So, you've been hearing about Feng Shui and you are curious, but whenever you go to the bookstore to check books about it you stop on the third page because it all seems so complicated. But you have that nagging doubt that if you try it maybe something will change. I have many friends that think like that. They open the books, take a look at the compass, the Ba Gua map, North, South, all the elements…. mind boggling. Well, it's really not, but if you at least want to get your feet wet, let me give you some easy to follow guidelines that will get you started, then, if you feel a positive change, you might dare to really follow the philosophy and start living your Life With Feng Shui.

I'm not saying that Feng Shui is so easy anybody can do it, it has a certain level of complexity, but it's not unattainable. However, what I'm going to give you here is the very basics, the least you can do to start off feng shuing your life.

Clean out your clutter

This is unavoidable. And you have probably being avoiding it for weeks, months, years, but if you don't get to it, the energy in your life will really keep suffering. I cannot tell you how much your life will improve with just this little change! I'm not going to get into what areas of your house you need to clear of clutter, because the number one rule of Feng Shui is that clutter should not exist anywhere in your environment. No, not even if it's locked away in the attic or the garage.

If you get curious and decide to check out the Ba Gua map and see what area of your life that attic or garage affects, you might be surprised. One example is a friend of mine who had never done Feng Shui in her life, but one day I was talking to her about it and she had mentioned she had been trying to get pregnant for years. So I asked her to draw me a blueprint of her house and as it turned out, her garage, otherwise known as the "space to keep everything we are not using in no particular order", was smack in the middle of her Family Area. After many fights with her husband who was not in the mood to clear the garage, they finally did it… and her son is now 3 years old.

Your Plumbing

Think of water as money. Water is directly related to wealth in Feng Shui. When you say your money is going "down the drain", you might be saying an enormous truth. Every drain in your house is a possible way for you money to escape. If any of your faucets or showers have a leak, that's money going down the drain. Your plumbing is the conduit of wealth in your home. With every leak, you are losing money.
You can keep your shower drains covered when you are not using them, and pull up the drain stopper in your bathroom faucets as much as you can, but, the largest drain of energy in your home is… the toilet.  Men, you might think that this is a woman's invention to get you to keep the lid down, but the truth is that in Feng Shui, one of the most important things you can do is to keep the lid down in every toilet in your house, ALWAYS! Again, if you get curious and check the Bagua map, you might even find that your bathroom is in the Wealth Area, but an open toilet in any area, will drain the energy that corresponds to that area.

Your Bedroom

Make sure your bed does not face the door directly. You have to be able to see the door when you are in bed, but not straight ahead of you. Also try to have a headboard for support, especially if the only way to place your bed is under a window. In this case, a big headboard is advisable. You can make one with a piece of wood, some fabric and a stapler or get a cheap one at a garage sale or  a second hand store.

Mirrors

I never understood what the big deal is when you go to buy or rent a place and they tell you it has mirrored wardrobes in the bedroom! It's the worst Feng Shui! Mirrors are used to enhance energy, so if you have these huge mirrors in your bedroom at night, you will not rest. Do an experiment and for a night, cover your mirrors with a sheet or a blanket. See how you sleep that night. It's alright to have them during the day, but at night, you can install a rod so you can draw curtains and cover the closet's doors.

Broken Stuff

Anything that is not working as it should is bad Feng Shui. Your energy will always be adversely affected whenever you have something in your house that doesn't work. It can be a light bulb in the basement… change it. All those watches that are kept in a drawer and that you've been meaning to buy batteries for… the worse! That old refrigerator that's sitting in the garage… get rid of it. The broken printer that's been sitting in your home office for weeks… fix it or give it away.  This is something you can feel. Whenever you walk past something that "you've been meaning to fix", you heart skips a beat. You spend even a tenth of a second feeling the bad energy that brings to you.  So if for nothing else, fix or get rid of all the broken stuff in your home in the name of Feng Shui.

Things you Hate

This is the perfect excuse you were looking for to get rid of that awful picture your mother in law gave you last year. You have to love everything you see in your home! Everything that you posses has to bring a warm feeling to your life, or it shouldn't be there at all. If you don't love it, get rid of it. This is the best way to get rid of clutter. If you have to keep the picture because your mother in law will have a fit if she doesn't see it… well, keep it neatly in the garage or the attic and bring it out when she visits.

