This is a milestone newsletter for me! The first feng shui chronicles newsletter was sent out in April of 2000. Does anyone remember that? :) I have officially completed a 9-year cycle. (Don’t worry, I’ll be informing you about what I’ll be up to in the next 9 year cycle soon!) And if you’ve been hanging around me enough to learn about how I use addresses to figure out the base energy for a home, then you’ll know that the number 9 is a number of completion. So, with that said, I’ve decided to do something a bit different in this newsletter. I’ve decided to go retro and post the "Question and Answer" and "Bagua Focus" from the April 2000 newsletter, to give you an idea of what we were thinking about back then, as well as give you some current information like the "Food as Medicine" segment that we didn’t have back then.

Also, a special thanks to all who participated in the Quantum Coaching special that raised money for Feeding America and Habitat for Humanity. We split the funds raised and the checks were sent off!

QUESTION: Help! I need to make more money. I’ve got an okay job with decent earnings, but I want more. I used to dream about the income I make now...now I dream about doubling my income. How can feng shui help me?

ANSWER: Start by checking out the prosperity area of your home. To find it, you can pretend to overlay a big tic-tac-toe board on top of your home and from standing just inside the front door, you would go to the far left box. This area controls the prosperity energies. Look around and see what is in your prosperity space that can be construed as positive for monies and what’s potentially draining it. Things that usually spell trouble are clutter piles, dirt, dust, damage to the structure of the house, and finally drains. Try to eliminate any of these. You can place red tape around the outgoing pipes of plumbing if you have it in this area. Now, that you’ve removed the negative stuff, check for positive items in the area. Things like a picture of something that makes you feel like "you have it all." Or just try using the royal colors like purple, red or gold. Some people fill jewelry boxes with their "treasures" and others display collections of money from all over the world. Choose what really means "prosperity" to you.

The prosperity area of your home can be about money, but more importantly, it is about feeling abundant. Some people feel rich with ten dollars and some people feel poor with a million. Abundance is a state of mind. The feeling of abundance is more than just the acquisition of money. Striking a balance is necessary in all parts of life. The phrase "Money can’t buy happiness" summarizes the idea perfectly. Yes, money does make life easier, and yes, we are trying to achieve that with feng shui, but don’t forget the bigger picture.

When you focus on your prosperity area, focus on the things that you already have that make you feel abundant. Photos of the kids. Photos of your pet. Whatever gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling when you’re reminded of it. That warm and fuzzy feeling is exactly what adds power to the symbols you use here. When you get into a state of gratitude for what you have, you are attracting the very energy that is vital to having abundance. Like attracts like. If you are in a constant state of feeling abundant, you will be abundant.

The first step to achieving abundance is feeling abundance in your life. From just inside the front door, walk to the back left corner of the room or home. This area represents your Prosperity gua. What do you see here? Clutter and stains? Beauty and luxury? Are you surprised by what you find when you associate this corner with abundance? Sometimes feng shui answers are quite literal. One woman who had been suffering financially for a long time laughed when she saw that her Prosperity corner was the corner that always leaked when it rained. Fix up that area and your entire life will feel the upgrades.

Where do you start? First make sure the place is clean. No dust or cobwebs here. No broken items. If it’s broke, you’re broke. Next, make the changes needed to enhance the area. Purple is the best color for the Prosperity corner. Anything green will also do wonders. Remember use green to get out of the red. For obvious reasons, gold stuff truly enhances the wealth area. Use symbols that remind you of wealth and abundance. Change sorters and piggy banks are meaningful to some. Exotic fruits and perfumes mean wealth to others. Try rare coins, the Boardwalk and Park Place game pieces from Monopoly, pictures of jewels. If cash is what you’re looking for, then maybe cash is what you should place in the corner. Whatever it is, create a space for these items and take special care of these items and this area of your home.

