Feng Shui Tips

Get only the best tips, news, and advice from the world of feng shui. Get a helping hand in what can be an otherwise complicated and confusing way of life (as opposed to harmonized and balanced which it should be) - feng shui!

Sunday, July 31, 2005

OFF TOPIC :: One-Stop Macrame Resource

** I hope you can forgive me for this post **

A friend of mine has just gone live with a fantastic new resource (she gave me a free copy) and it's great! Macrame really isn't my thing but this resource is so jam-packed I just couldn't keep it to myself! If you are interested in Marcame I encourage you to check this out!

One Stop Macrame Shop: "Telling You Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Macrame…… & More!!!"

Sam, Feng Shui Tips

Feng Shui Tips :: Red rules for restaurants

The Telegraph - Calcutta : Metro: "Red rules for restaurants

Q: I am planning to open a Chinese restaurant. I have observed that most Chinese eateries use lots of red in the decor. It is often seen on doors, wall hangings, table linen and other decoratives. What is the significance of this colour and how can I best use it in my restaurant?

Ritwik

The Solution: Red is the warmest of the seven colours of the rainbow. It has the power to motivate us, increase our vitality, make us powerful and strengthen our self-confidence. It is excellent for restaurants since the business is connected with cooking that represents fire energy.

But too much red can over-stimulate customers and make them aggressive. Just highlight the south wall with red and have a soft touch of this colour in the environment, through accessories.

Welcome ways

Q: I live in a bungalow where the entrance is from a small veranda in the east. We face west while entering the house. Is this an eastern or western entrance? Also, I would like to know how I could make the veranda and entrance Feng Shui-friendly.

Garima

The Solution: The direction from which you enter, rather than the one you are facing while entering, is taken as the direction of the entrance. Your house has an eastern entrance.

According to Feng Shui, this direction is considered very auspicious as the solar energy flows from here. It brings with it new opportunities, clarity and enlightenment for its residents.

The veranda or a porch or a few steps leading to your main door are all considered an invaluable intermediary space that connects the outer world to your private world. It is similar to the sacred threshold of a temple.

Care should be taken to keep this area always clean so that it has a welcoming effect. Since your veranda is in the east, place plenty of fresh green plants here. This will make the Chi entering your house more gentle and meandering. Placing the plants here will not only attract positive and auspicious energy but will also absorb any kind of negative energy.

Hanging baskets with jade plants or coloured flowers with wooden chimes at regular intervals will also help attract good fortune. Ensure that the chairs and table you place here are made of wood or cane. These should have a blend of green and blue upholstery.

Business talk

Q: I had completed my BBA from the US in 2001. Since then I have been working in a pharmaceutical company. I am quite well-paid, but I do not enjoy the work and would like to do something on my own. My date of birth is November 25, 1978. Please suggest a suitable field for me.

Shravan

The Solution: According to your pillars of destiny, you are a weak metal person who needs to be strengthened with the earth element. Fire will also help give you a high status in life.

Presently you are going through yang fire period, where change in profession is inevitable.

You can make the best of this time by venturing into a new business related with real estate, construction, investment or computers."

Sam, Feng Shui Tips

Bedroom Color Psychology

Article Search Engine: GoArticles.com: "Psychology of colors – the bedroom by Joey Lewitin

Color can have an astounding effect on perception, personal feelings, and even interactions. Different colors evoke different memories, and different ideas. In the bedroom, where one is supposed to be most at ease, it is important that you plan out your color scheme so that it creates the maximum comfort for you.

In feng shui, every color evokes energy. In order to choose the right color for a certain setting, the one who inhabits that area must get in touch with their inner self, and see which color they harmonize best with. In the bedroom one tries to achieve maximum relaxation. By choosing the colors that you feel most comfortable with, you will find the greatest contentment with your decorating.

The two extreme colors are white and black. Black is an attention grabber, and can create a very exhilarating effect, but it will also make a room look smaller, more closed off, and can create a dark feeling. Using black too heavily could lead to a negative effect on your emotions. Meanwhile its polar opposite white, is boring. Most rooms start off with white walls, and it is the generic look for many homes. However white is a good color for warm climates. White reflects light creating cooler temperatures and a breezy feeling.

