Clutter’s Effects on Your Life — How clutter affects you and what to do about it

Creating a healthy, energetic home or office relies on diligence. It’s much easier to let your home or office become cluttered and messy than it is to keep on top of papers, throw out old magazines, or otherwise dispose of the things that you no longer need, want, or use.

For that reason many people don’t bother with this kind of routine maintenance. And that’s how Spring Cleaning should be looked at: maintenance for your home.

Now, I’m not going to tell you what to do for your personal Spring Cleaning because only you know if you are harboring clothes in your closet from 30 years ago, or if your addiction to paper has gotten out of hand. YOU ARE THE EXPERT at your own mess. Give yourself permission to clean it up and let go of it.

Let’s go over some basics about dirty, cluttered homes versus clean and organized homes…

What does a dirty, cluttered home do to you?

It makes you feel tired. A cluttered home is a visual and psychic drain. All that stuff makes you fatigued. One of the most fatigued people I know simply can NOT throw anything away. Antiques are her specialty. Everything is a “collectible.” But that does not mean SHE has to collect it. This client is slowly letting go of her addiction to acquiring and is finding her energy is rebounding.

It makes you feel hopeless. Simply put, too much stuff is overwhelming and we can’t handle it all, so we throw our psychological hands in the air in frustration. This leads to that hopeless, it’s-all-inevitable feeling.

It makes you poor. Yep, that’s right: POOR. Ever notice those homes of the mega-wealthy? They’re a study in restraint. You notice their homes because stuff isn’t everywhere.

Time and time again, I notice the environments of people who are struggling to make ends meet, and I notice that they have an overwhelmingly HUGE baseball cap collection, some kind of collectible that’s taken over the house, or too many pets. Get rid of all but the most meaningful things. You can do it.

How does clutter hurt you? It makes you feel out of control in your life. That’s because the stuff is in control and you’re not. Put yourself in the driver’s seat of your life and take control of all THAT STUFF by donating it, throwing it away, or organizing it — and get everyone in your home in on the act.

What does a clean, organized home do for you?

It gives you a sense of calm. Imagine walking in to a room where the tops are cleared off and there are no papers and mess scattered about. How does it make you feel? That’s the AAAHHHH feeling you get when you walk into a hotel room…it’s neat and you can see the room and not all the stuff.

It gives you back your health. Dirty, cluttered houses can make you fatigued, constipated, have back pain, and congested. Not just because there’s stuff everywhere, but because there is dust on all that stuff — and dust is nothing but negative energy. Unclog your home and your health might be better to boot!

It gives you wealth. Think about the times when you were doing well financially… As money worries piled up, did you ever make the correlation that so has all the stuff around you? Get rid of it and you will see financial flow again.

It puts you in control of your life. Suddenly, order appears in the Universe, you can find things, the feeling of being overwhelmed isn’t omnipresent and you look forward to things; life is sweet again.

 What do you want from life? Check the list below for ideas on where clutter is stopping the flow in your life.

LOVE — Clear out the SOUTHWEST corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office. Clutter here can manifest as problems with relationships or can create health problems such as a large stomach, reproductive or elimination system problems or bulging middle.

MONEY – Clear out the SOUTHEAST corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office. Clutter here can create problems with lack of savings (accumulated wealth) and difficulties in the hips, legs and knees. Start a savings program — no matter how small.

FRIENDS, FAME, RECOGNITION — Clear out the SOUTH corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office. Clutter here can create problems with friends, social contacts, as well as health problems with vision and heart issues. Brighten and lighten this area up and create open space (air feeds fire!) and watch stress come down and fun rise.

HEALTH, FAMILY GROWTH — Clear out the EAST corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office. Problems here result in difficulties with family members, tension in the house, problems with skin, lungs, and feet. Beautify with water images to feed the wood energy of this sector and improve health and family relationships.

CAREER, BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES — Clear out the NORTH corner of your home, bedroom, living room, desk and office. Problems and clutter in this area creates problems with kidneys and ears. Brighten and lighten this area, create space to create flow for the water energy here that brings career and business opportunities.

CHILDREN/BABIES, CREATIVITY, PROJECTS TO FLOURISH — Clear out the WEST corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office to watch projects come to fruition. Clutter in this area creates problems with children, the mouth and teeth. Add metal to this area to create movement in projects and help children.

