Law of Attraction and Manifesting Your Desires

Romance is in the air - especially during the month of February. But for many people, romantic relationships seem unattainable or current love connections lack the sparks they once created. Feng Shui, the ancient art of object placement to enhance energy flow through a space, is gain-ing attention as a powerful tool for improving all kinds of relationships.

“Feng Shui can make a marked difference in people’s lives,” says Linda Binns, founder of the Feng Shui Success Institute and author of Feng Shui for Your Relationships: Changing Your Envi-ronment to Create Better Relationships. “But before you start moving things around or making changes to your environment, it’s important to clarify exactly what you want to change.”

Binns notes that this process, which she calls “setting your intention,” is a crucial first step that will guide your subsequent actions. ” Perhaps you want to strengthen or rekindle the flame of an existing relationship. Perhaps you want to attract an exciting new romantic partner to your life. Perhaps you want to find a life partner with which to share the future. While there can be a variety of issues or scenarios, it is important to begin by considering your current situation and recognizing what you would like to change.”

After setting a clear intention, Binns recommends a variety of actions that can enhance the flow of positive energy in the home, creating a more conducive environment in which to achieve your desires. A few of her basic tips include:

• To symbolize a close relationship, it is important to position decorative items in pairs. For in-stance, display a painting of a couple, place two ornaments together, or hang two pictures that form a set. Two flowers in a vase or two stuffed animals beside one another are other examples of pairs that you can place in your environment.

• If you already have a partner whom you wish to become closer to, it is important to display photos that feature you as a couple. Pictures of you with your partner and other individuals, whether family or friends, symbolize your propensity to give up time as a couple in order to become part of a larger group.

• Clutter and other distractions in the bedroom, such as exercise equipment, a television, work-related items or a computer, serves to bring unwanted distractions into your relationship. Your bedroom should be a sanctuary that feels romantic and invites you to spend time with your loved one.

• Make sure that the side of your bed is not against a wall because this position symbolizes only one way in and out of the bed and indicates that there is room for only one person.

• When you make your bed, keep it relatively uncluttered and create a space that will easily accommodate a couple.

• Master bedrooms ideally feature warm, soothing colors, such as cream, taupe, cocoa, or shades with a red or pink base. Such warm bedroom colors represent warm, close relationships.

• When you remove clutter, don’t move anything to a storage box under your bed. People store all kinds of things under the bed - fire extinguishers, ladders, guns, papers, books, exercise equipment and more. Remember that, based on the principles of Feng Shui, energy should freely flow throughout a space, including under the bed.

• Large bedrooms should feature cozy, intimate nooks, such as sitting areas. Again, creating an intimate space reflects an intimate relationship.

Binns says that these are among the basic steps that help set the stage for romance. She details these and other strategies in her new book and offers specific guidelines on which portions of a home are especially important when seeking to create or improve various types of relationships.

“Let’s face it, our relationships do not always go as smoothly as we would like,” she says. “Whether we’re dealing with our partner, children, coworkers, friends or even mailman, our interactions with others can be tricky. As we struggle to make things work, often spending con-siderable time and emotional energy to figure out why certain relationships seem so difficult, many people fail to look at their environment as a factor in the way they manifest their lives. Yet for those who become familiar with the principles and practice of Feng Shui, the results can be remarkable.”

Tags: Chi, emotion, Feng Shui, intention, linda binns, Love, positive energy, romantic partner, romantic relationships

A growing number of people across the nation are exploring the ancient art of Feng Shui as they design both interior and exterior spaces. This centuries-old practice involves using color, materials and object placement to enhance positive energy, or “Chi,” in homes and offices.

“People are often surprised at how incorporating Feng Shui into their design choices can have a positive impact on their lives,” says Linda Binns, executive director of the Feng Shui Success Institute and a certified Feng Shui practitioner. “By considering how various objects and colors affect the environment, we can direct energy to work for us in supporting our life goals.”