The earth tones are gentle and will keep a room feeling organized and close to the earth. These include browns, oranges, and yellows. Yellow however is generally very extreme and irritating, and when toned down can look pale and nasty. Orange is the color associated with food and could lead to midnight snacking.

Blues and greens evoke serenity and peace. They are colors associated with nature and oceans. Placing these colors heavily in your room can help to calm the emotions of its inhabitants. Pink is an even more extreme claming color and many will find it impossible to act aggressive when surrounded by that color.

Colors in the bedroom should evoke relaxation and calm. By choosing your colors carefully you can actually control the subtle effects on yours and others minds.

About the Author

Joey Lewitin is an author, a designer, and an artist. Check his website to see some of his creations such as a variety of Decorative stone wall clocks and
rustic stone home decor gifts and furnishings"

I'm just popping down the shops to grab some blue and green cushions for my bed. Back soon!

All the best,

Sa,, Feng Shui Tips

Magic Bathroom

Article Search Engine: GoArticles.com: "Magic Bathroom by Samantha Stevens

Believe it or not, the bathroom is one of the most magickal rooms in your house; Your make up box and medicine chest can be treasure chest of tools , the bathtub and shower are wonderful place to conduct cleansing and attraction rituals, and the toilet can be a handy mechanism for flushing away negativity.

Here are some examples of positive magick that can be performed in your powder room. First of all, though make sure your bathroom is clean and also make sure that you don�t have a mirror facing or reflecting any drains or toilets. Feng Shui wisdom says that this doubles your chances of having your money go down the drain.

Would you like to attract a life long partner? Wiping down your mirror with a mixture of Rose Water and Orange Blossom water (found in most speciality cooking stores) is said to make you attractive to the opposite sex. If you don�t have that, using your favourite perfume might work just as well...

You can also practice a little feng shui around your bathtub to attract a partner, by placing two rubber duckies in the southwest corner of the tub. Ducks represent mates in Chinese lore. You can also buy little glasses and soapdishes that already have little ducks floating inside them if you want to be more subtle...

Need to do well in that job interview. Spearmint (a herb ruled by mercury) is supposed to make you more eloquent, witty and charming. Toothpaste or mouthwash flavoured with spearmint might help you find exactly the right words to say to impress your boss.

Trying to win the heart back of that difficult ex boyfriend? Carve his initials into a bar of soap. It is best if the soap bar is pink or red in colour. Picture the soap as being the hostility or issues between you, and as the soap dissolves, as you rub it all over your body, picture all resentments and hatred between you getting smaller and smaller. An advanced version of this spell would be to actually carve it in the shape of the person, carve the initials and run it under the tap on and off for a couple of days until the bar is completely dissolved.

Another glamoury spell, (a spell to make yourself beautiful) involves taking a copper scrubber and rubbing your body (gently) down with it while you are in the shower. Copper is the metal of Venus and said to change your vibration so you can attract a lover.

One can also use various bath gels and soaps to achieve different magickal results. Remember, the magick is all in the intention while you use the product. For instance, a honeysuckle flavoured bath or soap can help keep a lover or fiancee faithful. Jasmine soap can be used to help keep you and nobody else on a lover¹s mind. Orange soap is for joy, fun and wild abandon. Mint soap is for sexual attraction, intelligence and charm. Rose scented soap can be used to attract new love or keep present love still attracted. Rosemary scented soap or bath gel is used to improve business or communication. Lime flavoured soap or gel is used to stop obsessive thoughts, chill out desire and help you concentrate on the tasks at him.

If you are feeling really sick, or like you are under astral attack, a bath in a half a cup of seasalts mixed with half a cup of baking soda is said to purify the aura of unwanted energies.

Kissing a kleenex and leaving the lipstick print of your mouth on the kleenex and tucking it into your boyfriend¹s pocket might be a good way to keep him faithful. If he has been using your hairbrush, pluck a few hairs out of the comb, twine it with your own and knot it nine times. This is a form of a binding spell, to keep his fleshly form always in sync and attached to your own.

