When it comes to apartment buildings, they are often more complicated to analyze than a house. The house generally has one family inside or an extended family and the whole house is viewed as one unit, having one orientation. Then, each room can be micro-managed as a smaller version of the house whole house. As an example, if we discover that the northeast section of someone’s house happens to be very positive in their particular house, then the northeast section of each room in that house would have a small dose of that good quality. Simple and straightforward.

But what about an apartment building with any number of occupants? Does the chi (energy) have an intelligence to understand that these tenants are not related to each other? Should the apartment building be viewed as one giant house, where everybody inside is just occupying a room that happens to be their individual apartment? Or should each apartment be viewed as its own universe, with its own distinct orientation? These are the kinds of questions that feng shui practitioners have different opinions about. The distinctions in the analysis can include whether or not the apartment building has one big main lobby or entrance that everyone uses or in the case of certain condos and townhouses, where each person has their own separate entrance from outside. And would a common parking garage matter?

I have always taken the approach, where I make a mental note of where someone is within a building (the big picture) and then I help the client micro-manage their own apartment, with its own unique orientation, especially since this is all the client has control over. Feedback from clients confirms that often similar types of people will occupy the same building. Creative types might be an example. Perhaps you are a chef and the person who lives above you is a kitchen designer!

It is valid to note where someone’s individual apartment is within a building. If I can use the metaphor that the building is like a state or country and the individual apartments are like cities or towns. You will have the greatest potential to succeed and be healthy and happy if you are in the cleanest and most prosperous city, as opposed to the most polluted or poverty-stricken town. Over and over again, I have clients confirm for me that the people who occupy the best part of a building are doing better than those in the worst parts of the building. If I discover that my client is in a bad part of the building with no practical or affordable way to move, I try to see if they can make better use of the best parts of their individual space.

No place is too small or too large to evaluate according to Feng Shui principles. Visit Feng Shui Master Kartar Diamond on the web at http://www.FengShuiSolutions.net

Kartar has books, workbooks, e-books and telesminars to avail yourself of in the pursuit of learning authentic classical Feng Shui.

Kartar is also available worldwide for consultations, including her long distance report which serves people far and wide who cannot afford to have Kartar come to their location in person.

You can also find Kartar Diamond on Facebook and her Twitter name is FengShuiRx

Along with all the other rooms in the house, there has certainly been a lot written about what kind of Feng Shui impact the kitchen has on its occupants. Many myths abound and I have had clients needlessly worry about features in their kitchens, some of which will be addressed in this issue.

Firstly, the residential kitchen is not normally looked upon as the most important room in a house. In fact, with the way we live today, fewer people actually cook on a daily basis. There may even be an ironic parallel between how high-tech and ostentatious a kitchen is, with how little cooking actually take place.

And yet it is one of the more important rooms in the house which could make or break a real estate deal. Here are some of the more popular kitchen myths: (READ: not true)

• A mirror behind a stove brings prosperity: I have walked into kitchens where clients had propped up make-ups mirrors behind their stove burners or had placed one large mirror propped up or against the wall because they had heard that this brings in more money. Aside from the fact that grease and food will splatter onto the mirror and look bad, I don’t recommend this practice. This notion has something to do with creating the illusion that the more food you are cooking, the wealthier you are. Nice concept, but not very effective. In fact, if you really want to be spiritually rich, it would probably be better to pack an extra lunch each day and then give it away to the first homeless person you see each day.

• A sink placed right near a stove, or a refrigerator right near a stove, is bad Feng Shui: this is very intangible. And I would not argue with a kitchen designer about the most functional placement of appliances. The Feng Shui myth is that hot and cold (stove/refrigerator) should not be placed side by side because it would be a conflict of the yin-yang energies.

None of the authors who claim this is a problem have given information about what the measurable consequences are when stove and fridge are next to each other. Not worth worrying about.

• When a person stands at a stove and cooks with their back to the entrance, this is seen as vulnerable or prone to accidents. I can see some truth to this, although I have never in all my years of practice heard a client blame a kitchen accident on their having their back to the entrance. (And since mothers supposedly “have eyes on the backs of their heads,” this should be a mute point for a large percentage of the people who cook in the family kitchen.

• Kitchen in the center of the house is bad luck: This seems to simply be a poor design and possibly more prone to a fire. It is more practical for a kitchen to be on the side of a house where there can be a window for direct escape of cooking odors, excessive heat or steam.

• Bathrooms next to kitchens are bad Feng Shui: This concept is hinged on the notion that there could be a sanitation problem by having “elimination” energies in close proximity to a food prep location. Just remember that you can walk across a whole house with unwashed hands and end up in the kitchen also.

Some of my consistent findings, using traditional Feng Shui, is that when a kitchen ends up being in the most positive area of the house, the client often reports that this is in fact the favorite hang-out place for occupants as well as guests. Conversely, when a kitchen is located in a particularly accident-prone area of the house, there are more injuries and/or appliances break down a lot.

