West Meets East©

By Caroline Patrick BorNei

Feng Shui in a Down Market for Immediate Relief!

No one I know has escaped the backlash of the world’s current situation. As my mentor Feng Shui Master Professor Lin Yun suggested to his students in a recent workshop at Harvard University in Boston, “First face the problem, then change the problem.” Simple? No. Feng Shui cannot save the world, but it will give support to those willing to work through our own realignment. Write on a piece of paper your strengths and weakness. Face your weakness and then fix them. Claim your strengths and change the world one step at a time. See The Earth Ox of 2009 plod, plow and renew the soil. Get ready and get excited and be prepared to reseed the fields of opportunity, then Feng Shui, Feng Shui and Feng Shui. As Spring approaches, all cultures should house clean, mentally and physically. Delete and delete some more things that haven’t worked, from clothes to furniture to jobs and homes. Get ready for the gift of time and new horizons. Here are a few questions from readers which could help jump start your Feng Shui changes.

Q: My bathroom and utility room (washer/dryer) are both in the center of my house (Health area). How can I cure this? Thanks!

A: Grab that paintbrush and buy some yellow paint. Read my advice to the person with the staircase in the center on the home. Get rid of the fish decor. Think Mexico / Earth energy. Decorate with things made of earth like tiles, square pottery or paintings of harvest or maybe herbal pictures. As an artist I have created paintings for each Gua or section of the home to help cure and enhance all nine Guas. Place an up-growing or bamboo plant above each toilet. Place a small mirror above the toilet reflecting into the toilet lid, which, of course, is kept closed at all times. This Earth area needs all the Earth materials it can handle. If you begin to have problems in this house, it is a great time to buy another house with a better floor plan, as the center drains can pull at your health, opportunities and money. Be sure to check with me on your next house by sending the floor plans you are considering. This way we can find you the best house and property! I will bet you are a very hardworking person who deserves to feel uplifted. Give yourself this gift if possible.

Q: How can I find a qualified practitioner in my area to help me design my home and landscaping according to the Feng Shui principles? Thank you for your help.

A: Finding a Feng Shui designer is not impossible. I advise people on their new homes and remodels to email those “maybe” floor plans before getting into trouble! The shape of the land and the address are also things to consider. I have helped many people design a Feng Shui friendly floor plan. Please call soon. I have extended my 2009 special price for phone consultations for homes under 2000 sq. ft. This is only available by phone. Call to see if your home qualifies.

Q: Please help me with some ideas about setting up my first grade classroom next year. I want an environment set up for optimal learning.

A: I gave Feng Shui instruction for the Santa Clara Reading Council’s Convention in 2000, 2001 and 2002, at which over 4000 school teachers and leaders come together each year near Monterey, California to take classes on updated education for their schools and classrooms. The main topic for instructors is to place yourself and desk in a power position, with your back to a solid wall. Seating of children is also a special way to help hard-to-control kids in a comfortable position by learning their needs, such as family problems. Place them in the Family Gua or the middle left side of the room, but not with an open doorway behind any student as they will be in the pathway of a fast wind tunnel of energy.

Q: We moved to our house two years back. We usually have a lot of visitors and houseguests, which we like a lot. After we moved to this house, we don’t have the houseguests/visitors/friends coming to our house. Even if we plan something, we or the people we invite have to cancel the appointments for some reason or the other. Is there something I can do to rectify this behavior? Thanks.

A: It sounds as if your Helpful People section of the house is “missing.” To find out I would need to see a floor plan. Other questions to consider are: Who had the home before? What went on in the house? Clear it first, remove any excess furniture. What pieces are at the entry? Do you love everything in the house? What is happening outside on the property, shape, etc., to the front, the right front, and middle right? Making corrections to these Career or Water zones, Helpful People and Children and Creativity zones help for more fun. Are there any missing parts to the floor plan? Does the land flow upward from the street or downward? Where are the barbecue, dog run and fountains? All of these things have an impact. How is your personal Chi? Also activate your Family sector with lush green plants inside and outside. Have you looked into the colors and elements when decorating? What is the main color you have used for your decor? Visit my site for more info at fengshuiartistry.com

Q: My floor plan is very open. I’m not sure how to divide the spaces using the Bagua.

A: Map your home or floor plan by placing the Bagua or template in the center of the dwelling. Holding the Bagua in the center with an invisible thumbtack, rotate the grid until the Career section is lined up with the front door of the house. Look at my site fengshuiartistry.com and click on the floor plan section for more tips.

Q: On the bottom floor, the staircase, pantry and closet are in the Health area. What do I need to do, if anything?

A: If all of this is in the center, your Earth section, add yellow and earth colors, square objects made from the earth, rugs, pottery, silk, paintings, use square tiles and textiles to decorate. Please remove anything suggesting water in this Qua. Place a large square wall hanging in the staircase with earth colors. A 50mm crystal at the bottom of the stairs and a wind chime at the top landing will help lift the Chi from one floor to the next.

Q: I am a holistic practitioner in Ft. Lauderdale. I will be opening a new office and would like to design it with someone familiar with Feng Shui and animal hospitals. Does anyone have any recommendations? This is probably a first, so this could be very challenging.