Then there is the fine art of flushing your troubles away. Write your oppressor¹s name on a piece of toilet paper or kleenex, and while keeping your thoughts on the perpetrator, flush it down the toilet. If you want something more dramatic, follow it with a bit of baking soda mixed with vinegar effect so that the toilet temporarily represents a bubbling cauldron. Goodbye sorrows! Goodbye troublemaker. Goodbye bad ex boyfriend...FLUSH....

About the Author

Samantha Stevens was a professional psychic at http://www.psychicrealm.com for many years. Read more of her articles at http://www.newagenotebook.com If you wish to buy Samantha's books about metaphysics click here http://www.insomniacpress.com/author.php?id=110"

As someone who's just finished scrubbing his toilet I'm not sure what's magical about it. I thought this article was a great read. I hope you do too.

Sam, Feng Shui Tips

Make It A Feng Shui Stay – Santa Monica’s Ambrose Hotel

Article Search Engine: GoArticles.com: "Make It A Feng Shui Stay – Santa Monica’s Ambrose Hotel by Janice Wilson

Make It A Feng Shui Stay – Santa Monica’s Ambrose Hotel
Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com
To read this entire feature FREE with photos cut and paste this link:
http://jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/hotels/calif/ambrose/ambrose.html

Summer might be over, but the Ambrose Hotel in Santa Monica, California, is a new boutique hotel that provides 'ambrosia' for the soul all year-around.

This extraordinary Asian-inspired property is tucked away in a residential neighborhood, just one block from the Wilshire business district, and a quick five minute drive from the Pacific Ocean. From the STay With Feng Shui At The Ambrose Hotelmoment my husband and I turned the corner from Wilshire Blvd. onto 20th Street, we were embraced by a tranquil elegance, unlike any city hotel I'd ever visited.

We discovered this place by accident. My husband and I decided to take a weekend trip and escape from life's problems and go to a UCLA football game. I was reluctant about going to LA considering I was already stressed to the max, and it seemed that any place we could afford in Los Angeles would feel like camping out, not exactly my idea of a relaxing getaway. But it was my best girl friend who recommended this little place in Santa Monica. She told us in her worldly way, "You can afford $160 a night. The Ambrose is known to be refreshingly affordable." I was concerned. What did she mean by that?

She assured me that the Ambrose Hotel in Santa Monica was brand new and I would be very impressed. She had just been there and told me that the décor and architecture were inspired by the legendary turn-of-the-century Arts and Crafts Movement, but with an Asian flair, a little like a California Mission town that was expertly Feng Shui'd! It sounded fascinating. My husband and I agreed it was worth checking out. But after fighting the LA traffic for more than a couple of hours I was sure I'd made the biggest mistake. There wasn't anything near Los Angeles that could be restful or relaxing. Besides what kind of place could offer rates that were so reasonable?

Thank goodness it was too late to turn back! From the minute we turned into the front of the hotel, we were embraced by a wave of warmth and relaxation that answered our prayers. The truth was that this place was especially designed for REST and RELAXATION. It was a "non-hotel", which made us feel immediately at home, except it was even better because it had every amenity of a luxury five-star hotel, without the dreaded expense.

The first thing I noticed was that it was so quiet. Except for the wind chimes in the Zen garden and the sound of the sea breeze fluttering in the huge bright, red silk, wind flags that boasted three large red hearts swirling in the air, there wasn't another sound to be heard. Even the water fall in the rock garden was soothingly silent as it spilled into the Japanese koi pond.

We were greeted by two beautiful hotel clerks in grey striped blazers. You could tell they loved this serene environment and were proud to be working for this 77- room hotel. The peaceful foyer/living room was decorated with rich, dark cherry hardwood floors, with luxurious Asian carpets. I quietly smiled inside, looking at the comfortable rocking chairs and the cozy library, I secretly knew I had accomplished my goal of finding a place to relax - even if we were going to a college football game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, another 45 minutes of traffic away!

