Prosperity Attraction – you create your own reality

“If your love life needs a quick boost, you can use the art of placement to produce the romantic results you desire.” Heidi Richards

Feng Shui (pronounced fung shway) is the ancient Asian practice of object arrangement and space planning designed to bring balance, harmony and well-being to your environment. Its purpose is to enhance prosperity, creative, health and romance. Feng Shui fortifies a home with positive energy known as chi. The attainment of positive chi is both an art and a blessing to those who manifest that chi. The word “feng” means wind and “shui” means water, each one associated with a good harvest and ultimate good health or good fortune.

If your love life needs a quick boost, you can use the art of placement to produce the romantic results you desire. Relationships need the proper environment to grow. They need the balance of the five elements, too much or too little will find the romance wither. Here are some Feng Shui tips to enhance your romantic space:

1. The first thing you must do is remove clutter out of your romance area (generally this is the bedroom). That means you must remove trash, dirty ashtrays, dead plants and nothing should be stored under the bed. Dust and cobwebs on the fans, walls, light fixtures and ceilings should be cleaned away.

2. Enhance your space with romance colors, such as shades of pinks, reds and whites. Guys, this does not mean it has to be feminine. You can use maroon, grayish tones of pinks and whites to achieve the same results. The key is to not use any one color so much that it overpowers the others. Other good colors include browns, beiges, lavenders, yellows and deeper shades of those are appropriate.

3. If you keep flowers in the room (an excellent way to attract romance into your life), make sure they are always fresh. At the first sign of wilting, toss them out. Silk flowers are an okay alternative, provided they are free of dust. Absolutely no dried flowers as they signify death. Also, make sure the roses are de-thorned. Nothing prickly such as cactus, unless your goal is to break-up.

4. In Feng Shui a Relationship Altar positively stimulates a relationship. Designate a special place in your romance area in which to put items that will encourage a healthy, loving relationship. Things to include in your relationship altar can include a heart shaped pink crystal quartz, a pair of candles, mandarin ducks.

5. Use the Pairs Principle to encourage love. That means two candles, two nightstands, two lights on top, two potted plants, two pillows, two chairs, etc. The Chinese symbol for love is Mandarin ducks. They signify love, romance, fidelity, affection, and loyalty in love.

6. Your bed should be placed in the commanding position of the room. This is to permit the widest possible vision. The door or entry to the room should be easily seen from the bed. And the head of the bed should be against a wall or against a corner. If you have nightstands, make sure one is on either side (a pair) and that the bed is accessible on three sides to attract and keep a partner. The bed should not be placed under a window.

7. The bedroom is for sleep and intimacy. No one should come into your room without your invitation. There should be no distractions such as workout equipment, a television, things that would remind you of work.

8. It is good to hang pink (heart-shaped) crystals and wind chimes in a sunny window to attract good love energy (yang).

9. Pictures of you as a child, your children or other relatives should also be removed from the bedroom or romance area. This space should be reserved for couples and should only display pictures of the two of you.

10. Dim lights will give the room a warm, inviting feeling. No harsh fluorescents or high wattage lighting, here.

While this is by no means the ultimate guide to Feng Shui for Romance, it is a good start. These ten tips will give your relationship area the boost it deserves and your romance the fulfillment it requires. Altar your space and you will altar your love life.

© 2005 Excerpted from the book, Romance on a Budget – www.romanceonabudget.net.

Heidi Richards is an Author, Professional Speaker, and Business Mentor. She is the owner of Eden Florist & Gift Baskets – www.edenflorist.com and the Founder & CEO of the Women’s ECommerce Association, International www.WECAI.org – an Internet organization that “Helps Women Do Business on the WEB.” BASIC Membership is Free. She can be reached at heidi@edenflorist.com.

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese system of aesthetics that is believed to utilize the laws of heaven and earth to help one improve life by receiving positive energy. I have been learning feng shui from some folks and now I will inform you the ones that I have either used myself and benefited, or adviced to some of my friends who have benefited. Some of the tips have not been tried but these are ones that almost all of the feng shui masters I have met swear by. I will omit the ones which either I have not found to work, or there were contradictive opinions from the masters.

1. There should be no obstructions outside your main door. If there is an obstructing wall or a staircase, you should alter the entrance.

2. There should be no mirrors in the house directly opposite the main door. Such mirrors result in reflecting back the good energy which enters the house.

