Prosperity Cures! Money Trees & Lucky Bamboo

The easiest cure I can think of to get your finances growing is to put a plant in the Money area of your home or office (or even desk!)

Remember, the Money gua (purple) is the back left corner
of the space when you are standing at the entrance facing in.  

Plants are generally just awesome because they are alive and therefore will generate beneficial chi (which loosely translates to "life force").  But plants also clean the air, emit oxygen, and reduce the effects of EMFs.  Plus they are pretty, and they bring healing nature indoors, into your space.

Feng Shui 101:  There are two plants that are known to be great for the Money gua.
The Money Tree (duh) & Lucky Bamboo.

Source

This is the Money Tree.   It's scientific name is Pachira aquatica.  It can come small (say 8 inches high and be able to sit on an end table, like you see here), or they can get quite large, up to three feet or more!  The trunks are usually braided, and the leaves are a lovely, shiny green that sprout very easily and, well, abundantly.

Source for Lucky Bamboo

This is the Lucky Bamboo.  It's scientific name is Dracaena braunii.  These babies also can come quite small, as short as 3-4 inches, but they can be quite big, as tall as five feet!

Both these plants grow easily with very little effort on your part.  The Money Tree only needs little watering once every other week or so.  It thrives in all sort of light conditions as well, including dim.  The Lucky Bamboo can simply sit in water, so all you have to do is change the water or just add some every few weeks.  It too is sturdy and survives for quite a while even in zero light!

Wood is the element for the Money gua, and these plants are perfect symbols for how you would like your Money to be:  growing with little effort, providing pleasure and breathing room, and easy to tend to.

Happy plant-buying!  Cha-ching!

Feng Shui & Money: Promoting the FLOW (or Why Not All Fountains Are Created Equal)

There are so many ways to facilitate money flow in feng shui.

And there are also so many ways to block it.

My friend and client, Dave Romanelli -- yoga & meditation teacher, Momenteer, and author of Happy is the New Healthy -- texted me for a session the other day:

our text conversation

The last time we had spoke, we assessed the Money area of his home and his office, which is usually the back left corner of the space.

If you line the brown/black/gray areas to the front door of your floor plan, you will see that the Prosperity/Money area falls in the back left of your space.

Originally, on a prior session, he had a huge metal bookshelf in his office that he did not like.  This was a problem for many reasons.

1.  It irritated him, as it was darn ugly, and it overwhelmed the space.  

2.  It was a place for collecting bits of clutter, which is a no-no anyway BUT especially in the Money area, where this shelf happened to be,  and... 

3. It was big and metal, and the element for the Money area is Wood.  In the destructive cycle, Metal "chops" Wood, so Metal is the least favorable element for that section of the bagua map!

I suggested getting rid of the shelving unit and replacing it with a small table with perhaps a fountain, which would symbolize a flow of money.  Also because Water "nurtures" Wood in the constructive cycle of the elements, a fountain would be nice, and it would add a lovely natural sound to the office.

We had not followed up until he sent me that text.  In our Skype session, he showed me the great little black table he had found and the new fountain he had purchased.  

This:

Source, Amazon

Harmless enough, right?  In fact, it's quite nice in the photo...

However, in our session, I noticed it was not on.  The fountain that was supposed to promote flow was not flowing!  

"Dave, what's up with the fountain?  Why isn't it on?"  

"Oh, it is just so noisy honestly.  I didn't want it to interrupt our call."

I raised my eyebrows.

"How often do you have to turn it off and on?"

"Well, I forget to turn it on a lot.  Really I have to unplug it.  Even then, it really doesn't work that well, to make sure it's working, I have to...etc. etc."

So now, readers, you see what is going on here.  He had the best of intentions, but this fountain that he chose was symbolizing his subconscious notions about money:  that it takes a lot of effort to even get a trickle out of it!  

Not all feng shui cures are created equal, indeed!

I'm happy to say that Dave was actually relieved to hear this and he said, "This makes total sense!"   I suggested he get rid of that fountain altogether and use some lucky bamboo (8 stalks) and a red silk cloth (red is a power color) and perhaps a deity of some sort, such as Lakshmi or Ganesha (which coincides with his yogic traditions) or a happy Buddha.  

I must say, I've seen this with fountains and water features a lot with clients.  Basically, if maintaining the feature is a huge pain and takes more effort (cleaning, fixing, etc.) than it is worth and causes you more stress than tranquility, then that fountain is NOT the way to go for you.  Think of the symbolism, always!  You would be better off with a picture of money flow or a nice, sturdy plant or any of the suggestions I gave Dave.

So...get flowing!  

If you'd like to take Feng Shui to the next level, (and learn all you can about Money and Feng Shui), considering Katie's 9-week Feng Shui Journey, a tele-course beginning July 20th, 2015!  

