Tag Archives: how to feng shui

Holiday Help! – Avoiding Stress at Family Gatherings

by on November 22, 2011 in Fame and Reputation, Family and Friends, Helpful People and Travel, Holidays, Just for Fun, Relationships and Love

So many people have written me recently stressing out because they are going to stressful family gatherings this month. What’s to stress out about? Use feng shui to your advantage before the reunion ever starts!

“My family pigeon-holes me into someone I’m not anymore.” OR “My old classmates still think of me as a dweeb.” – Work the FAME AND REPUTATION GUA fire and light cures with the intention of allowing the universe to show you respect and know who you really are now! You can also dress powerfully by either hiding red on you or wearing red (preferably on top half of body) with the intention of always maintaining your fire energy and being seen in the best light (and possibly for a little protection!)

“My family just never seems to get along or actually have fun at these events. All they do is dredge up the past like it is a current event.” – Place a specific cure in the FAMILY GUA with the intention of cutting negative thought ties to the past, so the family can live in the present moment. Use the last gathering/reunion photo in a wooden frame if you have it or simply place something green, a symbol, or a living plant there with the same intention! You can also employ the helpful people box in the HELPFUL PEOPLE GUA with the names of the family members that promote the negative behavior. And as long as we’re using the family and helpful people gua, you might as well do a three harmonies cure and get the RELATIONSHIP GUA involved. When you have all three balancing each other here with the same intention, you have increased your chi power tremendously! A little love goes a long way to complete this cure!

“My family/friends/classmates haven’t seen me in a long time. I want them to remember me fondly until the next time we meet, so I want everything to go great during the event.” – Let’s try a yin cure for this one. Each day for nine days prior to the event, write down how the whole evening goes, making sure everyone who sees you in your “dream diary” comments on how great you look, and how much fun you are to hang out with at the event (or add whatever exactly you want them to think about you.) Write down the quotes of what they say, and the quotes of what you say in return as if you are remembering the event word for word. Write at least one page per day. You can also employ the above FAME AND REPUTATION GUA techniques as well.

And finally, you can place a calming or meditative symbol in your HEALTH GUA with the intention of simply removing your own sense of stress over the event and not buying into the illusion that there is something to stress out over. :)
Have fun!

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Luxury 01 living room

Feng Shui Tip for Unused, “Fake” Living Rooms

by on October 13, 2011 in Blog, General, Living Room

QUESTION: I have one of those “fake” living rooms that was designed to look at and not use. It really bugs me that I have so much square footage not being used in my house, but I’m totally stuck as to how to make it useful and integrate it into the house! Can you help?

ANSWER: Thanks for asking such an important question! As I say, what’s going on in your house is going on in your life, and I don’t want to see anything that is “‘stuck” as you say, or “bugging you.”

When I see the perfect “fake living room” that is never used, it usually portrays a good front or a false facade by the owners, and usually at the expense of their own quality of life! By that I mean they have the perfect space for that once-a-year baby shower, and in the meantime, other rooms in the home that are pulling double duty so that this room can exist: like the ironing board, hobby space, and “home office” in the bedroom.

In order to make this fake room useful, first, figure out and list what functions you do that don’t have a dedicated space in the home. For example, there is an ironing board next tot eh bed, there’s a bike in the foyer, there’s a computer on the dining room table for homework, or an exercise bike next to the bed. Then, assign a square footage amount to it that is needs to work well. Then, see if you can re-arrange these uses within the living room to be more energetically consistent. Yep, that uncomfortable furniture might need to go to make this happen. I ditched my fake living room years ago and we love the two REAL living spaces in our home…We’re not formal entertaining people so why would we keep up such a space in our home just because the architect or developer thought we might need it?

When you said you felt stuck by all this, I believe you are feeling the energy of that room within you. What is going on in your home is going on in you is the rule I am referring to for this one. If, you happen to have all the room you need for all your functions and simply want to energize this living space in such a way that it doesn’t feel dead, fake, or unused, try these tips out.

#1 The fact that it is not used at all tells me that it is a very still room. If there are “still lifes” as art, change the art to something with more movement in it.

#2 Try changing the furniture arrangement, the furniture pieces themselves, or perhaps the furniture material surfaces. If the furniture literally feels uncomfortable, it can discourage people from using it. I personally have short legs and hate sitting on furniture where my legs dangle like a child! Also, too many decor pillows can sometimes read as a “Stop! Do not sit here” subconsciously. (This is akin to the “guest towels” in some people’s bathrooms that no one is expected to touch!)

