Bringing Feng Shui into your life can be easy, fun and extremely rewarding. Feng Shui, which has been practiced for over 3,000 years, is the enhancement of health, prosperity, love and happiness through a connection between your environment and your life. Your vitality, resources, and relationships flourish and grow best in harmonious, uncluttered environments. Practicing Feng Shui is a rewarding life style which can be started in 4 easy steps:
Step 1: Decluttering or Passing On What You No Longer Need
Decluttering is the foundation in beginning Feng Shui; clearing the path for positive energy to flow in. An organized home can have a calming effect on you, your family and guests; and by passing on items you no longer need, you give them the opportunity to be loved again and clear the energy for new opportunities.
Begin by choosing a space you don’t feel good about, such as a closet, cabinet, desk drawer, table top and then:
Label 3 boxes or bags: Throwaway, Pass On to Others, and Stowaway. When you have separated all items into 3 categories, put the throwaways in the trash immediately, organize the giving away items, and make sure you remove them from the space and pass them on within a week. Stowaway the items you are keeping to their proper places with love and gratitude. Congratulations! Now watch for good things to flow into your life because you have let go of the old and made room for the new.

Step 2: Mapping Your Home With the Bagua Map
The Feng Shui Bagua (Ba-gua) Map, comes from the Chinese philosophy, “The I Ching,” and literally means “eight trigrams” with the Center being for grounding. These trigrams form the basic building blocks, or treasures that hold the most significance in our lives: Career, Knowledge/Self Cultivation, Family/Health, Wealth/Prosperity, Fame, Love/Marriage, Children/Creativity, Helpful People/Travel. This grid, illustrating the nine sectors of your life is intended to be superimposed over the floor plan of your home.
The home’s main entrance is always located at the bottom of the grid, (in the Knowledge, Career or Helpful People sector). Stand outside facing your front door and identify where your entrance falls in relation to the map. Draw a quick sketch of the first floor of your home’s floor plan, accounting for the geometrical shape of your home since not all houses are rectangles. Next draw a rectangle around the outside wall of your home (some areas may be missing), then divide each side by three and draw a grid of nine sectors, so that you will be able to identify which areas/rooms of your home are associated with the Bagua areas. Now your home can begin to tell the story. Think about areas in your life you would like to improve and compare that area of the Bagua to that area in your home. Is your love area in a disorganized closet? See step 4 below.
If you have a second story you can apply the Bagua to it for a second opportunity to enhance an area.

Step 3: Anchoring the 4 Corners
The ideal shape for a house in Feng Shui is a rectangle, yet over 90 percent of western homes are not perfectly rectangular. Those are called “missing corners” and its’ important to define and enhance them in some way by anchoring them to keep the Ch’i in.
To begin, locate the 4 corners of your home. If any are missing from your rectangle use enhancements to either structurally or symbolically anchor the exact location of the missing corner. Walk the outside of your property until you are standing at the spot where the two walls would have met, then use one or more of the following anchoring cures.
Outdoor Structural Anchoring: This can be as simple as installing an outdoor lamppost, adding a large boulder, trees, flowers, fences, water features, sculptures, or building a deck, arbor, or patio.
Symbolic Anchoring: Missing Bagua areas can be energetically anchored by “planting” a natural quartz crystal, point up, where the corner would be if the structure were a rectangle. If pavement covers the missing area paint a symbol that would be meaningful to you representing the Bagua area (examples are a heart, initials, circle, star etc.)

WEALTH
PROSPERITY

FAME
REPUTATION

LOVE
MARRIAGE
RELATIONSHIPS

FAMILY
FRIENDS
HEALTH

CENTER
GROUNDING

CHILDREN
CREATIVITY

KNOWLEDGE
SELF-CULTIVATION

CAREER

HELPFUL PEOPLE
TRAVEL
↑ ↑ ↑
ENTRANCE QUADRANT

Anchoring Indoors: If there is no way to anchor from the outside you can hang a mirror, round faceted crystal or art with depth on the inside wall closest to the missing area. This symbolically anchors the space.