EDUCATION, PERSONAL GROWTH, SPIRITUALITY, WRITING — Clear out the NORTHEAST corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office. Clutter in this area keeps you from thinking clearly, making good decisions and keeps you feeling anxious and uncertain about your life. It also affects your hands. Keeps hands in good condition with lotions, manicures and watch how you think more clearly.

TRAVEL, MENTORS, HELPFUL PEOPLE — Clear out the NORTHWEST corner of your home, bedroom, living room, and office. Clutter in this area creates problems with men, the man of the house, and with finding people to help you and assist you in life. Excess mess can also create problems with the head, such as high blood pressure and headaches. Open up this space and the world opens up for you!

Books that can help you declutter AND have good feng shui

Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui by Karen Kingston. EXCELLENT book every since feng shui enthusiast should own. This is my hands-down favorite.

Lillian Too’s 168 Ways to Declutter Your Home by Lillian Too. The guru of feng shui (and my personal teacher) explains the connection of clutter and feng shui — including mental and spiritual clutter.

Stop Clutter from Stealing Your Life by Mike Nelson. Nelson talks about the mental health side of clutter and how to get out from under the control of clutter.

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Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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Your House Color Affects Your Success and Wealth – Tips For Selecting Paint Colors

If your relationships are tired and money flies through your hands your house might just be the wrong color. Maybe life is a constant struggle and you can’t put your finger on the one small thing blocking your success. The answer could be as simple as the color on your house.
For instance, if your house is painted the wrong color for the direction it faces, you might be losing money. A good example of this is an east- or southeast-facing house that is painted white. This is a great example of houses that lose money or whose residents suffer from ill health or poor family relationships.

White is the color of metal and east and southeast are wood-facing directions. Because metal cuts wood (think of an ax or a chainsaw), the success of the house is affected.

Color can be confusing — but it doesn’t have to be
When it comes to choosing house colors, it can be very confusing and difficult to make a decision. Most are not sure what will look good or what’s the best choice is for their house.

Feng shui provides several starting points for color selection because each color has a different meaning and direction associated with it.

However, if you can paint your house a color that is harmonious with the direction it faces, you will help create a beneficial environment in the home, and help harmonize it with the environment, thereby making life go smoother and easier.

Use good design sense when choosing good feng shui colors
For example, color in feng shui means different things. Black is the color of money, but a black house won’t necessarily make you rich. However, a house that faces north and is painted white with black trim on the shutters and front door, and has brass trimmings, is a perfect example of a house that is harmonized with its environment. That’s because white is a metal color and metal makes water — making white a “productive color” for a house.

This also means the color and direction are harmonious. Feng shui is often referred to as a method for creating harmony. Harmony – in feng shui – means that colors, elements, shapes, and numbers are all supportive and beneficial for one another.

A Feng Shui Guide to Choosing House Color
Use feng shui to harmonize house color with the direction that it faces.

White (creativity/children): Good for west, northwest and north-facing houses as it reflects light well.

Green/Purple (growth/good health/wealth): Good for east and south-facing houses.

Blue/Purple (career/wealth/opportunities): Good for north, east, and southeast facing houses.

Yellow/Beiges/Gold (ochre) (relationships/stability): Good for northeast, west, southwest, and northwest facing house. Yellow is a color of wisdom and study.

Reds/Pinks (social status, recognition, relationships): South, southwest, and NE facing houses benefit from these colors.

Browns (health, happy family relationships): Good for growth and longevity and excellent for east-facing houses and good for the south (fire) direction.

Taupe (relationships, stability, grounding): This color is excellent for the northeast and southwest because these are “earth” directions and taupes are earthy or stone-type colors. It also helps stabilize relationships and promote family harmony – particularly for the woman of the household.

What about trim colors?
White is always a good option, as is a lighter shade of the predominant color. Choose a dark door color from the list of corresponding colors. Or choose a darker shade for siding and lighter shade for the door and trim.

Why not paint a “stone location” with a “wood” color?
You always want to paint your house a color that is harmonious for the direction it faces. If your house faces SW (an earth direction), and you paint it a wood color, such as green or brown, this will create difficulty with the relationships in the house.

Likewise, if you paint a south-facing house white, the residents might struggle with gaining recognition at work or have a problem with neighbors. The Five Element Theory explains more about how to select colors.

Use the Red Lotus Letter Color Calculator to help you select house colors that support the house — and make life better for you.
 
© K Weber Communications LLC 2002-2009
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Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit http://redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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The 6 House Types that Prevent Prosperity – Could Your House Be One?

