Browse published articles attributed to Jessica Ackerman, with full-archive search.
Although using feng shui can sometimes seem a bit confusing and difficult, there are some basic color guidelines that you can use in order to simply the process. Feng shui consists of the five various elements: fire, earth, metal, water and wood. Each of these elements has certain colors associated it, which can be used to attract the desired energies to your life and living space.
If you'd like to attract more wealth and prosperity into your home or office, adding a money plant can be a great solution. These beautiful plants are actually quite easy to grow, requiring only an average amount of light and water. Although commonly referred to as a money plant or money tree, the botanical name of this plant is actually Pachira. You'll often find small Pachira plants for offered for sale in nurseries and through online sources. However, with care and time these plants can become quite large, often reaching a size of three feet wide and seven feet tall.
When many people think of the ancient Chinese art of Feng Shui, they oftentimes consider only the interior of the home. But it is only befitting that your front porch and deck should be decorated using the principles of Feng Shui as well. After all, it is on the porch and deck where you head to relax and to unwind from the stresses of the daily grind, and these two areas are often the first to greet guests who come to visit. What’s more, Feng Shui experts put a great emphasis on the home’s entryway being inviting for positive energy.
Whether you are simply sick with a common cold or someone in your home suffers from a chronic illness, feng shui can often help. Because feng shui is based on energy, you can harness the power of this energy to improve a person's health. Energy is constantly moving throughout your home, whether it is good energy, bad energy, or both. When you are trying to improve your own health or the health of another family member, you will want to focus on ways to increase the good energy while decreasing the bad energy in your home. Fighting Negative Energy with Positive Energy
Trees can be a very beautiful and useful part of a home's landscaping. Not only do they add an attractive look to the yard, but they also provide comfortable shade and sometimes even fruits and nuts. Trees can also add a substantial amount of value to your home. When choosing trees for your yard, feng shui principles can be used not only to choose the best varieties of trees, but they can also help you find the perfect location for them in the landscaping surrounding your home. Enhance Your Home's Positive Energy with Treesr
Many times a home or office can have a tendency to accumulate negative energy over a period of time. It could be that there were some bad experiences that occurred in the space that were the cause of the lingering bad energy. However, sometimes the feeling of negative energy can occur simply because the space doesn't seem to be your own. This is often the case when you move into a new home or apartment, or when you get a new office or cubicle at work. If you experience a general lack of comfort or even downright uneasiness in your living or work space, it can help to cleanse the area.
When applying feng shui principles to your home, it is important to remember that hidden clutter can be just as detrimental and disruptive to the positive energy in your home as visible clutter. Therefore, it is vital to keep areas such as cabinets, drawers and closets clean and organized. When organizing your closet, there are some good feng shui practices you can use to encourage order and positive energy flow.
If you are like most people, you probably have a wide variety of electronic appliances and devices in your home. Unfortunately, electronics emit the kind of energy that can be detrimental to the positive energy of your home. It is important to take electronics into consideration when arranging furniture and decorating in your home. With a little care and thought, you will be able to keep your essential electronic devices and yet still practice good feng shui practices within your home. Electronics and the Bedroom
There are many reasons to add houseplants to your home. Not only are they beautiful, but they can also help purify the air and create a healthier atmosphere in your home. However, there are also a number of houseplants that work well with the principles of feng shui. Try adding a few of these plants to enhance the positive energy within your home. The Ying and Yang of Plants
If you are looking for ways to add more positive energy to your life, perhaps you've been spending a lot of time reading self-help books and looking for ways to change your life. Although there is certainly a lot of merit and benefit in most self-improvement techniques, you might be overlooking one of the easiest ways to add positive energy to your life - color. You can actually use some of the basic feng shui principles of color to effortlessly add a positive influence to your life.
If your child plays sports, you can help your child to unearth his or her maximum potential as an athlete via the power of feng shui. By teaching your child to harness and make the most use out of chi energy, the child will be able to enhance their ability as an athlete and gain a greater amount of satisfaction from the sport that they play. Inversely, there are some activities that you must teach your child to steer clear of in order to live up to their fullest potential and avoid draining the positive energy within.
In today's busy world, all too often a clean house is considered to be simply a luxury. With everything else that needs to be attended to during the day, it can be easy to skip cleaning chores in order to spend time on tasks that are viewed as being more important. However, what might you be sacrificing by not keeping your home clean, neat and de-cluttered? Because a messy home can have a detrimental effect on positive feng shui energy, your clutter may actually be causing you more problems than you might think.
