Our next Art of Prosperity Class

Where is MY piece of the puzzle?

This class will inspire you to move forward with thoughtful insight to make your way through your piece of the puzzle.

You will learn: How to use your sub-conscious mind efficiently to guide you through the day. You will see by practicing the ancient art of Feng Shui, you will get the inspiration to move your goals quicker and easier.
You will learn how to Upload new thought patterns to inspire you.

A Gourmet meal will be served.

When: Thursday, September 8th
Time: 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Where: Shady Side Academy, 423 Fox Chapel Rd. Pittsburgh PA 15238
Cost: $25.00

Click the Buy Now Button to Reserve Your Seat today!

Feng Shui for the Military Family

It is said that the only things that stay the same for military families are family and furniture.

Those serving in the nation’s armed forces, their families and loved ones make sacrifices beyond the conceivable concerns of the average person, enduring many shifts and changes which bring to bear stressors that can take a toll on the most resilient of family members, both young and grown.

The template offered by a simple-to-do Feng Shui practice gives those acclimating to a new environment while coping with separation anxieties of a spouse or parent on duty the opportunity of following an easy blueprint for enhancing calm, reinforcing supportive relationships, and enhancing positive feelings and prosperity.

Home furniture is not only of obvious practical importance for military families, it is an all-important anchor of familiarity and consistency for a lifestyle requiring uprooting and regular adjustments to new communities, schools, and friendships. Using a bagua, as found at www.creativecolordesigninc.com, find the upper Northeast corner of your living room and place a table with a lamp to generate energy and add a vibrant red potted plant or framed art. If seating is used in that corner, place a red throw over the back, use red pillows or a red rug beneath it. These steps will assist in attracting supportive relationships within the neighborhood, community, your work, and your children’s school.

To anchor each room and attract good health and wellbeing, display a round bowl of oranges, capitalizing on both the enlivening component of fresh citrus and the powerful shape of the circle. This is an easy and affordable way to refresh a kitchen, dining or living area, and it will draw good luck and prosperity (not to mention, tempt the kids toward a very healthy snack). To that same end, mind the central areas of rooms, particularly tables and beds, are free of clutter and extraneous items. The fewer the items, the smoother and better the flow of energy. You will be pleased with how quickly this positively impacts the state of your mind and that of your household.

Clutter-free surfaces, fresh plants and fruits all work to enhance flow, generate positive chi and disperse negative chi energies within a space, allowing all those who enter it to acclimate quickly and smoothly.

Creating CALM… How Attention to Detail Improves Your Dog’s Life

Creating CALM…
Feng Shui expert Yvonne Phillips tells how attention to detail improves your dog’s life

For thousands of years, people have employed the principles of Feng Shui to ensure they live the happiest, healthiest lives possible. The ancient Chinese practice aims to generate positive chi—or energy flow—through the strategic placement of furniture and other objects in both homes and offices. But can Feng Shui improve the lives of pets, as well? Yvonne Phillips, one of America’s leading Feng Shui experts, says the answer is a resounding yes. Here, she explains. How, exactly, do dogs fit into a home’s Feng Shui ?

Pets bring an uplifting and loving life for force to the home environment. For an owner, simply having a pet is a Feng Shui cure in itself. It can significantly impact the quality of a person’s life and, as research has shown, improve health and happiness. Because pets can enhance the Feng Shui in any home, ensure you’re doing your part to provide an uplifting environment for them as treasured members of the family.

So you’re saying that just having a dog is a Feng Shui plus?

Caring for pets brings an increased sense of stability, grounding, and daily order. Along with the health benefits of taking dogs for walks or playing with them, they remind us to just be in a fast-paced world. The positive chi life force radiates off happy, well-cared-for pets, and their movement throughout the home helps to circulate that energy. Feng Shui recognizes the symbology of animals—the reason many Chinese restaurants have aquariums is that fish represent success. Similarly, dogs symbolize protective energy and teach us unconditional love.

Can I use Feng Shui to make my dog happier and healthier?

Feng Shui honors the interconnectedness of all things, so, much like a neglected plant or pile of clutter, a neglected pet affects the energy of the entire home. And just as your pet can uplift your home, you, in turn, can strengthen your pet by uplifting his surroundings. Animals are naturally drawn to the best energy in a room or a house, so you’ll see by watching them where the chi is already flowing. By replicating that energy throughout your space, you’ll enhance your pet’s overall health and happiness.

What is the first change to make?