#3 Take a look at this room and see if it could be enhanced using any of the nine traditional cures: light, sound, weight, moving objects, electrically powered objects, color, living objects, symbols, and other. Yes, you could hire a feng shui consultant to help you, but perhaps just a quick look with this intention will point out something that you can easily do yourself. From my experience, I usually find that living and moving objects can make the most impact in this type of room if you still want it to be a living room and you want to start using it. Feel free to add fresh, thriving living plants, flowers, or a bowl of fresh fruit in this room to perk up the chi of the space. Try a fresh bowl of water with a fish in it and see how things “wake up” in that room.

I find that adding one constantly moving object can totally change the energy of a typical stagnant or stuck room. My favorites include a small fan hitting a chime, a water feature, a clock with a sweeping second hand, a grandfather’s or a coo-coo clock. Kinetic sculptures and mobiles can make a space feel more lively and fun. A ceiling fan slowly spinning gives the space life.  If you have any instruments like an organ, piano, etc. put those loud items in this space to give it the sound vibration.

In a nutshell, if you have any functions in the home that are incongruous (take a good look at everyone’s bedrooms first!) – without adding a room in a costly renovation, you may have just found the space for that function to occur more harmoniously within the home. If you have the luxury of having all your rooms in the house have congruent functions AND you still have this and perhaps other rooms in the house that “feel dead, or sleepy,” then the moving object cure is the way to go.

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Feng Shui Success Stories

by on October 7, 2011 in Blog, General, Health, Prosperity, Success Stories

#1 I have to tell you a happy story that involves feng shui. My brother has been laid off for just a few weeks shy of 2 years and had only 3 more checks coming from unemployment. He told me about an interview he had with Antonelli College in downtown Cincy for an IT administrator job. They interviewed him 3 times and said they wanted to hire him as long as he passed a background check. However, about 20 years ago he had legal problems in Texas that has been keeping him from being hired at other companies, so he was really sweating it. I told my sister-in-law we needed to feng shui the wealth/prosperity section of their house just for good measure. Long story short, he got a phone call about an hour ago and HE GOT THE JOB! I get teased all the time from people when I tell them about feng shui, so this time the joke’s on them IT WORKS! Thank you for Move Your Stuff Change Your Life, you have helped our family beyond measure! Diane H. #2 My friend had a brain aneurysm and was willing to try anything. She feng shuied and did nothing else – and it honest-to-gosh shrank — no medical intervention necessary. With this worry out of the way, she climbed up the ladder professionally and she’s really healthy now. So then, she shared feng shui with my cousin who had a brain tumor and was constantly falling down due to balance issues. My friend and I went to her house and guess what we found — – the foot of her bed was lined up with the bedroom door (death position – yikes!) and she had a reading light clipped onto her headboard to read – right above her head! She’s been in the house for a couple of years and that’s where the tumor was diagnosed. Her cat kept smacking the light as if trying to get rid of it (even slept on it sometimes,) but the clamp was holding good so he couldn’t use his cat feng shui gift. :) We used the helpful people box and energized the health guas AND the helpful people gua that is supposed to be in charge of the head. From the very first night after moving her bed, she reported sleeping all night – which was a first! Anyway, she had surgery to remove the tumor, but when the doctors went in her head to remove it, they couldn’t take anything out because they couldn’t find it. They decided that they mis-read her scans and wanted to do another surgery to look for and get it. By the third follow up visit with the doc post useless surgery, the doctors concluded that the tumor was gone. Now she’s going to g back to work! Was it there! Was it not? The docs say it was. Who knows – but we think it is better to NOT have it and we think feng shui helped that! Now we have to get that helpful people box going again because since there was no tumor, she’s having trouble getting her insurance to pay for it! Alice K

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Waking up to tea in bed

Feng Shui Tips for the Bedroom for Health and Relationship Improvements

by on September 28, 2011 in 5 elements, De-Cluttering, Furniture Position in Room, Health, Relationships and Love, The Five Elements

On average, one third of your life is spent in your bedroom. I think it is practically impossible to “waste money” on creating the perfect bedroom as it is your most impacting room of your house! Here are my tips for bedrooms if your love life seems stale or is non-existent, or your health could use some improvement, or you are looking for a new or different outlook on life:

#1 Remove anything that does not support love/passion and health/rest. If your bedroom looks more like an office or multi-purpose room, your environment is working against you. If you want to go the extra mile with feng shui, try to get a good balance of the five elements in there as well.

