Feng Shui For Dummies [2 ed.] 1119643163, 9781119643166

Benefit from the ancient Chinese art of Feng Shui Take a look around you. What do you see? Whether or not you're a

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English Pages 448 [451] Year 2019

Feng Shui For Dummies [2 ed.]
1119643163, 9781119643166

Author / Uploaded
David Daniel Kennedy

Table of contents :
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
What You’re Not to Read
Foolish Assumptions
How This Book Is Organized
Part 1: Getting Started: Feng Shui Made Clear
Part 2: Energizing Your Home’s Exterior
Part 3: Feathering the Nest: Nurturing and Nourishing Indoor Spaces
Part 4: Going to the Next Level: Using Feng Shui for Life Change
Part 5: The Part of Tens
Icons Used in This Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Getting Started: Feng Shui Made Clear
Chapter 1 Discovering the World of Feng Shui
Demystifying Feng Shui
The Meaning of the Term Feng Shui
Ancient Chinese Secrets: The Big-Picture View of Feng Shui
Unearthing Basic Feng Shui Principles
Yin and yang
The Three Realms of Influence
Five top factors affecting your fortune
Understanding the Schools of Feng Shui
Landform and Compass Method Feng Shui
Grandmaster Lin Yun’s Feng Shui school
Distinguishing the schools from each other
Looking at Feng Shui Factors That You Can Use to Your Advantage
Finding Life Solutions with Feng Shui
Selecting a Feng Shui approach
Choosing the Life Areas to improve
Taking steps to Feng Shui success with a range of available cures
Getting Additional Help
Chapter 2 Mastering the Principles of Feng Shui
Chi: The Energy of Feng Shui
The Types of Chi
The chi of the heavens
The chi of the Earth
The chi of homes and living environments
The chi of humans
The Flows of Chi
The ideal chi state for the physical body
The ideal chi state for the home
The positive and negative traits of chi flow
Cultivating Chi
Benefits and rewards of chi cultivation
Eight factors that affect your personal chi
Positioning: Your Place in the Scheme of Things
Understanding the Theory of Relative Positioning
Using the Commanding Position method
Presenting the Three Life Pillars
Recognizing the importance of the entry
Improving the place of rest and rejuvenation
Activating your home’s energy generator
The Psychology of Feng Shui
Know that improvement is possible in any situation (especially yours)
Maximize your current situation
Recognize that you’re the center of the equation
Choose to take action
Be open to change and receiving the new
Basic Pointers for Feng Shui Success
Chapter 3 Unveiling the Secrets of the Octagon
Discovering the Magic of the Octagon
The Helpful People Area of the Octagon
The Career Area of the Octagon
The Knowledge Area of the Octagon
The Family Area of the Octagon
The Wealth Area of the Octagon
The Fame Area of the Octagon
The Marriage Area of the Octagon
The Children Area of the Octagon
The Health Area of the Octagon
Orienting the Octagon
Placing the Octagon on your home’s main floor plan
Placing the Octagon upstairs and down
Placing the Octagon on other spaces
Troubleshooting Octagon Placement
Missing areas and projections
Entrances with turns
Angled entrances
Complex or oddly shaped floor plans
Changing Your Life with the Octagon
Chapter 4 Picking Up Your Feng Shui Tools
So What Is a Feng Shui Cure?
Motivations for performing Feng Shui cures
Five types of Feng Shui cures
Using the Three Phases of Your Cures
Phase I: Setting the intention for the cure
Phase II: Performing the physical activity of the cure
Phase III: Reinforcing your intention and activity with spiritual energy
Opening the Feng Shui Toolbox: Creating Your Cures
Creating positive placement
Adding what’s needed, minor and otherwise
Adjusting by repairing, cleaning, and changing
Using ceremony to create new energy states
Making personal Feng Shui adjustments
Employing meditative methods
Making Minor Additions to Bring about Major Changes
Light cures
Sound cures
Living cures
Water cures
Color cures
Mobile cures
Weight cures
Bamboo flute cures
Powered cures
Fragrance cures
Touch cures
Chapter 5 Harnessing the Energies of the Five Elements
The Energies of the Five Elements
The energy of Wood: Growth
The energy of Fire: Expansion
The energy of Earth: Stability
The energy of Metal: Contraction
The energy of Water: Stillness
Placing the Five Elements in Your Environment According to the Octagon
The Cycles of the Five Elements
The Creative Cycle of the Five Elements
The Destructive Cycle of the Five Elements
Creator and Offspring Elements
Using the Five Elements in Different Cure Methods
Method I: Placing Elements in their natural locations
Method II: Removing or counteracting offending Elements
Method III: Utilizing Creator and Offspring Elements for added power
Method IV: Combining all the Elements for power and creativity
Applying Five Elements Cures for Life Change
Chapter 6 Tapping the Inner Power of Feng Shui
Introducing the Outer and Inner Aspects of Feng Shui
Discovering the Magic of Intention
Applying the Power of Intention to Cures
Know exactly what you want
Have the right attitude and motivation
See and feel the result before it happens
Believe completely that the result will happen
Relax and allow the results to happen
Revealing the Secrets of the Three Secrets Reinforcement
Defining the Three Secrets Reinforcement
Performing cures with the Reinforcement
Frequently Asked Questions about the Three Secrets Reinforcement
In what order should I perform the three steps of the Reinforcement?
