your life, so enjoy!

Sam Feng Shui Tips

Feng Shui Bedroom Blunders, Don't Make These Mistakes!

Feng Shui Advantage - FSA Article - Feng Shui Mistakes to Avoid in the BEDROOM!: "Feng Shui Mistakes to Avoid in the BEDROOM!
by P.K. Odle, The Feng Shui Advantage

While considering each individual's best sleeping direction and avoiding his or her "Lonely Pillow" direction. (Both are determined by your year of birth in relation to your gender.) There are several environmental factors to consider when choosing the position of your bed, such as:

Large MIRRORS - aren't recommended in the bedroom, because they aren't conducive to a restful nights sleep. Mirrors reflect light... light is Yang Qi, which is active energy. By reflecting light mirrors stir-up the Qi in the bedroom, where you want the Qi to be more Yin / still and restful. Besides, mirrors could reflect your bedroom activities to the neighbor. This wouldn't create a feeling of security and safety in the bedroom. Plus, if the mirror is in your "Lonely Pillow" direction, it will cause you to be single.

Headboard against a wall! The wall provides stillness of energy to provide a restful nights sleep. You want the Qi to be still at top of your head. If you angle your bed in a corner, there will be too much movement in the Qi at the top of your head for you to have a good night’s sleep. When there is a window above or behind the head-of-the-bed, be sure the window is closed when you are in bed, because a closed window stops the movement of Qi. After all Qi moves with Wind & Water.

Clear view of the bedroom entrance... without being in-line with door. If you're in-line with an OPEN doorway, you'll be hit directly by the Qi coming through the OPEN doorway. I emphasize OPEN, because the majority of Feng Shui books fail to mention that a door must be OPEN for the Qi to move through it. After all doors, like windows, stop the movement of Wind & Water. So if you have no choice but to sleep in-line with the door... CLOSE the door, or at least keep it ajar to direct the Qi away from the bed.

Bathrooms mustn't be seen from the bed. With bathrooms it is a sanitation issue. Keeping the door closed or at least ajar is the simplest solution. Moving the bed would be another solution.

Sharp corners , caused by oddly shaped rooms, pointed directly at the bed or bedroom door are considered an 'Angle or Metal Sha'. These cause instability and insecurity to the relationship as well as health problems. Some remedies for this type of sha (negative affect) are rounding the sharp edge off the corner, concealing it with molding, or positioning the bed in another location.

Avoid large exposed beams above the bed , which cause various problems depending on their position. Move beds and other occupied furniture out from under exposed beams. If it is impossible to move the bed, conceal them with an actual flat ceiling or use thick multi-colored tapestry-type fabric by stapling the cloth as if it were an actual ceiling over the bed.

* When the beam is chopping across the body, health problems in that area of the body will develop. Once again we are dealing with the harshness of a direct hit of Qi, which is being directed downwards off the sides of the beam.
* Beam dividing bed between two pillows , from head to toe, the harmony of the union is in jeopardy. The Qi coming down from the sides of the beam could cause separation or divorce.

A bed positioned between two of the unseen energy patterns. To find these unseen energy areas, divide the width and depth of your entire home by three creating a tic-tac-toe type grid. If your body is divided you will have health problems in the region where the two energy patterns bisect your body. When a bed is divided from head-to-toe between the two pillows by an unseen energy grid line, the occupants are sleeping in two different energy combinations... which cause relationship problems. A couple described it best when they said "it's like we're sleeping in the same bed in different rooms." The solution is to move the entire bed into one section of the house grid. Hopefully, the section with the best energy combination.

© 2003 P.K. Odle. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

P.K. Odle is an internationally respected instructor for the renowned American Feng Shui Institute and founder of The Feng Shui Advantage. To learn more about Classical Feng Shui and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at http://www.FengShuiAdvantage.com"

How'd you do? Making these simple changes in your bedroom can make a really big difference to the energy in your life!

Sam, Feng Shui Tips