3. Front door should not face a toilet door. Since toilet is a negative area, the good energy coming from the main door enters the toilet and gets drained away. If you have this arrangement, change the entrance of the toilet from another room or from another wall. If you cannot do this, construct a solid barrier between them. If the toilet is very near the main door, change the entrance.

4. Keep a bowl of regular unrefined sea salt in the toilet, preferably on the window sill, if it exists. There are lots of toxins in the toilet and salt absorbs it. You should also replace the salt as and when it gets soggy.

5. Avoid 3 doors in one line. If this happens, energy flows at high speed and adversely affects the occupants of the last room. You can change the middle door to avoid this problem.

6. Avoid top floor flats if the water tank is above the flat. Since water at a height is considered dangerous, sleeping below it is very risky.

7. Keep the front door free of obstructions. Since good energy flows from the main door, any obstruction like a shoe rack will stop or reduce the flow of good energy.

8. Never sleep on a double bed with two separate mattresses. This is very bad according to feng shui, because sleeping on separate mattresses lead to separation. Many difficult marriages on the verge of divorce have been said to have been saved, just by correcting this problem.

9. Do not keep mirrors in the bedroom, especially ones facing the bed. These days, couples have a fancy of keeping mirrors not only in front of the bed, but also on the ceiling! Such mirrors create major disturbances in the marriage and may even lead to a third person entering the relationship.

10. Avoid sleeping in front of the door. It is important that neither the head not the feet are directly in front of the door. This reduces the life of the person and also affects his health.

11. Do not keep leaking taps un-repaired for long. Since water is considered wealth, leaking taps is said to drain your money.

12. Do not sit with an open window behind you, as it drains positive energy and causes stress. You are also at risk of being cheated.

13. Water and fire are opposite, so never keep the kitchen burners and the saink/water pot either adjacent to each other, or opposite to each other. Keep them away and facing different directions.

14. Try to have at least one meal together with your family. This enhances the relationship between the family members. Remember, a family that eats together, lives together, stays together!

15. It is a good idea to have a mirror reflecting the dining table. It creates an impression of double the food on the table, and proposes that the family will never lack food.

16. Never display pictures or paintings that depict scenes of war and violence. It leads to arguments in the family.

17. Avoid open book shelves; keep them covered. Open shelves create “killing breath” which is harmful to the occupants of that room.

18. If you have clocks, watches and other old appliances, remove them at the earliest or get them repaired. Keeping them at home or office brings bad luck.

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Nirjara Rustom moderates the Home Improvement Section of http://www.bharatbhasha.com at http://www.bharatbhasha.com/home_improvement.php

One of the nice things about summer is the richness of the colors of flowers that are abounding. Daisies, lilies, roses, petunias, and so much more. Even the most cynical among us is touched by the burst of colors.

Many people mistakenly think that plants and flowers are just something nice to look at. A female thing. If you’re thinking that way, you’re missing some of the most important benefits of plants and flowers.

Studies have shown that lots of green leafy plants help calm you and help relieve depression. This in turn helps you focus better and think more clearly. May be it has to do with the oxygen they give off?

Similar studies show that just looking at flowers reduces stress. The scent of flowers is also calming. Lavender is especially known for it’s calming qualities.

In Feng Shui, flowers are said to strengthen family harmony and keep the flow of affection in all directions. When you get deeper into feng shui, there are different energies produced by placing certain colors in certain areas of your home.

Green leafy plants in the entryway draw good energy into the house.

If you have a lot of arguments in your house, you may have too much chi energy in your home. Feng Shui suggests putting plants in rich black soil in the south portion of your home to calm things down.

Bathrooms in the south part of the house are believed to increase your chances of getting sued. Feng Shui prescription is to decorate with tall plants and wood.

Yellow flowers are said to have healing qualities in general. When you place them in the center of your home they keep you centered and balanced.

For financial harmony, surround yourself with red flowers.

Fruit bearing branches represent abundance and good fortune. To keep the berries from falling off longer, scrape the bark off the bottom of the stems before putting them in water so that more water flows up to them.

One of the hottest decorating trends this year is to put single buds in small juice glasses. Place them across a mantle or shelf, or at everyone’s place at the dinner table to keep things calm. Think that will look good in my Pokemon Welch’s jelly glasses?

Or how about a prosperity centerpiece?

1. Place a presoaked floral foam cylinder on a plate. For a small centerpiece, use a 4 inch cylinder.

2. Spread a little of that moss stuff around the bottom edge, or cover the bottom edge with a piece of yellow or red ribbon.