When your home has a poor arrangement or certain architectural characteristics, you could find that your financial situation is a constant struggle. Particular homes lend themselves to wonderful abundance and material prosperity and yet others offer only financial trial and tribulation for their owners.Some houses are more likely to help the occupants acquire the wealth they desire and those are the homes that have few, if any, feng shui challenges. Of course, every house has challenges, but some are more significant than others.

When you look at homes that have more serious obstacles to wealth accumulation, they fall along a number of lines. If your house isn’t one of the homes listed below, then count yourself lucky! If you do have a house that has one of the following challenges then you’ll be relieved to know there is a reason that money has been such a problem for you.

Houses that prevent prosperity are many, but some are more common than others. Below are several house types that stop material advancement and wealth and opportunities for their residents.

This house is shaped in such a way that there will be a serious case of missing sectors. When there are missing sectors, this can severely limit the opportunities that a house receives – and consequently the money that the residents make. This is also called the “cleaver” house because the shape is that of a cleaver – which cuts off opportunities wherever the missing corners fall. Correcting the missing sectors is important. An addition to the house or completing the house symbolically with a garden, a roof, etc., will help.

Emptiness house.
An emptiness house falls along the lines of the cardinal directions (N,S,E,W) and subdirections (SE,NW,NE,SW). This creates a very yin house that causes health complications, money is extremely difficult to generate, growth is futile and there is an overall lack of accomplishment. In short, nothing can succeed in an emptiness house. Correcting this is important because nothing can happen in a vacuum – and that is the best definition of a yin line.

Big mouth house.
Unfortunately, many architects have stressed the importance of automobiles versus people. These houses have giant, oversized garages that gobble up the energy that should be going into the house. You’ll notice the garage before the front door and this limits the opportunity for energy to enter the house. A picture of this type of house is above.

When homes, which are already yin to begin with, are cut off from the flow of energy, the residents cannot create financial traction. Acquiring wealth and growing financially is a struggle. Correcting this involves creating more energy at the front door and taking the emphasis away from the garage through the use of color or other design techniques.

Door and house facing differences.
When the door to a house faces a different direction than the house, this can create problems generating energy and bringing chi into the house. Growth slows and the financial picture becomes a question of just trying to retain what you have. To stimulate growth and prosperity, the door should be moved.

At the least, more emphasis should be placed at the door with lighting, color, and décor. If there are any large windows, these should be emphasized to allow energy to enter the house.

No support house.
The house that has ground that slopes away from the back of the house is in a constant state of trying to hold up financial appearances. The money seems to slip away and there is no accumulation of wealth. Lighting at the rear of the house will help to shore up the energy drain from the house.

Locked or imprisoned house.
The locked house is severely restricted in the ability to generate income. This is called an imprisoned house because the occupants simply have no choices in life – similar to being imprisoned. The locked house occurs at various time intervals and creates problems with conceiving children, businesses going bankrupt and an inability to maintain relationships.

If you live in a house that has not been updated since the last period (1984-2003), and have had severe difficulties, you might have a P’o chun (“breaker of armies”) house. Renovation, updating or redecorating is the key to unlocking your home.

If you have a house like one of these above, take heart. If you have a house that has one — or more — of these problems, get to work! Most can be corrected in some manner and that’s the good news. The wonderful part about feng shui is that it helps you to both diagnose the problem and helps you find the solution.

© K Weber Communications LLC 2002-2009

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Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit http://redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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Is Your House Healthy? These 8 Questions Help You Find Out

True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost.
–Charles Caleb Colton

It’s no coincidence that the health and wealth sectors of the bagua are next to one another, and that the health sector comes before wealth.  That’s because you cannot truly be a wealthy person if you do not have your health.

Health is not just the absence of disease.  It is also vitality and robust living that creates true health.  Likewise, good health also incorporates a healthy mental state.  We all know how important it is to maintain a healthy weight, get plenty of rest, eat healthfully, and make time for fun and relaxation.  But, what if we already do all that?  Is there anything else can we do to improve our health?  You bet.  You can use feng shui. 

What’s more, we can help those we love with their health, too.  Perhaps you have an older family member who lives with you and could use better vitality.  Or, maybe you take care of a family member who is sick.  If so, you’ll especially want to take note of the following feng shui tips for health.  Ask yourself the following 8 questions to see if you are living in a fit or unfit house.