Step 4: Enhancing the areas of concern in your life
If any of the sectors are causing you stress, then personal enhancements using the Bagua Map are the way to go. Think about what’s not working in your life and then look at that area in your home.
Positive Personal Enhancement Suggestions for Bagua Areas:
Career Area – Front Center
* Colors: black or very dark colors
* Shapes: asymmetrical shapes
* Items: items in glass or crystal, mirrors, career images and symbols
* Art: water scenes, flowing water such as rivers, waterfalls, oceans
Knowledge and Self Cultivation Area – Left Front Corner
* Colors: blues, greens
* Shapes: stripes or columns
* Items: items in wood, healthy plants with rounded leaves, books, representation of deities or inspiring people
* Art: forests, nature scenes, peaceful places
Friends/Family/Health Area – Left
* Colors: blues, greens
* Shapes: stripes or columns
* Items: healthy floral arrangements, items in wood, photos of family, friends or representing perfect health
* Art: vibrant flower scenes
Wealth Area – Back Left Corner
* Colors: purple, blue or red
* Shapes: cones, triangles
* Items: items that “call the Chi” such as flags, wind chimes, whirligigs, flowing water features, (fountains, waterfalls or aquariums), opulent items representing wealth, healthy round leaf plants
* Art: purple scenes, depicting wealth or items you wish to purchase
Fame Area– Back Center
* Colors: reds
* Shapes: cones, triangles
* Items: diplomas, awards, acknowledgements, up lighting, inspirational sayings
* Art: animals, people, fire, the sun, stars, personal images and symbols of fame
Love and Marriage Area– Right Back Corner
* Colors: reds, pinks, white
* Shapes: cones, triangles
* Items: pairs of items (candles, love birds, vases)
* Art: art or photos depicting your significant other or romance
Children and Creativity Area– Right Center
* Colors: white and pastels
* Shapes: curves, circles
* Items: creative images, symbols, whimsical items, toys, craft supplies, photos of children, items in metal
* Art: whimsical art, or art made by children
Helpful People and Travel Area– Right Front Corner
* Colors: white, grey
* Shapes: curves, circles
* Items: images of mentors or deities, items in metal, natural rocks, stone
* Art: spiritual guides, mentors, helpful people or desired travel locations, mountains
Center Area– The center of the Bagua is considered neutral; a place of grounding of all the other areas. This area is associated with the element of Earth and is related to the color yellow. It is symbolized by the shape of squares and rectangles and items made of ceramics.
That’s it! You have begun the valuable process of Feng Shui. This is a fluid process which is constantly changing. Whether you realize it or not, your home environment is either supporting, or sapping your life energy. Making a few simple changes within your home can have an immediate and powerful effect on your personal energy levels, as well as the physical and material aspects of your life.

Feng Shui at Work:
It didn’t take one of my clients long after buying her home to feel that money was always going out disproportionally to how it was coming in. We drew the Bagua over her house plan and sure enough she was completely missing her Wealth Corner. Luckily it was located in her garden. She immediately buried a quartz crystal, bought lush purple and red flowers and added a purple garden gazing ball. It was not long that the issues concerning her money began to disappear and she received a raise at work a short time later.

Affirmations:
Remember that in Feng Shui, intent plays a significant role in enhancing any area of your home or business. That’s why all enhancements need to be made with intentionality; written or stated affirmations, expressed as if they have already happened are very important, “I have an abundance of wealth and prosperity flowing into my life.”
For questions or home consultations email at mtmccull@aol.com and put “Feng Shui” on the subject line, or visit my website at www.fengshuibymaria.com, (where you can read past columns), or Facebook “Feng Shui by Maria,” where I post pictures as examples to enhancements.
* Check out my BLOG – Just go to the website and click on “Blog”: You can view many pictures and, I will respond to your questions quickly.
Until then…blessings!

Maria McCullough, the owner / founder of Feng Shui by Maria (www.fengshuibymaria.com) is a speaker and educator with over 20 years of experience. She specializes in residential, landscape and business consultations. She is a graduate of the Western School of Feng Shui and has personally trained with Terah Kathryn Collins, founder of the Western School of Feng Shui, specializing in Essential Feng Shui® and author of numerous books including “The Western Guide to Feng Shui.”