If you have a room or workspace where you enjoy your crafting, art projects and hobbies, chances are it has a tendency to become a bit cluttered and chaotic. When this happens, a room that should be designed to promote happiness and creativity can turn into an energy-draining area. If your craft room or workshop doesn't seem to inspire you, here are a few feng shui tips you can use to transform it into a more positive place to work and have fun. Organized But Not Spartan
When you read about feng shui principles and theories, you'll often find references made to animals. Some of these animals are real, while others are simply mythological. Either way, you can use animal symbolism in your home to improve the level of chi energy as well as to provide protection. The Turtle, Phoenix, Dragon and Tiger
Because the kitchen is considered to be the prime location in the home, it's important to apply good feng shui principles to create a harmonious environment. Food preparation should always be carried out in a harmonious manner with a good and balanced flow of energy.
Utilizing feng shui within the various rooms of your home can add a harmonious look and feel that can energize your entire family. It can be especially useful to focus on the rooms where the family spends most of their time, since these rooms will benefit the most from feng shui touches. Adding feng shui to your home's game room will help your family better utilize the room and get more enjoyment and relaxation from the time you spend together having fun. Dealing with the Electrical Aspects of the Entertainment Centerr
Gardens of all kinds can benefit from a feng shui influence. The proper arrangement of plants can create a more harmonious feeling in the garden that can enhance your level of relaxation. You should also arrange your garden in a way that allows energy to flow smoothly throughout the entire area. Whether you have a large herb garden in the back yard, or simply a few pots of herbs artfully arranged on your patio or deck, you can use feng shui principles to enhance the beauty and productivity of your garden. Create a Harmonious Arrangement for Your Plants
When designing and decorating your home, it's important to remember that nobody is too old or too young to benefit from the ancient art of feng shui. So, when you are decorating your child's playroom, try using a few feng shui principles to energize the space. You'll find that the room will become a more pleasant place to be, promoting your child's creativity and natural sense of curiosity. Here are a few tips you can use right away to enhance your child's playroom. Add More Energy
Many different cultures consider the kitchen the heart of the home. In feng shui, the kitchen is considered the area of the home that sustains life and nourishes the family, as well as being a symbol of wealth. Because the inhabitants of the home depend on food to give them energy, it is especially important that this food be prepared in an area that has a good balance of Chi. It is also believed that any positive energy that exists in the kitchen will naturally be transferred to those working in the kitchen, which in turn will pass this energy on to those who eat the food.
If you want to encourage positive feng shui energy in your home, good housekeeping habits are essential. After all, dirt, debris and clutter are known enemies of positive energy. Even if you live a busy lifestyle, it's still important to pay attention to your housekeeping chores on a daily basis. Fortunately, by doing just a little bit at a time, it can actually be quite easy to keep your home in tip-top shape. If you've been looking for a way to encourage more positive energy in your home, here are some cleaning routines to try. Clean as You Go
Although most times we consider feng shui principles when decorating our home or office, you can also use feng shui in many other areas of your life. Because the average person spends so much time in their vehicle every day, commuting back and forth to work, cars and trucks should be considered as ideal environments for the application of feng shui principles.
When following ancient feng shui practices to create a harmonious living environment, it's important to remember that lighting is also important. Although many people focus on reducing clutter and creating good energy flow within their home, they forget that light is an important source of positive energy. When used properly, light can make you feel happier, with a more positive outlook on life. When used incorrectly, it can make your house seem dark, depressing and even unpleasant. Here are some tips you can use to apply good feng shui principles to your home lighting techniques.
Proper lighting is very important to any home. Whether you need bright task lighting or soft ambient lighting in order to set the proper mood, the number of lights as well as the type of lights you use can have a profound effect upon your home. If you are trying to use feng shui principles to enhance your life and your home, here are some lighting tips you can try. Boost Your Home's Positive Energy
Using feng shui techniques in your outdoor gardens will not only increase your enjoyment of your yard, but will also attract positive energy to your home. Size is not important when planning a feng shui garden, because your focus is going to be on adding traditional feng shui elements to your garden, even if it is quite small. Adding “Good” Energy Your garden can be looked at using the same feng shui theories that apply to the inside of your home. Your goal will be to strengthen each of the areas to maximize the amount of good energy.
The principles of feng shui can be used to add more harmony to any family. Because feng shui can be used to create a harmonious environment and increase the flow of positive energy within any home, it can be a great way of enhancing your family’s experience together. Utilizing feng shui principles in your home will also help bring more success and happiness to every member of your family, children as well as adults. De-Cluttering the Homer Clutter is one of the enemies of positive feng shui energy.
