The Tale of the Hunted Hotel
I recently stayed in a beautiful hotel room in the mountains with our family for a week on vacation.
Predatory Pictures
The small cabin feel of the hotel was cozy and comfy with all the comforts of home, except for one thing: its decor included large photos of wild predators.
There were photos of a wolf howling, a bald eagle sitting by the river looking like it just had a real good hunt for food, a coyote mousing in the snow, and a grizzly bear looking at you with hungry eyes.
Objects of Pain
What’s more, there was also a picture of frozen river banks and a giant mirror on the side of the headboard facing the bed.
Don’t get me wrong; these are all beautiful pictures of nature that normally I would really enjoy looking at in a book or in restaurants. However, I would not put them up in my own house.
Being that we were in a hotel room, we didn’t think much of it (though we did take the mirror down during our stay and oiled a squeaky front door).
Effects of Decor
One day at a time, however, we started to notice small changes in our behavior.
Our normally well-mannered 4-year-old son started acting out all the time.
The communication between the adults was quickly falling apart.
We were all tired and started getting really grumpy with each other.
Even though we, as a loving family, were together at one of the world’s most beautiful places, something was causing us to be mildly aggressive toward each other.
Can it be that the pictures that are hanging in the hotel room? Yes, of course!
This was the place we were calling “home” for a week and all these wild hungry animals were staring at us all night long!
I might as well have just let my family loose in the wild to fend for themselves for a week!
In terms of Feng Shui, that’s exactly what I did!
The Meaning Behind It All
We were being watched by wild animals all night long, waiting to hunt us as we fell asleep. It’s no wonder that we were all so exhausted and irritable even with a normally ample amount of sleep.
Our energy had been affected by these pictures and we weren’t getting restful sleep.
Be mindful of places you call “home” for the night.
Be it a 5-star hotel or a roadside motel, look around your room and find the best spot for sleeping.
Feng Shui Travel Tips
For instance, if there are two beds in the room, make sure to sleep in the bed that is furthest from the hotel room door.
Also, make sure your bed is not being reflected in a mirror and that there are no unsettling works of art above your headboard.
If you can’t move the position of your bed, see if you can move the mirror or the paintings. You could even just cover them up with a towel for the night. The same goes for the television.
Hotels can by noisy and loud. I opt to bring a white noise sound machine and some binder clips to prevent light from coming through the curtains.
These tips will help you to get some R&R that you may need whether it be during long travel or that big meeting you have in the morning.
Next Steps
Have you had a similar experience as mine in a hotel? Post your story in the comments below.
I frequently work with hotel chains and hoteliers in helping them make their surroundings more pleasant for their guests. Contact Ms. Feng Shui today for a proposal on how I can help keep your guests returning in the future.
For individual help, contact me right now to inquire about a Feng Shui Space Clearing or a Virtual Feng Shui Consultation.
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Feng Shui: Compass or Bagua?
Using the colorful Bagua, we can now look at the individual areas so that we can determine how we affect and are affected by the Chi that flows through these segmented surroundings.
I often get prospective clients looking for a new Feng Shui consultant who invariably tell me a story that goes something like one of these:
Three years ago, she told me that I need to buy a home that faces east, but now everything in my life is terrible. Do I really now need to change the direction of my front door?
I have been trying to calculate my direction with a compass, but I feel lost. Can you help?
My husband’s Gua Number is 3 and my Gua Number is 6. I was told that we have to sleep in opposite directions. Is this true?
I have studied every school of Feng Shui, including those that would be considered compass schools. While virtually all of the schools of Feng Shui will get you where you want to go, some are simply more practical for modern living.
As you see from the questions above, following Feng Shui compass schools can be confusing and ever-changing. For many, it is simply not practical to change the direction of their front door every year or sleep in a different direction than their spouse.
The school of Feng Shui that I concentrate on is called the Black Hat School of Feng Shui. Rather than focusing on the compass, this school puts the focus on the Bagua and how it overlays on a home to control the flow of energy.
While still quite comprehensive and based on the same traditional Feng Shui methods of the other schools, Black Hat Feng Shui is easy-to-follow and helps you attract and harness the energy around your home, regardless of the direction of your front door.
Follows these links for more information on the differing Schools of Feng Shui and for information on the Feng Shui Bagua.
Learn how Ms. Feng Shui can provide virtual Feng Shui consultations for your home or office.
Stairway to Failure: Use Feng Shui to Fix Front Doors that Open to Stairs
This is a common issue I see in many homes.
About the only good Feng Shui in this home’s front door is the welcome mat!
Forces at Work
Having a front door open immediately to a stairway is going in the direction of financial failure, whether you are a home builder or a homeowner.