1.  Do you suffer from low energy or vitality?
Cleaning and rearranging is the remedy.  Rearrange your furniture, clean out the closets and garage.  Next, tackle the kitchen, cleaning out the refrigerator and freezer, and then cleaning the oven and stove thoroughly.  Lastly, clean out from underneath the bed.  This is a poor storage location.  Make sure your bed should is also clear underneath.  These few changes will get the energy in your house — as well as in yourself — moving again.

2.  What’s in your line of sight?
What do you see when you walk into the house?  If it is the kitchen, you could have trouble with your weight.  If it is the laundry room, you could have problems with low energy. The room you see first impacts your health the most.  What do you see when you are in bed?  If it is a toilet, sink, or some type of water, then your health — and your wealth — will be drained away.

3.  Do you have good color and light balance?
If your house is too dark, it has too much yin and you could suffer from allergies, respiratory problems, and colds.  You can also suffer from depression.  If it is too bright, then the house is too yang and you will be nervous, angry, and unable to relax.  Work on bringing the home into balance.  The same is true with colors.  If your room has too much blue, it will be yin.  If too much orange or red color, it will be yang.

4.  Do you know your personal tien yi or health direction?
After you have determined your kua number, make sure you sleep with your head pointing in your tien yi direction, particularly if you have had illness.  If you or a loved one are ill, you may wish to sleep in an East room (the direction of health) and position the bed so that your head is pointing in your tien yi direction. 

Kua number               Health Direction
1                                   east              
2                                   west
3                                   north
4                                   south
5                                   west for men, sw for women
6                                   northeast
7                                   southwest
8                                   northwest
9                                   southeast

Find out your personal kua number with our Kua Calculator.

5.  What’s going on in your health sector?
The health corner of the home is located in the east sector.  Is this a storage room for junk?  Is there a bathroom there?  If so, you will want to make it as clean and clear as possible.  If it is a bathroom, you have a few options.  One, you could place a large boulder in this room or place a mirror above the toilet to keep too much energy from draining away.  Alternatively, you can place a red light in the bathroom or other bright light.  Another remedy is to hang a 5-rod hollow tube windchime in the toilet.  This is an effective cure in any toilet!

6.  What’s going on in the yard?
Even if your house is in perfect “feng shui shape” the yard could be causing you problems.  Because of this you will also want to check the east corner of the yard.  What’s there?  A wonderful idea would be to plant “health and longevity” plants in this sector.  The Chinese believe that certain plants are healthful and promote longevity.  These would include bamboo plants, pine trees, and peach trees; all symbols of longevity and long life. 

Want even more beneficial health luck?  Plant an assortment of plants that mimic the outline of a dragon.  You will want something tall for the head, perhaps the pine tree, then a bulky plant such as a shrub for the body and then finish with a flowing plant, such as bamboo, for the tail so it can wave in the breeze!

7.  Do you observe proper bedroom feng shui?
The bedroom is one of the critical areas of the house.  Make sure the bed is positioned correctly and not facing a door or can be seen from a mirror.  Eliminate water, views to the bathroom or toilet, televisions, and plants.  Take out all work-related objects.  Clear off surfaces, making the room as clean and clear as possible.  This is where you are invigorated with sleep each night.  Make this room as healthful as possible. 

8.  Are there health symbols around your house?
The Chinese believe certain animals and symbols promote longevity and good health.  These include deer, cranes, and peaches.  Even pictures that feature the elements mentioned above, pine trees or bamboo are considered to be auspicious health symbols. 

Likewise, make certain you have clean fish tanks or fountains.  Dirty water equates to poor health and vitality, stagnant chi, and it can affect your finances, too!  Place health and vitality symbols in the East sector of the home and in the East portion of your living room for an extra boost in your vim and vigor!

© K Weber Communications LLC 2002-2009
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Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

WANT TO PUBLISH THIS ARTICLE?
You have permission to publish this article as long as the tagline above is included and no changes are made to the article. A courtesy copy of your publication or link would be appreciated.

5 Ways to Stay Positive in Negative Times

Life is a series of ups and downs. It may seem like some people have it easier than others, but that’s rarely the case. Most people have their share of problems and their successes.

The ones who get through the problems to make their life more successful, though, are those who have some common traits. And, with the economy the way it is, a successful person will be looking at how to adapt to the situation and capitalize on the times as they are – not as they wish they would be.

In 1990, my husband and I bought a $60,000 house (below) that was run down and smelled like urine inside. We had a 12% loan to pay on this “gem.” But, our house was in a great neighborhood, and I could see that with a little effort, we could have a beautiful home in about a year – and more value in our home, too.

