Feng Shui Tips for Your Home Office

Feng Shui is a very popular and intriguing concept in home design today. In addition to the life benefits it provides, it also offers a roadmap, so to speak, of not just how to decorate but why. In short, it offers you, the homeowner, design with purpose.

Did you know that over 50% of women now run their own home business or work from home? Get your compass out and find the following directions because we are going to try and make things run a little smoother for you using the ancient art of object placement – Feng Shui.

The most ideal locations to situate a home office are the North (the career sector), the Southwest (the wealth sector), the Northeast (skills and talents sector) or the South (the fame and recognition sector.) If it is possible, try to locate your home office in one of those locations.

Here are some other general tips that are thought to bring prosperity to your business.

Always sit with a solid wall behind your back to ensure that you have support in your life. Never sit with a window behind you.

In the office place the fax machine, telephone, and computers in the southeast wealth sector, as this will attract more contacts.

Position your desk to have a clear view of the door. If this is not possible, hang a small mirror so you can easily view the door's reflection.

Don't put a shelf over your desk. This symbolizes burdens of the world crashing down on you at any moment. The heavy shelf also symbolizes burdens and difficulties.

Avoid having sharp accessories, such as a paper cutter blade or the corner of a Xerox machine pointed at your desk. It is shar chi that symbolizes the cutting knife-edge or a disapproving finger pointing at you.

Make sure that you can walk completely around your desk in a full circle. The workload should not cramp you. You should have space to breathe!

Do not have clutter in your office. Desktops must be kept tidy and clutter free. Avoid placing “In” and “Out” trays on your desk. Try to keep what is in use on your desktop.

Avoid placing cactuses in your office as the needles of these plants are thought to create negative shar chi. Shar or sha chi is stagnant or harmful energy.

In your office, never have the main door opening into your desk as it causes you to be faced with unexpected situations to deal with. Never have a door jamming against your desk, or your prosperity will always be blocked.

Do not place your desk in a room so that it is between two doors because this causes chi to rush by and pass you by along with all of your good fortune. In other words, the goodenergy walks in one door, right past you and out the back door!

Never set your desk at the top of a staircase as chi will roll down the stairs and cause you loss of opportunity and wealth. If this is unavoidable, place a mirror above the front door looking in and facing the staircase.

If people entering your business immediately face a wall and a long corridor, try placing a hanging crystal in this area to allow good chi to accumulate. Also, place mirrors here to direct the chi into your office.

Do not place large electric equipment, such as photocopy machine or microwave near to the main door. These are considered to be "hot" items that cause energy to dissipate. Heat causes the dispersal of good chi.

Do not place paper cutter or fax machines or any machine with a blade next to the front door. The "cutting" energy can cause staff and customers to be unpleasant and even possibly to back stab and fight each with other.

Do not place an empty vase next to the main door, as empty vessels suck good chi trying to enter your place of business. If you have a vase make sure it is full of flowers!

If you have candles in your office, light the wicks to make sure they are burnt, even if you don't plan to light the candle. An unlit candle is bad feng shui as it represents the limitations of possibility.

Place a fish tank or fishpond in the southwestern corner of your office. If this is not possible consider building a pond in the southwestern sector outside your building.

To enhance your wealth and prosperity, position your indoor water feature in the southeast element of your home or office. For career luck, place it in the north. A tabletop fountain made of bamboo or flat round stones is always good for this purpose.

If you have a company signboard or logo, it should be optimally placed in the southeastern area, the southern area or the northern area of your home office.

burden – груз, ноша

workload – объем работы

to deal with – иметь дело с

jam – зажимать, сжимать, блокировать; давить, жать

dispersal – рассеивание; рассыпание; рассредоточение

to back stab – наносить удар в спину

vessel – сосуд (для жидкости)

wick – фитиль

2. Find the English equivalents in the text:

план действий, размещать (x4), основные советы, видеть отражение двери, символизирует трудности, убеждаться, беспорядок, поверхность стола, потеря возможностей и богатства, накапливать, рассеивать(ся), «колющая» энергия, фирменный знак, настольный фонтан

3. Find the synonyms to the following words:

fascinating theory, profits, arrangement of things, perfect position, wealth, critical, inactive and damaging power, restriction of chances, aquarium, to increase your richness

4. True or false?

1) Feng Shui helps to place pieces of furniture and other accessories in a proper way.

2) Feng Shui is a popular modern trend in design that has recently appeared.

3) According to Feng Shui you can locate objects in strictly definite places.

4) According to Feng Shui there are four sectors in your home.

5) Each sector corresponds to a definite aspect of our life.

6) It is necessary to follow Feng Shui instructions if you want to have prosperity.

7) A heavy shelf can crash down on you at any moment.

8) The space around your desk should not be blocked.

9) Plants in your office can produce a negative energy.

10) Hanging crystals and mirrors accumulate good energy.

11) It is obligatory to have candles and aquarium in your office.

12) You must place the logo of your company in your office.

5. Match the words to their synonyms:

1) to attract a) to be a sign of, to indicate, to mean

2) to place b) to guarantee, to make sure

3) to symbolize c) to limit

4) to avoid d) to pull towards you

5) to cramp e) to stay away from

6) to ensure f) to locate, to situate

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate form of these verbs:

1) He … the book carefully on the shelf.

2) Please, …that all lights are switched off.

3) If you don’t place the objects in an appropriate Feng Shui way, it will … a bad energy to your home.

4) The owl … wisdom and learning.

5) You’d better … placing sharp things near your desk.

6. Combine the words into phrases:

1) to run a) business contacts

2) to follow b) a home office

3) to bring c) business

4) to attract d) good energy

5) to situate e) prosperity

6) to accumulate f) feng shui instructions

Fill in the gaps with these phrases:

1) According to Feng Shui some objects can ….

2) It is necessary … in sectors which correspond to career, wealth, skills and fame.

3) He didn’t … in furnishing the room.

4) She wants … when she graduates from the university.

5) According feng shui, the proper placement of office machines will ….

6) Some people don’t believe that if you design a home office in a feng shui manner, it ….

7. Answer the questions:

1) How can feng shui help us in decorating?

2) What is feng shui?

3) Remember your working place at home. What is arranged according feng shui? What does not correspond to the directions of feng shui?

4) Are you a follower of feng shui? Do you follow feng shui directions in designing your home? Why?

8. Find any picture or photo of an office. Describe the design of the room from the point of feng shui. Use the following phrases in your description:

to be located (to be situated, to be placed) in a sector of …

the sector corresponds to …

it is an ideal location (position, place) because …

to bring prosperity, to attract business contacts, to support in your life

to symbolize

to create negative energy, to accumulate good (positive) energy

Project. Draw a sketch of a study (office, working place) where objects and furniture are arranged in accordance with feng shui directions. Describe it using phrases from the text and ex.8.

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