Our room was on the third floor overlooking the Zen garden. Again, I was astounded by the sense of peacefulness as we were shown to our room! As we stepped out of the elevator an inviting fragrance attracted our attention. Even my husband noticed the scent and commented on how beautiful and refreshing the hotel corridor appeared. The dark, hard wood floors on the room floors were also inlaid with decorative Asian carpets that felt rich and luxurious. The art works on the walls were small miniatures of pages from a book on Oriental elements which pleased the eye and were quite intriguing to read.

It actually took me an extra five minutes to walk to our room as I read about each piece of art work. I didn't know it at the time, but this décor was part of the hotel's master plan to invite me to relax and forget about the stress of the LA freeways. Gazing at each different piece of art allowed me to enter another world that quieted and soothed my frayed nerves. I sensed my whole body beginning to harmonize with the luxurious elements that surrounded me, and I hadn't even been to my room yet!

As we put our key into the lock, and stepped into our room, we were again greeted with a tranquility and quiet elegance everywhere we looked. There was a dark wood multipurpose armoire/entertainment center that looked like a modern "take" of the turn-of-the-century Mission-style furnishings. But the hotel bathroom said it all. The bathroom floor was a rich blue speckled Gasgon floor, fresh Fretta robes hung invitingly on silver hooks, large Oriental bamboo stalks in a clear squared glass vase richly accented the limestone countertops. There were Japanese-style black lacquer boxes that housed a collection of tempting Aveda bath products. The mirrors were framed with a dark, cherry-stained wood that sparkled against the light gold and linen textured wall-coverings. My husband touched the wallpaper and commented that it made him feel at home.

The beds were the height of luxury. As I touched the chenille duvets, and silently rested my eyes on the deep olive green hue, my entire body melted into the sensory experience of what it means to truly RELAX! I lightly caressed my hand across the 700 thread count sheets that felt like silk. The textured accent pillows with touches of sangria were invitingly rich and luxurious. On the night stand, next to the bedside lamp that was made from nickel and wood, crowned with a crisp white linen shade, was a cordless phone. I loved the freedom a cordless phone gives you. "What a nice touch," I thought. "I could relax and call friends from the solitude of our patio." As I softly walked into the room, I noticed that our patio was elegantly appointed with exotic teak furnishings. What a great place to sit and read, or call my girlfriend and brag about our new discovery!

But what really caught my eye were the window treatments, the piece de resistance! The soothing earth tones shaded our room from the brilliant afternoon California sunshine. But it was the accent of the Oriental silk threads artistically woven in a geometric pattern that created the illusion that the drapery itself was a cherished piece of artwork. The sheer thrill of knowing that someone had given such great attention to the finest detail made me feel that The Ambrose was an auspicious place.

In Feng Shui, the ancient art of Chinese placement, when something feels auspicious, you will have good fortune and experience a golden opportunity. This truly was our golden opportunity to rest, relax and rejuvenate ourselves. I took a moment and sent my girlfriend a wireless prayer, thanking her for the recommendation.

This beautiful place piqued my curiosity. I wondered who was responsible for building such an extraordinary place in the middle of a quiet Santa Monica neighborhood?

My husband's curiosity was satiated by the comfortable bed and the remote control in his hand. He had come for the thrill of watching the Bruin, UCLA football team and a quiet time of sports and flipping channels. After watching him flip one too many channels, my curiosity got the best of me. I gave my husband and affectionate hug and kiss and left him in the quiet comfort of our beautiful room. He absent mindedly gave me a wave with the remote in his right hand as I exited the room. It hadn't taken him long to relax and forget we ever had problems.

I set out to explore the rest of the property and see if I could discover how this vision had become a reality. Did I mention that even the parking was free? This is almost unheard of in Los Angeles. No wonder Los Angeles was voted as one of the worst places to vacation in the U.S. I quietly reflected on how The Ambrose Hotel could certainly change that perception.

To read this entire feature FREE with photos cut and paste this link:
http://jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/hotels/calif/ambrose/ambrose.html

Janice Wilson, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com


About the Author

Janice Wilson, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Join the Travel Writers Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com"

I love staying at hotels that are designed using Feng Shui principals (as someone who rents an apartment and is limited by that). It really gets me back to basics when I need it most!

Sam, Feng Shui Tips