Another consistent finding: when the kitchen resides in the Northwest quadrant of the house (NW=metal and cooking produces fire), the result of fire symbolically melting metal can create a home where the children are unruly and do not listen to the father. (NW is associated with the father figure.) There is no physical explanation for this, but the feedback supports this association.

A commercial kitchen in a restaurant or catering company should be in a positive location within the building because the success of the business is based so much on the food.

Finally, we are all psychological and programmable beings. When people enter the house from the kitchen, there seems to be a universal agreement that the occupants will feel like eating whether they are hungry or not.

Feng Shui Solutions, founded by Kartar Diamond, is dedicated to advancing the information about Feng Shui as a natural science. Author of four books and two e-books, so far, Diamond has taught introductory classes to over 10,000 students and has had over 4,000 clients as of 2009. She began her consulting firm in 1992, and has studied with a number of Feng Shui Masters, including Master Larry Sang of the American Feng Shui Institute. Kartar is one of his senior instructors and she also moderates the Institute’s on-line Forum for on-line students.

You can find Kartar Diamond on Facebook and her Twitter name is FengShuiRx
You can also join Kartar’s monthly e-newsletter and find out about her global services at http://www.FengShuiSolutions.net.

Most of us spend a lot of time in office for work. Regardless of whether it is in your employer’s office or your home office, the office environment can at times be very challenging. Relationship with your colleagues or business partners is a very important factor to unpleasant office politics.

While you are working hard and smart to be a better employee and making yourself more valued at the workplace you should enlist the help of Feng Shui to enhance your career success. Feng shui is about balancing the chi or energy around your surroundings. By balancing the energy in your environment, your own energy will be in harmony, and you will draw to you, people and opportunities that reflect this balance.

Here are 10 great feng shui tips to help create harmony at the workplace and to make your career advancement smooth sailing:

1. Good Support Behind The Back Of Your Sitting Position

The most important feng shui tips in the office is to make sure that you are seated with a good support behind your back. It is extremely important that your back faces a wall or some solid surface. You must never sit with your back facing a door or windows as this makes you vulnerable to “backstabbing” and “betrayals” in the office. If the back of your sitting position is a window, it is very inauspicious as it represents a lack of support. Close the windows behind you or hang a painting of mountains behind your back to provide you with good support.

2. Clearing The Clutter In Your Office

Clutter like unfinished projects, unused papers, unresolved works, disorganized office stationery and files are extremely bad feng shui to you. Your career will become a mess and you stand no chance of any career advancements. Clutter is like emotional constipation – it bogs you down. By clearing your clutter and arranging your office desk nicely, you create space for new things and your energy and creativity will increase.

3. Choose Your Office Desk In Your Success Position

Place your desk in your success position. Your success position will bring you great success and awesome career advancement in your career. You can know your success position by calculating your KUA number (or Star Number). Our feng shui website teaches you on how to calculate your person KUA number and how to apply feng shui in your work and career to bring great income luck and success. In addition, the ideal placement for your computer and desk is in a position that allows you to see the door of your office. If this is not possible, you can restore good Feng Shui by placing a small mirror on your desk that gives you a clear view of the door.

4. Place A Healthy Small Potted Plant On Your Desk

A plant will bring life into your workspace and will also absorb toxins in the air. My recommendation is to place a Money Plant on your office desk to attract career luck and income luck. The money plant can also help you ward off office politics and unpleasant things in your working environment. A plant on your table is also able to boost you creativity. Research has shown that you will be happier when there is greenery on your table.

5. Avoid Sitting Directly Facing Someone Else

Do try to avoid sitting at a work desk that is directly facing someone else at your opposite. This is bad feng shui as if you are seated in a position where you constantly face another person, there will certainly be accumulation of bad and confrontational Chi enery between the both of you. Consequently, this will definitely lead to conflicts and unpleasant arguments.

6. Do Not Sit Under A Strong Exposed Beam

You will be working under great pressure if there is a structural beam or bright light above where you are working. The bright beam or light will make you irritable and do your work impulsively. One good way to overcome the situation is to renovate the ceiling so that it is flat.

7. Separate Your Workspace In Your Bedroom

Feng shui do not recommend having a workspace in your bedroom as the bedroom is a place of rest. If you must have your workspace in your bedroom, try to partition it off with a screen. You can place a curtain or a screen to separate your work desk with your bed. In feng shui, work and sleep are two conflicting energies: Work is very yang and sleep is very yin, hence both must not mix together. In addition, a relaxing sleep will enhance your work productivity.

8. Display Crystals At Your Work Desk

In feng shui, crystals are great tool to absorb negative energies at work. If you want to avoid office politics and to make sure your career is smooth-sailing, you should display small crystal balls on your desk to ensure that everything goes smoothly at work.

