Your Home Is A Window To Opportunity

“An open mind is like an open window, it lets in fresh air.”
– Mike Hernacki

Clean the office windows prompted my inner voice. Such a mundane topic to begin a blog but experiencing the sunlight stream across my desk boosting my creative space (and my mind) with a much needed drink of Ch’i, I realized without my office windows I would be lacking in this joyful experience. We cannot live without light. It is essential to our minds, bodies, health and well-being. Light nourishes our spaces and this brilliant energy gets our ideas flowing and our Ch’i going. A well placed window can maximize the benefits of this creative life force.

What’s the perk for you? When architectural details are arranged in such a way that they generate an elevated emotions in you, the positive feelings attract positive experiences. Some houses need a little more TLC while others need a little tweak to stimulate more Ch’i. I’ve created a list of ten Feng Shui design features related to window placement, window care and window construction to help you create a life of opportunity.

Doors represent the voice of the adult where as windows represent the voice of the child. If your windows cannot open, old Ch’i is constrained. Every one in the house may gradually “suffocate”, unable to process clearly or not move at all. Life can be problematic for children.
– Fix the windows.
– Place a small round mirror on the inoperable window(s). This encourages the ch’i to circulate and revive the occupants.

Too few doors in relationship to the windows and the children may decree what happens in the house creating chaos. At work, there may be a strike by unhappy employees, mirroring an unruly parent/child relationship.
Nuance: Evaluate the size of the windows and doors. A very large window can give the children very strong voices and visa versa, a very large door can give the parents very strong voices.
– If there too few doors, hang a bell on the inside of the parent’s bedroom door (or on the doors of management personnel) to enhance their parental voice.
– Option: install panes in the large window. The mulleins soften the voice of the child. They then may be motivated to listen.

If a window is behind you as you sit at your desk and it provides you with good light and good scenery, then you need not do anything. But if an arrow point at you from the outside, you need to adjust it. A concave Bagua mirror on the outside reflecting back to the offending building will soften (blunt) the arrow.

If the window is wider than your desk (or bed) and you feel nervous, make an adjustment. Drapes or blinds can be used to make the window appear smaller, feeling more secure.

Windows that begin at eye level making it impossible to see out, can create feelings of constriction and control. This feature is designed into many modern schools. Watch for a child’s basement bedroom where the windows are above their head. They may feel like a frog in the well.
– Hang a mirror in the affected room(s) at eye level.
– You can have a breakthrough by practicing the Six Stage Up-lifting Ch’i Method.

If windows are shorter than the tallest person in the building, that person may feel depressed or oppressed. They  may internalize their feelings resulting in a loss of clarity and an inability to process thoughts and take action. If an entire office building had short windows, what madness might run through the hallways.
– Place a mirror in the room that is high enough to allow his or her Ch’i to expand. The center of the mirror should be at eye level.
– Hang a crystal ball in the short window(s) to elevate the Ch’i. The rainbow colors created will lift one’s Ch’i.
– Make the window appear taller than it actually is, by installing curtains that extend above the window.

Rare but still there is that one occasion when a stove is under a window (not good) and if it is barred (really disastrous) family members may end up in the hospital, in court, or in jail.
– Paint the window frame in the colors of the five elements (green, red, yellow, white, and black).
– Grow greenery on the bars.

If a family or business is separated from their community, standoffish and isolated, check to see if the windows open inward. If this is the case, the Ch’i is constantly being sucked into the home or office. The lack of connection can hinder opportunity, and create mental and physical instability.
– Hang a wind chime near the front door to activate a connection with the outside world.
– Hang a crystal ball near the window where the sun shines. The rainbow colors created by the faceted crystal will bring good luck, endurance and fortitude. Family members may be more willing to leave the house.
– Use colors in the affected room that are full of life force like green, blue, bluish purple and reddish purple
– Red and green can help a nervous adolescent come out into the world.
– A timid teenager may benefit from pink, red, blue, and green.

Professor Lin was once asked by a student in one of his Berkeley workshops about a broken window in the Knowledge gua. In his over arching vision he replied, did the person break their hand or their wrist? The answer was, Yes! The hands in the Bagua are related to the Knowledge gua (front left corner) of the home. Repair broken windows, replace inoperable windows, windows that are stuck and install energy efficient window panes before an accident happens.

The eyes are the body part symbolic of the Fame Gua (central back part of the house). If you seek clarity about your career, want to develop ideas that create a robust network, increase your visibility in your profession or community, improve your inner sight, keep the windows in this area clean. 

Bonus: Any outlet to the outside is related to the eyes. Be sure your vents, fans, air conditioners, etc., are working properly. You will help protect the eyes from injury and illness.

Glass doors correspond to the eyes. Simply keeping them clean will help you maintain the clarity of your vision.

