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Feng Shui Do's and Taboos for Health and Well-Being

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"Ultimately, that's what we all need to be healthy and to enjoy serenity: to be centered and well grounded...Feng Shui is only one leg of a table-you need to balance the intellectual, physical and spiritual legs, too, or your table of life will be unstable." -Angi Ma Wong

Angi Ma Wong, known as the "Feng Shui Lady", has added another book to her "Feng Shui Dos and Taboos" series-this one focusing on health and well-being. Wong, an internationally recognized Feng Shui expert, practices the Compass School variety of this ancient energetic art. That is, a compass is used to find a space's magnetic North first, and then the 7 other areas of the bagua map fall into place.

A bagua map, sometimes called Ba Gua or Pa Qua, is divided into 8 sections:

North: Career
Northeast: Knowledge
East: Family, health
Southeast: Fortune
South: Fame
Southwest: Mother, marriage
West: Children
Northwest: Father, travel, helpers

Feng Shui is the art of directing chi (life force energy) in the different bagua areas by arranging furniture, adding certain decorations and accessories, using color, removing hindering objects, and utilizing the 5 elements (Metal, Fire, Water, Earth, Air).

Wong also explains the Black Sect School of Feng Shui, which doesn't use a compass. Rather, the 8 sections of the bagua change based upon a room's main entrance. She stresses that these schools do not mix, so when choosing one method over the other, it's important to be consistent. Whether you prefer the Compass School or the Black Sect School (which is what I prefer), Feng Shui Dos and Taboos for Health & Well-Being can be used for either system.

This book provides several Bagua maps, as well as the colors, animals, numbers, seasons, and elements that go with each direction. Wong also discusses the generative and destructive element cycle, and presents the five-element Feng Shui Chart. For example:

FIRE

Direction: South
Season: Summer
Organs: Heart, small intestine
Body part: Eyes
Flavor: Bitter
Sense: Taste
Emotion: Joy
Voice: Laughter
Action: Itching
Climate: Heat

The majority of this 431 page book, however, features a singular recommendation on each page for topics such as art, fertility, desk, office, color, cleansing, kitchen, garden, bedroom, the directions, elements, and much more. Some of the Dos and Taboos covered include:

Do position the spines of your books so that they're flush with the edges of open bookcase shelves.

Do wear jewelry with fluorite, tourmaline, onyx, or tiger-eye beads to help you maintain balance while studying or working on your computer.

Do notice that those who sit with their backs to the door in a meeting or conference room have less influence.

Don't give sharp objects as gifts to anyone, as these symbolize the severance of a friendship or a life.

Do prune the leaves of trees and shrubbery so that they don't touch the walls of a house, thus drawing the energy away from it.

Do add more metal in the form of copper, silver, brass, or pewter in your home if your skin is dry and flaky.

Don't design your stairs to lead toward a bathroom or the main entrance door of your home if you're remodeling.

Don't create an imbalance of yellow in your home-too much of any earth color may cause you to worry excessively.

Do add more wood in your home if you're feeling depressed, timid, or shy.

Don't place waterfalls or tabletop fountains in the South area of a room or office-to do so symbolizes water extinguishing fire, which stands for fame and fortune.

Feng Shui Dos and Taboos for Health and Well-Being provides hundreds of practical tips like these to promote harmony and health. Wong's sage advice includes the "3 Golden Rules of the Feng Shui Lady":

1. If it isn't broke, don't fix it
2. If you don't see it, it isn't there.
3. Everything is fixable.

So there's no need to worry if certain elements of your surroundings violate Feng Shui principle. Because "everything is fixable", things can be added or subtracted to promote the balanced flow of the vital life-force energy known as chi.

These tips are so simple and straightforward, making it easy to apply to interior design projects for enhancing our lives. Highly recommended, even to those of you who are experienced in feng shui. It will remind you of things that are in your reach for improvement. Some of it may even surprise you or give you creative ideas such as carving wooden doves, photographing magpies, or a number of other things. Art.com is a great source for photos and prints that can be framed.