Feng Shui Monsters Under Your Bed by Stephanie Roberts

Feng Shui Monsters Under Your Bed by Stephanie Roberts

Good feng shui often requires making wise decisions based on your specific circumstances, rather than blinding following an ideal rule. The feng shui rule for storing things under your bed is "don't do it." But for those who live in small homes every inch of possible storage space is precious. If you are faced with cluttering up some other area of your home with stuff that otherwise might be put under the bed, how do you decide what to do?

My preference as a feng shui professional is to keep the more visible, frequently used areas of the home uncluttered. If that means storing some things under the bed, so be it, as long as it is done thoughtfully and appropriately.

There are two reasons why your bed is so important in feng shui. The first is the principle of proximity, which states that the closer something is to you the stronger its effect will be. The second is the principle of duration, which means that the longer you are exposed to a particular influence the stronger its effect will be.

If we were getting our eight full hours of sleep every night, we'd be spending a third of our lives in bed. Even with long days and not enough sleep, the average person probably spends 25% or more of his or her time in bed. Keeping the factors of proximity and duration in mind, this means that anything that is close to you while you sleep will have a strong effect on you, either physically or symbolically.

Since you are probably well protected from below by a nice thick mattress, whatever you've got stashed beneath your bed isn't likely to be directly harmful. However, in feng shui the symbolic energy of an object or image is just as important as whatever literal impact it may have. If you are using your underbed area for storage, take a moment to think about the implications of whatever is down there, especially if you haven't been sleeping well lately. If you don't remember what you've stashed under your bed, it's time to take another look.

Here are some things that you ought to find another place for:

- Shoes under the bed can keep you "running around" all night even when you are sound asleep. No matter how many hours of sleep you get, you may never feel well rested.

- Exercise gear, workout clothes, and sports equipment are also less than relaxing. Unless you want to feel like you're "going nowhere fast" in life, don't store your treadmill, rowing machine, aerobic step under the bed. Tennis rackets (or other gear for competitive sports) can bring a competitive, adversarial energy to your romantic relationships. It's best not to have any kind of exercise or sports equipment in the bedroom at all if you can find another place for it.

- Books and work or school papers can have an intellectually stimulating effect; if you have trouble turning your mind-chatter off so you can fall asleep at night, make sure you are not sleeping on top of a lot of information. Plus, chances are good that if you're keeping that stuff under the bed it probably isn't at all current, so all that old information is also energetically holding you in the past.

- Guns and knives. I really hope you don't feel the need to have these in your house at all. All that potential violence is not conducive to a good night's sleep, no matter how "safe" it may make you feel. A feng shui friend once told me she'd consulted for a guy who collected knives, and who kept that collection under his bed. No wonder he complained of a long string of failed relationships! Regardless of any other qualities he may or may not have had, that's a lot of cutting chi underlying what should be a place for romantic connection.

These examples should give you an idea of the sort of potentially disruptive effect the stuff under your bed can have. If you must use the under-bed space for storage, reserve it for soft, cuddly items like extra bedding or your winter sweaters.

You may even find a good use for that space by placing something with positive symbolic meaning there, so you can take conscious advantage of the proximity and duration effect. For example, laying a mirror face up under the bed is a recommended feng shui sure for insomnia; symbolically the mirror reflects the bed "downward" thus drawing into a deep, restful sleep. For a child who is frightened of imaginary monsters under the bed, placing a super-tough-guy action figure under there could provide some important protection and security.

A feng shui client recently asked if it was okay to keep her empty suitcases under the bed. If you enjoy traveling and want to do more of it, then having the luggage under the bed may help to encourage that. Inside the suitcases you can put guidebooks, photos, travel accessories, and other items related to the places where you'd like to go. For example, if you would love to take a trip to Paris put a guidebook to the city, a French-English phrase book, and a photo of the Eiffel Tower in an empty suitcase under your bed. Add some French currency or traveler's checks for the future trip. The suitcase and its contents is now a feng shui activation to help make your travel dreams come true.

On the other hand, if you've been traveling a lot lately and would like to stay home for a change, then I definitely recommend finding some other place to keep your luggage. If you absolutely, positively have no alternative to keeping suitcases under the bed -- and you really want a break from travel -- put a rock in each one and cover them with a blanket, to help them settle in for a long rest and to keep you grounded at home.

(c) copyright 2004 Stephanie Rogerts
About the Author
STEPHANIE ROBERTS is a feng shui consultant and writer in Maui, HI. She is the author of the popular "Fast Feng Shui" book series and the "Clutter Free Forever!" Home Coaching Program. For more tips and information, visit her websites at http://www.fastfengshui.com and http://www.clutterfreeforever.com.