Cacti

Another friend of mine was a total skeptic. I saw him unloading a huge cactus from his truck and asked him what happened. He said he was bringing stuff from his office because a friend at work stabbed him in the back and he lost his job. I asked him where that cactus was placed in his office, he said, "Right behind me". Are you getting the picture? Sharp needles… stabbed in the back… He started to get intrigued by this philosophy, so, I decided to give him a few Feng Shui pointers. I explained to him how having cacti inside the home or office is really bad Feng Shui. These should go outside, by the windows or doors, they are great protection, but never inside.

Your Home Office

This same friend was now going to need a home office to start looking for a new job, so I made sure I explained to him how his back should never be towards the door. He had to make sure he could see the door from where he was sitting. If he couldn't he should place a mirror in front of him so he could see the door in the reflection. He called a few days later to tell me how impressed he was because after doing everything I told him, he started getting phone calls for jobs and he is now a very successful freelancer.

Your Front Door

Take a look at your front door from outside. Does it look inviting? Is it covered with clutter? Is it dark? Positive energy will look at your door in the same way, and if it doesn't look inviting, it won't come in. Clear your entrance of any clutter, if it's dark, add a light. Use a wind chime to create a relaxing sound and call in the good energy. A nice plant. If you can, paint your front door red!

Now take a look at the front door from inside. Does the door open freely? Is it cluttered? I think by now you are getting the idea. See? No compass, no elements, no difficult stuff. Just the basics.

So, if you are not going to do anything else, at least keep these few things in mind. You will notice slight changes in your life that will make you want more, and believe me, this will be just the beginning.

Ask most people if they believe that invisible energies affect their lives and they will probably dismiss the idea as complete nonsense. Then ask them if they believe in gravity, magnetism, or electricity. You can't see gravity, but it's a force that has a huge effect on your life. It prolongs it, for one thing, by stopping you from flying off into space!

So, invisible forces do have an effect on our lives, to a greater or lesser degree, whether people choose to believe in them or not.

The main reason why Feng Shui is regarded as a fad (by an ever-decreasing number of skeptics) is that it cannot be empirically proven. Magnetism has a visible pull on a compass. Electricity can be metered and sold. Feng Shui? Well... it just makes people feel better! That is no proof at all - and at the same time it's the greatest proof, depending on how in touch with your feelings you allow yourself to be.

Literally translated, Feng Shui means "wind-water," an energy that flows like water but passes invisibly through air like the wind. An early form of the practice was known as Tanyu, or, The Way of Heaven and Earth.

Qi, or chi, was believed to be an energy flow or life force by the ancient Chinese. It's scattered amongst the heavens and comes to earth in a most haphazard way. Feng Shui and the practice of arranging your home, your possessions, or your workplace in a certain manner, is believed to catch this Qi or channel it to the best possible effect.

By following the disciplines of this very ancient practice, positive energies can be focused into the practitioner's life in a variety of ways, bringing happiness, success, and even love.

Each new form of energy mankind has stumbled upon has been laughed at by its detractors before its effectiveness was proven and the benefits enjoyed. Feng Shui is no different. Well... actually ... it is!

Feng Shui has been studied for much longer. Believe it or not, Feng Shui was being practiced thousands of years before even magnetism was discovered. It was popular five thousand years ago and its vastly more popular now.

Now, tell me, would a practice last anywhere near as long as Feng Shui has, if it wasn't doing somebody somewhere some good?

The modern world is crammed, more than ever before, with conflict and disharmony. Workplaces are competitive at the expense of others. Roads are clogged up with noise, anger, and fear. Wars flash across our television screens, we are watching images we had never watched before.

Some people dive right into that maelstrom of negativity. They can ride that crashing wave and maybe even make money off it. But it's a short-term thrill. It brings superficial benefits. It never reaches as far as the soul.

For those with higher expectations, the world is something beautiful and we should live in it with harmony. Those invisible forces can help us live a more fulfilling life. Like magnetism helped explorers find north, Feng Shui helps us find our center.

So, for meaningful happiness go with the flow, the wind-water flow. Go with Feng Shui.

When it comes to Feng Shui, there are various elements that you can incorporate into your living space in order to bring good fortune. There are five Feng Shui elements: fire, earth, metal, water and wood.

Each of the five elements relates to a different area of your life. Fire relates to your career, earth relates to your relationships and water relates to your wealth.

Everybody can benefit from wealth, right? With today’s society becoming increasingly more expensive to live in, wealth is one element in life that most of us would like to enhance. Well, it is possible to attract more wealth into your life through Feng Shui, and water is a very important element both to enhance it and keep it once we have it. There is a link between water and wealth.

