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FENG SHUI AND YOU
10 easy ways to include Feng Shui in your life

BY FENG SHUI EXPERT SHERRY MERCHANT

Sherry is a good friend and benefactor, always accessible and supportive with her invaluable expertise. She is a home maker, accomplished interior designer , internationally acclaimed qualified Feng shui expert and instructor.

Sherry is fully qualified in classical Feng Shui as well as Bazi (Chinese astrology). She is a wizard at using numbers to quickly and accurately assess what is going on in a premise. She is also a well known and reputed instructor for The Mastery Academy of Chinese Metaphysics in Malaysia and conducts classes and workshops around the world.

Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of living in harmony with your environment, It literally translates into wind and water. It is essentially the study of how the energy of our environment affects us, it entails balancing these energies by retaining the positive benefits and removing the negative effects.

It is my privilege today to have her on my blog as a guest writer, sharing her beneficial, respected and relevant skills to enthrall each one of you.

 TEN EASY WAYS TO INCLUDE FENG SHUI IN YOUR LIFE

1.     CLEAR THE CLUTTER. This sounds the easiest and is actually the most tough. Fold your clothes and put them away, shoes back in the shoe-rack, books go back on the shelves, coffee table clutter gets re-organized (see www.dezinecode.blogspot.in on that subject) your handbags and gym bags off the floor and into the closet and so on. Get rid of anything that does not belong where it is, the rule here is “a place for everything and everything in its place”. Whatever does not have a use has to go. Old stuff harbors negativity, and we cant have that in a Feng Shui compliant space can we?

2.     GET RID OF THE BROKEN STUFF: anything that does not work counts as negative energy and has to go. That old blender that never got fixed, that nice toaster that cant toast anymore, those broken mugs awaiting repair for the past two years, the clothes stand that used to be a treadmill, its never going to happen so might as well get rid of it and open up your space and let the rooms breathe!.

3.     CREATE A MING TAN. This is one of the most important aspects of Feng Shui, loosely translated as “Bright Hall” this refers to the space just outside of your main door which essentially dictates the quality of the energy or Qi that enters the house. If the bright hall is clear of any obstruction, slightly lower like a bowl, than the surrounding areas then it gets easier to collect the Qi. Ideally speaking, in apartments this can be quite a task, so if you are an apartment dweller, you need to make sure that the space outside your front door is clean, brightly lit, and free of nonsensical stuff like shoes, brooms and so on. Plants are fine as long as they are well trimmed and not overpowering and healthy, dead plants are not acceptable. If you are not able to have a nice open space outside your door, make sure there is enough space inside your door, that at least is in your control, same rules apply. If you must have shoes make sure they are out of sight in a cabinet designed for the purpose.

4.     CREATE A WATER BODY FOR WEALTH. This is a bit precise so you need to be accurate: each year a certain section of the property is auspicious for wealth creation. This position keeps changing in a pre-determined pattern. You stand in the center of your property, and using a compass, aim for that direction. Then place a large bowl of water there, if near a window, even better. Keep the water clean changing it as often as the mosquitoes dictate. A fish tank or a fountain can easily do the job as well, make sure the surface of the water is open and connects to the outside by an opening like window or door preferably. This year it is the North, after Feb 04, 2016 it will be the South West right until February 3, 2017, and after that the East from February 4, 2017 for one year.

Water body 

5.     PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THE "SICKNESS AND LOSS" AREAS. Like there are wealth sectors each year, there are also sectors that cause the occupants to be ill, this year all the way till Feb 13, 2016 you have the sickness stars in the West. Using a compass, standing in the center of the house, point west. Place a large salt water cure in that sector. Next year on the 4^th of February 2016, for one year move the salt cure to the North East, and the following year to the South. To make a salt cure, use 20 kilos of grain or sea salt in a suitable container, anything from a plastic bucket to your grandmothers Ming vase will do, add water 2 inches above the salt, and six copper and one silver coin. If your bed head is pointing west, sleep in reverse till next February, if your stove is located in the west of your kitchen move it away to the east or the north or the south west, especially if you are seeing a spurt of illness in the house.

Salt cure

6.     POSITION YOUR BED. it is always good to have a bed that has a dedicated headboard that is attached to the bed, not the wall. Behind your bed, it is best not to have a gap, open space or a window, best to have a solid wall. Angling your bed to a corner and creating a triangular gap behind, is Feng Shui hara-kiri.

INCORRECT POSITION

Headboard attached to wall

Window behind bed

CORRECT 

Bed with attached headboard and wall behind

7.     TRY AND ENSURE FOUR SIDED ROOM, ESPECIALLY BEDROOM. Many rooms are L shaped, and tend to give rise to stomach and gynecological issues. Use a curtain, a partition or a vertical blind to make your room 4 cornered, this is very beneficial in the long run.

8.     CONTROL THE MIRRORS AND REFLECTIVE SURFACE. Mirrors are yang they increase the flow of energy which is great to enhance commercial spaces but make your bedroom too yang so you find it not restful. To have a restful space, limit the color scheme to one or two colors and as few reflective surfaces as possible. Keep the colors as soft as possible. In shops and offices, increase the reflective surfaces, it helps to increase footfall. Chandeliers over a bed also qualify, sharp and reflective.

9.     REMEMBER, ALL WATER IS NOT GOOD!Automatically people assume that by placing water somewhere, they have actually Feng Shuied their home, this is not true. Water can be damaging if it is in the South, West, North-West and Nort-East parts of your home, and if you happen to have a pool outside in one of these sectors, close the windows and draw the drapes to limit the effect inside the house.

10. KEEP IT SIMPLE. Try to keep your rooms open and unencumbered, remove all unnecessary obstacles, partitions and pointless sub-divisions.  Your home is not an obstacle course, if you can move freely without bumping into anything then it follows that so will the energy. Keep it well lit, mood lighting taken too far can be depressing. You have succeeded in making your home energy-friendly. Open up the windows and doors and let the Qi in, keep the spaces in front of the doors and windows open. See how much better your home feels once it stars breathing

Check out her website www.sherrymerchant.com