Tag Archives: Safety

Design Your Life Around Your Purpose

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“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 become. Then 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.

3 Ways To Transform Stress In Your Home

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“As we head into the dark time of year, let’s take a moment to check in with our practice of compassion, for ourselves and others. Let’s notice our reactions as we encounter pain and suffering, our own and that of others. Notice when we open our hearts and make friends with the discomfort and when we go into fear, anger, resistance or stuckness. Our heads might not know where we are at, but our bodies can give us loads of information.”
–Sacred Circle Dance

We are experiencing an unprecedented exposure to media, download of EMFs and anxiety over global events. These kinds of stress undermine our sense of safety and control in the world. If you are having difficulty sleeping; concerned for your family’s safety; wondering how to minimize conflict at home, on the road and in the workplace, there is a way to help your life go right. Not only compassion transforms stress, creating your home as your center of strength can help you act with confidence in an uncertain world. If you are ready to make-over your home, here are three key areas that will help you revolutionize your inner state and create a sense of safety.

Begin with those who make life easier.
Look to the front right corner as you face into the house, this is Chien, Helpful People help us accomplish what we set out to do. In the I-Ching this area is represented by Heaven. Heaven Ch’i is effortless in its ability to manifest.

  • Activating this niche with a Feng Shui adjustment draws Heaven onto Earth. Placing a sacred object here invites the people and sets up the events that come to your aide. An image or statue of dragon (no red dragons for that is a cooked dragon), horses, a goose, lion or elephant represent this area. You could hang an image of a special place that you have traveled to or long to visit. Or mount a wall clock for this gua is associated with time. How we manage our time is a mark of success. Make your visualization precise.

Hold your family together.
Locate the center of your home. A strong center can contain you and your loved in the thick of the intricacies of everyday life. If the center of your home is weak, your life can spin out of control. Check for the following details.

  • A stairway in the center creates instability which can lead to worry and restlessness. Loss of Ch’i can destroy your sense of peace and leak energy from the entire house and your energy too. Hang a wind-chime or a mirror at the top of the stairway. Or paint the railing green.
  • A bathroom in the center will deplete all the life situations that the Bagua contains. Your life’s resources will either vanish slowly or be depleted in an immediate surge down the drain.
    Place a mirror on the outside of the bathroom door. This “transcendentally” removes the bathroom by reflecting what is in front of the mirror, hence the bathroom “disappears”.
  • Other details that should be avoided in the middle of the house: boiler; motor; electrical service box – your main disconnect; oven; fireplace; generator. If something electrical or hot exists in the middle of the house, you can paint it green or decorate it with a green plant or place a green plant on top of it.

Avoid dissonance and exhaustion.
Walk to your bedroom. Check to see if your bed is placed on the edge of a “cleaver” shaped room.

  • If the master bed is on the edge of the cleaver, words may be cutting and sharp. This creates dissonance among family members that can spread beyond the walls of your home and impinge upon your life in exhausting ways. If you have a cleaver shaped bedroom, place a mirror on the wall opposite the bed to pull the bed off the knife edge. 
  • Subscribe to my blogspot for more bedroom help. Receive 27 Bedroom Concepts To Maximize Your Health, Happiness and Peace of Mind.

If you want more information about design that contributes to stress, lack of safety, ill health and conflict, check out Floor Plans Matter. I describe one design feature in each of nine floor plans. My hope is that you start to think of your home as your source to regenerate your energy where you can face the world with good humor, trust and feel empowered to make a change for your own good.

Have you decided this will be your year? “Boldness has genius”… start with one hour of Feng Shui A La Carte. One hour with me can transform your current situation. Think of it as a fairy godmother for your house.

Photo credit: LoveFairyGarden, Etsy.com

Feng Shui Design For Your Best Life

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photo credit: Paintzen

“Recent discoveries in Western Science now add to a growing body of evidence suggesting Beauty is a transformational power… Through our experience of Beauty, we’re given the power to change the feelings that we have in our bodies. Our feelings, in turn, are directly linked to the world beyond our bodies.”
– Gregg Braden

Moving a bed to take command in the bedroom, painting a front door crimson red to expand opportunities, positioning a desk so a voice will be heard…these mini experiences create beauty and offer peace of mind but they also are thresholds that beckon something extraordinary to happen. When we correct the structural deficiencies in our home’s design Feng Shui’s subtle positive power not only releases restrictions in our life but reflects a bigger vision of who we might become.

That vision begins at the front door. To discover who we might become we need to uncover the story our entry tells. The Feng Shui design metaphor of the front entry reaches into our career, reputation, the people who help us and the health of everyone in the household.  “…so place something attractive here so when you first enter your home you enter through beauty.” Louise Hay’s perfect action step is a great reminder to appreciate Beauty because we all have storms in our life. 

Plagued by headaches? Do you feel confused or lose stuff? You can open your entry to vitality when you place plants just inside the front door. They embody life force and generate a positive impulse. Green is soothing and can be viewed for a long time without causing eye strain. If one of your family members has an illness, place nine potted plants in the front entry. 

Discord in your family could mean there is a split view when you walk into your home. A split at the front door can stimulate the brain unevenly, you may think more and act less or act more and think less. There is a potential for illness along the midline from the head to the kidneys. When your eyes cannot focus on one object, you may feel confusion and it becomes difficult to make decisions. Everyone in the house may become impatient, anxious, out of sorts and not accommodating to one another. You At home you want to feel relaxed not harassed. Hang a beautiful chandelier to lift your eyes upward. If your stairway is causing the split, mount a crystal finial on the stair’s post, it will draw your eyes to it. Or hang a faceted lead crystal from the ceiling.

