All posts in Feng Shui

Feng Shui – The Spirit of Landforms

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There are environmental factors that we need to consider when checking a property or site for Feng Shui compliance. The external landforms such as rivers, waterways, roads, lakes, hills, mountains or rises in the land does play an important role in Feng Shui. A property that is aligned with these landforms in the correct location and direction is deemed auspicious and the people living in such a property will enjoy harmony and prosperity. Likewise, a property that is misaligned in relations to these landforms is considered inauspicious and residents will suffer misfortune and bad luck.

A property is categorized under three cycles and nine periods based on Feng Shui San Yuan formula. There are the upper cycle, middle cycle and lower cycle. Each cycle governs three periods and each period last for twenty years. Therefore, a cycle will run for 60 years before the next cycle takes over.

The current period is known as Period Eight which started in Feb 2004 and will expire in Feb 2023. In this period, there are certain compass directions a property should comply with based on the Indirect/Direct Spirit Feng Shui Formula as follows:-

Indirect Spirits – Southwest, East, Southeast and North

Direct Spirits – Northeast, West, Northwest and South

The formula specifies that a property should have its front facing the Indirect Spirit and its rear facing the Direct Spirit. The Indirect Spirit is a compass direction for the location of water in the vicinity whereas the Direct Spirit is a compass direction for location of hills and mountains in the distance.

For instance, if the front of a property is facing a lake or river in the Southwest and has its rear looking towards a mountain in the Northeast, it is said to comply with the Indirect/Direct Spirit Formula. The property can tap into the auspicious energies which bring health, relationship and money luck to the residents. On the other hand, a property which faces a mountain in front with its rear end pointing towards a lake is said to violate the Indirect/Direct Spirit Formula. Residents will not enjoy good luck and tend to face obstacles and challenges in their life. For free Feng Shui tips and consultations, please visit proactive-qi.com

This is only one of the fundamental factors in Feng Shui with regards to landforms. It is a matter of Yin and Yang. Yang relates to the Indirect Spirit and Yin the Direct Spirit. Ideally, a property should face Yang and sits Yin. Yang is the side of the property where there is most noise, activity and brightness whereas Yin is the side of the property where there is peace, stillness and dimness. Likewise, Water is Yang and mountain is Yin. When water and mountain are at their correct compass directions in relations to a property based on the Indirect/Direct Spirit formula, Yin and Yang is said to be in balance.

Apart from the above formula, there are other Feng Shui formulas which relates to the interior of a property, namely Flying Stars and Eight Mansion, to name the more popular ones. These Feng Shui formulas allow residents to map out the energy distribution within a property based on the facing direction (Flying Stars) and sitting direction (Eight Mansion) respectively. It is equally important that a person’s date and time of birth be taken into consideration so that the energy of the property is correctly aligned with the resident’s energy or life force. In Chinese Astrology known as Four Pillars of Destiny, a property with good Feng Shui can help to enhance or mitigate the effects of any positive or negative luck cycles a person is going through in order to live a happy and successful life.

For more free consultations on Feng Shui and free Destiny Reading based on Chinese Astrology, you can visit bazidestiny.synthasite.com

Diet Menus And Plans – Revisiting The Cabbage Soup Diet

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The Cabbage Soup Diet, also known as the Soup Diet, was originally destined to help overweight people awaiting surgery. During a seven day period dieters rely on a homemade vegetable soup to lose weight, both by melting the fat away and by eliminating excess water from the body. They also take some proteins, fruits and vegetables, some snacks, and food supplements. After the initial phase, dieters undergo a seven-day stabilization phase. Here are some of the diet principles.

Eat as much of the fat burning soup as you want. Have some of this soup for breakfast, lunch, supper, and even the mid-morning snack. The recipe follows. For three liters (about three quarts of water) cook for about an hour the following cut-up vegetables: Three large onions, 1 or 2 cans of peeled tomatoes, a green cabbage, 2 eggplants, 2 bell peppers, 3 asparagus, 1 stalk of parsley, 3 bay leaves, 4 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, curry, as well as other spices to taste.

