Feng shui (traditional Chinese: 風水; simplified Chinese: 风水; pinyin: fēng shuǐ; pronounced /ˈfəŋˌʃueɪ/ foong-shoy in Chinese Mandarin, "fheng-schway" in American English) is an ancient Chinese system of aesthetics believed to utilize the Laws of both heaven (astronomy) and Earth (geography) to help one improve life by receiving positive Qi. The original designation for the discipline is Kan Yu (traditional Chinese: 堪輿; simplified Chinese: 堪舆; pinyin: kānyú; literally: Tao of heaven and earth).

The words feng shui literally translate as "wind-water" in English. This is a cultural shorthand taken from the following passage of the Zhangshu (Book of Burial) by Guo Pu of the Jin Dynasty:

Qi rides the wind and scatters, but is retained when encountering water.

Traditional Feng Shui practice always requires an extremely accurate Chinese compass, or Luo Pan, in order to determine the directions in finding any auspicious sector in a desired location.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Can Feng Shui Help Your Business?

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese practice designed to maximize the flow of "chi", or energy, through yourself and your environment. Feng shui supposes that balancing these energies creates good chi, which results in good fortune. Bad chi, however, results in hardship. The Chinese swear by it, whilst others think it is the biggest load of nonsense they have ever heard. Although feng shui has been used for many years in the home to improve happiness, the same principles can also be applied in the workplace to help bring business success and prosperity.

Office layout is an important factor in feng shui. Desks and workstations should be arranged harmoniously so that chi is able to flow smoothly. Doors should not open up onto desks or tables, as this can create bad chi and cause bad luck and obstacles.

The office should be well-lit with a good amount of natural light, preferably from a window. Ideally, everyone in the office should be able to see out of a window by looking up from their desk, but not necessarily positioned front of a window. Air quality is another important issue - fresh air should be available through a good air circulation system. Poor air quality is accountable for fatigue and low productivity.

Water is a key aspect of feng shui, the word 'shui' actually means water, so having a water feature in the building, such as a fountain in the reception area, is considered good practice. Running water is considered very calming, so this will have a positive effect on both your employees, and visitors to your building. The presence of flowers in an office can also help invigorate people who feel low and increase energy levels in your staff.

Ensure that desks are kept tidy and clutter free - a good storage facility can help with this. Many believe that the state of your desk is a reflection of your state of mind.

When decorating your office, have a good balance of yin and yang in your office furniture, wall coverings and flooring by using both light and dark colours, hard and soft surfaces and rough and smooth textures. Good colours to use are greys and blues, which represent metal (encouraging focus and clarity) and water (encouraging prosperity and creativity).

There are also more peculiar rules to follow should you wish to, for example, placing a money frog in the office, which is supposed to bring good luck to the business; or hanging a picture of a merchant ship loaded with coins and gold to help the business prosper in international markets.

Whether or not you believe in feng shui, by following the tips listed above, you will improve your office environment. By improving your employees' work environment, their happiness and energy levels should be enhanced, hopefully resulting in boosted company profits.



Autor: Lucy Penn

Lucy Penn is an online marketer and researcher who is currently researching Office Furniture at http://www.klcontracts.co.uk/furniture


Added: October 11, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Friday, October 9, 2009

The Easy Way to Feng Shui Your Bedroom

There are different ways to customize your bedroom, and this normally spells out the most exciting part of home decorating. Feng shui is an ancient and traditional Chinese method of furniture placement - they believe that the arrangement of your bedroom furniture is important because doing so in the right way will increase luck, as well as the flow of energy into the room.

Contrary to popular belief, getting your bedroom done feng-shui-style doesn't have to be tricky. If you know the basics of feng shui, decorating your bedroom should be a piece of cake, even though you may have larger items in it such as cedar chests, bedroom dressers, and baby cribs.

Allow this to be a guide for designing or decorating your room the feng shui way.

You should avoid having a TV, computer, or exercise materials in your bedroom.

This is obviously harder for someone who owns a laptop or prefers to work in the bedroom, but in feng shui beliefs, having these inside your own bedroom is not good for you because it takes away the positive energy that should be flowing into it.

Be conscious of the levels of lighting.

Let the lighting in your room vary. Lighting is one of the most important elements of feng-shui, as it is believed to be the strongest bearer of energy. To ensure that this is operating well, install a dimmer switch that can adjust the lighting levels in your room, or have a couple or so candles ready should you decide to dim the lighting.

As much as possible, keep your windows open.

It is important that fresh air circulates in your bedroom on a regular basis, so try to keep your windows open as often as possible while you are in the bedroom. Optionally, you can install an air purifier in the room to make sure that the air you are breathing in is clean and fresh. Another important thing to remember is that plants are generally not recommended in the bedroom for feng-shui - unless you have a larger-than-life bedroom that can accommodate it.

Avoid bright, neon colors for your walls.

In feng shui, the best colors are the neutral/nude/human hues, which can range from pale beige to rich chocolate brown. These do not only promote healthy and deep sleep, but they are also said to encourage sexual healing.

Follow basic bed rules.

In a nutshell, these are some of the key principles in bed placement for feng-shui purposes: make sure your bed can be accessed from both sides, place a bedside table on each side of the bed, and by all means, do not let your bed be aligned with the door of your bedroom!



Autor: Erik Schimek

To see beautiful photos of the furniture mentioned in this article, please see Erik Schimek's bedroom furniture website. This website features bed frames, armoires, cedar chests, bedroom dressers, nightstands and organic mattresses.

Erik Organic is an independently owned family business whose goal is to assist our customers in creating a safe and healthy home. Our organic furniture is created with safe organic fabrics, natural batting, solid wood construction and low VOC wood finishes.


Added: October 9, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Feng Shui Colors For Prosperity and Success

Feng Shui practice enables us to tap into the invisible energy or cosmic chi around us to create balance and harmony with the environment. We are aware that energy waves are all around us and we only have to be on the right wavelength to receive it like the mobile phone, radio or TV. We can harness the invisible energy flow to attract better opportunities and improve our chances for success. One of the easiest and effective ways to energize your auspicious direction is by applying the right Feng Shui colors into your living or work area without spending thousands of dollars.

Obviously colors have a great impact on our mood, thoughts and behavior in our everyday life. Have you ever felt that your office space is dull and boring? Implementing Feng Shui color concepts by changing your wall paint or wallpaper or even displaying an object in your lucky color will revitalize your creativity mood.

You have more choices when planning your interior decor at home with the living room, dining room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen. Try spicing up your love life with red color in the bedroom. Of course, do not overuse the color red as it could stir up a bullfight! A healthy green plant in the living room will be an excellent energizer for prosperity luck.

Your auspicious colors can also be utilized in your dressing whether to be successful in job interviews or business ventures, attract the man in your life or improve a personal relationship and even to enjoy better health.

It is an accepted fact that Feng Shui secrets offer the promise of great prosperity and happiness when incorporated into your living space correctly and amazing opportunities will come your way. Understanding more of Feng Shui colors will enable you to apply them in your own living or work space.



Autor: C. Loo C. Loo
Level: Basic
Cath Loo has been a netrepreneur for the past few years and is an enthusiast of implementing feng shui colors to enhance feng shui living. ... ...

For more tips, ideas and info on fengshui colors, please visit website Feng Shui Colors

Find out more ways to implement feng shui colors for prosperity and harmony at FengShui Colors


Added: October 7, 2009
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/