9. Use Only One Door In Your Office

Do use only one door in your office, if there are more, keep them closed. This is because you only want your wealth and money luck to come to you in the only door and will not escape from other doors. Use only one door in your office if you don’t want your money to escape.

10. Carry A Jade Cicada With You

If you want to block off any office politics in the office, buy a jade cicada and carry it in your bags or hide it under your files and documents so that it would not be seen. Jade Cicada is a powerful feng shui tool to help you avoid confrontations and conflicts in the office. It is also able to bring good luck to your working environment.

Swanton Mah is a freelance writer and an avid enthusiast on Feng Shui who uses the wisdom of Feng Shui to bring great health, wealth and love to anyone who wants to improve their lives. By tapping on the wisdom of Feng Shui cures and remedies, we hope that you can have the unlimited power to receive and give love and create the happiness and joy that most of us wish to pursue. For more information on Feng Shui tips and guide on home living and arrangements and how to learn and apply Feng Shui yourself, go to => http://www.101fengshuitips.com.

When one hears the phrase Feng Shui water dragon, it automatically brings to mind a collage of images of a dragon dripping water off each and every one of his scales while breathing fire on a crowd of screaming people. This is a common perception of the Feng Shui water dragon and is entirely incorrect. When analyzing the uses and positive effectiveness of Feng Shui water dragon it is essential to learn some basic facts about ‘feng’, which means water. Water is a necessary element to our bodies and environments and the ways in which water flows is of particular importance in Feng Shui water dragon.

What is a Feng Shui Water Dragon?

A Feng Shui water dragon is simply put, the formation of water created by man. To break that down, it is a man made fountain that creates a water formation. A Feng Shui water dragon has many faces and can be constructed in endless ways but a clear way to identify a water dragon is that there is a structured entry point at a specific degree and an exit point at another specific degree. The specific degrees, in which the Feng Shui water dragon must flow however, were thought to be known as secret. They aren’t of course, and can be found on various websites online and a great many of books on a variety of subjects hold these once secret degrees. Now you can build you’re very own Feng Shui water dragon, right?

Some Tips on the Feng Shui Water Dragon

There are some hard and steady rules when designing a Feng Shui water dragon that if violated, are said to cause disastrous effects. Before constructing a Feng Shui water dragon it is highly recommended that you consult a Feng Shui water dragon specialist to guide you in your project.

With that being said, a few tips should be noted so that you may add all the positive features to your Feng Shui water dragon. It is said by consultants and specialists alike that you are never to break the direct-indirect spirit rules that one should never place water or feng in the West, Northwest, South or Northeast. It must be built on natural landforms outside to allow the positive energy to flow in the house also. You both see both of the feng as well as the mountain. That means in building a Feng Shui water dragon you need to be near mountains. They truly mean rocky, tree covered mountains and not buildings in the city or any other different variety. For a complete list of guideline you must follow to build a Feng Shui water dragon, consult an expert.

If you want to learn more free feng shui tips please visit our site which is free to the public. You’ll find the best tips on everything to do with feng shui

Probably the best application of feng shui is the use of the concepts in your home. According to these concepts outlined in feng shui philosophy, this is a big step towards creating healthy lifestyle.

Feng shui can be used to get your house is in order and to ultimately make it a sanctuary where you feel de-stressed and relaxed. Further, it is claimed that it will literally set your life up for greater wealth, happiness, and even romance.

The basics are just that, basic. The primary focus should be on how your house looks and feels upon approach. This includes the outer décor and landscaping, as much as it does the interior.

Let’s go over the main functional areas

Outside

The outside of your home should be set up for a positive chi, as it has many impacts on your health. Some tips include making sure your address is clearly visible from the street and getting rid of any dead brushes, shrubs and flowers. Keeping them there indicates that your wealth will die.
Keep the yard clear from any clutter and trim any overgrown plants throughout the yard. This follows the ideas that a clean and organized area allows you to feel harmony upon entrance to the home.
Light the walkway to your door at night, as it will light the way to your wealth and prosperity for years to come.

Family Room

The family room is where everyone comes together and is considered the heart of the home. Thus, is important to make sure it is comfortable and cheerful. Aim to satisfy the needs of those that may be visiting as well as you own needs in your design. Either way, it should be free of excess clutter, which will allow Chi to flow naturally throughout the room.
Keep plenty of natural light in the room and accentuate that light with a color scheme that reflects your own personality, while promoting a natural positive chi. Don’t use harsh colors or colors that contrast your other decorations and furniture. Soft pastels are always good. Before making a final decision on color, understand their symbolic definitions.