Everyone said this was the “worst possible time to buy a home” because values were inflated and interest was, too. But you know what? We could buy one and did, but we bought smart. We bought under the market and it put us on top after it was over.

Three more houses later and we’re in a gorgeous home and life is good. These are the lessons I’ve learned about taking positive steps in difficult times. And it’s good feng shui, too.

1. Stay involved.
As easy as it is to throw your hands in the air and sit on the sofa, that does no one any good. Look at new opportunities. Learn a skill and look for ways to hedge your bets. Just like buying an undervalued house in a good neighborhood was a good investment, you can find ways to profit even in the worst times. Look for them.

2. Put more in.
Rather than sit and wait to see what was going to happen with the recession we were in 1990, we invested in our home and our environment and it paid us back. FDR showed us with the WPA that investment into yourself is a good thing. By putting money and time into America’s infrastructure, we reaped the benefits of the good energy and improved bridges, roads and other public works – and got ourselves out of the Great Depression. Work on your landscaping, repaint a room, install organizers. Improving your home will improve your life; trust me on this one!

3. Be detached.
Feng shui is about balance, and where does a balance pivot? It balances in the center – neither negative nor positive. Learn to watch the news with detachment about the rumblings of the sky falling and don’t fall into the trap of believing that the sky really is falling. Detachment will keep you balanced in the face of hysteria of either the positive or the negative kind.

4. Seek out opportunities.
Continue to make efforts on your behalf and don’t give in to apathy. Learn to be invaluable at work and to your clients and learn a new work skill. Find something unique that you can do – or a unique offer or twist on what you already do to improve your prospects.

5. Be daring, be BOLD.
The worst thing you can do is sit on the sidelines like a cardboard cutout in a store window that watches the parade go past you. An Israeli friend of mine recalled a story about a bomb that exploded close to a restaurant where he was eating with an American friend. The friend was alarmed and wanted to run out. The American asked the Israeli why he wasn’t running away from the restaurant. “Because this fish is so good,” he recalled licking his fingers. My mother was hugely disappointed that I didn’t cancel a trip to London in the early 80’s because the IRA was setting off bombs. There will always be crises and catastrophes. Enjoy the fish every chance you get.
© K Weber Communications LLC 2002-2008

Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in authentic Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

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You have permission to publish this article as long as the tagline above is included and no changes are made to the article. A courtesy copy of your publication or link would be appreciated.

Children and Chi: The 7 Feng Shui Fundamentals for Children’s Rooms

Besides its uses for pursuing goals, feng shui is a very popular and intriguing concept in home design today. In addition to the life benefits it provides, it also offers a roadmap, so to speak, of not just how to decorate… but why. In short, it offers you, the homeowner, design with purpose, in addition to the aesthetic aspect. This is what is quickly becoming the real appeal of feng shui. For a child’s room, this meaningful design is especially important. Feng shui gives parents a guide for decorating childrens bedrooms, and perhaps more importantly, a reason for adding particular elements — something standard decorating practices don’t always offer.

What does that mean exactly? Well, when it comes to a child’s bedroom, feng shui dictates everything from correct bed alignment, proper bedroom choice, essential decorating and design elements, i.e., do’s and don’ts (no vicious animals, etc.) for a child’s room, even how to influence the child to be studious and well-behaved — all things most parents would appreciate knowing. The purpose of feng shui in a child’s bedroom is the same as every parent’s objective in decorating their childrens rooms: to create a healthy, happy environment that fosters education, good health, happy relationships with parents and siblings, and respect for parents and others.

Feng shui believes that children and parents can enjoy success in life and healthy relationships if the environment supports them. Naturally, children must feel safe, secure, and cared for to thrive. By putting interest and effort into a child’s room, it shows the child that the child’s space, and therefore, the child, is important. Making children healthy, happy, secure, and successful, goes a long way toward making a better world for everyone.
The Seven Fundamental Feng Shui Tips for Children

1. Place a happy picture of the parents in the children’s rooms.
This subtly exerts the authority and prominence of the parents as heads of the household. It is also one of the quickest and most effective ways to bring a problem child or other behavioral difficulties into line.

2. Align the child’s bed to the widest part of the room.
Make sure your child can see the door from his or her bed easily, but is not in direct line of the door. Your child should also not share a wall with a toilet or see a toilet or bathroom from the bed as this can cause health problems.