Here is the problem as it relates to Feng Shui: the gravity force of Chi energy coming down the stairs is greater than the incoming Chi from the door.
This symbolizes the loss of income and wealth, but also impacts all aspects of Feng Shui. Whether you are the home builder or the homeowner, this is bad news.
Remember that the front door is always the Career & Life Path area of your home.
Feng Shui Cures
Now, I have solutions for home builders when I work with their designers.
But, what if you already own a home with such stairways or are seriously considering buying such a property where this is the only flaw? Certainly remodeling to move the stairs isn’t practical.
The cure is to hang a crystal or a wind chime from the ceiling halfway between the base of the stairs and the front door. The effect of this is to diffuse and spread the Chi as it comes down the stairs, preventing it from rushing out the front door with the incoming energy along with it.
By the way, the concern with the stairs is greatest when the distance between the door and stairs is less than double the height of the tallest person in the home.
Next Steps
Find out more about the Feng Shui consulting I provide for home builders and homeowners.
Have you noticed income problems in homes with a front door opening to the stairs? Leave your comments below.
For more help, contact me right now to inquire about a Feng Shui Space Clearing or a Virtual Feng Shui Consultation.
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Designing Homes the Feng Shui Way
As a Feng Shui consultant to several home builders, I always take an interest in seeing what others say about Feng Shui as it pertains to homes.
The Times of India has an article with some very basic elements talking about how homes should be built, including the following (with my comments):
Main Door: The main door should be larger than any other door in the house and its directional position is important. I would like to add that the house should be designed in such a way that the front door can be used the most regularly as the main entryway. For a healthy Career & Life Path Area of your home, be sure to use your front door!
Kitchen: The article points out that there needs to be a balancing act between the various elements found in a kitchen (metal from utensils, fire from the stove, water from the sink, etc.). Placement is important so that these items work in a creative cycle for energy rather than a destructive cycle. See some of my tips for the kitchen here and here.
Master Bedroom: Though the article largely discusses furniture here, it correctly points out that the location of the master bedroom is very important, though it does not elaborate. While having the master bedroom in the Love & Relationship Corner, I would contend that it is most important that no part of this room extends outside of the home as defined by the front door.
Toilets: The article correctly points out that toilets only relatively recently made their way indoors. It is widely believed in Feng Shui that toilets will suck the Feng Shui energy, or Chi, right out of your home. Getting rid of the toilet just isn’t practical in modern society, but make sure not to have them in dangerous places and use some tricks to slow the drain.
Next Steps
Find out more about the Feng Shui consulting I provide for home builders and home renovation projects.
What Feng Shui problems do you typically see in modern homes? Leave your comments below.
For more help, contact me right now to inquire about a Feng Shui Space Clearing or a Virtual Feng Shui Consultation.
Be sure to register for my email newsletter or like me on Facebook to stay up-to-date with my latest posts.
OCRE Forum Seminar on Feng Shui for Real Estate Investing 6/5/2013
Join me at the Orange County Real Estate Forum, a networking event and education program for real estate investors.
We will be discussing how Feng Shui relates to floor plans and how savvy home builders, real estate investors and real estate brokers leverage Feng Shui to fill units with tenants and buyers.
The meeting will be on Wednesday, June 5th, 2013 at the South Coast Chinese Cultural Center at 9 Truman Street, Irvine, CA. Registration starts at 6:30 PM. For more details and directions to the event, please go to the OCRE Forum web site.
If you missed me, contact me right now to inquire about a Feng Shui Space Clearing or a Home Feng Shui Consultation.
Be sure to register for my email newsletter or like me on Facebook to stay up-to-date with my latest posts.
Feng Shui a Boon to Workplace Productivity
Here is another interesting article from Australia’s DesignBuild Source, this time on how Feng Shui is becoming a more common practice for increasing workplace productivity.
When I provide Feng Shui consultations to businesses, it is amazing to see that much of the “magic” of Feng Shui is just a set of common-sense principles that happen to provide natural stress relief for employees. For instance:
- Desks: Be sure to face desks so that the employee can see the doorway. They should never feel as if they have people sneaking up on them.
- Clutter: Make sure that the work environment is clutter-free. Stacks of paperwork can cause considerable stress in the workplace, as it makes employees feel that they are in a reactive organization rather than a proactive one.
- Artwork: Incorporate artwork that not only matches with the Bagua, but also matches the vision for the company. Competing imagery will only confuse and stress employees.
Learn more about Office Feng Shui Consultations from Ms. Feng Shui.
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Avis, Kristen (2013, April 24). Feng Shui a Boon to Workplace Productivity. DesignBuild Source. Retrieved from designbuildsource.com.au/