3. Cut your red or yellow (or combination of both) roses to 3 inches long. For the small arrangement, you will need 4 nice sized roses. Push them, evenly spaced, into the top floral cylinder.

4. Now fill in with flowers, leaves, and berry branches.

5. Stick a candle in the center.

For best energy giving results, use fresh flowers. (But Michaels has a 50% off sale on silk flowers pretty often too.)

If you’re looking for some fresh ideas for your gardens outside– here are more feng shui tips-

* Purple flowers planted in the south part of your garden increase passion. Petunias are a good low maintenance choice.

* Deep red flowers planted in the west part of your Garden bring success in business. I have red lilies, of course.

* Creamy white flowers planted in the north part of your garden (not the north side of your house) quiet anxieties. I like either lilies or fragrant roses.

* Ferns and grasses planted in the east part of the garden keep you feeling fresh and vitalized. I have Yucca. Not exactly a fern, actually it’s an evergreen, but I like it.

Next year I want a cutting garden so I can enjoy the benefits of flowers even more!

And for you men reading this thinking, I don’t want to mess with flowers…. I’ve known many manly men who have put together great gardens. My grandfather and my next door neighbor are two of them. And what about that funny guy who does the gardening show on HGTV? I love that show!

Whether indoors or out, and whether you believe in such things as feng shui, working with plants and flowers really is therapeutic. It can be as expensive or as inexpensive as you want. It can be a large project, or a very small one. It can be in any colors. Get creative!

Gardening is not only a good mental exercise, it’s great physical activity too.

And then kick back in your easy chair with the beverage of your choice and relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

TIP - How important is a clean house?

According to Feng Shui -

The kitchen is the soul of the home. It feeds and nourishes not only your body, but your spirit as well. Keeping it clean and uncluttered keeps a healthy flow of energy.

Even worse, dust stops the flow of good energy. The act of dusting your home renews your energy, invigorates your spirit and stimulates your optimism. (Plus it can help you lose weight

Resource Box:

If that doesn’t motivate you to get the house clean, find the secrets to getting it clean and keeping that way without killing yourself so you have more time to play … Get Secret Confessions of a Clean Freak here >>> http://CleanFreak.CommonSenseLiving.com

Love is an essential element of many people’s life, without which they feel an absence of balance and harmony in their every day pursuits. The ancient philosophy of Feng Shui can bring a positive improvement to all aspects of your life, including love. Feng Shui and love may bring a sense of peace and understanding that will help you find success throughout life. Learning how to incorporate Feng Shui into your life one piece at a time may help you achieve greater love, both romantically, for yourself, and for others. The balance that love brings to your life is important in living healthily and successfully.

The love center of the home is an important concept when it comes to Feng Shui and love. Learning the exact location of your home’s love center will enable you to invigorate the chi in this area, leading to better luck when it comes to love and better Feng Shui throughout your home. The love center of a house is in the far right corner as you enter. The love center can also be the far right corner of each particular room as you enter into it. Following the practice of Feng Shui, you should place an important earth object in this love center. An earth object includes items such as rocks or crystals. Other items that are appropriate to place in this area of your house and that can increase positive chi include decorative pots, candles, flowers, and depictions of the sun. Earth objects placed in strategic areas of your home such as the love center are believed to increase Feng Shui and love for the occupants of the house.

There are a few extra guidelines when it comes to placing objects in the love center of your home and increasing Feng Shui and love in your personal life. For example, wood is not considered a good choice of an earth object and should be avoided in the love area. Flowers and plants are a great choice, including silk flowers, but dried flowers should never be used. Dried flowers or plants can represent the end of a relationship and can have a negative effect on your home’s Feng Shui and love.

If you are trying to optimize the Feng Shui and love in your home and personal life, you should keep in mind a few areas of the house where you should pay special attention to levels of chi. The bathroom is an area of the home associated with negative chi. To combat this negative chi and promote positive chi here, place live plants or flowers in the area. You can also consider hanging chimes directly above the toilet. These simple steps will help to eliminate the negative chi that is associated with the bathroom.

Of course the bedroom is an area of the house that is associated with Feng Shui and love. In order to pursue successful romantic relationships, you want to create an area of positive chi in your bedroom. To do this, keep the bedroom free of clutter, including the closet. Unnecessary objects crowding your living spaces can produce negative chi. Also, remove any objects that point to a past relationship, such as pictures and other mementos. These items will prevent future loves to blossom into all that they can be. You may even want to remove the bed that you have shared with a past lover in order to have the best chances at a successful future love.