Remember if you ask for money, you must believe you will receive it. If you prepare for the possibility that you will not receive it, you will get the situation you prepared for. So instead of tempting fate, have faith. It all starts with a clear intention to receive more money. Picture it: money--a specific amount. And don’t sell yourself short. Get enough to cover everything. Write the number down. Place everything in the Prosperity Corner and believe that good will come to you. It will.

Believe it or not, I still play in a city volleyball league....I say it’s what keeps me young. :) I first started playing in a league in 1986 (some of you might not have been born then) and, with the exception of about 10 months when I was pregnant and had my son, and for about 3 when I tore my meniscus and needed a little surgical "trim," I never missed being on a team. The one thing that has changed, however, is my body’s ability to bounce back after a game. Gone are the days when I used to eat pizza right before a game and not even notice that I played the next day. My muscles definitely want to let me know that we’ve played nowadays.

But my new found "friend in the kitchen" is Turmeric! It really seems to help my recovery time and the associated aches and pains of throwing myself on the wooden floor over and over again (I’m actually pretty good at doing a "pancake" on the court if you know what that is). So, if you’re a big curry eater (it’s the main ingredient in curry powder) perhaps you have already made the connection between your curry intake and your recovery time.

The active ingredient in this sassy spice that seems to be doing all the work according to science is curcumin. It appears to be an antioxidant that really fights off inflammation (take heed arthritis sufferers, and has been known to help other diseases such as digestion issues, heart disease, and even cancer.

I personally am not into curry, so I choose to mainline it in capsule form. I have purchased both turmeric and curcumin in capsules at the health food store, and I have also bought bulk turmeric powder and empty gel caps and filled my own capsules to make it easy for me to get this helpful spice into my system. (And yes, my fingers are stained yellow when I do this, so watch out what you let it touch!)

All I am saying is give food a chance. It just may be just what the doctor ordered. Now where are my knee pads?

The 4-part "Life With Zing Teleseminar Series" just finished as I write this, and it was a big hit with those who signed up and tuned in! Here’s what one person said about it so far:

"I loved, loved, loved, can I say it again?, LOVED the meditations! I wished there had been a specific mediation for each week! Thank you so much for sharing these first steps into a Life with Zing with us!! I trust that all of listening learned a LOT! I particularly embraced the "HOW not Why!" right away. I enjoyed so much of what I heard and I've loved being able to go back and listen to the seminars again - that is a lovely bonus. I hope that enhancing my prosperity gua will shortly make it possible to participate in more of your course offerings. Mostly though, I simply want to extend gratitude to you for writing your book and sharing your knowledge with the world. My life has shifted because of you. Thank you."

Sasha H.

"Of course I loved the energy that Karen gave us. You could tell that there was much more she had to offer to us and she did a fantastic presentation with the time allowed. I liked the specific tips for energy fields and how to avoid or minimize them."

Judy T.

Interested in the Life With Zing 4-part teleseminar series? Stayed turned as we may make this available again in the near future…

We’re gearing up for the next 9 year cycle by having a warehouse sale! We’ve placed a bunch of items on special up to 40% off. Check them all out at: Feng Shui Palace Product Specials

And for those of you who are just wanting to get started in your house but don’t know how to orient the bagua onto your specific home, we’ve rolled back the price of the ,i>"Customized Bagua Overlay" from $149.99 to ONLY $49!

Also, we’re having two unpublished specials for all newsletter subscribers.

• The first one is for the Feng Shui Telephone Consultation. Regularly $495, this month its ONLY $329! Click on the following link, fill out the form, and send in your pictures and information - and we’ll set up a time to chat! Feng Shui Palace Phone Consultation

• The second one is for a Feng Shui Home Consultation (on-site). Regularly $699, this month its ONLY $499! Give our office a call at (714)508-9935 or email us and tell us you want the May newsletter special! Click on the following link to check it out Feng Shui Palace Home Consultation

With intentions of being of service,

Karen

If you are having trouble reading this newsletter, please go to the newsletter that is printed online at Feng Shui Palace Newsletter