Understanding The History Of Feng Shui

Feng shui has been around for centuries. Those who believe in its power are usually more in balance with their surrounding and exhibit a positive energy. However, this chinese philosophy is not something that can be understood overnight.

This is a complicated and confusing philosophy. However, if one is truly devoted to its knowledge and historical meaning, then a person can truly achieve harmony within and with their surroundings.

This Chinese philosophy began in ancient China around the third century B.C. with the West Han dynasty. According to feng shui design, a belief exists that the earth is a being with life that has an energy surrounding it.

That energy in Chinese is called “chi”. Chi is determined by the placement of an object and the actual physical surroundings placed around that object. The site around an object, usually a building, is believed to have either positive or negative energy.

In ancient China feng shui design was practiced by rich and poor alike. According to the website Indobase who gives a wonderful detailed explanation of the history of this chinese philosophy, “In ancient China a city was planned in concentric rectangles surrounded by walls surrounded by lakes, hills, valley, gardens, courtyards and parks.”

The Chinese tried to ensure that both the manmade and the natural environment were planned to promote and enhance positive energy. Then they were landscaped using the Yin and Yang ideas.

Good feng shui was ensured by the ancients when they constructed the buildings to enhance harmonious relationships between members of a family and between the family and country.

According to feng shui design, “the left of the building represented Yang or male force and was connected to the forces of heaven and the right of the building represented Yin or the female force and was connected with the energies of the earth.” The Yang forces were represented in sun lit roofs and elevation in the front.

Yin forces were represented in structures that had shadowed eaves and elevations in the back. If a structure was not balanced and leaned more toward either Yin or Yang forces then this would be considered improper and unbalanced.

Ancient emperors built their palaces based on this feng shui guide and this was thought to be very favorable to power.

Feng shui needs to be fully researched in order to be understood. The ancient Chinese were looking for a way to promote a more harmonious environment when they began to use this chinese philosophy. In today’s society, lives are becoming more and more hectic.

If a person can find tranquility and peace by using feng shui, then more should try this unique and life altering philosophy.

Mike Selvon has some informative feng shui articles for the creative mind. Find out more about the history of feng shui at his resourceful site. We appreciate your feedback at our feng shui blog.

Understanding The Five Elements Of Feng Shui

Whenever people talk about the ancient art of feng shui, inevitably the five elements come up. What are these five elements and why are they important in feng shui? Read on for a quick rundown on the five elements and their uses in the practice of feng shui.
The Five Elements of Feng Shui Outlined
The five elements of feng shui are wood, water, earth, metal and fire. These five elements are all naturally occurring and indicate either construction or deconstruction in some way or another:
Construction: Wood can make fire; the energy of fire (e.g. – the Sun) feeds the earth; metal comes from the earth; water can be drawn from the elements of metal; water feeds wood.
Destruction: Fire destroys metal; metal (such as an axe blade or other instrument) destroys wood; trees or wood feed from the earth; dirt from the earth absorbs water; of course, water destroys fire.
Harmonizing With the Five Feng Shui Elements
The underlying principle of feng shui is that there needs to be harmony and balance; having too much of any one element in your home or in a particular room is counterproductive and can be overwhelming. Most rooms will have one dominant quality of the five elements of feng shui and need another element to bring in some balance. For example, think of an all-white bathroom. White is clean and pure and represents water.
However, when a room, even a bathroom, is completely white, it can feel cold and sterile. By introducing another one of the five elements of feng shui, such as earth, this can tone down that sterile feeling. Towels, artwork, and other items that are a warm brown can do the trick. Or, imagine a living room that is all brown, which is a strong earth tone. You can feel closed in or overwhelmed, as this is a warm color but one that easily smothers you. Another one of the five elements of feng shui, such as fire, can do the trick. Red accents such as pillows or afghans can brighten up the warm brown.
Feng shui’s balancing principles can be applied to much more than home decor however. Think of personality traits. Some people are entirely too fiery; a little fire is good, but someone who is hot tempered consistently can be hard to deal with. Balance in all things is the idea of feng shui.
Hence, you can think of toning down your personality, like the warm and giving earth, your persona can do with some warm and nurturing shades to make it more likeable. This can also make you a more objective and a pleasant human being.
There are really no right or wrong answers when it comes to applying the five elements of feng shui to any room of your home or part of your life. You simply need to remember how these elements are meant to harmonize and balance one another, and try to imitate those fine qualities as much as possible.

The trick of losing extra kgs fast

Many individuals all over the world desire to drop their added kgs quickly. They’re annoyed why they can’t look like models once they exercise and consume modestly. In fact, your metabolism of the body functions in wondering ways. It varies tremendously from individual to a new. One could not fine tune our body so it would take in all the power and food items that you simply throw at it and due to this your body can replenish its power in form of excess fat that is saved about your organs and then on outside the body under the skin layers.

Folks have experimented with losing weight throughout the years but haven’t truly discovered an common solution that will fit everybody. Everybody is effective by exercising seriously. They lose their pounds by working out everyday and this helps them remain healthy and low fat. However , few people is aided by working out. You can find people that exercise a great deal and don’t really have any results. Many people find that sustaining a healthy diet plan helps them shed those kilograms. They consume less food plus they consume much healthier meals. After some time of practicing this types of diets the individuals get slimmer.