#2 If you are looking for a major change, then stretch yourself and make major decor changes within the bedroom. In other words, “Don’t buy the same old comfort zone stuff that will get you the same old love and health-life situations!”

#3 Buy a wooden bed if you have the choice. Metal beds can conduct electrical fields which can be a health concern. Avoid having anything plugged-in near your bed, and especially no electrical blankets (even if they are plugged in but not turned on they can be harmful!), heating pads, or massage pads.

#4 Check the lighting level to see if it is not too harsh (yang) or too dim (yin). Listen for distracting sounds and try to alleviate or remove.

#5 Avoid large living plants or water fountains in the bedroom.

#6 Avoid large mirrors in the room. You should not be able to see yourself reflected in any mirror when in your bed.

#7 Avoid sharp metal within the bedroom (knives, axes, swords, guns, scissors, etc.) Sharp metal near you in bed usually results in “being cut” in life – as in surgeries.

#8 Create a headboard for the bed and place it against the most solid wall in the room  – cure poison arrows or “bed in line with doorway” lines by hanging a crystal between the bed and the negative item.

Don’t settle for a “6″ Bedroom when you can have a 10!!!!! :)

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ward

How to Feng Shui a Hospital Room

by on August 29, 2011 in Family and Friends, Health, Help for Parents

If you follow the feng shui rule that “What’s closest to you has the most impact on you,” then chances are, you’re looking for help if you or a loved one has to spend any time in a hospital. I’m been seeing an uptick in the amount of times I get asked this question, so I thought I’d dig back to an old newsletter where I knew I had the information.

A while back, my good friend Lanis in Tampa was kind enough to write me and tell me what she did for her daughter who had to clock some serious hospital time during her lymphoma treatment, so I thought I’d just pass it along as I think it is excellent information (her daughter is still cancer free now!!)

Lanis has studied my book and others, and has come up with quite a bag of cures. A literal bag mind you. She calls it her “spirit bag.” It is a very brightly colored bag with sketches of people dancing in colorful fiesta type clothing, and has words written on it in gold that says “pure love, heal hearts, embrace spirit.” across the top and both sides. She calls it her “bag of intentions.”

In it she places: 1. Two sets of octagonal shapes of construction paper in all the colors of the bagua with the appropriate bagua number on them. One set to go around the room and one set for under the mattress.

2. A small silver box with a health affirmation inside written in the present tense. (Her silver box has the Chinese calligraphy for happiness on it!)

3. A bag of sea salt, bowl, and distilled water with the word “Peace” written on the label. She uses the bowl of salt water under the bed and changes if frequently to absorb any negative energies.

4. Red tape / ribbon to stop any energy leaks on the plumbing drainage pipes of any hospital room.

5. A large octagonal-shaped piece of yellow construction paper inside a zip lock bag to place over the hospital toilets that do not have lids. (She discards the bag when checking out of the hospital and places the paper in a new bag for future use.)

6. A smaller red octagon in a ziplock for the shower drain.

7. A blue cloth to shroud the TV.

8. A poster of rainbow hearts and positive affirmations about feeling healthy, safe, happy, loving, etc. It also has a place for friends and loved ones to write down their own notes of love. The poster also contains a picture of her daughter when she is healthy and happy. (I’d say to “treasure map” whatever seems appropriate here for you. Hang this over any hospital art – especially if it is a downer message – as in her case, the hospital had a poster that said “Are you in pain?” on it.)

9. An aroma therapy infuser and pure lavender essential oil (which is what her daughter loves to smell. There’s room for personal creativity here!)

10. Wind chimes (usually hung in the fame and reputation area of the room because it is usually a window and she wants to redirect the chi to stay in the room.)

11.Clown finger puppets and other “Patch Adams” stuff for the creativity and children gua of the room (you can be creative here with what suits you!)

12. Healing music CD’s and a CD player.

13. Portable CD player for meditation CD’s and music.

14. Pure water for drinking labeled with words like Love and Appreciation, Beautiful, etc.(If you read Power Versus Force you’ll know why.)

