Feng Shui Tips for Your Home Office - Part 1 by Stephanie Roberts

Feng Shui Tips for Your Home Office - Part 1 by Stephanie Roberts

Part I: Choosing Your Work Space

Many home offices are set up in whatever space is available: in a corner of the bedroom, on the dining room table, down in the basement, or upstairs in the attic or in the guest bedroom. Some of these locations are fine places for a home office; others are not so great. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when deciding where to set up your in-home workspace.

There are essentially two kinds of home offices: home administration centers that are used for paying household bills, keeping track of the family budget and other household management tasks; and work spaces related to earning an income that are located within the home. For home administration, a corner of the kitchen counter may be sufficient. If you are working from home professionallyeven if part timeit is best to have a space that is used only for that purpose in order to keep work and home energies as separate at possible.

If you hold client meetings in your home office, it is best if clients can use a separate entrance from that used by your family. That way your clients can come and go without having to pass through your living spaces, and both of your energies will remain focused on business. Clients who walk through your living space before getting to the office are likely to make a subtle shift away from a business focus, and their confidence in your professionalism or capabilities may subconsciously be weakened.

Make sure there is a clear pathway to your home business entrance, especially if it is at the side or back of the house, so your clients know which way to go when they arrive for the first time. Because office and home functions are different, your home office has its own Mouth of Chi, whether thats a separate exterior door or a door inside the home. All of the guidelines for good doorway chi presented in Chapter 5 will be equally important for your home office.

WHERE NOT TO WORK

Certain areas of the home are especially ill-suited for home office use. Here are some locations that you should avoid if at all possible:

-Location: Center of the home (tai chi)
Problem: Work will dominate over family life

-Location: Bedroom
Problems: Work issues may cause or contribute to relationship conflicts; thoughts of work may interfere with sleep; you may feel drowsy and unfocused when trying to work

-Location: Office in nook underneath stairs
Problem: Oppressive overhead energy may cause headaches, contribute to difficulty concentrating; unevenly shaped space causes energy imbalance; impossible to work in the Command Position

-Location: Next to bathroom, with desk & toilet on opposite sides of the shared wall
Problem: Business chi gets flushed down the toilet

Some other situations to be alert for are rooms with low or slanted ceilings, and poor lighting or ventilation (all of which may affect an attic room). A low ceiling in your office is not good because it suppresses aspirations and keeps you focused on the details of the present rather than exploring future possibilities.

Slanted ceilings create a similar problem that is focused on one side of the room. If your office has a slanted ceiling, place your desk on the taller side of the room, and use the lower side for file cabinets, book cases, or other storage. Plants and lights that shine upward (rather than down) are good addition to rooms with low or slanted ceilings.

Basements often offer extra space to create a home office without interfering with the rest of the house. The problem with basements is that they are usually cool and damp, either inadequately lit or with harsh overhead fluorescent fixtures, and they often have poor ventilation. Windows, if there are any, may be small, dirty, and positioned so high on the wall that you cant see out of themnot good for having a clear vision of your future direction.

Dont despair if it seems that none of your home office options are any good. Feng shui is about doing the best you can with the space you have. If you must work in the bedroom, for example, you can set up the office in an armoire-type unit and close it up when it is not in use. A folding screen or a fabric curtain can also help to keep work and home energies separate. And if your office space has design features that are less than ideal, feng shui cures such as bells, crystals, and mirrors can help to correct them.

Excerpted from The
Pocket Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui by Stephanie Roberts (Alpha Books, 2004)

2004 Stephanie Roberts
About the Author
Stephanie Roberts is the author of the popular Fast Feng Shui book series. Subscribe to the Fast Feng Shui newsletter and receive fr.ee Feng Shui tips in every issue. Visit:
Fast Feng Shui.com

Developing your prosperity Instinct by Janet Ilacqua

Developing your prosperity Instinct by Janet Ilacqua

Another way of thinking of prosperity is that prosperity is the result of tapping into energy or chi in the world. Energy is dynamic, not static. It will always be moving and you must follow it wherever it goes. It will not follow you and you cannot make it go where it does not want to go. Sometimes, it is all around you and all it is a matter of being aware of it. In term of the seed planting metaphor, think of chi as the nutrients and minerals in the soil that will nourish the seeds you plant. The better your soil is, the less work and investment you will have to put into it in order to make it produce beautiful flowers.
You cannot learn prosperity from a book, film or a presentation. Eventually, you must see, feel, hear, touch, and see prosperity. The more clearly we can visualize prosperity, the more clearly we can feel, see, hear, and touch it, the better chance we have of realizing our dream of prosperity.