When a Feng Shui Cure is NOT a Cure (a.k.a. My Feng Shui Nod to Football Season)

It's football season!  And you know what that means in the South.

That it's football season!  And people are really happy about it.

For that reason, I thought I'd share a true story about a client and a football helmet.

To begin:
This particular client had a working knowledge of feng shui, so much so that her entire home office (which was also located in her Money section) had just about every knick-knacky feng shui cure known to man in there.

Like this:

...wealth gods?

...some kind of money tree?

...no clue...just don't go there.

And, of course, the famous lucky cat:

Hi, I'm a lucky cat...(and I'm kind of random.)

Now, if this is your style, then great.  BUT these items do not necessarily promote good feng shui.  Especially if there are so many of them that it equals the c-l-u-t-t-e-r.

When I explained to this client that
#1. clutter is not good feng shui, I don't care what the kind of luck it promises,
#2. having SO many cures actually reveals to me that she's afraid of losing her money rather than implementing a cure and trusting that the cure will work, and
#3. a lot of these gimmicky things that are labeled as good feng shui are actually just that --

gimmicks...

...so we both went to work clearing out most of these so-called cures and leaving only the really awesome ones to represent healthy wealth and finances.

It felt great!

But we weren't finished.

Now, as we were clearing out objects, it became more and more apparent what was working and what wasn't.  (You know, the ol' peeling layers from an onion analogy.)  Lo and behold, a certain something was calling out to me.  She had a large bookshelf in her office, and it was very close to her chair and desk, and on the top of that bookshelf, amongst other items, was a football helmet in a glass case.

It looked something like this:

I asked her about it.

She said, "Oh, I don't know.  It was some gift or award or something.  I just didn't know what to do with it."

Ding, ding, ding!!!  My little clutter alarm went off.  She could care less about this helmet so why the heck was it taking up space in her home?

Now, here is what happened.

We took it down.

And let me tell you, it felt like a gush of wind had come into the room. The energy shifted so much from that one item, that my client literally had to sit down because she was dizzy.  I was used to this kind of shift, but boy, she didn't know what hit her!

gush of wind   (Hey! Feng Shui is literally "wind, water")

It was BIG.  I noted that the helmet was representing a burden "hanging over her head," and that it's presence had taken on some major energy.   I explained that her money situation was "overbearing" in some way and had become a "weight on her shoulders."

By removing the helmet and shaking that energy up, we lightened the feel of the office...and therefore, her money situation.

I'm happy to say that her finances, which had been in major crisis, took a huge shift and are getting back on track.

And that football helmet has found a new home at the Goodwill. Thank goodness.

Bringing in the Green -- How Plants Can Help Your $ Grow

There's positive chi (energy) and there's negative chi.

In feng shui, you want positive!

Examples of things that promote good chi:
Good lighting
Good air circulation
Color
Movement
Cleanliness
Pets....
...and PLANTS!

Whether you buy a weekly fresh bouquet of flowers, or you have an active green thumb and it shows in your home, plants are not only cleaning the air and providing oxygen, they add beauty and life.

cover the plant and flowers up with your finger.....can you see how much difference it makes?!

Furthermore, plants represent the element of  Wood, which symbolizes growth, ideas, and expansion.  So if you're feeling stuck, go buy a plant!

Some to consider:

Lucky bamboo

Money trees

Anything easy to grow 

Anything that you can keep alive!

wall art + herbs = genius

Plants to generally avoid:

Cactus (the prickles are harmful chi)

Dried flower arrangements (weak chi)

Anything with sharp, pointy leaves

And lookie!  You can even bring an entire tree inside with a little creativity!

you gotta love an indoor tree -- your own personal oxygenator!

If you are familiar with the Bagua map, you know where your Money and Family sections are.  These sections are ruled by the Wood element, so go for it with the plants there!  It will help your money grow, and it will ensure you have happy, healthy familial relationships with your extended family and ancestors.

Color.  Just gorgeous color.

Please note, all photos are borrowed from the blog: Homedit.  Check out their page for other indoor plant ideas. xo

I mean...doesn't adding some "green" just make these places FEEL more abundant?  And how a place feels is Feng Shui 101.   Abundance yields abundance, so green it up!

5 Reasons This Painting is Going to Make My Friend Rich

I love when someone falls in love with something they want in their home...and it just happens to be amazing feng shui as well.

A dear friend of mine has her kitchen in the Money section of her home (the back left of the housewhen facing in from the front door -- See Bagua post).  Right now, above her sink, she has a cool graphic print of an airplane, that is, well, questionable feng shui because it is pointing down.  Cool prints don't always make for cool feng shui.  The almost-crashing plane in the Money section is one such example.