Good feng shui principles and practices can be quite helpful if you are trying to design a relaxing environment. In today's hectic world, a place within the home where one can go to escape the stresses of life can be extremely beneficial. Whether you are designing a home spa, meditation room, garden room or an outdoor retreat, you can harness the calming energy of water to help create a more relaxing and harmonious environment. Visualize Water in Your Environmentr
As a general rule, plants and flowers can be used to increase the level of positive energy in the home. Because plants are living things, they can help to counteract the negative effects of synthetic decorating materials and electrical appliances throughout the home. However, there are definitely ways to use flowers in a more advantageous manner, as compared to simply scattering a few random potted plants around your home. Here are a few tips you can use to create more positive energy within your home through the use of flowers. Cut Flowers
Although many people naturally think of spring as the perfect time for new beginnings, autumn is also an important season to consider. As summer ends and autumn begins, it marks the beginning of a time period when families tend to spend a greater amount of time inside their home. Before winter arrives, you should use the pleasant autumn season to prepare your home. Here are some feng shui tips you can use to warm up your home and get it ready for the cooler weather that is right around the corner. Add Seasonal Enhancements Wisely
Although you might have taken special care to decorate your home according to feng shui practices, it's also important to pay attention to the building materials that were used in your home's construction. These materials can have a marked impact on the level of chi energy in your home. Even though you might not be able to change some of these materials, it's good to be aware of them. In some cases, there may be things that you can do to counteract some of the overall effects of these materials. Wood
Whether you have a large outdoor deck or a smaller patio attached to your apartment, this area can be used as a relaxing sanctuary as well as a place to entertain. Whether your patio is large or small, the refreshing outdoor atmosphere makes it the perfect spot to create your own personal sanctuary. By following feng shui guidelines, you can make your patio an even more effective area for relaxing. Here are a few tips that you can use to create your own patio sanctuary. Assess Your Space
Sensible Clutter-Busting Ideas You Can Implement Right Away Do you find yourself picking things up from all over on your way to answer the doorbell? Are you forever looking for important papers, the first-aid kit, or the nail file? Is there a possibility a first-time visitor might have a problem distinguishing your bedroom from your storeroom? If you answered “Yes” to all three questions, you have a problem. You’re human, but you’re probably descended from the animal family Sciuridae which are inveterate collectors: squirrels.
If you are currently job-hunting, you probably want to use every possible advantage to help you land the perfect job. In addition to brushing up your resume, it can also be helpful to utilize some of the principles of feng shui. Here are a few helpful tips you can use to enhance your career and help you find a job that is just right for you. Create Your Achievement Area
It's often said that it's not enough for a person to love money. In order to be truly successful and prosperous, it's also necessary to find a way to make money love you. Although this may sound impossible, there are actually a number of different ways you can use feng shui principles to attract more money and wealth into your life. If you could use a bit more wealth (and who couldn't these days,) here are a few feng shui tips that could help. Enhancing the Entrance to Your Home or Business
If you love to cook, chances are you spend a lot of time each day in the kitchen. Because the kitchen is considered to be the heart of the home, you want this room to be inviting, full of positive energy, and attractive to your family. The kitchen should be a place where you enjoy spending time preparing food for your family. It should also be an area where family members gather to enjoy time spent together. If you are the primary “family chef” in your household, here are some great ways to add a bit of positive feng shui to your kitchen. Create an Efficient and Clutter-Free Kitchen Spacer
Clutter is the enemy of positive feng shui energy. So, spring cleaning is the perfect time to reduce the level of clutter in your home and increase the level of positive feng shui energy at the same time. It is important to remember that clutter that cannot be seen is thought to be just as detrimental as clutter in full view. This is why it's equally important to clean out closets and cabinets when you are doing your spring cleaning. Reasons to Clear Clutterr Clutter is detrimental for many reasons.
If you own a business or if you want to become a successful entrepreneur one day, you can use the power of feng shui to help you achieve your dreams of business success. Through the proper use of feng shui principles, you'll be able to attract even more wealth and power to your life. As you do so, you'll find that each day your business will become even more successful and profitable. If you're looking for ways to become a more successful entrepreneur, here are a few feng shui tips you should try. Always Take Your Office Space Seriously
If you're like many people, it might seem as though you never have quite enough money to consider yourself truly prosperous. However, it's important to remember that true wealth includes a number of factors that aren't really associated with money. The feng shui outlook on wealth is not exactly the same as what people often think of as financial wealth. If you're looking for easy techniques to bring more true wealth into your life, here are some checkpoints to consider. The Wealth of Wisdom
There have been countless studies conducted through the years that have proved how important relationships can be to a person's life. Friendships and love relationships have the ability to make a person happier, more energetic, and more satisfied with their life and surroundings. In fact, some of these studies even suggest that good relationships are the key to a longer and healthier life. Of course, it stands to reason that if good relationships can enhance your life, problematic relationships could be a detriment.