Using Feng Shui to bring you Wealth

It isn’t possible to suddenly become rich using Feng Shui in your home. If it were, everybody would be doing it! However, it is said that by incorporating water into your living environment, it will help to attract positive energy and wealth. If people owe you money, you might get the check a little sooner. Money might stop going out as fast as it had been and you’ll be able to save more. You might maintain a steady flow of projects coming your way if you’re self employed. You might get a raise or a bonus at work. With Feng Shui and some… well… a lot of luck, you could win the lottery! Just make sure you buy a ticket. In any case, you will see a change in your personal finances.

Water acts as the main conductor of positive energy and it is vital for our well-being. It is considered to be extremely lucky to live near a river or a lake. If you are not fortunate enough to live near a lake or a river, you could always add the Water element to your surroundings.

* A stream, river, pond, pool, water fountain, water garden, waterfall…
* A reflective surface, such as cut crystal, glass and mirror…
* A flowing free form, or wavy or asymmetrical shape…
* A waterfall picture, or poster, any art representing water, or water life…
* The black and dark-tone spectrum of colors such as charcoal gray and midnight blue.

Aquariums relate to the water element, and are not only visually appealing, but they represent the perfect balance of all the elements. So, placing an aquarium in your home, in the right area, can help bring in wealth. Feng Shui water features are especially powerful in the wealth and career areas because the element of Water has a direct association with the flow of money.

Many people believe that a swimming pool will help them achieve wealth. It’s a big water feature, right? However, if you do decide to have a swimming pool, you would have to ensure that it is not too big. Even though your main goal is to attract wealth and success, you need to keep the five Feng Shui elements balanced. Having too much water around the home will have a negative effect on that balance. Therefore, the results that you receive will not be what you expect them to be.

The flow of water inside your home is like it’s blood. Your pipes are it’s veins and arteries. Every time you get a drip in the faucet, or you let the water run in the toilet, your home is losing blood. Water equals money. You would be losing money. That’s why it’s so important to keep your drains covered as much as possible, and to keep the toilet lid down ALWAYS! They are big escapes of Chi energy that you need to control.

Make sure that whatever water feature you use is kept clean and that the water is circulating. Don’t let water just sit there and stagnate.

Whatever you do, make sure to keep the balance of the elements. Too much of anything can be detrimental to your purpose.

Try using the Water element to attract more wealth and abundance into your life. I promise you will see a dramatic difference.

Enjoy!

"Feng Shui".  These two words in Chinese mean literally "wind" and "water".   Feng Shui is a set of rules in Chinese philosophy that govern the arrangement and orientation of space in relation to patterns of ying and yang and the flow of energy, or Qi (chi). The favorable or unfavorable effects are taken into consideration when designing buildings and placing furniture. It's a system of aesthetics that uses astronomy and geography to help improve life by receiving positive Qi.

In the past few years, more and more people are interested in learning about Feng Shui to help them in everyday life, and lessen the stresses and strains that it can bring.

To truly understand this philosophy, you need years of learning and practice.  You would require an extremely accurate Chinese compass, or Luo Pan, to determine the directions in finding any auspicious sector in a desired location. You would need to calculate the life force energy or Qi Level and the numerical significance of a person, including their birth-date, birth-hour, animal sign and personal Gua number, and also learn to use Chinese Astrology.

Many Asian Feng Shui masters resent the interpretation of Feng Shui used in the West. However, I believe we can use this philosophy very effectively just by understanding the principles of Traditional Feng Shui.

The natural energy or Qi is the positive energy inside the body and the environment around us.  By practicing Feng Shui, you try to balance and enhance Chi in your home and work space, which will greatly improve your health, your energy, and you life in general.

If you are a beginner in trying to learn the principles of this philosophy, don't get discouraged. Also, even though hiring a professional Feng Shui practitioner might bring wonderful results (and maybe not so wonderful, depending on where you find him or her), in these times, when we are all struggling for money, that's not such a good idea. But that doesn't mean we can't benefit from applying some simple principles and moving some furniture around.

It would be fantastic to think you could buy a book on the subject and know all the principles of Feng Shui two days later, unfortunately this is not that easy, so just try to follow some tips and try to understand what Feng Shui is all about.

The first and most important Feng Shui principle to remember and follow is: Positive energy attracts positive energy.  It simply means that if you have positive thoughts, then positive things will happen to you.

I'm sure you have heard of the book called “The Secret”. Like the book, Feng Shui uses the laws of attraction. Actually, from my point of view, Feng Shui and "The Secret" go hand in hand.  I might add that if you haven't read the book, I would highly recommend it.

One of the secrets to mastering Feng Shui is to think positively... consistently.  To be positive you have to be grateful for whatever you have, even though sometimes you may be tempted to think that it is not what you deserve.

