You don’t have to learn or understand all about Feng Shui in order to implement it’s basic principles into your life to create a more pleasing environment in your home. The core principles such as to eliminate clutter and arrange furniture so chi can flow is a easily learned practice that you can learn to feel out on your own.

When we implement these basic Feng Shui Principles we can lead healthier lives both energetically and productivity wise. Who couldn’t use more money, energy and a happy positive vibe in their spaces?!

Clear the Clutter

The most important principle is disposing of useless paper and clutter clogging the flow of energy through our home. This includes papers, unfinished projects, empty boxes and shopping bags from recent purchases, old unused things, old un-worn un-loved clothes and shoes…You get the picture.

This clutter stands in our way making us feel too tired, unmotivated and stuck. For some parting with clutter can be very hard, while for others who already know the abundant freshness it brings to their life- might not be able to get enough!

My tips on how to clear each of the types clutter from your home:

• Unfinished Projects- Things you may have started and haven’t worked on in the past year should be either disposed of or at least (if it is something of some importance) stored and organized out of sight as to not hold you back from accomplishing new tasks. Looking at them everyday blocks your motivation and makes you feel stuck!
• old school notes- We may have taken significant courses in our lives that we invested a lot of money and time in. Naturally we want to hang on to all those notes and graded papers not only as proof of our accomplishments but also in hopes we will go back and learn it better. My advice, it falls into the unfinished projects category and could be piling up on you unconciously as dead weight. Chances are you have already received internally what you were supposed to have learned. If a year goes by and you don’t absolutely need those old notes or aren’t passionately involved in that subject matter, then toss it out.
• Old Clothes and Shoes- If you never wear it because you feel less than your best in them, they fit funny, you feel shabby or your shoes hurt but look good with one outfit- then give them away already! Move on and keep only the clothes that are fresh and you feel good in!
• Fliers, Papers, Business Cards, Magazines- Chances are all those adverts, menus, business cards and fliers are all info you can find on line these days!
• Products- We tend to let half empty bottles of expired toiletries and food items to pile up! Toss out all the expired products and stale goods that we are never going to polish off!

And keep clutter free!

Once a month take a few hours to keep up on your clutter clearing. Organize your bills and paper work into a filing system and stay organized! Weed out unnecessary paper wastes of places, events, news, magazines that you can find online if you really need it.

Arrange your Furniture so Chi can Flow

When you arrange your furniture simply pay attention to stuck corners and open spaces.

• Do not arrange your furniture so you have to do some fancy maneuvering through pathways to get anywhere.
• Do not “trap” space in between units of furniture that is wasted or cut off from the flow of the room (as it is only harboring darkness and dust and yucky energy).
• Make sure corners of furniture are not pointing at you especially from behind
• Do not place furniture where your back is to the door
• If your living room is small try not to place a big bulky coffee table so that everyone has to journey through paths to get out, try a few smaller stands to hold drinks etc to place on the sides of sitting areas. (Personally I never understood coffee tables! I find them almost always to block energy and almost always to be poorly designed. Most living rooms are best without them as I’ve always lived in smaller living arrangements and absolutely need wide open space to practice yoga and exercise)
• Repair all broken furniture such as knobs and drawers.

Helping the Chi flow along with Decorative Items

Now that you are clutter free and your furniture is arranged let’s keep the Chi charged with Plants, Lighting and Crystals!

• Hanging Plants- are a cheap great way to add freshness to your area and improve the air quality. My two hanging plants have made a significant improvement to the air quality in my apartment.
• Lighting- Face it fluorescent lighting sucks and it’s depressing. Who wants to feel like they live in a office?! Buy some lamps,lighting kits, and at least one colorful beautiful lamp.
• Crystals- Crystals such as amethyst, smokey quartz, rose quartz and amber are inexpensive and when placed in corners or special places can bring positive healing energy and cheer you up! Make sure to clean them regularly to help you feel fresh and charge your space.

Where to Place your Decorative Items and what the Heck is a Bagua!?

Now this is the part where I get into the essence of what Feng Shui is really based on- The Bagua, or the map/guide which divides your home into sections that relate to Relationships, Travel, Career, Money, Health and so on- is your guide to which areas of your home represent those areas. You can then take this knowledge to help you decide where to mindfully place your crystals, lamps, plants etc.