Many tools out there can make you aware of the flow of energy. Just remember that prosperity resides not in the tool but rather in how the tool makes you aware of the flow of energy in the world.

We will discuss three widely used prosperity tools:

Feng Shui
Pagan and Wicca Traditions of the West
Affirmations and Visualizations

Feng Shui

Feng Shui examines how the energy flow in your living environment is affected by the placement of things and objects within it, and how these objects interact with and influence your personal energy flow. Your personal energy flow affects how you think and act, which in turn, affects how well you perform and succeed in your personal and professional life. We cannot fully discuss Feng Shui in this chapter; however, there are several books on Feng Shui out on the shelves today.

Feng Shui is a term composed of two Chinese words: feng (wind) and shui (water). Wind and water are the two natural elements that flow, move and circulate everywhere on Earth. They are also the most basic elements required for human survival. Wind or airis the breath; without it, we die in moments. In addition, water is the liquid of life; without it, we die in days.

These two fundamental and flowing elements have always profoundly, yet subtly, influenced human individuals and societies. The essence of these life-giving life elements is chi or life force. Wind and water are direct carriers of chi, as their flowing quality reflects their essential nature. All living organisms are largely composed of these two elements.

Thus, Feng Shui is the art of designing environments in harmony with the flow of chi through ones living space, and this flow supports and enhances ones personal chi or life force.

The Feng Shui Octagon
The Feng Shui Octagon is an energetic map that applies the wisdom of the I-Ching to human spaces. Using the Octagon, you can divide any definable space into nine sections or areas. The colours associated with the Wealth Area of the Octagon are green, red, and blue and hips. Keep in mind that, in addition to the Wealth Area, your front entrance and your kitchen stove also strongly affects your money chi. In addition to making sure that there is a lot of energy flowing into your house, you should situate a healthy new plant in the Wealth Area of your house and hang a wind chime in the Wealth area of your bedroom.


Pagan and Wicca Traditions of the West
The Celts, Greeks, and Romans all believed that prosperity was dependent upon the will of the gods. Various deities were invoked specifically for prosperity, fertility and good crops.: in the Celtic tradition, Rosemont, the cornucopia deity of harvest and a patroness of merchants of harvest , in Greece, Copier and Ops, and, in Rome, Juno Montana, the Roman mother goddess of travellers and commerce.

After the advent of Christianity, many of the ancient Celtic and other pagan beliefs, including the invoking of deities, .was transmuted into the casting of spells in the Wicca beliefs. Green candles are often burned for prosperity. In modern times, Wicca beliefs have also absorbed other influences, such as Eastern reincarnation beliefs and New Age thinking.

Affirmations and Visualizations
The New Age movements in the West have adapted many of the same tools used by the Eastern and Wicca tradition that we have discussed: crystals, Tarot cards, meditation techniques, astrology, etc. However, they have developed two powerful motivational tools of their own: affirmations and visualizations.

Affirmations are positive statements. Simply repeat them to yourself as you go about your daily routine. You do not even have to consciously "listen, just play it in the background. Your subconscious mind hears and retains the spoken affirmations and thus begins creating a more prosperous mindset. Your mind will especially pick out the personal issues and focus on them. Examples are:
There is limitless supply of [fill in what you want] and it is mine
I release my need for financial insecurity
I am financially secure
I am surrounded by loving, giving people
I release my need to feel needy
I have everything I want or need
I release my fear of wealth and wellness
I am healthy and wealthy
I allow myself to prosper
I trust that I will create abundance
I have more than I need in every area of my life
I open myself to receive the abundance of The Universe
I release my need for debt
I am solvent
I am safe and secure
I enjoy a steady flow of positive energy
I am loved, accepted, acknowledged and appreciated
Active, creative visualization is focused daydreaming. You create in your mind's eye a vision, a thought, and that thought has energy. As with dreams, your mind seems to work best with pictures. As such, visualizations, coupled with affirmations, are powerful tools of prosperity creation.


About the Author
Bio: Janet Ilacqua is a freelance writer living in Tracy, California. She specializes in spirituality, business, and prosperity issues. She can be reached at jilacqua@aol.com. Also, check out her website at http://www.writeupondemand.com.