The most important Feng Shui consideration is cleanliness. People need a clean home environment, and so do pets, which means their spaces should be fresh and sanitized. A pet should feel safe, secure, and comfortable in the areas where he eats or sleeps. Provide fresh water daily, and be sure soap residue is thoroughly washed from his bowls. For easy access, keep doorways and window sills clear of debris; you want to minimize the danger of your pet knocking anything over. Whenever possible, use eco-friendly products to ensure your pet’s safety and your own.

Do the colors we decorate with have any effect on our animals?

To create a sense of calm, choose a pet bed that blends with your color scheme, or one in a neutral shade, rather than something loud and busy. And try to select bowls and plates in yellows or reds. If you have a finicky eater, red can energize him, while yellow is known to evoke a happy mood.
 

Our animals are even more sensitive than we are to what’s around them.

What’s the best place to set up an eating or sleeping area?

Choosing a quiet eating area for your pet—one that’s removed from noise and activity—allows him to eat more calmly. Eating and sleeping areas should be out of the traffic path of humans.

Does air flow affect the flow of energy?

Clean air is vital for good Feng Shui; avoid staleness and pet odors by letting as much fresh air as possible circulate throughout the house.

What about the lighting in your house?

Pets are attracted to natural light and warmth and will always gravitate toward sunny spots near windows. On cloudy days, salt lamps—large salt crystals with light bulbs inside—or candles simulate natural light and they purify the air by releasing negative ions that counteract emissions from computers, TVs, and other electronic devices.

Can clutter actually increase a dog’s anxiety?

If you remember that our animals are even more sensitive than we are to what’s around them, it’s easier to understand their feelings. When your dog is eating and drinking, that’s his most vulnerable time, and he’s extremely aware of his surroundings. If you’ve located his food and water in an area beside a big stack of boxes that should have been in storage, he’ll feel as though someone is watching him, or even feel a little afraid: Is that pile of boxes coming after me?

How do you make sure your dog doesn’t upset the balance of energy in the house?

I’ve been in homes where young families are trying their best to handle to handle it all. Mom and Dad are working, they have small children, and they want to have the pleasure of an animal’s company. But here’s what I see when I enter their home: The parents are hollering at the dog to keep him from jumping on me, and that makes the children upset. The whole home’s vibe becomes negative, creating a ripple effect that isn’t good for anyone, including the dog. It’s only when the dog is conditioned to live in harmony with his human family that the home will emanate completely positive energy.

Feng Shui for Healthy Work-Life Balance

We’re all striving for more balance in our lives, as the alternative leads to stress, anxiety and disease. An unbalanced life is an unhealthy life. Whether you’re a recent grad or a seasoned professional, maintaining equilibrium between your working life and personal time is critical to maintaining balance.

Feng Shui is all about balance and intentionally creating it in your own everyday reality. Ancient yet innovative, this 5,000 year old practice from the east provides tools to allow healthy energy to flow through all areas of your life. By taking command of your space, your surroundings won’t take command of you, freeing up energy, focus and time in subtle and obvious ways. Simply being organized at both the office and home, and establishing clear boundaries will help you feel less scattered and stressed.

Feng Shui Your Lifestyle
Are you living to work, or working to live? Excessive hours spent at the office takes away precious time from your personal life, relationships, exercise and play, and deep relaxation of body and mind. Setting clear boundaries to avoid your work life creeping into your home life is the first step to establishing balance. The art of disengaging from the workplace is different for everyone depending on your profession, but leveraging your personal “me” time is the first step. For example, disabling your work email on your smart phone when you get home, signing up for recreational activities that get you outdoors and exercising, or saying “no” more often to unrealistic demands.

Feng Shui Your Office
A relaxing, calming and orderly work environment is not only easier on the nerves, but a pleasure to spend time in. Be sure your work space is supporting you, not draining you!

• Clearing clutter is essential to the healthy flow of energy, as excessive piles of papers and debris are disorderly and scattering. Cleaning out your work space will allow fresh chi to flow smoothly;

• Invest in organizational tools and workplace practices that promote efficiency and time management;

• Replace glaring fluorescent lights with softer lighting, full-spectrum lights, sun lamps or crystal salt lamps;

• If possible, lighten up any dark and drab wall colours with brighter tones such as yellow, green or blue, which boost happiness, creativity and calmness;

• Place inspirational pictures of happy occasions, which promote self confidence and empowerment;

• Healthy potted plants will disperse negative chi, as well as playing soft and uplifting music.

Feng Shui Your Home
Although invisible, the energy that flows around your home greatly impacts the quality of your well being, and if energy becomes blocked or stagnant, this imbalance can lead to symptoms such as lethargy, irritability, depression and poor sleep.

Applying the Feng Shui Bagua Map to your home, (as pictured below), the front entrance represents your Career area, so be sure this is clear of all clutter, allowing fresh energy to flow. Having a healthy family and/or friends is vital to a happy and balanced life also, so be sure to pay attention to these areas of the home, by placing positive pictures, crystals and other intentional objects to promote health in your personal life.