Here is a handy learning tool below to get acquainted!

I hope this posts motivates you to clear your clutter, re-arrange your furniture and charge your space to move on your way to living in a healthier positive space that will allow you to live a more healthy productive happy life!

What's next? Uranium enriched Bread?!

Bread is everywhere! We can’t escape it, it creeps into our diets daily. However, I try to keep it to a minimum. Here’s why:

If you ask me (which you did, right?) I’ll tell you that most “Whole Wheat Bread” is poison too! I’m talking about commercial processed breads – most of which (among other undesirable ingredients) – include bromide (more on this evil chemical soon). Oftentimes, sadly enough, if its a typical highly processed commercial bread, the fact that it is whole wheat doesn’t make it much better than choosing its white brother.

So…Why is bread bad for you?

There are different schools of thought at work here. Some say that even whole wheat commercial bread is better because it is loaded with fiber and its glycemic index is lower. However, what I’m concerned about in processed bread is a pretty nasty ingredient- bromide- and the fact that all the naturally occurring nutrients have been stripped out in the factory process.

I don’t buy the argument that commercial/processed whole wheat bread is still healthy because all the vitamins and minerals (calcium, iron, vitamin E, etc) are added back to the flour as part of the process. Its still no match for the naturally occurring nutrients that were there in the first place! Also, the companies are using them in their synthetic form, which are not able to properly adapt to our bodies.

Processed bread is treated with a variety of chemicals from the ground to production in order to “bleach” the flour and prevent it from sticking- such as:

• insecticides
• fungicides
• benzoyl peroxide or chlorine dioxide (known to cause cancer)
• methyl bromide
• nitrogen trichloride
• alum
• ammonium carbonate
• nitrogen peroxide

Yuck!

These “hidden ingredients” can cause:

• allergies that manifest as bloating, diarrhoea, eczema, asthma, headache or general malaise or lack of energy
• leaky gut syndrome
• growth of unfriendly toxin generating bacteria in the gut
• slowing of bowel transit time, so toxic substances are in contact with the bowel for longer

It sure makes me crazy that someone would buy a refined, processed “whole wheat plus fiber” bread at their grocery store, hoping it is what they need to support the gastrointestinal tract and help flush out toxins. When they are getting the opposite!

This somewhat dated video of Dr. Mercola in the grocery store describes this scenario:

So…What’s Bromide?

Bromide is a dough conditioner found in most flours as potassium bromate. It came into use in the 1960’s as an “improvement” on potassium iodate.

I’ll cut to the chase: Bromides disrupts the endocrine system and slow down the metabolism. Because bromide is also a halide (Any organic compound that contains a halogen atom can be considered a halide) it competes for the same receptors that are used in the thyroid gland (among other places) to capture iodine. This will inhibit thyroid hormone production, resulting in a low thyroid state. This throws your metabolism out of whack.

Why on earth do they use it, then?

Some commercial bakers claim they use bromated flour because it yields dependable results, and it makes more elastic dough which can stand up to bread hooks and other commercial baking tools.

The UK banned bromate in bread in 1990. 
Canada banned bromate in bread in 1994.

Back in 1999, the Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the FDA to prohibit the use of potassium bromate, charging that the FDA had known for years that bromate causes cancer in lab animals, but had failed to ban it.

Who’s not using it?

I prefer non baked breads, known as “live bread”. Not only are the enzymes, minerals and vitamins (all the “goodies”) in it, but no bromide is added and it is more filling, energizing and nourishing.

There are many brands of live bread, my personal favorite being Ezekial Sprouted Bread. I’ve also heard that some manufacturers are starting to advertise their bread as “Bromide FREE.” Look for these!

The healthiest option, though, is to look for “Sprouted Bread”. This is bread that hasn’t been baked but still retains a very bread-like state. It’s packed with all the naturally occurring nutrients and enzymes that processed bread strips out. Other healthier options is to make your own bread from grains such as spelt, quinoa, rice, etc.. (You can easily make your own at home with a Vitamix blender. View this link for a closer look.)

Cast thy bread upon the waters, friends. Let it drown.

References:

Is Whole-Grain Wonder Bread Really Good for You?

The Little-Known Secrets about Bleached Flour…

Iodine and Chelation, Heavy Metals and Halogens, International Medical Veritas Association