Bagua: the essence of feng shui

Simply put, feng shui is the ancient Chinese wisdom of how the placement of objects in your home affects the flow of energy, positive or negative. One way that a feng shui master analyses the energy of a space is via the bagua. This octagon-shaped sort of map of a room or house determines the eight directions and their numerical and directional significance in harnessing the right feng shui. This bagua not only defines the numbers for each direction but also indicates the location of each element found on earth. When the correlation between directions, numbers and human needs becomes coherent, the desired energy level can be achieved easily. Besides knowing the location and significance of each element—water, wood, fire, earth, and metal—it is also important to know how to increase or decrease the presence of an element in a particular space.

The constructive and destructive cycle

In feng shui, there are two main ways in which the five elements interact: the constructive cycle and the destructive cycle. In order to strengthen or enhance the energy of an element in a space, you can create a constructive cycle: water in the north [supports] wood in the east and southeast [supports] fire in the south [supports] earth in the northeast and southwest [supports] metal in the west and northwest [supports] water in the north. For example, because water supports wood, you could strengthen wood energy in a space by including more water-related things, like aquariums or the colour deep blue.

The destructive cycle is used to weaken or subdue an element in your home or office. This is what it looks like: water [weakens] fire [weakens] metal [weakens] wood [weakens] earth [weakens] water. Once we learn the importance of these cycles, it becomes easier to design a space in a constructive way.

Understanding and enhancing the bagua’s wealth direction

According to feng shui, the southeast area of a home or office is linked to wealth and prosperity. It is also where the element of wood, which signifies abundance, makes its home in the bagua. So this direction needs to be looked after consciously; start with making sure this area is clutter-free. Here are a few tips on how you can nurture and enhance this space to foster the right wealth-attracting energy.

• A popular, traditional feng shui idol that is used to attract wealth is the golden Laughing Buddha idol. Although it is often exchanged as a gift on auspicious occasions, the Laughing Buddha with golden ingots is famously known to nurture the energy of prosperity. Place the idol on top of desks or shelves in your home or office.
• Plants are also a great way of improving the wood energy in your home or office. You can place pots of vibrant plants, like bamboo and lady palm, in a southeast courtyard or room. However, avoid placing milk-oozing plants like cactus and bonsai, and large-sized trees like peepal or banyan in a southeast location. Additionally, don’t place any plant in the southeast area of a bedroom because plants emit negative energy at night. Scientifically it has been proven that they release carbon dioxide in the air at night due to reverse photosynthesis.
• Although wooden objects, like furniture, are ideal to boost up the energy in the southeast area, avoid decorating with old and used wooden things. Many retailers sell rotting wooden furniture as “antique” pieces. These are often also aesthetically displeasing. Make sure you get fresh and tastefully designed objects for the southeast space of your home or office.
• Wooden wind chimes are also ideal décor accents that can uplift the energy in southeast-facing verandas, balconies or porches. It lends a vibrant touch to the energy of the space.
• The three-legged frog, with money in its mouth, is another feng shui cure that is known to attract wealth and prosperity. Traditionally, it is either placed in the southeast area of a room or at the front entrance of a home or office. However, make sure that the frog faces the inside, rather than facing the door. A golden or multicoloured frog is better to bring in wealth.
• Painting a southeast area in wood element colours, like green and brown, can also increase the level of energy in that space.
• Because the metal element weakens the wood element, avoid placing metallic things in the southeast area in your home or office.
• Feng shui believes that the environment which we live in plays an important role in our life. Therefore creating a positive environment is necessary to attract wealth. You can decorate a southeast corner or room with images that symbolise wealth and prosperity. For example, use photographs of family picnics and outings, luxury yachts or cars, waterfront villas and mansions, and other images of a lavish lifestyle.
• Another great décor item to attract wealth is the feng shui money boat or ship, filled with coins and gold ingots. These ships are easily available in stores that sell feng shui objects. They can be used to decorate or accent office or study desktops or tabletops.
• If you use a chest or box to store money, jewellery, or financial documents, then you could line its insides with mirrors. In feng shui it is believed that doing this creates a feeling of abundance because, as the saying goes, money attracts money.

Feng shui is not a magic potion for money

It is critical to understand that consulting a feng shui master or designing your space according to feng shui principles is not going to shower money in your life. All feng shui does is align your space with the positive vibrations of the five essential elements of water, wood, fire, earth and metal. This, in turn, creates an atmosphere of positivity that is able to support your efforts and, perhaps, lead to multiple blessings in your life. Feng shui simply purifies the environment of your home or office and helps to generate constructive ideas for a life filled with good health, harmony, and wealth.

The post How to attract wealth using feng shui appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

Here are seven easy ideas for a happy and healthy kitchen

1. Free from clutter

Keep the kitchen clutter-free and make sure that you actually use everything that is stowed away in your cupboards. The kitchen is a hub of activity, a place to enjoy food and conversation. The atmosphere should be fresh, warm and bright.

2.  The stove beside the fridge

If your stove and refrigerator are next to each other, then you should create a symbolic distance between them. A great deal of conflict is generated when there is mixing of the energy of the hot fire element represented by the stove and the cold water element represented by the refrigerator. To fix this, you can either put a mirror on the refrigerator facing out toward the stove, which symbolically pushes the refrigerator away and expands the stove area, or you can place a faceted crystal between the two to create a balance. Also, if you have the space, you can put some plants between the fridge and stove to create an energetic barrier.

3. The sink

Keep the sink clean and unblocked with a stopper in it when not in use. Make sure that the garbage disposal unit is working well if you have one.

4. Knives

Keep your knives safely away in a drawer or in a knife block.

5. The view

Hang a crystal in the kitchen window as it attracts energy from outside and serves to deflect any negativity in case you have an unsightly view out of your window.

6. Under the sink

Be aware of what poisons are located underneath your sink. If you were to take all the cleaning products that you have under your sink and pour them all into a bucket, you would probably find huge amounts of poisonous chemicals. Many of these products are extremely toxic. They are dangerous to inhale or may cause an adverse reaction if they get on your skin, excluding the fact that they are extremely poisonous if swallowed. There are so many ecologically friendly products available in the market now that it makes much more sense to replace the toxic products you currently own with ones that are much safer to have in your home. They might vary in price slightly, but it is definitely worth limiting the amount of poison you keep under your sink, and in case you want to keep it cheap, you can always use products like baking soda, borax, white vinegar and cornstarch.

7. Inside your refrigerator

If you tend to buy food in packets or jars, then get into a habit of reading what is on the label. The more real ingredients in a product, the better it is for you. Conversely, the more a product label reads like a chemistry experiment, the worse the product is for you. If you don’t know what a word on the label means, then look it up. If there are additives in something, be aware that they won’t provide your body with the nutrients it needs for health or energy. As a rule of thumb, you will tend to find more additives in foods that have low nutritional value. If you find you really can’t do without your favourite food, at least try to find a more natural alternative.

Excerpted with permission from How happy is your home? by Sophie Keller; published by Harlequin.

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