Along with a good cleaning of your home of old and useless objects and fresh paint with bright, calming colors, there are five elements to incorporate into your environment to promote balance:

• Earth – Stones, plants and healthy soil to enhance the grounding balance of the earth element. Colors representing earth include brown or yellow.

• Wood – Wooden planting boxes, or decorative wooden pieces such as a carving, bench or bamboo pieces. The color representing wood is green.

• Metal - Wind chimes, planters or copper decorative pieces. Colors representing metal are white, gold or silver.

• Water - Still or slow flowing water such as an indoor fountain, bird bath, pond or pooled water from a stream. Colors representing water are black or blue.

• Fire – Candles, lanterns, fireplaces or an outdoor fire pit. The color red represents fire.

Applying a few changes to your work space, home and overall lifestyle choices will naturally promote more work-life balance and uplift your energy and well being.

How Feng Shui Can Help in Tough Economic Times

With living amidst a challenged economy, everyone is looking for innovative ways to either increase or just maintain a steady income. The question so many are now asking is what can be done at a personal level to create our “own economy” and thrive?

Solutions can arrive from thinking outside the box and stretching into new territory, such as meditation, visualization and positive affirmations to supplement our efforts. An increasingly popular practice here in the west is the 5,000 year old science of Feng Shui, which is gaining new appreciation as an effective tool for attracting abundance.

Two areas that need attention for increased prosperity include good Feng Shui in your home and office, and harnessing the power of your mind and thoughts.

Feng Shui Cures for Prosperity

Your state of being is strongly linked to your everyday environment. Feng Shui is about working with the energy of your surroundings, and the intentional clearing and arrangement of objects to allow the circulation of positive chi, which directly affects and uplifts your own energy field; setting into motion the law of attraction.

An essential first step for kick-starting positive energy flow is clearing the clutter, which blocks the flow of chi. Embark on a thorough cleaning of your home and workspace. This means not just piling things into the corner, but clearing out home cupboards and closets, office filing cabinets, computer hard drives, organizing business cards and if possible, changing the color of paint and the artwork from depressing to uplifting, to shift the energies.

The next step is to work with the Bagua map in your home and workspace. When applying this map to your own space; the far left corner of a house and each individual room is the Wealth/Prosperity area, and this area in both your home and office deserves special consideration to power up the Feng Shui energy to attract abundance.

In analyzing this area of each room in your home or office to attract prosperity, consider the following:

• Ensure the area is clear of clutter, well maintained and has the color purple somewhere.

• Place crystals, lights or candles, and healthy flowers or plants there.

• Write down your intention(s) for more money and place this piece of paper in the area, which doesn’t have to be seen, but can be placed underneath or behind an object.

• Your office or workspace should have some type of action going on in the Prosperity corner, and along with being clean and orderly, have uplifting pictures, crystals or a lamp, and functioning equipment like a fax machine or computer is very good, generating a lot of energy happening in that area.

• Spruce up your book shelf to allow more prosperous energy to flow, with books about building wealth such as “Rich Dad Poor Dad” or other positive topics.

• To compliment the above mentioned Feng Shui cures in your Prosperity corner, another area to apply the same cures to is the corner of Helpful People, which is directly opposite the Prosperity corner. For example; from the entrance to a room, the Prosperity area is the far left corner and the Helpful People area is the corner directly to your right, forming a diagonal line across the room between the two corners.

The Power of the Subconscious Mind

When you want more money to come into your life, you need to be clearly focused to encourage the Laws of Attraction. Your conscious mind needs to see what your needs are very clearly, and the next step is to integrate those thoughts into your subconscious mind. Think of your mind like a magnet and know that your thoughts can help bring your goal to you faster.

An example of a positive, affirming statement is “I am happy that I now have additional wealth brought into my life.” Or “All of my needs are met, and more money comes to me every day.” A plan of action would then be writing down this positive statement or focus seventeen (17) times before you go to sleep, and again seventeen times when you get up in the morning. These times of day is when your mind is in the Alpha state, allowing your conscious thoughts to take root in your subconscious more easily. It takes twenty-one (21) days of repeated writing to shift your thoughts or habits.

The powerful combination of good Feng Shui and harnessing the power of your thoughts will boost your “own economy”. Try it and see for yourself!

Feng Shui and Better Sleep

Along with proper nutrition, air and water, restorative sleep is essential to health and well-being. Without a good night’s sleep, we function below our capacity to handle the demands of life, with varying consequences.