How long should my Reinforcements take?
Is how I’m thinking and feeling during the Reinforcement important?
How do I know whether I’m doing the Reinforcement right?
How many times do I need to perform the Reinforcement?
Part 2 Energizing Your Home’s Exterior
Chapter 7 Harnessing Nature’s Power to Enhance Your Outdoor Spaces
Looking around the Neighborhood
Reading the chi of a neighborhood or place
Noticing how street energy charges your home
Enjoying the ideal street situation
Curing street problems
Investigating and Curing Potential Nearby Negatives
Understanding types of nearby negatives
Performing cures for nearby negatives
Eliminating Home and Lot Problems
Too close for comfort
Whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on
Problematic neighbors
Sitting Pretty: Ideal and Not-So-Ideal Home Positioning
Diagnosing and treating problems with your home’s location on the lot
Positioning your home topographically
Living high up or down low from the road
Diffusing projecting roof ridges
Curing poison arrows
Enlivening Your Lot with Healthy Trees and Plants
Introducing bamboo, the all-purpose plant
Utilizing positive tree energies
Employing helpful tree-selecting hints
Avoiding negative tree situations
Curing dead or dying trees
Using Color to Empower the Life Areas of Your Property
Engaging the Power of Water
Moving water brings flow
The soothing and clarifying effects of still water
Positioning Outbuildings
Who’s that sneaking ’round my back door?
Stuffed shed syndrome
Honey, I shrunk the view
What’s so draining?
Chapter 8 Making the Most of Your Lot and Home Shape
Discovering What Shapes Mean to You
Enjoying Balance: The Positive Effects of Symmetrical Shapes
Living foursquare: Squares and rectangles
Round and round: Circles and octagons
Defining Projections and Missing Areas
Hey, are you projecting?
Oops! My areas are missing!
Locating Projections and Missing Areas
Using the 50 Percent Rule: Remembering the importance of “less than half”
Using the 33 Percent Rule
Enhancing the Benefits of Projections
Curing Missing Areas
Exterior solutions for missing home areas
Interior solutions for missing home areas
Cures for missing lot areas
Fixing Irregular Home and Lot Shapes
L-shaped and boot-shaped homes
Cleaver home shapes
Dustpan and money purse lot shapes
Triangular home and lot shapes
Angled lot side
Multicornered and other oddly shaped lots
Chapter 9 Open Sesame! Creating a Welcoming Entry
Recognizing the Importance of the Front Door and Foyer
Dealing with Driveway Issues
Positive driveway conditions
Problematic driveway conditions and their solutions
Clearing the Way to the Front Door for Natural Chi
Solving the hidden front door dilemma
Curing common outdoor stairway dilemmas
Dealing with pesky approach issues
Making the Most of the Mouth of Chi
Knowing the principles of the ideal front door
Solving front door problems
Changing your luck with front door colors
Moving On In: Mastering Interior Entryway Problems and Solutions
An upward-leading interior stairway that faces the front door
A downward-leading interior stairway that’s directly in line with the front door
A mandarin duck stairway
A split view upon entering
Being Aware of Continual First Impressions
Examining features of the ideal entrance
Entering regularly other than through the front door
Handling two separate doors on the front of the home
Part 3 Feathering the Nest: Nurturing and Nourishing Indoor Spaces
Chapter 10 Reinventing Your Home’s Layout
Looking at Your Home: Front and Back
Good rooms for the front
Good rooms for the back
Finding the Center of Your Home
Recognizing the importance of the center
Knowing the ideal energy condition of the center
Figuring out what’s good in the center
Curing troublesome central areas
Addressing Neighboring Rooms
Toilet/stove and toilet/bed wall connections
Stove/bed wall connection
Curing Opposing Doors
A bathroom door opposite the master bedroom door or kitchen door
A kitchen door opposite a bedroom door
The back door in line with the front door
Chapter 11 Maximizing Results in the Bedroom
Putting Your Bed in the Commanding Position with Four Important Principles
Commanding Position Principle One: Situating the bed far from the door
Commanding Position Principle Two: Widening the sleeper’s scope of vision
Commanding Position Principle Three: Ensuring bedroom door visibility
Commanding Position Principle Four: Keeping the bed out of the door’s path
Putting all the principles together
Exploring Additional Bed Positioning Secrets
Recruiting the power of the mountain
Addressing a bed in the path of the door
Selecting cures for problematic bed situations