Conflict in your heart that you can’t put your finger on and is difficult to express suggests your stairway leads straight out the front door. This feature not only affects all the eight guas, especially health and wealth, but it can create conflict that is burns your heart and never gets expressed. Anger could take over your life. But there is hope. A planter outside the front door will catch the Ch’i that is escaping out the door.

Lack of risers can steal the Ch’i from everyone who enters your home. You may feel tired all the time and just can’t handle your responsibilities. As simple as it may look, it’s impact is debilitating. Plants underneath delivers vitality or uplight the stairs.

Restriction in your career might be mirrored by a blocking wall as you enter your home. Hanging a mirror or a beautiful landscape can expand your entry and give you a wider entrée. But here is an additional piece not widely known–sound–hang a wind chime on the door will open up the space. It’s lyrical quality can awaken your senses and clear your mind.

Need a boost to your career? A bright light at the front door is good for the career of everyone in the household so the brighter within reason.

Accent your entrance with a splash of red directly across from it. This design treatment can improve your reputation where you work. Red symbolizes happiness, virtuosity, power and inspire you every time you walk through the door.

Spring is a pioneering time, a time of great energy, tender shoots are breaking through the hard ground. I feel inspired by the vernal season and I am excited that winter has ended. It’s time to take up a paint brush, hammer, ceremonies, cures and start designing my own reality. Hope you’ll join me!

Have you decided this will be your year? “Boldness has genius”.. start with one hour of 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.

How To Manifest Peace

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“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster’, I hear my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing there are so many helpers–so many caring people in the world.”
– Mr. Rogers

The tragedies that have pierced the heart of the world were such a force that I had to step back these past several weeks to think deeply how Feng Shui may empower us to create a world that is safe. The story we tell this time of year is about peace, goodwill towards all. I asked myself, “How do we maintain a peaceful coexistence throughout the year?” “Build it into the world!” whispered in my ear.

It is through H. H. ‘Professor’ Lin Yun rich legacy of Feng Shui and dharma teachings that I am able to share this wisdom with you. I have selected six Feng Shui precepts that I believe will help us to help each other live under an umbrella of peace. At the least may they be a foundation to harmonize our hearts and mend strained relations and not just the United States, but around the world too. Because when we show we care, we feel safe.

Solidarity In a sense right now we are all vulnerable. Professor Lin said planting bamboo will help vulnerable areas. Bamboo is an uprising force. It provides support. It can drive away negative forces and has the power to suppress evil Ch’i over time. Bamboo is hollow and soft inside, these characteristics symbolizes humility. When you plant bamboo, you add that quality to your own nature. You create solidarity and help your neighbors, near and far, when you place bamboo or the imagery of bamboo in your home and/or plant bamboo on your property. It will wrap its long limbs of peace and safety around you.

Safety New homes that consume an entire lot are on the rise in major and mid-sized cities. They create pressure among neighbors. Everyone feels the narrow space and tight fit. Like a pressure cooker that has to release steam an adjustment to your home can deflect a crisis before it happens. Plant greenery, especially plants with colorful flowers in your lot, both front and back yard. The colors release the pressure of being crowded. It is also vital we maintain our city parks and not let them be sold to developers. Stay up to date on city policy and stay closely connected to your neighborhood associations.

Stillness Take time to be still and shake off negativity by meditating. Start with chanting. The Sanskrit chant, Om mani padme hum, has been practiced all around the world for thousands of years. As you chant and meditate you may realize you have all the power, clarity and the omniscience of the Buddha. If you do not ascribe to the Buddha, then place your focus on God or your higher power. As you practice meditating you unify your inner being, your heart comes into coherence. You let go of divisiveness and inner conflict which is the pathway to peace.

Softness His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama has often expressed that feeling warm-hearted allows him to smile and be happy even in the company of strangers. Being kind and nice towards others creates an atmosphere  for them to be kind in return. A smile works wonders in a potentially unfamiliar situation. When you can help another person feel at ease neither you or they feel alone. Your lives become much easier. Practice kindness, sympathy and generosity daily.

Simple beauty A son and father interviewed after the Bataclan attack. The son is fearful the gunmen may return and he wants to leave. His father speaks calmly to him and says, “They may have guns but we have flowers.” The son feels reassured comforted and a look of peace washes over his face. 

In 2007, Nancy Etcoff, Ph.D. of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and her research team investigated the effects of flowers in the home. Flowers foster compassion. Participants noted that they felt influenced by flowers emotionally, causing them to feel kindness and more compassion for others. Looking at flowers first thing in the morning, particularly in the kitchen, dissipates anxiety and feelings of depression. Having flowers at home can have a positive carry-over impact on your mood at work too. They energize your time at work.

In the Chinese culture flowers served as a significant vehicle of communication. They convey epic messages that express powerful positive emotions. A peony, the national flower, stands tall and symbolizes prosperity, happiness and peace. Plum blossoms, the harbinger of spring, represent firmness and solidity. The lotus whispers, that which may not be sullied. Chrysanthemums brave the frost to bloom in a vast array of colors. The narcissus is known as ‘the fairy over ripples’. They speak of the correct way of living, indicating being clean and healthy. If you want a flower’s quality to support your endeavor, display a picture purchase flowers and usher in the force they represent. For those suffering from acid reflux Professor Lin shared The Flower Cure.

Self Care If you are suffering from stress or depression caused by the tragedies or you can’t quite put your finger on what the stress is but you feel pressure, make an adjustment in Helpful People. It could be the house, office, bedroom, or any Helpful People gua. If you need more strength, place three cures, one in each of three places. If you live in an apartment, one could be the home, bedroom, and desk. If you live in a home with property, you can adjust the bedroom, house and lot.

Have questions about your home? Minimize stress by designing it with vitality and beauty with 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.