On a daily basis eat proteins such as 150 grams (about 5 ounces) of lean fish, 4 egg whites, 150 grams of skinless, lean white meat (but not pork), or 200 grams of tofu. Eat two snacks, a bowl of soup in the morning and a fruit or a no-fat yogurt in the afternoon. During the stabilization phase the morning snack becomes a no-fat yogurt. Take dietary supplements. Drink lot and lots of water and green tea. During the stabilization phase you may once again consume bread and olive oil. But pasta is still not allowed.

An advantage of the Cabbage Soup diet is you don’t have to cook much. But you may get sick of that *** soup. And the meals lack variety. Very frankly, the Cabbage Soup Diet is not recommended. So many alternative diets are available.

Here is a sample menu: For Breakfast have two prunes, a sugarless no-fat yogurt, a bowl of soup, and a cup of green tea. Lunch means a bowl of that famous soup, 150 grams (that’s about five ounces) of sole, a plate of cauliflower, a bowl of strawberries, and a cup of green tea. For supper enjoy (well, maybe) a bowl of soup, a slice of low-fat ham, an artichoke, and a peach.

A quick tour of the Amazon web site revealed quite some range of Cabbage Soup Diet books. Some of these books are available for ereaders.

Levi Reiss wrote or co-authored ten computer and Internet books and teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his wine, diet, health, and nutrition website http://www.wineinyourdiet.com and check out his popular diet articles. You’ll love his Italian travel site http://www.travelitalytravel.com

Feng Shui Interprets Haunted Houses

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Even though it is not the domain of a feng shui practitioner to be a “ghost buster,” recognizing spaces that have “yin” qualities and which harbor ghosts or spirits sometimes just goes along with the territory.

There are a number of factors that can make a house prone to or vulnerable to attracting ghosts. Almost like a cliche, and resembling the stereotypical haunted house depicted in the movies, yin qualities in a house will make it more susceptible to having spirits. Those yin qualities includes a place that is chronically, dark, cold, damp, quiet, still and secluded in the mountains.

A house also has a higher chance of being haunted if it is older and there have been a succession of occupants, with some previous occupant having been excessively attached to the property. A client of mine once described seeing a man on her property shortly after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. When she described the man to a neighbor, the neighbor was confident that it was the spirit of the previous owner who had built the house and thought he was just checking on its status after the earthquake.

Sometimes even newer homes can harbor spirits, especially if they were built on places where people had died in battle or over ancient burial grounds. As an example, in Southern California the Chumash Indians had a long history and some homeowners have experienced the telltale signs of Native American Indian spirits on their properties.

There are also certain house types (based on their orientation and year built) which are more likely to attract yin spirits, although sometimes this just ends up attracting a very spiritual occupant who is also interested in the metaphysical or occult.

There are some feng shui remedies for helping remove a ghost, but often if it specific to the house and not a general piece of advice that can be mentioned in an article. Although there is one plant in particular, the banana tree, which is known to attract ghosts. In my own experience as a consultant, I have gotten feedback from clients with banana trees on their properties that they do see or feel spirits.

For sure, it is best to take care that your house is not too yin, i.e. not too dark, damp or secluded with over grown landscape. Homes built right into a mountain side can also be a problem. In fact, some situations are just best avoided since there is not a feng shui remedy for every single problem.

One ironic twist is that a mis-placed metal wind chime can also attract a ghost. Simplified schools of feng shui often recommend hanging wind chimes, but they really need to be placed with the knowledge of whether or not they are appropriate for that situation. It is only classical Flying Star Feng Shui which can determine which house types these are.

Many people have never seen or felt a ghost so it is hard to imagine what this kind of encounter could be like or if ghosts really even exist. Otherwise very rational people often report compelling encounters although modern science has yet to document this adequately to convince the skeptics. I have joked with friends that I have a “peanut butter” ghost in my house because the peanut butter in the jar seems to vanish at an astonishing rate that I cannot take responsibility for!

Even if you doubt the existance of ghosts, it is still a good feng shui premise to keep your house more on the “yang” side because the same qualities or features to a house that can attract ghosts can also just make an occupant more likely to be depressed or sickly.

Kartar Diamond is a classically trained consultant and owner of Feng Shui Solutions since 1992. Vist our website at www.FengShuiSolutions.net for a variety of services available to both local and long distance clients, a free monthly e-newsletter, and Kartar is also the author of four books with more teaching products on the way.