What can a window teach you?
• Keep your eyes open
• See things as they are
• Enjoy what you see
• Prepare to meet opportunity
• Enlighten your mind
• If something is broke, fix it
– Bette Steflik, Shen Men Feng Shui

Allow me to help you arrange your home where you feel fully supported. I am available for a full consultation service or for an hour telephone conversation. Details are at this link Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Design Your Life Around Your Purpose

“Your life has purpose. Your story is important. Your dreams count. Your voice matters. You were born to make an impact.
– Author unknown

When you make a decision you’re dynamic and you are powerful (thank you Abraham Hicks). This mindset immediately creates a field that surrounds you with positive intent where everything moves in cooperation with what you’ve asked for and supports your alignment with your desires.

When you are in symmetry with your desires (this is where Feng Shui comes in) the design of your home, the arrangement of your furniture, the position of your desk, bed and stove, the alignment of Ch’i and the accents to the front door maximize the wish-fulfilling energy coming into your house. This positive Ch’i creates worlds. So you may want to consider this: envision the walls in your home, the shape of your furnishings, color and lighting in your rooms, less as physical, finite objects and more as you’re composing a directive to assemble the people, places and events you desire to experience. Consciously putting your home into order yields the good fortune (luck, money, love) that blesses you.

For my September blog I am offering a secret enhancement to design your life around your purpose. This cure is from Professor Lin’s infinite body of Feng Shui wisdom. But before I give you the secret cure, consider implementing these practices, they are 99% on the mark to help you succeed.

Professor Lin recommends that meditating daily has extraordinary benefits: it calms your mind, you develop the focus to act with discernment and it broadens your inspiration, all of which help you master your life. Allow meditation to have a place in your day to access your inner voice, your intuition, it has wise messages for you. Add journaling and chanting to encourage self-esteem and self-reliance. Include a personal mantra or Buddhist mantras to transform your inner dialogue so that you recognize what you nurture, you becomeThen this cure will be the most effective and powerful.

Place the bed, desk and stove in command position (you can see the door but not be in line of the door) because these areas are your command centers. You make more powerful yet meaningful Feng Shui adjustments when you understand how lack of command hinders your ability to stay aligned with your desires. The necessity for command position influences your sense of safety; you may experience lack of opportunity; anger and mood swings. In the case if the bed is out of command heart trouble, insomnia and illness along the midline (among other health issues) may arise. When your desk is out of command you may have an outdated perspective, unable to see both opportunity and trouble coming and experience lack of support. If you cannot see what is going on while you are at the stove, this suggests a downturn in finances, diminished good luck and heart trouble. Referred back to the 27 Bedroom Concepts for how to place your bed in command, it will apply to the desk too. If you have a question about command position I am happy to answer your inquiry. Please contact me bette@shenmenfengshui.com (I follow the Red Envelope Tradition). In Feng Shui Matters To Your Heart, I share a list of design features that affect your focus and clarity. The list can be useful when you are wanting to make a change.

Ba-gua Formation
Choose either your house or your lot, but do not mix and match them. Perform this sequence for either the house or the lot not both. It’s like saying you do not trust the cure’s effectiveness. These specific adjustments mentioned are meant to be suggestions. Please be mindful of the character and qualities of the gua you are enhancing. If you go your own way, your cure could be less effective and then you may conclude the cure does not work.

Perform this cure between the hours of 11 pm to 1 am (Zi hours) or 11 am to 1 pm (Wu hours). You will complete this cure in eight days. If you miss a day you must start over at Helpful People.

Day One
Begin with the Helpful People (Chien)Gua. It is located in the front right corner of the house or lot. Outside you can place a tall rock or a bird bath, a statue of a Buddha. Place something that has weight. Inside a photo of a travel destination you love. A mirror will expand this area with the proper intention.

Day Two
Move clockwise to Career (Kan). If you know a blessing ritual from the Black Sect Buddhist Feng Shui perform that. An image of water or an actual water feature or a photo of your ancestors or an affirmation for your career are appropriate.

Day Three
Next move to Knowledge (Gen). It is located in the front left corner of your home or lot). Hang a wind chime or place an image of a mountain or a pathway or archway. Something that leads you into contemplation.

Day Four
Continue clockwise to Family (Jen). Hang a wind chime to encourage good luck for the family. Or plant bamboo. It bends in the wind; it bows in the wind and implies having the flexible Ch’i to get along with family members. Or hang an image of bamboo in this area of your home.

Day Five
Move to the back left corner to Wealth (Hsun). It is related to Wind in the I-Ching and also the Wood element. Water is usually depicted here. Hang an image of grasses blowing in the wind. Or place a convex mirror to expand the various resources to receive money.

Day Six
Continue on to the back center of the house or lot. This is the Fame Gua (Li). It means Radiance or Clarity also Clinging (as Fire clings to whatever it is burning). A spot light here to shine the light on your reputation or a crystal to add radiance to your visibility in your community.