Well, the Universe provides, right?

Because a friend of hers was "cleaning house" and didn't have any place for this beauty here, and she offered to sell it to my friend for an extremely decent price.

It portrays the floating market in Bangkok, bought from a street artist in Phuket, Thailand
(Please excuse the poor quality photograph-- will try to get a better pic soon, as this one deserves it!)

My friend emailed me:  "I want this so badly, but is it good feng shui?!"  She LOVES it, but she wanted to make sure it was okay for the Money section of her home.

I called her immediately:  "You're going to get rich if you hang this one up!  Get it!"

She laughed loudly, as did I, and we talked about going on a fun spa trip with all the new money she's going to be bringing in.  (I'm writing this here to hold her to it -- haha!)

Okay, so why?  Why does this work?

Few reasons:
1.  Symbolism.   See how the "market trinkets" fill the baskets like tempting jewels practically overflowing in abundance?  And how the hats sparkle like coins?  Even the ripples on the water resemble money.  And it seems as though pearls are surfacing and sparkling from beneath the water.  And of course there is the beautiful gold mandala in the middle that just yells out "rich!"  This painting represents abundance in so many ways, that it's a joy for this feng shui consultant to reflect upon!

2.  Color.  Golds, reds, greens, and the clear blue are all great colors in the Money section!  Again, jewel tones and more jewel tones.

3.  Flow.  Water in the Money section is generally pretty great (as long as it's not a stormy sea or a leak in the ceiling), as it a) symbolizes flow, hence a good flow of money, and b) the Money section is ruled by the element of Wood, and Water feeds Wood (think: plants need water to grow).  The river seems to have a nice, clean flow to it.  Wouldn't you want your money to flow nicely and cleanly?

4.  Upward movement.  In this painting, there is an upward movement as if the boats are coasting up.  (The medallion brings the eye towards it, and because it is placed more towards the top of the painting, the energy most definitely goes that way.)  Because my friend will be putting it above the sink, this is especially important.  Sinks have drains, which are a downward motion, and unless cured, can represent money going down the drain.  Because of the bright, happy, and upward energy of this painting, it will counteract the downward pull of the drain, ...and well, take her money to new heights!

5.  Love.  Best of all, my friend loves this painting.  She has an affinity for Thailand, has visited there on happy jobs, and in short, the painting makes her heart and soul sing.  To see this every morning as she's making her morning tea will start every day on a high note -- and that, my friends, is what good feng shui is all about!

Money and Feng Shui: Potty Talk

Money is good, right?  Money brings us opportunities, stability, and all sorts of lovely things if managed, spent, given, and saved wisely.


In feng shui, water is one of the symbols of money.  When I'm at a client's house, and they talk about leaks or clogs, then I am sure to tell them to do whatever it takes to fix these...as in turn, it will "fix" their money woes.

But to narrow all of this down, today, we will talk about the toilet.  Here's a video going around now:  

It's Matt Damon.  He says that the toilet is the number one lifesaver in the world...  Hmmmmm...  So, hail the toilet???


Regardless of Damon's take on potties, it is known in feng shui that toilets have a downward energy, and if not given some attention, could represent money being flushed away.  In other words -- unexpected, possibly large expenses or the feeling that money always seems to be draining out!  Toilets are especially important to cure if bathrooms are situated in the Money section of the bagua.

So how do you "cure" a toilet?
1.  Keep it clean.
2.  The Red Ribbon cure:  Cut a red ribbon.  Make sure it's in increments of 9 (9, 18, 27 cm or inches) as 9 is the lucky number in feng shui.  Tie this red ribbon around a pipe behind the toilet, especially the outgoing pipe if possible.  You can also put a red ribbon or a red piece of tape around the bottom of the toilet bowl if you feel like REALLY doing it up.  (If it's too garish for you to use red, then do the other cures.)
3.  Use "upward-motion" plants or art work to counteract the downward motion of the toilet.
4.  If necessary, put a mirror on the floor behind the toilet or underneath the lid of the toilet, or on top of the back of the toilet bowl, FACING UP, to counteract the downward motion.
5.  Hang a medium to large round-faceted crystal from the ceiling above the toilet from a red cord (increments of 9, please!).
5.  Keep the toilet lid closed!

Feel free to do all or only some of these.  Remember, intention is the key!  State: "My finances are protected, and I enjoy great abundance," while implementing the cures for that extra special something.

bamboo for upward motion & abundance.  red tape and ribbon for protection.  even the shower curtain's pattern helps with the downward flow.  and of course, the lid is shut!

P.S. You can also use the red ribbon cure for other drains (sinks, etc.) around the house.

Have fun (smartly so) with the extra money you're going to find in your bank account as a result!