However , you will find another kind of folks – those that aren’t actually assisted both by work out and by the diet programs. These individuals have already tried every thing however they can’t lose their added body fat. These people haven’t tried Herbalife though. The well analyzed Afslanken program of Herbalife has already assisted huge numbers of people all over the world regain their normal fat and guide a wholesome existence. Despite completing this great system, individuals that tried it still stay lean and wholesome. The special natural ingredients employed by the professionals of the organization do wonders on those people who are daring enough to test.

The official distributor of Herbalife within Belgium is welcoming that you try their remarkable fresh solutions for losing excess weight. It is possible you can eat sensibly when they are exercising modestly and get stunning final results. You’ll clearly notice how you’re dropping that extra fat. The results are obvious in just a few weeks. All you want do is take the healthy food supplements to eat and that is all. The beverages that are contained in the Herbalife plan are incredibly tasty and they’re going to help you on your way to being slender and sexy.

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Diet Menus And Plans – Revisiting The Cabbage Soup Diet

The Cabbage Soup Diet, also known as the Soup Diet, was originally destined to help overweight people awaiting surgery. During a seven day period dieters rely on a homemade vegetable soup to lose weight, both by melting the fat away and by eliminating excess water from the body. They also take some proteins, fruits and vegetables, some snacks, and food supplements. After the initial phase, dieters undergo a seven-day stabilization phase. Here are some of the diet principles.

Eat as much of the fat burning soup as you want. Have some of this soup for breakfast, lunch, supper, and even the mid-morning snack. The recipe follows. For three liters (about three quarts of water) cook for about an hour the following cut-up vegetables: Three large onions, 1 or 2 cans of peeled tomatoes, a green cabbage, 2 eggplants, 2 bell peppers, 3 asparagus, 1 stalk of parsley, 3 bay leaves, 4 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, curry, as well as other spices to taste.

On a daily basis eat proteins such as 150 grams (about 5 ounces) of lean fish, 4 egg whites, 150 grams of skinless, lean white meat (but not pork), or 200 grams of tofu. Eat two snacks, a bowl of soup in the morning and a fruit or a no-fat yogurt in the afternoon. During the stabilization phase the morning snack becomes a no-fat yogurt. Take dietary supplements. Drink lot and lots of water and green tea. During the stabilization phase you may once again consume bread and olive oil. But pasta is still not allowed.

An advantage of the Cabbage Soup diet is you don’t have to cook much. But you may get sick of that *** soup. And the meals lack variety. Very frankly, the Cabbage Soup Diet is not recommended. So many alternative diets are available.

Here is a sample menu: For Breakfast have two prunes, a sugarless no-fat yogurt, a bowl of soup, and a cup of green tea. Lunch means a bowl of that famous soup, 150 grams (that’s about five ounces) of sole, a plate of cauliflower, a bowl of strawberries, and a cup of green tea. For supper enjoy (well, maybe) a bowl of soup, a slice of low-fat ham, an artichoke, and a peach.

A quick tour of the Amazon web site revealed quite some range of Cabbage Soup Diet books. Some of these books are available for ereaders.

Levi Reiss wrote or co-authored ten computer and Internet books and teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his wine, diet, health, and nutrition website http://www.wineinyourdiet.com and check out his popular diet articles. You’ll love his Italian travel site http://www.travelitalytravel.com

Size Matters (In Feng Shui)

What intrigues many people about feng shui is the concept that you can change the way you feel as well as improve real circumstances in your life by addressing aspects of your physical environment.

In the area of Feng Shui principles known as Yin/Yang Theory, balance is the key and ideally you do not want your home or work space to be too yin or too yang.

One definition of too yin is a house or apartment (or a single room) that is too small, congestive, too closed in to be comfortable or productive.

As well, a house, apartment, or room that is too large can also be a problem because there may not be enough furniture or activities in the space to anchor the energy, which is referred to as “chi” or air currents.

If a space is too small for the number of people who occupy it, there can be a lot of frustration and feelings of despair. Here are some basic items to address:

1. Tidy up so that genuine clutter will not make the small space even more oppressive. 2. Make sure the space gets sufficient light and ventilation. 3. Mirror a wall to make the space look bigger. 4. Make sure the furniture is not too large for the room or rooms in question. 5. For a windowless room, bring in art with depth or pictures of landscapes to help give the illusion of a view.

If a space is too large: 1. Make sure that you have enough objects in the room to bring a functional, inviting atmosphere. 2. Play music periodically and bring in an oscillating fan so that unoccupied areas do not become stagnant or cold. 3. Invite people over and have parties to add to the human chi flow. 4. Get a pet or several pets to bring more “yang,” active chi into the space. 5. Lower the positioning of pictures on the wall for rooms with excessively high ceilings.

For more tips on how to improve your home or work environment, you can check out the offerings at: www.FengShuiForSkeptics.com