Binns notes that use of color is an important, but often overlooked, consideration in creating a space with plenty of positive energy. “There is a whole science that focuses on how color affects us. Certain colors are stimulating while other colors are calming,” she says. “We also have to bear in mind that the use of colors in one culture may be completely different in another.” For example, white is often a key color at weddings in Western cultures because it is symbolic of purity and new beginnings. However, in China white is associated with death and is worn at funerals. In India, red is the most prevalent wedding color.

Personal preference and cultural norms are important considerations when working with color in Feng Shui. Colors that have any sort of negative connotation for the building’s occupants should be avoided in decorating. However, some general rules do apply when choosing colors for various parts of a home.

There are several ways to think about color in Feng Shui. The first is in terms of color’s connection to the five elements - fire, earth, metal, wood and water. Feng Shui practitioners work to balance the presence of these elements in order to bring a sense of balance to a home, and each element is associated with specific colors. “We instinctively feel most comfortable when all elements are present in a room, often through a combination of using items that are composed of the elements themselves and using the colors that represent them,” Binns says.

The colors associated with each element are: red spectrum for fire; yellow, gold and earth tones for earth; white and pastels for metal; blue and green for wood; and black or very dark tones for water.

Binns advises her clients to make sure they do not overdo any one element in a particular space. For example, bathrooms, by their very nature, contain an abundance of water. Using black or very dark colors adds even more elemental water to the space, which can result in a sense of passive fluidity and lack of structure for the home’s occupants.

Another example is the overuse of wood. Many new homes feature hardwood floors, which create an overabundance of wood when paired with wooden furniture, predominantly blue or green furnishings and lots of plants. Feng Shui practitioners warn that too much wood in a home can cause the occupants to feel overwhelmed. “Creating a good balance with all five of the elements will not only help us to feel better, it can help us to be more successful in life as well,” Binns says.

Another way to use color in Feng Shui is to focus on enhancing specific life areas with the colors that represent those areas. For this, practitioners use a “Bagua,” which is an energy layout of a space that identifies specific areas that correspond to various parts of the occupants’ lives. (See illustration.)

Wealth & Prosperity Colors: purple, green, blue, red Fame & Reputation Red Love & Marriage Pink, white, red
Health & Family Blue, Green Unity Yellow, earth tones Creativity & Children White, pastel colors
Knowledge & Self-Cultivation Blue, green, black Career Black, very dark tones Helpful People & Travel Gray, black, white

ENTRANCE

Although each area of the Bagua corresponds to a complementary color, simply using one or more accents in the appropriate color may be enough to enhance the area and encourage the flow of Chi, Binns says. In fact, the best color choices often combine the personal favorites of the occupants with the colors used in Feng Shui.

When assessing spaces with Feng Shui in mind, it is also important to consider color choices in relation to a room’s primary purpose. For example, adults’ bedrooms are for rest and relaxation. Therefore, the best bedroom colors are calming, muted tones. Green and blue are good choices for children’s bedrooms because these colors encourage growth and development. However, hyperactive children often do better in rooms that use earth tones and muted yellows, which have a grounding effect.

Red is often considered to be the color of choice for a “Feng Shui-friendly” space. But Binns cautions against tossing around too many red throw pillows. “It is true that red is often used in Feng Shui as an ‘activating’ color,” she says. “It is a high energy and very auspicious color and therefore may be recommended. But it’s definitely not always the only option. For instance, you may have heard that it is good to have a red front door. This does not mean that you absolutely must have a red front door in order to create positive energy. Red may not be your favorite color and may not match the rest of the house.”

However, it is not a bad idea to have at least a splash of red by your main entrance. This can be achieved with red flowers, a welcome mat with red accents or a wreath with a red ribbon on the door. “Remember, the most important thing is personal preference when it comes to color - do not use a color that you do not like just because you think it would be ‘good Feng Shui’,” Binns says.

Tags: Bagua, Feng Shui, feng shui colors, feng shui practitioners, linda binns, positive energy, sense of balance