Bunk beds are not advised. Children must have room to grow and the bed overhead exerts pressure on the child below. Because there is empty space below them, children on the top bunk may feel less secure.

If possible, try to have a separate bedroom for each child. If this isn’t possible, there are lots of decorative ways to create division and privacy within a room. Just check out the tents in the bedroom of these two boys. This is just one example of how to give each child the space they need… you can use your creativity to think of others.

3. Create a space for study and accomplishments.
Having a dedicated space, including a desk and lamp where your child can study, demonstrates to your child the importance you place on education and your child’s educational achievement.

If this has been a source of problems, make the study position in the NE corner of the bedroom. Also make a place on a south wall, if possible, of your child’s accomplishments. Doing so reinforces that you are proud of your child’s efforts
Display drawings, crafts, awards, trophies, ribbons, or other special items, such as tests with good scores or letters from teachers. Place items here that have brought special recognition.

4. Make the child’s room a healthy place.
Water pictures, aquariums, or sounds of water that can be heard from the bedroom can create an unhealthy environment and may even lead to respiratory ailments. This is especially important if the child has any health problems, particularly asthma.

5. Clear the space so your child can rest and be creative.
Jammed closets and drawers, beds with boxes, shoes and other items underneath must be cleaned out. Creating space and visual openness helps your child to feel less pressured, and more likely to be imaginative and creative. More is definitely not “more” when it comes to kids. Give them a visual rest and clear out all the stuff they haven’t played with in a month or more.

6. Use light, color, and artwork in the room to make a happy environment.
A child’s room should stimulate, not dampen, the child’s spirit. Make sure there is adequate lighting for the desk, for a bedside table, and that windows can be closed off for privacy. Rooms that are painted blue (unless it’s a bright or light-colored shade) or other dark colors can be depressing and create too much oppressive energy.

Bright colors, such as yellows, light greens, purples and pinks are good choices, with yellow being the optimal choice. Also very important, be sure to eliminate images of ferocious or dangerous animals or violence.
These are poor symbols for making a child feel safe in the bedroom. Select items for the room that inspire and intrigue a child to learn and that foster his or her sense of security.

7. Position children in the correct bedroom locations.
If possible, boys should be placed in the east or north bedrooms and girls should be placed in the south or southeast or west bedrooms. Lastly, use personal feng shui. Have the child sleep with her head pointed toward her personal best directions.
© Kathryn Weber, All rights reserved

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Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in authentic Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE E-book “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

Your Feng Shui Business Building Checklist

Feng shui is big business. Really. A certain pharmaceutical company keeps a feng shui consultant on a million dollar retainer and doesn’t make a move or change to its offices without talking with their consultant first.

Many businesses think that feng shui means Asian decorating style. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Feng shui isn’t just a “Zen” experience or a method for selecting sofa colors and decorative accessories. It’s about seeing your environment in a whole new way. See if this doesn’t get you thinking!

___1. Create flow. No matter whether you have a retail business or you’re a solo-preneur working from home, flow is critical. In the retail setting, it’s important that shelves and goods are pulled away from the walls and that customers can walk around them. If you have a home office, pull your desk away from a wall and place it executive style in the room. This means energy can flow around your desk – and that means business.

___2. Big behinds pay. What’s behind you really matters. (No, not like that! ;-0) If you work at a desk at home or in an office, it’s vital to have a solid wall of support behind you and not a window or door or having your back to the door. If you have a retail business, what’s behind your business? Big buildings BEHIND your business or office will give you good support. A big business front and a little behind isn’t as supportive as a little front and a big behind.

___3. Get off the floor. Make sure that your name is prominently placed and positioned where you look UP at it – even if you work from home! Frame your business name and hang it up on the wall behind you. If you have a rug printed with your name at the front of your business, then people are walking on your good name. Get rid of it.

___4. Signs of life. Every business needs living energy. A vase of flowers or a pretty plant all make a difference in the energy of your business. Keep lush, healthy plants or fresh flowers in your business. I know a restaurant that is always busy and the proprietor maintains a vase full of long-stem roses right by the register.

___5. Don’t get cut off. When you work at a desk or at a register, don’t work behind L-shapes. These become like a hatchet that cuts off flow and can actually be harmful to you. Remove desk returns to stop them from emitting harsh, cutting energy that symbolically cuts you in half!