Recognizing the Critical Importance of a Good Bed
New versus used beds
Good times to get a new bed
Types of beds
Improving the Power of Your Bed
Placing Your Master Bedroom in a Powerful Position
Recognizing ideal bedroom location using the Commanding Position
Rescuing a bedroom over the garage
Protecting a bedroom threatened by a car
Considering Your Bedroom’s Shape and Layout
Positioning the Octagon
Dealing with doors and windows
Curing multiple layout issues
Resolving the master suite dilemma
Curing an empty door
Enlivening the Entryway into the Bedroom
Remembering the Purpose of the Bedroom
Chapter 12 Now You’re Cookin’: Feng Shui for Your Kitchen
Understanding the Energy of Food
Maximizing Kitchen Location, Layout, and Stove Placement
Recognizing the ideal kitchen layout
Positioning your stove for wealth and health
Curing multiple doorways and traffic pattern problems in the kitchen
Looking at the Stove: Your Home’s Energy Generator
Choosing a new stove versus a used stove
Improving the cleanliness of your stove
Inspecting the condition and use of your stove burners
Examining the overall functioning of your stove
Solving Miscellaneous Kitchen Problems
The kitchen is small
The stove is next to the refrigerator
A window is over the stove
A toilet or bed is located directly behind the stove on a common wall
The kitchen is dimly or harshly lit and dark in color
Knives are visible in the kitchen
The stove is outside the front door
Chapter 13 Home Is Where the “Shui” Is: Enhancing Your Family Areas
The Living Room, Family Room, and Den
The Dining Room
Kids’ Bedrooms
Obtaining good room locations and curing problematic ones
Creating positive bed positions for children
Choosing the right bed for your child
Looking at colors and special cures for kids’ bedrooms
The Bathroom
Being aware of negative locations for the bathroom
Considering positive and negative bathroom layouts
Employing basic bathroom cures
Applying additional bathroom cures
The Garage
The Basement
Improving light levels
Optimizing air quality
Utility Rooms
Chapter 14 Sprucing Up the Bits and Pieces
Doors and Doorways
Taking a look at good and bad door alignments
Addressing four or more doorways in a row
Curing clashing doors
Setting stuck doors free
Relieving a reversed door
Treating angled doors
Windows: The Eyes of Your Home
Windows that are blocked from the inside or outside
Stuck, malfunctioning, sealed, or broken windows
Windows overwhelming doors
Windows that are too high, are too low, or come down too far
Skylights
Angled Walls
Method I: Stabilizing the wall’s energy
Method II: Slowing down or diffusing the energy flow
Ceilings
Dealing with slanted ceilings over the bed
Applying general ceiling cures
Beams
Resolving beams throughout the home
Curing a beam over the bed
Hallways: A Home’s Main Energy Arteries
Hallways with too many doors
Long and narrow hallways
Stairs
Transforming spiral staircases
Looking at assorted stairway problems and simple cures
Pillars, Columns, and Posts
Fireplaces
Chapter 15 Power-Boosting Your Home’s Energy
Lighting Up Your Life to See Positive Results
Nurturing health and life with natural light
Taking advantage of natural-light substitutes indoors
Recognizing the importance of improving interior lighting levels
Adding Life with a Splash of Color
Recognizing good colors for rooms of the home
Using the colors of the Feng Shui Octagon’s Life Areas
Employing the three special Feng Shui color systems
Keeping Things Shipshape and in Working Order
Maintaining your plumbing, foundation, and electrical system
Making sure air is flowing
Checking the roof for potential issues
Fixing or replacing malfunctioning or broken elements
Chapter 16 Improving Your Apartment with Feng Shui
Addressing the Common Fate Principle
Examining Your Building’s Structure
Living up high in the sky
Sittin’ on pins: Pillars in the garage
Dealing with elevators and stairwells
Optimizing Your Living Space
Defusing entrance issues
Resolving an oddly shaped unit
Taking on a teeny living space
Making the most of multiuse rooms
Giving yourself some breathing room
Delving into Details That Make a Big Difference
Neutralizing harmful nearby influences
Helping out in the kitchen
Bringing the outside in with natural chi
Fixing stubborn windows
Clearing the air
Chapter 17 Using Feng Shui in Your Office to Enhance Your Career
Using the Feng Shui Octagon and the Five Elements in Your Office
The Octagon
The Five Elements
Working with Your Office Layout and Floor Plan
The positioning and quality of your office space
Private offices versus cubicles
Putting Yourself in the Commanding Position at Work