Red = happiness
Yellow = authority
White = purity
Green = longevity
Blue = heavenly blessings

Bedrooms

The master bedroom should be as far away from the front door as possible, for the security of the homeowner. The foot of the bed should not be placed so that the occupant’s feet face a doorway. This is a negative since this is the way the deceased are carried from a room. Part of the bed should always touch a wall because it helps people feel more stable.
As with all rooms, color is important. The color of the bedroom should reflect tranquility and relaxation. One shouldn’t compromise their sleep by using too vibrant of a color. It is also recommended to use lower lighting in your bedroom, which can be accomplished simply by lowering the wattage of your light bulbs.

Dining Room

The dining room should be close to the kitchen and in the corner of a home to promote the gathering of chi. The seating should be set so that everyone can talk to each other easily. Round or octagon tables are the best choice. A round table is said to be good because it symbolizes stability.
When arranging furniture in the dining room ensure that chairs do not restrict doorways. There should be ample space for guests to walk around the table without having to maneuver around chairs or other furniture.
If your dining room has no windows a chandelier or a ceiling fan will assist the flow of Chi. Always use soft even lighting in the dining room as well as soft colors such as shades of green or yellow.

Bathroom

The bathroom represents homeowner’s finances, so it should be set up appropriately. Ideally, the bathroom should not be visible from the front door or to close to the kitchen. It should be clean, well lit, and well ventilated. Proper ventilation allows the negative sha energy to be relieved quickly, allowing the positive chi to remain.

Kitchen

In the kitchen, the placement of the stove and sink are the most important. The stove should be positioned so a person using doesn’t have their back facing a doorway. The chef needs to be able to focus and not be surprised.
The sink represents water, so it should not be side by side with he stove, which represents fire. Typically, a well placed mirror should alleviate any design issues you face.
There should be ample room to work around the sink and stove. They should be kept clean and work well to encourage favorable family finances.
Good lighting and ventilation by the stove will reduce the influence of Sha, as will painting the kitchen white. White symbolizes purity and promotes good health.
Using Feng Shui methods around your home is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Everyone has their own needs, and everyone’s tastes are different. The bottom line for you is to follow the guiding principles and make your designs work.

With a little feng shui, anyone can improve their health and their outlook on life. However, it should be an understood that a healthy diet and regular exercise should also be incorporated into any healthy living resolution.

Alden Pennington is co-author of NaturalHealthLifestyles.com and has been a natural health enthusiast for many years. Alden graduated from the University of Kentucky and is currently a Human Resources Director with a keen focus on the company wide health and wellness program. http://www.NaturalHealthLifestyles.com

It might sound crazy or foolish, but the Chinese have been successfully fixing their lives with the practice of feng shui for centuries. You see, there is a positive energy force in the world (which the Chinese refer to as Chi) that you tap into every time you feel good or have a happy moment. This energy force flows through your house and your life – or maybe it doesn’t and you need to attract it! It’s not hard to do. Heck, it wants to come in and help you, but you have to welcome it in and create an environment that it will want to stay in.

I am an account executive, and several years ago I found myself in a real sales slump. My wife had briefly read an article in the paper about feng shui and suggested that I put a mirror and a plant on the ledge behind my home-office desk. I had no objections. A plant sounded nice, and a mirror was a little odd but it did let me see when somebody was walking up behind me which I liked.

My sales numbers picked up immediately and so I asked my wife more about this feng shui stuff. She didn’t know any more so I went to the book store and picked up a paperback on the subject. I guess I was willing to try anything, and having seen good results from just a dabble in it probably opened my mind enough to be able to let it work for me.

The first thing the book had me do was clean up my house. Chi doesn’t like clutter, and the reason is, people don’t like clutter either. We tend to train ourselves to ignore it, but in the back of our mind we know about it and so does the Chi. In order for Chi to flow all clutter must be cleaned up and neatly organized. This necessitated an intense house-wide cleaning project, but I was very satisfied when it was done. That’s good, as the Chi is attracted to positive feelings.

Next came the strategic decorating, in accordance with the “Bagua” map. This is a chart that tells you which areas of your home correspond to which areas of your life. Each of these areas attracts Chi better with the use of certain colors and certain elements (earth, wood, water, etc.). Also common sense creativity comes into effect; we hung a picture of France in the “travel” area of our house.

Finally, we implemented the use of recommended feng shui tools that keep the Chi flowing into, and not our of, our home. These tools include things like water fountains, wind chimes, and crystals. For example, a toilet that is visible from a bathroom doorway drains the Chi right down the plumbing. But hanging a crystal between the door and the toilet at least partially remedies that problem.

My wife and I had a field day getting the home up to feng shui standards. Afterwards we really like what we had done and felt good about it, which of course is the magic that makes feng shui work. Within several months I was one of the top producing reps at my company, no kidding! Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. The most you have to lose is your messy house!

Andrew Kasch is an account executive and feng shui convert. You can learn more about specific feng shui techniques at his web site: http://www.fengshuihouse.info