15. A copy of Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life, Power Versus Force, and The Eye of I (Hawkins’ “second” book.)

16. Red Fabric to place at head rail of metal hospital bed – especially if it is in the Family gua of the room.

17.Beautiful linen fabric (usually napkins and lightweight placemats) to place over poison arrow corners of furniture.

And these are the things she takes that are not in the bag: 1. Fresh yellow flowers in a terra cotta container placed on rolling hospital table which winds up in the center of the room.

2. A pair of fresh pink flowers for the relationship zone.

3. A small fresh bouquet of flowers for the bathroom vanity.

4. Luxurious sheets and blankets and pillows

5. Any funny people – for comic relief.

6. Heartfelt mother devotion and love that she attaches to everything in that room.

We also spoke and were talking about Dr. Emoto’s water experiments and Dr. David Hawkins’ book Power Versus Force S and we decided to try visualizing her daughter in a bubble that was made up of tiny “600′s” (the vibratory level that results in instant physical healing according to David Hawkins.) Lansi also decided to make up a comfy T shirt for her daughter to wear with “#600″ on it and the word “perfect peace” written in gold.

Move Over Chemotherapy – CHI THERAPY RULES!

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How to Sell a Home Quickly in a Terrible Market

by on August 23, 2011 in Blog, General

Out of ideas to sell your property? Give feng shui a try!

It seems these days that many of my feng shui consultations are geared towards selling a home. So, I thought I’d share some information that might help others out there in their desperate search for ways to sell a home quickly. I’ll start by sharing a success story that just came in:

On July 10th I met Karen in-person for my feng shui consultation in New York. The biggest item on my list was getting my house in Florida sold which had been on the market for six months. I had taken out a loan and could only afford to make one more mortgage payment. My sanity was wearing thin as I read the comments from potential buyers who passed on the house. After we moved my stuff I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I remember thinking to myself, “Karen doesn’t seem that worried about this I hope she knows I’m out of options here”. I stuck to her advice and shortly after what seemed like out of the blue my realtor called to say we received a cash offer on the house. A CASH offer for a house in Florida, I couldn’t believe it!!!!! A month to the day that Karen came to my apartment the “contact of sale” was fully signed. As I write this I’m waiting for the payoff check to clear. To everyone reading this, Feng Shui works!!!!!!! The best investment I made this summer was to feng shui my home with Karen Carter. Karen, Namaste….. Tracey G.

Note: Although I oftentimes do actually go to the home that needs to be sold, I did NOT go to Florida to sell this one. I feng shuied HER home in New York to allow HER ENERGIES to shift towards the possibility of selling it. Does this require out-of-the-box-thinking? Maybe. Is it impossible to make a connection between her energies in New York and that home in Florida. No.

If you are new to the magical world of feng shui, let me start by answering some basic questions:

What is feng shui? Feng shui is a method of mindfully creating your living and work environments so that they support what you want to do and who you want to be in life. Just like the line in the movie Bull Durham, “If you build it, they will come,” if you build an environment that supports your health, wealth, love, or even selling a home, it will happen.

Does feng shui really work? Yes. Although it may seem completely counter-intuitive or unrelated, using the ancient/timeless art of feng shui, (which has modern quantum physics written all over it) can actually be your best bet when tackling a challenge that SEEMS impossible because its rules are not based upon your fears or limited, three dimensional perspectives.

Do you need to know what to do? Not necessarily. Luckily, there are many people all over the world that practice this art now and it is as easy as an online search to find someone to help you. My advise is to interview potential consultants to see how long they have been practicing, what kind of results they have gotten for their clients, what style of feng shui they practice (there are many styles, you might want to do a little research on the style you prefer before hiring.)

I have trained consultants all over the world. If you can’t find one on your own, I may be able to hook you up with one if you email me your information to support@karenrauchcarter.com.

If you need an easy introduction into feng shui before deciding, Here’s the link to my national best-selling book. You can even read the first chapter before you buy it. I get tons of success stories (like the one above) from people who just used my book, so you might want to try using it before hiring someone. It’s easier than you might think to do!

Don’t want to read? I’ve created some Top feng shui tips for selling a home and top tips when buying a home.

If you came to this article from a desperate search on the internet because you’ve “tried everything” to sell that house without success, what have you got to lose?

Karen

PS, As well as on-site consultations, I also do telephone consultations and get great results for my clients.

 

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