The effects of prolonged sleep deprivation cannot be underestimated, and leads to premature aging, hormone imbalances, an increased risk of developing diabetes and high blood pressure. According to Mark Mahowald, a professor of neurology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, any amount of sleep deprivation reduces mental performance, and "one complete night of sleep deprivation is as impairing in simulated driving tests as a legally intoxicating blood-alcohol level."

Can you harness the power of Feng Shui to improve your sleep? The answer is a resounding “yes”. If you’re tired of not getting your zzz’s, Feng Shui expert Yvonne Phillips can tell you how simple adjustments to your bedroom will make a major difference. With over 20 years of experience in the ancient art of Feng Shui and the author of “Feng Shui ABC: Project for a Weekend”, Yvonne understands how the energy or “chi” that flows around us impacts the quality of our well-being. If energy is blocked in our environment, this imbalance and disharmony will inevitably lead to discomfort, irritability, and prevent restful sleep.

This ancient Chinese practice is increasingly in demand here in the west for all areas of life, and Yvonne offers practical Feng Shui tips that anyone can immediately apply to their bedrooms to promote deep sleep that is so needed.

Q. How can “good” or “bad” Feng Shui affect my sleep?
A. The relationship between your environment and sleep quality is closely linked. Feng Shui is about working with energy, and the intentional clearing and arrangement of objects to allow the healthy flow of positive energy, and the dissipation of the negative. For better sleep, it focuses on purposefully working with the proper energy flow in your bedroom, which although invisible to the naked eye, directly impacts your own energy field, the quality of your sleep and overall health.

Q. What are the items in a bedroom that disrupt sleep the most?
A. Any electrical appliance or tech gadget that emits electromagnetic fields (EMFs), such as a plugged-in or wireless device. I recommend moving your alarm clock as far away from your bed as possible, if not out of the room entirely, along with removing your cell phone, computer, electric blanket, and TV. Studies show that EMFs impact the cells in your body, and deplete normal melatonin levels, with low melatonin being a major factor in poor sleep and other health problems. Excessive exposure to EMFs can disrupt normal circadian rhythms, and simply clearing out these devices from your bedroom may be the most important factor to achieve proper sleep.

Q. Once I remove EMFs, then what?
A. The next step would be to clear out any clutter and excess furniture and items which not only gather dust, but block the flow of positive chi. A bedroom filled with clutter causes energy to stagnant and creates a busy and distracting environment. Be sure to clear items from under the bed, the corners and the closet. Healthy energy flow does not follow the motto, “out of sight, out of mind”, and useless clutter piled up anywhere will throw off the energy of the entire room. Achieving a clear “Zen” space is ideal for peaceful sleep.

After the clutter and dust is cleared, consider the lighting in your bedroom. Are your window coverings keeping it dark enough at night? Melatonin production, which is essential to sleep, naturally rises in the dark and is affected by your exposure to light. To ensure proper melatonin levels which make you sleepy, block out any outside light and keep the room as dark as possible.

Q. Does the color of my bedroom matter for getting better sleep?
A. Absolutely; the proper use of color is a major factor in Feng Shui, and will dramatically impact the energy of your room and your ability to sleep. Avoid painting your bedroom red or bright orange, as it is too energizing a color to allow adequate rest. Instead, opt for soothing pastel colors such as green or blue which promotes healing and calmness, or soft cream or beige.

Q. Do you have any advice about my bedroom furniture?
A. Keep the space around your bed clear, with no objects or furniture with sharp corners jutting in. To best support your personal energy, position your bed so you can see the door while in bed, but far enough away so you’re not in alignment with it. Solid headboards made from wood are good Feng Shui, to support the chi around the head, and have a bed with a mattress raised off the floor to allow the flow of chi.

If possible, avoid sleeping under heavy ceiling beams or a slanted roof, which press down on the energy in the room. Remove any sad or depressing art or busy pictures with a lot of people, pulling on your attention. The aim is to keep the energy of the room as clear and relaxing as possible.

Q. Any final thoughts on how to sleep better?
A. Along with cool, fresh air, aromatherapy diffusers are a wonderful Feng Shui tool for improved air quality and clearer breathing, such as eucalyptus, pine or tea tree oil. Soft lighting such as salt lamps is also recommended. Keep all the doors closed at night, including the bedroom door, closet, and the en-suite bathroom door.

Your bedroom should be treated as your sanctuary where you are at your most vulnerable while recharging your energies. Feng Shui for better sleep is about balance, and creating a calm and peaceful bedroom without distraction, while also promoting a good circulation of chi.

[1] http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/sleep.html

[2] http://drmurphree.blogspot.com/2010/10/electromagnetic-fields-and-poor-sleep.html

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