Other objects to keep out of your bedroom in order to find the best Feng Shui and love are items that promote activities that have nothing to do with love or relationships. These items may include the television, the computer, or exercise equipment. While live plants and flowers are good objects to increase chi in other areas of the house, they should be avoided in the bedroom. Plants and flowers are believed to bring the level of male chi in this room too high. What you are striving for in the bedroom when it comes to Feng Shui and love a balance of ying and yang. This brings harmony between the feminine and masculine components. To find this harmony, decorate with the masculine in mind if your are a woman and with the feminine in mind if you are a man. As a result, you will find an excellent balance of chi in the bedroom.

By incorporating all of these Fengh Shui and love tips throughout your house, you will be creating a positive chi environment that encourages love and relationships to flourish. Not only will you find yourself experiencing more successful romantic relationships, but love between friends, family, and others will be increased. By designing with Feng Shui and love in mind, such as paying attention to love centers and problematic areas for negative chi, you will be rewarded with long-lasting and loving relationships.

Romance is in the air - especially during the month of February. But for many people, romantic relationships seem unattainable or current love connections lack the sparks they once created. Feng Shui, the ancient art of object placement to enhance energy flow through a space, is gain-ing attention as a powerful tool for improving all kinds of relationships.

“Feng Shui can make a marked difference in people’s lives,” says Linda Binns, founder of the Feng Shui Success Institute and author of Feng Shui for Your Relationships: Changing Your Envi-ronment to Create Better Relationships. “But before you start moving things around or making changes to your environment, it’s important to clarify exactly what you want to change.”

Binns notes that this process, which she calls “setting your intention,” is a crucial first step that will guide your subsequent actions. ” Perhaps you want to strengthen or rekindle the flame of an existing relationship. Perhaps you want to attract an exciting new romantic partner to your life. Perhaps you want to find a life partner with which to share the future. While there can be a variety of issues or scenarios, it is important to begin by considering your current situation and recognizing what you would like to change.”

After setting a clear intention, Binns recommends a variety of actions that can enhance the flow of positive energy in the home, creating a more conducive environment in which to achieve your desires. A few of her basic tips include:

• To symbolize a close relationship, it is important to position decorative items in pairs. For in-stance, display a painting of a couple, place two ornaments together, or hang two pictures that form a set. Two flowers in a vase or two stuffed animals beside one another are other examples of pairs that you can place in your environment.

• If you already have a partner whom you wish to become closer to, it is important to display photos that feature you as a couple. Pictures of you with your partner and other individuals, whether family or friends, symbolize your propensity to give up time as a couple in order to become part of a larger group.

• Clutter and other distractions in the bedroom, such as exercise equipment, a television, work-related items or a computer, serves to bring unwanted distractions into your relationship. Your bedroom should be a sanctuary that feels romantic and invites you to spend time with your loved one.

• Make sure that the side of your bed is not against a wall because this position symbolizes only one way in and out of the bed and indicates that there is room for only one person.

• When you make your bed, keep it relatively uncluttered and create a space that will easily accommodate a couple.

• Master bedrooms ideally feature warm, soothing colors, such as cream, taupe, cocoa, or shades with a red or pink base. Such warm bedroom colors represent warm, close relationships.

• When you remove clutter, don’t move anything to a storage box under your bed. People store all kinds of things under the bed - fire extinguishers, ladders, guns, papers, books, exercise equipment and more. Remember that, based on the principles of Feng Shui, energy should freely flow throughout a space, including under the bed.

• Large bedrooms should feature cozy, intimate nooks, such as sitting areas. Again, creating an intimate space reflects an intimate relationship.

Binns says that these are among the basic steps that help set the stage for romance. She details these and other strategies in her new book and offers specific guidelines on which portions of a home are especially important when seeking to create or improve various types of relationships.

“Let’s face it, our relationships do not always go as smoothly as we would like,” she says. “Whether we’re dealing with our partner, children, coworkers, friends or even mailman, our interactions with others can be tricky. As we struggle to make things work, often spending con-siderable time and emotional energy to figure out why certain relationships seem so difficult, many people fail to look at their environment as a factor in the way they manifest their lives. Yet for those who become familiar with the principles and practice of Feng Shui, the results can be remarkable.”