Opportunity Will Knock, If It Can Find the Door by Glenn Beach

Opportunity Will Knock, If It Can Find the Door by Glenn Beach

Is your home office a spare room full of whatever doesn't fit anywhere else? Does your daily commute end with winding your way through a corporate maze to your own crowded cubicle?
Do you sit down at your desk and push piles of papers aside to create a little workspace?

If this sounds familiar, and you know that your productivity is suffering, maybe you want to try a little feng shui in your workspace.

Feng shui (pronounced "fung schway") is the ancient art of placement and design that balances and enhances the energy flow in an environment. This can be placement of a home on a piece of property, location of an office building on a city block, orientation of rooms in a house, arrangement of furniture in a room or objects on a desk.

For a complete feng shui evaluation, you need to consult with a professional. It's far too complex to address completely in an article. I'll just give you a few examples of techniques you can try so you can see if feng shui is for you.

In any situation, there will obviously be believers and non-believers, and this is true of co-workers as well as
spouses. To effect change in the corporate environment or at home, you have to start with yourself, and realistically this may be all you can accomplish.

At the center of this belief system is a powerful reality that you need to be able to embrace: There is an energy flow that BRINGS abundance to all of life. Using feng shui to attract things to you means removing blockages and enhancing this natural flow. This doesn't mean you only need to move the furniture around and then sit back and wait for the money to arrive; it removes the suffering and struggle and leaves you working from a place of peace at the center of your being.

Clutter is stagnant energy that leaves no room for growth. The tendency to save things because "someday you might need them" indicates a lack of belief in the energy flow that brings abundance to you. Your message to the universe is that you don't trust that it will provide for you. The flow stops.

This energy flow, called ch'i ("chee"), enters through the front door of any building or room and is then dispersed. It also enters through windows. It exits through doors and windows too. During the day, it enters through windows, at night it exits,
hence a reason to close curtains. Think of it as air or water flow; it's like that.

If you want more opportunity in your work environment, make sure the path to the door is as wide as the door. This goes for paths, hallways and outer rooms. The easiest way to attract
ch'i is to get rid of clutter; no toys scattered on paths to the house, no shoes strewn in the middle of the hallway or piles of boxes between the world and your desk.

If the ch'i entering through your door immediately meets a wall, you can compensate with mirrors. If the ch'i enters and there are windows directly opposite, it enters and leaves again quickly. A partition or some other object, or even curtains, can slow or
diffuse the flow.

Next is the orientation of your desk within the office space, and placement of objects in the room and on the desk. When you enter your office, stop and face the interior. Divide your office into 9 equal-sized areas. Each area represents an area of your life, and also relates to a color and an element. The front three, from left to right, are skills/knowledge/wisdom;
career/life path; and helpful people ravel. The middle three are
family/foundation; health; and creativity/children. The back three are abundance/prosperity; reputation/fame; and relationships/love/marriage.

The idea is to locate your desk, if possible, in the area "where
you work". Are you an artist or an teacher? A travel agent or a marriage counselor? A banker or a work at home entrepreneur? A few rules of thumb:

1) Never put your desk directly in front of the door, and don't orient it so your back is to the door. Either face the door directly or so you can see the door without turning.

2) Place things in each section of the room that enhance the meaning of that area of your life. For example, the obvious choice for the knowledge area is books relating to your work. A not so obvious addition would be an empty vessel, symbolizing openness to new knowledge. In the career area might be milestones of your career such as diplomas or awards, or business cards and brochures, etc. Your phone, rolodex, and photo of your mentor might be in the helpful people area.

Family would be photos, or maybe religious objects if your foundation is your faith; the health area stays open and uncluttered; and something you've created is placed in the creativity area.

Water is a universal symbol of abundance, so an aquarium, fountain, or even a picture of a waterfall would be appropriate. The reputation area would contain whatever you would like to be
known for. The relationship area would contain momentos of loved ones, or symbols of love. You can put pairs of objects in this area: two roses, two photos or photos of pairs of friends.

3) Do the same with the arrangement of objects on your desk. Use the same areas, but keep it simple. Balance out the presence of electronic equipment with a plant or bouquet.

You can also enhance a particular area with color. There are colors that soothe (blue/greens), stimulate (reds), invite collaboration and social gatherings (oranges and browns), enhance mental activity (yellows), suggest oppulence and abundance(purples, maroons, reds). There is an element and color associated with each area also, but that is way too much to get into here.

Bottom line, though, is that your office has to feel good to YOU. Follow feng shui and your instincts and you'll create a more productive, abundant space.
About the Author
Glenn Beach is at home in Nova Scotia creating abundance in his home office with:
http://www.work-at-home-business-opportunity-canada.com