___6. Put power in the power position. Always place executives at the rear of the building. This is similar to generals standing behind the troops. Executives should be able to see the “troops” at work and should never be placed close to the entrance with the troops behind the general!

___7. Keep your surroundings bright. By keeping your office and business well-lit, you are infusing your space with yang energy – so important for keeping sales coming.

___8. Watch what’s in front of you. What is opposite your desk or the front door to your business? The view from here can often determine your success. If there’s an oncoming street, this can create severe poison arrow energy. If you have a bookshelf opposite your desk, you’ll feel under attack. Make the view a pleasant, uplifting one and you’ll invite prosperity to your business.

© Kathryn Weber, All rights reserved

Would you like to use this article on your website or publication? You can. Simply include the entire, unchanged article with the blurb below with a link back to this site. A courtesy email would be greatly appreciated!

Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in authentic Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE E-book “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

Common Questions about Feng Shui

Feng Shui FAQs
Common Questions about Feng Shui

1. What is the difference between traditional Chinese feng shui and western, or Black Hat Sect, feng shui?
Black Hat Sect or western feng shui uses the front door to align the bagua, the eight sided octagon that corresponds to the 8 Aspirations, or guas, in life (wealth, health, fame, marriage/love, children, career, wisdom, and benefactors). Black Hat sect aligns the career sector, or gua, with North, the career sector. Traditional Chinese feng shui says that if your front door faces east, you align the east gua with your front door. In other words, you follow the compass directions.

2. Can I use both Black Hat and traditional Chinese feng shui?
You can, but you need to know what you are doing. It’s usually best to use one method or the other. If you’ve had good results with the Black Hat, stick with that. If you’ve done well with traditional feng shui, then use this as your preferred method.

3. Do I use the bagua over the house or over a room?
You can use both. Apply the bagua over the entire house by the facing direction. Apply the bagua in a room according to the compass directions. You can apply the bagua to areas as large as a city or as small as your desk. There’s no limit to how it can be used with regard to size.

4. I have an L-shaped house. Should I apply the bagua to both sides of the L or to the entire home?
I typically recommend that you apply it to the whole footprint of the home, and this usually means that there will be large sectors that are missing. Some recommend applying two separate baguas to each “rectangle” of the L. However, that doesn’t treat the house as a whole, and that is what concerns me about doing it that way. If you prefer to apply it this way, though, you certainly can.

5. Can I use personal feng shui and compass feng shui together?
Yes! They go easily together.

6. What if I am an east person and my spouse is a west person in personal feng shui. How do we decide whose feng shui to focus on?
The Chinese are very old fashioned about this. Basically, you select to enhance the breadwinner’s directions, regardless of who is male or female. The person who brings home the most income should be protected. Therefore, if you’re the breadwinner and you are an east person, then you will want to select a house with an east-facing entrance and position your bed according to your best directions.

7. If I move my bed to suit my personal feng shui, my bed lines up on the same wall as the door. Is that OK?
No, it’s not good. Never forsake good feng shui basics (easily be able to see who enters the room from a chair or bed) in favor of your best directions. Always follow good feng shui first before following personal feng shui.

8. The south is my total loss direction according to personal feng shui. What can I do to enhance my fame sector?
The south is still the fame sector and you should enhance every direction regardless of whether or not that sector is good for you personally. That’s because when you enhance a particular sector, you aren’t magnifying your bad luck…you’re just enhancing that area and that’s still good for you. Personal feng shui just means that you try to avoid sitting and sleeping in those sectors that are not personally beneficial for you, not that you avoid them altogether or that you don’t enhance them.

It’s ideal if you can select houses with beneficial directions, such as entrances in your best directions, and you want to face, sit, and sleep using your personal directions as much as possible. So, even if your dining room is in your loss sector, you can still eat seated facing your health direction, for example.

9. Do I have to change things around every year for feng shui? Can’t I just “feng shui and forget it”?
Of course you can. Even simple, easy feng shui is still very effective. But, there are some who want more and more detail. Feng shui is a complex art that has been developed over the past few thousand years. Anyone who studies anything in detail delves deeper and deeper with each passing year. Feng shui can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. Don’t feel obligated to follow flying star or annual feng shui if you don’t want to.

10. I live in Australia. How does that change my feng shui?
It doesn’t. I have no idea why that notion that everyone “Down Under” doesn’t have the same directions ever got started. South is still south in Australia and New Zealand and Argentina, for that matter. You use the directions exactly the same way below the equator that you do above because the compass needle moves to the north in Australia the same way it does in Morocco. Only the toilets go in a different direction when they flush!