If you believe that good things will come to you, they will, and Feng Shui can help you canalize that energy and make it flow where it should to help you improve your life.

Try to always be aware and observe your surroundings. Learn to see with Feng Shui eyes. See cluttered areas as nests of "bad energy"; learn how a clear path is beneficial for good Qi circulation. Use your instincts.

Whatever you believe, whether you want to be a Feng Shui professional or not, I like to say that Feng Shui is common sense and very nice interior decoration, so you have nothing to loose by trying to use Feng Shui in your life.

If you would like to incorporate Feng Shui into your life then you will need various Feng Shui tools to help you. Unless you are a Feng Shui practitioner, you will find it difficult knowing exactly where to place things and how to use various objects to bring good luck into your life. Here you will find out more about the Feng Shui tools that you can use to help you if you do choose to take part in the practice.

The Different Feng Shui Tools Available

There are so many different Feng Shui tools that you can use to help you, but not all of them are genuine. You will find a limitless amount of books out there all claiming to tell you exactly how to use Feng Shui techniques. Many of these books are not as helpful as they could be so which ones should you opt for?

The Book of Changes is possibly the best book to purchase on the topic of Feng Shui. It will tell you how to use the Bagua technique. This is the most common Feng Shui technique used in both business and at home. It represents eight different stages in life and by consulting the book of changes, it is said that practitioners gain a better insight into where to place various objects in order to improve the different aspects of their life.

By looking at the Bagua, you will be able to see how you can attract love to your life, or how to bring more wealth into your life. All you have to do is place the Bagua plans in your room and follow the layout. It will tell you which parts of the room to decorate with which objects. Certain colors are better used in certain parts of a room. For example, blue may be better situated in the South of a room. By following the Bagua plan, you will successfully place everything exactly where it needs to be to improve your life.

There are certain objects that Feng Shui practitioners swear by and aquariums are just one of those objects. If placed in the right area of a room, an aquarium can increase wealth and success. The Bagua will show you exactly which section the career area should be. If you place an aquarium or any type of water feature in that section of the room then it will increase your success.

Wind chimes are excellent for drawing in positive energy. The sound that they make relaxes the mind and helps to release positive energy. You should place one just outside the door of your home, or if you have a spiral staircase in the centre of a room, place a wind chime at the bottom of it. This will also help if you believe Feng Shui practitioners.

There are many different tools used by Feng Shui experts that can help to bring luck into your life. The Book of changes is one of the most useful tools you can purchase to help you if you are a beginner to the practice.

Feng Shui, or the proper pronunciation Fung Shway, these two words mean wind and water.   Feng shui is an ancient Chinese art based on the movement of chi or natural energy through everyday environments.

There are many people who would like to learn about this Chinese art to help them in everyday life helping to emit all the stresses and strains that it can bring.

If you would like to learn this old traditional art, then be prepared for years of learning and practice.  For example, when you think of wind and water, you have to think of a gentle flow.

It is easier to imagine that wind can be a gentle breeze or quite the reverse a tornado.  Water can flow as a calm gentle stream, stagnant pond or can become a raging flood.  These are just a few examples that can be thought about when following the patterns of nature.

The natural energy or (Chi) is a positive energy that is inside the body and the environment around.  It is through the understanding and practice of feng shui that is the art of trying to balance and enhance Chi in your home and work space, which will greatly improve your health and energy.

If you are a beginner in trying to learn the principles of this Chinese art then never become disillusioned, as at the beginning it can seem quite overwhelming.  It can take years, and years to completely understand this age-old tradition.

It would be fantastic to think you could buy a book on the subject and know all the principles to the art two days later, unfortunately this is not that easy it is only time and patience that will teach you.

The first and most important feng shui principle to remember and follow is positive energy attracts positive energy.  To put another way it simply means if you can have positive thoughts then positive things can happen to you.

There may be many who have heard of a popular book about the good feng shui principle, the book is called “The Secret”, there are many who have discussed the book and its contents even Oprah herself has discussed the book.

One of the secret principles to mastering feng shui is to think positively consistently.  This can help you to have a positive outcome to occur more frequently.  To be positive you have to be grateful for whatever you have even though sometimes you may think it is not what you deserve.

The feng shui principle can take years to learn, but if a person can follow a few principles and incorporate them into their daily lives, at least they will have benefited from part of this ancient Chinese art and will feel healthier and happier.

If you can always try to be aware and observe your surroundings, and allow any positive energy, you feel you have to flow freely once you have harnessed it.  It is possible for you to harness positive energy in not only the home but your place of work as well.