Journaling Feng Shui

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Journaling is an excellent tool for dealing emotionally with almost any issue in life. The therapeutic applications of journal writing are endless. But it’s also true that sometimes you feel stuck, unable to make a move in any direction, and not even able to sit down comfortably with your notebook.

For any number of reasons, known and/or unknown, you feel empty. You want to get answers, but you’re paralyzed in some limbo of inaction. You’re uninspired, listless, drifting. You haven’t even cleaned your house for the past month.

Hold it right there. When in doubt, simplify. Could it be that modifying your environment will energize you?

As sentient beings, people are affected by their environments. The flow of energy and the balance of forces in a given environment are studied in the ancient Chinese art of feng shui. Feng shui observes that clutter brings low, confusing, and draining energy into your home, which is detrimental to your own energy and well-being.

Clearing out physical clutter can seem like an overwhelming and tedious process, but when you live and work in a clear, open space, your mind also becomes free and uncluttered.

Your ease and wellbeing have everything to do with your surroundings. Could it be that your ennui is a result of the mess around you?

Here are some ideas to make the task of de-cluttering more palatable.

1. In the room or space where you plan to do your journaling, set a timer for 15 minutes.

2. Turn on some favorite music, open windows if the weather allows, invite a loved one to join in if you wish.

3. Clean one area of the space for the 15 minutes. Throw out as much as possible.

4. Be merciless. If you can’t think of a reason to keep it in a few seconds, get rid of it! Hoarding is a generally unhealthy thing to do.

5. Stop when the timer buzzes. Take a step back and admire your work. Great job!

If you want to, set the timer for another 15 or 30 minutes, and continue. Or just do 15 a day for a while. At some point, the room will be clean and refreshed. Now open your journal and write about the experience.

What did you see and feel when you looked at this room before? What do you see and feel now?

What old baggage, physical or emotional, were you able to throw away while cleaning? What items were the hardest to get rid of? Why?

How do you plan to keep your writing space fresh, inviting, and clean in the future?

Understanding The Five Elements Of Feng Shui

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Whenever people talk about the ancient art of feng shui, inevitably the five elements come up. What are these five elements and why are they important in feng shui? Read on for a quick rundown on the five elements and their uses in the practice of feng shui.
The Five Elements of Feng Shui Outlined
The five elements of feng shui are wood, water, earth, metal and fire. These five elements are all naturally occurring and indicate either construction or deconstruction in some way or another:
Construction: Wood can make fire; the energy of fire (e.g. – the Sun) feeds the earth; metal comes from the earth; water can be drawn from the elements of metal; water feeds wood.
Destruction: Fire destroys metal; metal (such as an axe blade or other instrument) destroys wood; trees or wood feed from the earth; dirt from the earth absorbs water; of course, water destroys fire.
Harmonizing With the Five Feng Shui Elements
The underlying principle of feng shui is that there needs to be harmony and balance; having too much of any one element in your home or in a particular room is counterproductive and can be overwhelming. Most rooms will have one dominant quality of the five elements of feng shui and need another element to bring in some balance. For example, think of an all-white bathroom. White is clean and pure and represents water.
However, when a room, even a bathroom, is completely white, it can feel cold and sterile. By introducing another one of the five elements of feng shui, such as earth, this can tone down that sterile feeling. Towels, artwork, and other items that are a warm brown can do the trick. Or, imagine a living room that is all brown, which is a strong earth tone. You can feel closed in or overwhelmed, as this is a warm color but one that easily smothers you. Another one of the five elements of feng shui, such as fire, can do the trick. Red accents such as pillows or afghans can brighten up the warm brown.
Feng shui’s balancing principles can be applied to much more than home decor however. Think of personality traits. Some people are entirely too fiery; a little fire is good, but someone who is hot tempered consistently can be hard to deal with. Balance in all things is the idea of feng shui.
Hence, you can think of toning down your personality, like the warm and giving earth, your persona can do with some warm and nurturing shades to make it more likeable. This can also make you a more objective and a pleasant human being.
There are really no right or wrong answers when it comes to applying the five elements of feng shui to any room of your home or part of your life. You simply need to remember how these elements are meant to harmonize and balance one another, and try to imitate those fine qualities as much as possible.