11. If I put a fountain on the right side of my door (looking out from the house toward the street), does that mean my husband will have an affair?
This is a common question many people have about water to the right of the front door. What it means is that the water could draw predatory females who are interested in your husband. If you trust your husband, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ve had a fountain to the right of my front door before and mentioned it to my husband just in case. If your husband has a wandering eye, though, you might not want to chance it!
© Kathryn Weber, All rights reserved

Would you like to use this article on your website or publication? You can. Simply include the entire, unchanged article with the blurb below with a link back to this site. A courtesy email would be greatly appreciated!

Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in authentic Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE E-book “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

Feng Shui Fine Tunes Your Environment

For more information and to receive her FREE  E-book “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

The 6 House Types that Prevent Prosperity

Could your house be one?

When your home has a poor arrangement or certain architectural characteristics, you could find that your financial situation is a constant struggle. Particular homes lend themselves to wonderful abundance and material prosperity and yet others offer only financial trial and tribulation for their owners.

Some houses are more likely to help the occupants acquire the wealth they desire and those are the homes that have few, if any, feng shui challenges. Of course, every house has challenges, but some are more significant than others.

When you look at homes that have more serious obstacles to wealth accumulation, they fall along a number of lines. If your house isn’t one of the homes listed below, then count yourself lucky! If you do have a house that has one of the following challenges then you’ll be relieved to know there is a reason that money has been such a problem for you.

Houses that prevent prosperity are many, but some are more common than others. Below are several house types that stop material advancement and wealth and opportunities for their residents.

The L-shaped house.
This house is shaped in such a way that there will be a serious case of missing sectors. When there are missing sectors, this can severely limit the opportunities that a house receives – and consequently the money that the residents make. This is also called the “cleaver” house because the shape is that of a cleaver – which cuts off opportunities wherever the missing corners fall. Correcting the missing sectors is important. An addition to the house or completing the house symbolically with a garden, a roof, etc., will help.

Emptiness house.
An emptiness house falls along the lines of the cardinal directions (N,S,E,W) and subdirections (SE,NW,NE,SW). This creates a very yin house that causes health complications, money is extremely difficult to generate, growth is futile and there is an overall lack of accomplishment. In short, nothing can succeed in an emptiness house. Correcting this is important because nothing can happen in a vacuum – and that is the best definition of a yin line.

Big mouth house.
Unfortunately, many architects have stressed the importance of automobiles versus people. These houses have giant, oversized garages that gobble up the energy that should be going into the house. You’ll notice the garage before the front door and this limits the opportunity for energy to enter the house. A picture of this type of house is above.

When homes, which are already yin to begin with, are cut off from the flow of energy, the residents cannot create financial traction. Acquiring wealth and growing financially is a struggle. Correcting this involves creating more energy at the front door and taking the emphasis away from the garage through the use of color or other design techniques.
Door and house facing differences.

When the door to a house faces a different direction than the house, this can create problems generating energy and bringing chi into the house. Growth slows and the financial picture becomes a question of just trying to retain what you have. To stimulate growth and prosperity, the door should be moved.

At the least, more emphasis should be placed at the door with lighting, color, and décor. If there are any large windows, these should be emphasized to allow energy to enter the house.

No support house.
The house that has ground that slopes away from the back of the house is in a constant state of trying to hold up financial appearances. The money seems to slip away and there is no accumulation of wealth. Lighting at the rear of the house will help to shore up the energy drain from the house.

Locked or imprisoned house.
The locked house is severely restricted in the ability to generate income. This is called an imprisoned house because the occupants simply have no choices in life – similar to being imprisoned. The locked house occurs at various time intervals and creates problems with conceiving children, businesses going bankrupt and an inability to maintain relationships.

If you live in a house that has not been updated since the last period (1984-2003), and have had severe difficulties, you might have a P’o chun (“breaker of armies”) house. Renovation, updating or redecorating is the key to unlocking your home.

If you have a house like one of these above, take heart. If you have a house that has one — or more — of these problems, get to work! Most can be corrected in some manner and that’s the good news. The wonderful part about feng shui is that it helps you to both diagnose the problem and helps you find the solution.

© Kathryn Weber, All rights reserved

Would you like to use this article on your website or publication? You can. Simply include the entire, unchanged article with the blurb below with a link back to this site. A courtesy email would be greatly appreciated!

Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in authentic Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE E-book “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!