Feng shui (say “fung shway”) is the art of creating a home environment that supports the life you wish to live. A key element of feng shui is creating a smooth flow of chi (positive energy) through your space. Chi likes to move through your home as though it were a gentle breeze or a meandering stream. Where it is blocked, the energy becomes stagnant–like a pond choked with algae and fallen leaves. You are likely to feel blocked in life, and your energy and enthusiasm for matters of the heart will be low. Balancing and correcting the chi of your bedroom helps encourage and invigorate romance. Here are some quick and easy ways to improve your love life by improving the energy of your home:

1. Clean up your bedroom

When your bedroom is cluttered and untidy, the energy in there will be low and slow. Clutter is a sure sign that chi is stuck, so roll up your sleeves and clean the place up if you want to jump-start your love life. Ring a bell, shake a rattle, or clap your hands loudly around the room to clear out old, stale energy.

2. Make room for love

If you want to attract a new romantic partner–or move a casual relationship closer to commitment–make sure there is space for that person in your home. Look at your closets, shelves, and dressers, especially in the bedroom; if they are all filled to capacity with your own stuff, make clearing some room for your current or future partner a priority. Aim to free up 25% of the space in your bedroom for someone else’s things. When you are done, take a moment to visualize your loved one’s belongings finding a home there.

3. Don’t work out in the bedroom

When you exercise in the bedroom, or store your sports equipment there, you bring the energy of hard work and exertion into your romance space. Do you want your relationship to feel like a tough workout? If not, move your workout stuff somewhere else; your relationship is likely to move along more smoothly.

4. Remove old relationship energy

Go through your home–especially your bedroom–and remove anything that reminds you of past failed relationships; this could be an ex-boyfriend’s old sweater you find in the closet, photographs of you with a previous partner, a gift that reminds you (unfavorably) of a giver with whom you are no longer in love–anything that reminds you of a love that went bad. No matter how incurable a romantic you may be, do NOT keep old love letters anywhere in your bedroom unless they are from someone with whom you are still blissfully paired up.

5. Remove inappropriate imagery

The images with which you surround yourself can have a powerful effect on your love life. Feng shui clients who complain of difficulty finding romance often have surrounded themselves with images of a person alone. Inappropriate imagery includes anything that represents solitude, loneliness, aggression, hard work, conflict, or disagreement in any way. That old photo of your Dad when he was in the army may be a treasure, but the wartime energy it carries doesn’t have any place in the bedroom; find another place to keep it.

6. Open the door to love

Make sure both the front door of your home and the door to your bedroom open easily and completely. Doors that stick, squeak, or that only open partway because of all the stuff stored behind them are blocking the flow of romantic energy and opportunity into your home. A loose doorknob on your bedroom door could mean you’re having a hard time “getting a handle on” romance; get out your screwdriver and tighten it up.

7. Create a path for chi

Walk slowly from your front door to your bedroom, pretending that you are a gentle river of chi. Look for any areas where furniture or other belongings are stopping or slowing the flow of chi, or where chi is diverted away from the bedroom to other areas of the house. Clear a path so fresh chi can find its way to your bedroom and nourish your love life. Make sure all the lights along this route are working, replace any burned-out bulbs, and be alert for dark or dingy corners where you can increase the energy by adding more light.

8. Move your bed

If one side of your bed is against the wall, the person who sleeps on that side may feel confined or disempowered in the relationship. If possible, place the bed so there is equal space on either side, so you and your partner can find equal enjoyment in the relationship. The ideal position of the bed will be on the opposite side of the room from the door, but not directly in line with it. If you can’t see the bedroom door from the bed, hang a mirror where it will provide a reflected view of the entry.

9. Bring romance chi into the bedroom

Be sure to place romantic imagery in these two key places in the bedroom: the wall opposite the foot of the bed (where you naturally look when lying in bed), and whatever area of the room you first see when you enter. Beautiful, romantic artwork is always good, as are fresh or silk flowers and anything in pairs (such as birds, cherubs, candles, or decorative pillows). A round mirror is also good for the bedroom, as the shape signifies completion and unity. Look around your home for whatever says “romance” to you, and find a good spot for it in your bedroom.

10. Clarify your intention

Make a collage of images that symbolize your perfect relationship, and place it where you will see it every day. If you are already in a relationship, invite your partner to make a collage with you, to represent your intention to build a joyful and loving future together.

Copyright © 2002 Stephanie Roberts

This article is based on information in the book Fast Feng Shui for Singles: 108 Ways to Heal Your Home and Attract Romance (Lotus Pond Press, Kahului, HI, ISBN 1-931383-04-9), also available at Amazon.com.