Using Commanding Position desk principles
Seeing the door equals success
Understanding other key desk placement factors
Making Sure You Have a High-Quality Desk
Part 4 Going to the Next Level: Using Feng Shui for Life Change
Chapter 18 Hitting the Ground Running: Your Fabulous Feng Shui Action Plan
Avoiding the Road to Confusionville
Sticking with the methods of one Feng Shui school
Performing a limited number of cures at once
Gathering the Information You Need for Success
Obtaining an accurate lot plan
Acquiring an accurate floor plan of your home
Honoring the Importance of Focus
Addressing the Three Life Pillars
The front door
The master bed
The kitchen stove
Analyzing the Energy of Your Lot and Home
Chapter 19 Taking Care of the Big Three: Your Money, Honey, and Health
Generating Cash Flow
Hitting the hot spot in the bedroom
Placing your desk in the Commanding Position
Knowing the right things and the right people
Putting Pizazz Back into Your Partnership
Positioning your bed for good fortune
Planting new life
Removing distractions from your bedroom
Enhancing multiple Marriage Areas simultaneously
Maximizing Health and Vitality
Deflecting poison arrows
Centering your home for healthy living
Saving the stove and the cook
Curing exposed beams
Enhancing Wealth, Relationships, and Health All at Once
Evening out the shape of your lot and home
Keeping your front pathway unblocked
Brightening your front entrance
Chapter 20 Looking Before You Leap: Selecting Your Next Home with Feng Shui
Understanding How Feng Shui Can Help You during the Home-Selection Process
Starting Off the Feng Shui Home-Selection Process on the Right Foot
Setting your intention
Making a list and checking it twice
Evaluating a Home’s Feng Shui Features
Assessing and Addressing Predecessor Energies
Dealing a one-two punch to predecessor energies
Getting a handle on Initial Momentum
Reading the predecessor factors
Chapter 21 Creating New Energy with Feng Shui Blessing Ceremonies
Dealing with Unseen Occupants in Your Home
The Advantages of Feng Shui Blessing Ceremonies
Reasons for employing blessing ceremonies
Good occasions for blessing ceremonies
Frequently Asked Questions about Feng Shui Blessing Ceremonies
Tips for Performing Feng Shui Blessing Ceremonies
Out with the Old, In with the New: The Rice Blessing
What the Rice Blessing can do for you
How the Rice Blessing works
Items to gather for the Rice Blessing
The stages of performing the Rice Blessing
Frequently asked questions about the Rice Blessing
Results from the Rice Blessing
The Citrus Water Blessing
How the Citrus Water Blessing works
Items to gather for the Citrus Water Blessing
Performing the Citrus Water Blessing
The Fresh Flowers Home Blessing
Chapter 22 Unleashing the Genie: Personal Feng Shui Empowerment
Putting Bad Luck to Bed
Giving yourself a boost: The Red Cloth Protection Cure
Doing fancy footwork: The Red Feet on Bed Cure
Getting Personal with Feng Shui
Building strength and stability with a yu bowl
Refreshing personal chi with the Orange Peel Bath Cure
Promoting a long and happy marriage with the Marriage Cure
Letting the Sun Shine In
Great Sunshine Buddha: Round 1
Great Sunshine Buddha: Round 2
Great Sunshine Buddha: Round 3
Feeling Clean, Clear, and Refreshed with Meditations
Supreme Yoga Stage 1
The Five Elements, Five Colors Meditation
Part 5 The Part of Tens
Chapter 23 Ten Principles for Success with Your Feng Shui
Retain Your Energy
Pay Attention to Life’s Feedback
Follow Your Intuition and Act with Urgency
Fine-Tune Your Feng Shui
Keep on Keeping On
Work on the Mundane as Well
Continue to Increase Your Knowledge
Keep the Faith
Enlarge the Team
Employ Special Timing for Stronger Cures
Chapter 24 Ten Tips for Finding the Right Consultant and Sticking with the Plan
Gauge Your Commitment Level
Set a Working Budget
Nail Down Your Intentions
Find a Real (Professional) Consultant
Discover What’s Involved in a Consultation
Make Sure the Vibe Is Right
Get Specific Action Items
Just Do It — All of It!
Track Your Cures and Keep Your Eyes Peeled: Change Is A-Comin’
Document Your Life Changes
Chapter 25 Ten Tips for Selling a Home with the Help of Feng Shui
First Things First: Taking Care of Business
Activating Your Helpful People and Money Energies
Enter Buyer, Stage Right
Sending Out Your Message with Sound
Enhancing the Visibility of Your Entrance
Removing Obstacles from Your Entryway
Letting the Good Times Flow with Fountains
Cleaning Like Your Sale Depends on It — ’Cause It Does
Start Moving Now
A Little Birdie Told Me: The Birdseed Cure
Chapter 26 Ten Unique Calligraphies to Bless Your Life
Appendix Feng Shui Resources
Index
EULA