A: I have Feng Shui’d many offices, doctors, dentists, etc., with over 5000 consultations for individuals and corporations. I see no problem. Most all spaces can enjoy success when the owners practice Feng Shui in their home environment. I also like to meet with the staff, with floor plans of their present living spaces. It helps if everyone in your staff brings their holistic understanding to the unit. I am currently Feng Shuing a holistic building, built in an environmentally safe way, and have watched in delight as one of my clients who does acupuncture Feng Shui her Career from a one-room-fits-all with cell phone and laptop, to a thriving business in a new building to accommodate six other doctors. We planned the whole thing and it happened. She called me this morning to report she had the best year of her whole Career in finances and in serving others. That serving others is the key words of this success! Give me a call.

Q: We just moved into a new house. I’m trying to explore Feng Shui. From reading the posts, I just found out that our street address (1649) is not an auspicious number. How can I remedy this without, as one poster said, confusing the mailman (or going to jail for some misdemeanor or something). Also, my son has autism. His room is at the end of a 3x12 hallway. The hallway is made of wood flooring. His room is carpeted. Ever since we moved to the new house, my son has exhibited a tad bit difficult behaviors in school (although he loves the house very much). I just moved his bed around last night so his head is no longer at the same side as the window. What can I do with the hallway? On the longer sides, we have one door (the den) and three doors (the master bedroom, my son’s bathroom, and the closet), and on the shorter sides we have my son’s bedroom door and the door leading to the living room. The hallway tends to be dark with the wood floors and no windows, and putting plants (I read it can slow down the Chi) can crowd the hallway. Should I put plants in my son’s room? (I wasn’t sure if this was proper as I also read plants can be full of energy and bedrooms have to be restful.) I am in desperate need for some good advice. I look forward to receiving same! Thank you and happiness to all!

A: First calm down, then hang a 50mm round quartz crystal ordered from Feng Shui Emporium (tell Roxane I sent you to her online store, good crystals are on sale right now!), then hang it in the middle of the long hall. If you send me your email I will email you a perfect picture of a corrected lit hallway. When a bedroom is at the end of a long hallway, that person seems to get undiagnosed illnesses. Next, try using flower essences from a knowledgeable health food store. These non-invasive “energy medicines” formulas are wonderful for babies, pets, plants and adults. Dilute and spray his room or other troubling areas of the home with the suggested amount, which will lift the Chi. Remove outdated alarm clocks, which light up and take inventory of all the electrical equipment hanging around emitting EMFs. Sleeping and learning is hard with harmful electromagnetic fields filling a space.

My first call would be to Diana at Treefrog Farms in Washington. (You can Google them.) She is an expert for finding the best flower essence formula for individuals. Follow her instructions, and you and your house will feel the difference. Rid yourself of clutter, air out the house, play music, clap to stir up the stagnant areas. Now what part of the home is the boy’s bedroom? Which side of the house from the front entry? I have worked with learning institutions to help with the seating of children to support their energy. Where is he sitting at the dining table, to the right or left of you? Using yellow bedding and night clothes strengthens the Health of children and adults. The vibration of yellow food, pictures of herbs in the hallway with a mirror to reflect and double the visual aspect of the healing process of the liver function, helps any illness. No blue room for this child, mostly yellow with green trim.

Q: It has come to my knowledge that sloping ceilings are not good for master bedroom. What can I do?

A: Raise the roof – at least over your head. My question to you would be, which way do they slope? Where is the bed in relation to the low side? You will want to raise the energy on one side and lower it on the other for better sleep and communication. Use an up-shining light called a torch style on the low side corners and lamps which shine down on the high corners. Are you still sleeping on an outdated mattress from another relationship? Some people hang on to old mattresses from old relationships. Big no-no! Science has proved you are still sleeping with the old lovers DNA! Invisible flakes of skin and more can be seen under a high-powered microscope. Yikes..

Caroline lives in the Northwest Region of the US, called The Puget Sound in Washington State and is an experienced Feng Shui Practitioner, writer, author and artist. She gives workshops in Feng Shui, Elements of Art, private mentoring for serious student, lectures, does book illustrations, art demonstrations for Daniel Smiths Art Supplies and writes a weekly newspaper column for the Benicia Herald in California and other publications. Call (360) 424-1501 for her availability for speaking, teaching and consultations in the U.S. and abroad, or email caroline@fengshuiartistry.com. Visit her websites: www.fengshuiartistry.com to view her special Feng Shui artwork designed especially for cures and corrections and enhancements of the 5 Elements (some for sale) and www.moongateschool.com for West Meets East archives.

Please consult your physician for physical problems as this article only gives ideas and suggestions. Caroline is not responsible for anyone using these suggested plants or advice for cures or healing any problem either medical or Feng Shui claims. This column and article is for entertainment only. Please seek help from a qualified physician, naturopath, herbalist or other certified person for treatment.

Note: Caroline Patrick BorNei (pronounced Bornay) is Caroline's Chinese name give to her by her Master Teacher His Holiness Grandmaster Lin Yin.