Day Seven
Move in a clockwise fashion to Partnership (Kun) which is in the right back corner of the house or lot. This is an Earth gua. Containers, pottery, a bench, or a wheelbarrow are appropriate. Add pink roses in the house or plant roses in the yard in this area.

Day Eight
The last enhancement. This area is the Children Gua (Dui). It is mistaken for Creativity, creativity belongs to all the guas. A white statue for the lot or place a metal statue of children playing. Something hand made by a child like a drawing would activate the Ch’i. 

A home that is not a complete rectangle may have a missing area or in some cases like an L shape home, an extension. These need an adjustment before you begin the Bagua Formation cure.

Want to get started right away? Design your life around your purpose? Let’s get started! A well-designed space allows you to access positive energy at all times. Call me, 503-232-2543 and I will help you arrange your home where you feel fully supported. I am available for a full consultation or for an hour telephone conversation, Feng Shui A La Carte. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.

Feng Shui Solutions To Create Summer Magic!

“Pick up your wand and carry on.”

We’re in the height of Wizard* season. Summer. Sun. Radiant. Transformative. Fire. It’s a don’t wait energy. It’s a build your momentum, be bold and feel inspired kind of zeal. Pull a Harry Potter movie off the shelf, pick up your wand and strap on the mantle of your imagination. When you commit to suspending your belief about the reality of your current circumstances, the moment you let go, magic enters. Begin now.

Hold That Thought!
“You must find the feeling of abundance before abundance can be yours. You must talk about how it will feel when you are living it. You must talk about why you want it and what it will feel like to live it. When you think a thought for 17 seconds, that thought has enough momentum that another thought like it will join it. And as you maintain that thought for another 17 seconds and another and another…then pretty soon you have 68 seconds of like thoughts. And then you have momentum that begins the realization process. And what happens then is thoughts will rendezvous with you. Ideas will come. Inspiration will happen and you will have fun, not just achieving manifested reality but imagining it and that is really a lot of fun.”
Abraham Hicks

Set The Path of Least Resistance!
“The path around your home is also the path of awakening.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

You hold the wand. You know your rockets of desire will manifest through focus and clarity (17 seconds +). Begin with a strategy to harmonize your home by removing distracting energy. Make a list of design details that affect your physical and emotional well being. Then start the transformation! Here are a few general Feng Shui solutions to create summer magic. Soften blocking walls with beautiful art work; diffuse a poison arrow with a radiant crystal; uplift your stairs with a wind chime and turn your thoughts around with a mirror at the stove. Remove mental chatter by donating furnishings that have emotional ties and drain your energy. Refresh your surroundings with luminous color and sparkling light. A wizard knows a unifying pattern creates a sense of ease, a welcoming ambiance and will train your vibration to move upward allowing the space for you to rendezvous with ideas, inspiration and fun.

Expand Your Thinking About Abundance! 
Abundance is more than money Ch’i coming from the wealth corner or your career. There are six more guas that create the alchemy of abundance. Impulses can come as innovative ideas that support you (adjust Family or Knowledge). Foster relationships that build your business to a prosperous status (activate Partnership gua). Generate an ample sense of well being that provides the stamina to push on (build the Center). Develop strong ties with mentors, benefactors and clients who aid you when your luck is down (tune up Helpful People). And I am excited to share one of H.H. “Professor” Lin’s secrets that will give the Feng Shui in your home tensile strength. There are eight guas which creates four pairs. When you place an adjustment in one of the pairs, it profoundly activates its partner. Here is how they pair up: Wealth/Helpful People; Fame/Career; Knowledge/Partnership; Children/Family. If you have plans for home improvement and you are including Feng Shui, you will want to add this. And please let me know how it works for you. I’d love to hear about your process.

Recently a client shared she could best describe her Feng Shui journey as, “Fun!” She told me how she loved searching for a colorful dragon for her office. It engaged her senses and sense of play. It was her excitement about the possibility of positive change, her engagement with the process and finally transforming her space with the sacred objects she created through her heart and intention that helped her realign with her desires. “If you are are in tune with what you want, you feel enthusiasm, peaceful and satisfied with your desires. The Law of Attraction responds to this.” (AH) Indeed!

*The Five Element Archetypes: Wood – The Pioneer, Fire – The Wizard, Earth – The Peacemaker, Metal – The Alchemist, Water – The Philosopher
Between Heaven And Earth, A Guide To Chinese Medicine

Feng Shui touches on every aspect of life. I invite you to try Feng Shui A La Carte.

What I have discovered about our homes is that creating a heart healthy space leads to peace and contentment. The bedroom is where it begins. Start with my complimentary pdf: 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind. Design your space to your best advantage. Subscribe to my blog and special offers. You’ll receive this valuable Feng Shui Guide as a thank you gift.