New York Times Feng Shui Tips for a Harmonious Life
Feng Shui Tips for a Harmonious Life
by Diane Eng, published in the New York Times, 3/16/19.
Below are some excerpts I thought you’d fine of interest.
Anne Martini believes that following the principles of feng shui has resulted in concrete benefits for her and her family. When she first had her home analyzed 17 years ago, she was being laid off from a pharmaceutical company.
Her feng shui expert advised her to put water in the front of her house in Princeton, N.J., to bring prosperity. “My landscaper dug six feet in the ground and created a fountain in the front, just as I was negotiating my severance package,” Ms. Martini said. “I ended up getting a quarter-million dollars more than what they had initially offered. I’ve since added two more water structures – 8-by-20-foot features – more water, more wealth!”
Feng shui – the Chinese practice of using the flow of “energies” in the home to create harmony and good health – is a technique that is thousands of years old, combining Chinese astrology with the shape, magnetic direction and age of structures. It has become a popular practice for Asians and non-Asians alike as Chinese influence on cultures worldwide has grown.
But just cleaning the house and decluttering space for the Lunar New Year is not good enough. Feng shui experts say energies and directions change yearly, making it important to get your home’s design in tune with the Year of the Yin Earth Pig, which started on Feb. 5 and runs until Jan. 24, 2020.
David Cho, the feng shui consultant based in California who re-evaluates Ms. Martini’s home every year, said. “Feng shui is not a one-size-fits-all thing. I calculate a structure’s shape, magnetic direction and factor in the year built. The client’s relationship to a home is then determined by his or her gender and date of birth.”
Debbie Sharp, head of The Sharp Group with Keller-Williams Peninsula Estates in Burlingame, Calif., retains Mr. Cho on an annual basis to do feng shui recommendations for her listings in the San Francisco Bay Area. “At least 80 percent of our homes are vacant and staged, and we do an optimization plan with David,” said Ms. Sharp, who also uses feng shui principles in her own home. “We don’t advertise the feng shui, but brokers and buyers always say, ‘I love the way it feels in here.’ Space, layout, energy and flow really influences people’s buying decisions.”
Virginia Paca, an architect in Pasadena, Calif., who has worked primarily on historic houses and gardens in Albany, N.Y., and Southern California, said: “People are affected by the spaces they’re in, so improving your life by altering your living environment makes sense to me. There are elements of feng shui that feel similar to the way Western culture uses astrology. Some people take it very seriously. Its principles can be interpreted on a simple level and on a much deeper level.”
For the last 15 years, Wei Dong, a professor in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has taken students to China on an international study abroad program that examines the concepts of feng shui. “Feng shui is a philosophy of life,” Mr. Dong said. “Good feng shui means being in harmony with nature, or your environment, your mind and your soul. We are all searching for something beyond functionality. I use feng shui to teach art design, painting, drawing and how to live your life.”
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Here are some of my tips for 2019:
According to Flying Star Feng Shui, the Tai Chi (the center of a home or business) is where the wealth star or the 8 star is residing in 2019. This area will be enhanced with activity, a water element or something moving like a kinetic sculpture. It is important that the center of a home or office be as open as possible so that the wealth star is not ‘locked’ or limited.
Other stars that are significant in Flying Star methodology are:
The 5 Yellow Star, which can be the cause of instability and misfortune is located in the SW this year. I put a ‘salt cure’ there but others hang a metal wind chime to dissolve the energy. When analyzing an environment with Flying Star feng shui there are always two other 5 star positions that are permanent to that floor plan and where I also put salt cures.
The 2 star, symbolizes sickness, and this year is in the Northeast in 2019. The traditional method to dissolve this 2 is to hang a string of six metal coins in the affected area in the NE. A metal sculpture will do too.
The Grand Duke this year is in the Northwest this year and it is recommended that no substantial construction work be done in this direction.
“Three Killings” is in the West this year and it best not to sit with your back in that direction.
The 3 is a star of conflict and robbery is in the South and it is best to put something red there to neutralize its influence .
The 7 star representing scandals is in the SE. 3 pieces of bamboo in water will help to protect the SE.
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