There are many different reasons why your love life may not be as great as you'd like it to be. Perhaps you've just gotten out of a relationship, and you're looking to find somebody new. Or, it could be that you've been busy with your career and other aspects of your life, and simply haven't had time to look for love. Whatever the reason, you can use feng shui to help improve your chances of finding a new love interest. Here are just a few of the many feng shui methods designed to enhance the love aspect of life. The Energy of Love
Whether or not FengShui is true is debatable at the least. What’s not debatable is that one has to be healthy before he can ever hope to become wealthy, so that part about the Chinese belief about wealth starting in the kitchen should be at least true. Yes, the kitchen. This is because from the kitchen comes food which gives health which makes wealth possible. In this way, Feng Shui at least makes sense. But what are other steps might one undertake to boost his wealth? Here, we’ll take as an example a restaurant. Tip # 1 Have enough elbow room around the stove.
There are many benefits to following feng shui guidelines in your home. One of the most important advantages is the way it can actually help you improve your overall level of health. There are numerous ways that feng shui can be used to benefit overall health and vitality. Reduce Stress with Feng Shuir
When decorating your home, it's important to remember that certain areas need to be given special consideration. The kitchen and dining room are two areas that can be extremely important to the "heart" of your home. The dining room should be a place where your family can come together to enjoy each other's companionship. It's also a place where meals should be shared instead of simply rushed through. Today's busy schedules and hectic lifestyles may make it difficult for families to enjoy their meals together.
The cold days of winter can definitely be a drain on one's energy and personal happiness levels. However, it's important to remember that spring is actually just a few short months away. Before you know it, the ground will be thawed and it will be time to plant your garden. Why not use the winter months to plan the perfect garden for spring? Here are some feng shui tips you can use to plan a garden that will bring happiness and positive energy to your life throughout the year. Raising Your Garden's Chi Level
When decorating your home, it's important to pay attention to even the smallest details that could help enhance the flow of positive energy. Sometimes it's easy to take your doors for granted, since they are such a common part of everyday living. However, don't forget that doors are also the primary means by which energy can enter and exit your home. As such, spending a little bit of time enhancing your home's doorways can reap big benefits when it comes to positive energy flow.
If you have recently graduated from college, you probably feel as though you are on the threshold of starting a whole new phase of your life. Although change can sometimes be a little stressful and even scary, it can also be exciting and exhilarating. Just as is the case with all "new beginnings," basic feng shui principles can be used to help get your post-college life started out right. Here are a few basic tips you can follow that will help you transition from your life as a student to your life as a college graduate. Clear Out the Old
It’s spring planting time again! Plants, flowers, and trees can be a beneficial and very eye-catching part of your home’s landscaping. Plants and trees not only make the grounds of your property look good, they can also (over time) bring shade to a specific area of the yard or the home, or even provide you with nuts and fruits. Trees also add to the value of your property. When choosing plants and trees for your exterior, implementing feng shui principles can be a good way to help you select the right species to use around your home.
When selling a home, it's a good idea to use every advantage possible in order to make it appealing to potential buyers. Staging the home prior to scheduling showings and open houses is a great way to increase its overall appeal, increasing the chances that it will sell quickly at a good price. The goal of home staging is to streamline the appearance of the home, simplifying and de-cluttering its overall look so that potential buyers will be able to visualize themselves living in the home.
Holidays are always a lot of fun, but it can sometimes be difficult to get back to normal after they are over. Whether you need to get back into the habit of eating healthier after a steady diet of holiday snacks, or you simply want to get your decorations taken down and put away, you can use feng shui principles to help you get your life back to normal. Not only will you feel better, but you'll be enhancing the positive energy in your home. Here are a few tips you can use to help get back into the normal swing of things after the holidays have passed. Cleaning Up Clutterr
If you've noticed that your home has become a bit less harmonious, perhaps it's time to pay attention to what you're doing to encourage positive energy. Positive energy is very important to the health and welfare of everyone living in your home. Bad moods, bad luck, depression and even poor health can be the result of a buildup of negative energy and a lack of positive energy. If you feel that your home could benefit from an infusion of "positive vibes," here are some feng shui tips to try. Restoring Order to Your Home
Feng shui is an ancient practice that dates back centuries. However, its roots in the past should not be taken as an indication that there aren't still plenty of ways to work it into modern life. At the heart of feng shui, one will find a focus on maximizing the benefits of positive energy while minimizing the effects of negative energy. In today's challenging world, who couldn't use an extra dose of positive energy? If you'd like to take traditional feng shui techniques and give them a modern twist for your contemporary life, here are some tips that can help. Let in the Good