Feng Shui for the Home Office, Part II Rearranging physical space can impact many areas of your life.

You have selected a work space with good energy, set up your desk for relaxed focus and added chi energizers based on the advice offered in "Feng Shui for the Home Office, Part 1."You've experienced some of the power of feng shui. Part II will show you how to use some of the deeper wisdom of feng shui to improve specific areas of your life, using the Ba-Gua.

Ba-Gua: Your Space is a Mirror of Your Life
The Ba-Gua, developed by Taoist philosophers 300 years ago, represents the arrangement of archetypal energies on the Earth. The Ba-Gua template identifies "life energy areas": career/business, extended family and health, wealth and abundance, fame and reputation, marriage and partnership (two people together), children and creativity, helpful people such as friends, mentors, colleagues and networking contacts, and travel. Your space is a mirror for your life, and by arranging, adjusting and enhancing your physical space--homes and offices--and drawing chi energy to those areas, you can draw chi energy to those parts of your life.

I know this is a leap in understanding. It is one thing to talk about energizing your space in general and quite another to talk about energizing a particular aspect of your life. Stay with me, keep an open mind and learn how to energize your business, prosperity and connections.

Position the Ba-Gua Template
Superimpose the Ba-Gua template over a floor plan of your home office or workspace. Orient the Ba-Gua with the door or entry to your work area. The diagram shows three possible door positions for your room and the arrows are chi entering the space. Standing in the door of your office, facing in, the wealth area is in the back left-hand corner, the helpful people area is in the front right-hand corner and the career/business area is in the center of the wall with the door; the other "Guas" are in-between.

Energize Your Ba-Gua, Energize Your Life
Take a look at what is in your office. If there is clutter in a particular area of the Ba-Gua, that may be the reason you are feeling stuck in that aspect of your life or business. Some of my clients have simply de-cluttered a Ba-Gua area and things started moving and improving in their life. If an area is a dead zone, this can reflect in the energy of that part of your life. Add a "cure" of an energizer to improve the energy of the space--and your life. With cures more is not better. One well-selected cure is all you need in most situations.

Focus on the three most important aspects of your life and make changes in those areas of the Ba-Gua in your home office.

You do not have to do a specific function or task in that part of the Ba-Gua: You do not have to move your desk into the career area of the Ba-Gua. If it comfortably and functionally fits there, then you get feng shui bonus points.

Here is my westernized interpretation of the traditional "nine cures" to energize your home office:

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart."
--Helen Keller

1. Light. Crystals, mirrors, natural light, incandescent light, stained glass
2. Color. Decorative elements matched to colors of the Ba-Gua: black for career, black/blue/green for inner wisdom, blue/green for health and extended family, blue/ purple/red for wealth, red for fame, red/pink/white for marriage and relationship, white for children/creativity, and white/gray/black for helpful people and travel.
3. Sound. Wind chimes, music (sound system or live music), water fountain, sounds from nature, recorded nature sounds or music with nature sounds (the ocean, bird songs, etc.)
4. Movement. Wind chimes, flags, windsocks, mobiles, water fountains
5. Living Things. Pets, aquarium, real plants or quality silk plants and flowers, cut flowers
6. Aroma. Incense, scented candles, and essential oils (Use products scented with natural oils/essences for best results).
7. Texture. Natural materials and objects attractive to the eye and hand
8. Heavy objects. Use statuary and good-sized garden rocks to anchor and stabilize a life energy area for specific and time-limited situations, activated with an intention. For example, you can use a heavy object to anchor your job while there is upheaval in your company or field. Activate it with an intention. When the dust has settled and you are ready to move ahead, remove the heavy object and replace it with one of the other cures.
9. Objects that nourish your spirit. Treasures, heirlooms, photos, mementos, tchotchkes, artwork

Think of the nine feng shui cures as a menu that allows you to pick and choose. All of these things (except heavy objects) enhance the energy of the "Gua" they are in and, by extension, bring energy into that area of your life. Aroma and texture are more subtle; reserve them for the bedroom. Color is an option, not a requirement. And the colors noted on the Ba-Gua are accent colors, not room colors. Do not paint your home office black.

The last item on the nine cures list is the most important: your personal treasures. Things that remind you of the people, places and events that you love most will have a powerful positive effect on you and your energy. I encourage you to use what you already own and love, rather than get more stuff.

How to Use Cures
To enhance the energy in your business, identify the career area. First declutter it, if necessary, then place a wonderful memento of your work: a sample or photo of a project or product that you have or want to have. Or you could do it symbolically by placing something representing water, such as a recirculating water fountain or a picture of smoothly flowing water--an image of smooth sailing in your business.

If connections with friends and colleagues are dusty and underused, try energizing the helpful people/travel area of your Ba-Gua. "Helpful people" include friends, mentors, colleagues and networking connections. Arrange mementos of friends: snapshots, postcards or business cards. If you wish to widen your circle of friends, place a healthy plant, a lamp, or archetypal images of friends or the "family of humankind" in that area.

"No love, no light, no energy is ever lost in the Universe."
--Author unknown

Your space is a mirror of your life. Using the Ba-Gua template, you can make changes in your physical space that impact on your life. It is as easy as clearing out and adding objects of beauty and personal meaning.

Linda Varonehas been a feng shui consultant and professional speaker for more than 18 years. She uses a unique combination of feng shui, interior design and architectural psychology to help her clients and audiences create homes and offices that meet their needs and support their life goals.