There are several potential drawbacks to irregularly shaped rooms.
First, one or more key guas may be “missing” from the layout of the room. If this is the case, you can use a mirror (the larger the better) to virtually extend the room into the “missing” portion.
a faceted crystal ball deflects sha chi plants absorb “secret arrows” Use a mirror on one or
both sides of a “missing” corner to visually extend the room into the gap
Place bookcases or storage cabinets in nooks to fill in the
extra space, or close it off with a curtain or screen
The second problem is that corner walls that jut into the room may be a source of “secret arrow” sha chi (see Chapter 4 for details). Remedies for this situation include:
• Hanging a faceted crystal ball in front of the angle, to disperse or deflect the
sha chi
• Placing a large plant or indoor water fountain in front of the angle to act as a buffer
• Disguising or closing off a shallow nook with a curtain or screen, or fill- ing that area with a bookcase or other storage unit
THE ROOM IS TOO BIG
If the scale of your room is large for the amount of office furniture you have, don’t push everything up against the walls or into corners.
Define the area around your desk with a rug, large plants, or a screen. Use floor or table lamps to highlight certain areas of the room, and make sure that focal points are emphasized (more on focal points in the next chapter) to draw attention to specific areas of the room.
placing all furniture along the walls makes a large room seem even larger and emptier
Posters or other artwork should be larger in scale, or you can group smaller objects together so they don’t seem out of proportion to expansive wall space.
use furniture and accessories to define the space
THE ROOM IS TOO SMALL
An office that is too small for your furniture can cramp your business and keep it from growing. Look for storage elsewhere in the home that you might use for items you don’t need to access daily.
Most important is to keep clutter under control. Clutter will make the room look and feel smaller. Place a large mirror on a wall—preferably where it will re- flect a window view—to visually open up the space.
a mirror makes a small room seem larger, especially
if it reflects a window
Desk Placement
As you learned in Chapter 4, choosing the best placement for your desk often in- volves making some kind of compromise. Here are suggestions for what to do if you have been unable to avoid a less-than-perfect desk position.
DESK HAS NO VIEW OF THE DOOR
Place a mirror to give you a reflected view of the entry to the space. You can use a mirror on the wall, or a small mirror on your desk or computer monitor.
If you sit in front of the door, look for ways to deflect and
interrupt chi before it it “attacks” your desk. DESK IN THE PATH OF CHI COMING IN THE DOOR
This position exposes you to excessive chi, and can in- crease your stress level and lead to fatigue and irritabil- ity. Place something between you and the door, to ab- sorb or deflect chi. This could be a:
• Bookcase in front of the desk
• Faceted crystal on your desk or hung from the ceiling inside the door
• Plant in front of or on your desk
• A protective figurine placed on your desk facing the door: this could be a spiritual figure, super- hero, shamanic power animal, virtually anything that symbolizes protection to you
YOU SIT WITH YOUR BACK TO THE DOOR
This position presents multiple challenges, all of which should be corrected if at all possible:
• You have no view of the door (see above) • You are exposed to excessive chi (see above)
In addition to following the recommended strategies above, some measure should be taken to “watch your back.” A mirror that provides a view of the door will help; even better is to place a guardian figure or image above or beside the door, facing your back.
Although this could be anything that symbolizes protection to you, my prefer- ence in this situation is for an image of a spiritual figure (such as Christ, or the Buddha, whatever is appropriate to your culture or spiritual practice)—rather than a warrior. Intend that this image will shower blessings on anyone entering the space. This fills your office with positive energy and protects you from conflict and con- frontation.
YOU SIT WITH YOUR BACK TO A WINDOW
It is best to sit with a solid wall behind you for symbolic protection and support. If you sit with your back to a window, place a large natural crystal, rock, or geode on the windowsill. This will function as a virtual “mountain” behind you. An alterna- tive would be a postcard or photograph of a mountain placed on the windowsill or on the wall above or below the window.
Be aware also of the possibility of sha chi from the edges of Levelor®-type mini-
blinds covering the window. Sheer curtains will shield you from sha chi while allow light to come through.
YOU FACE AN UNLUCKY DIRECTION
There is no remedy for facing an unlucky direction; do what you can to ensure the best feng shui for your space in all other ways, and use the focal point technique described on page 153.
DESK (OR DESK CHAIR) IS EXPOSED TO “SECRET ARROWS”
If you are unable to avoid a desk position that exposes you to the sha chi of secret arrows implement one or more of the remedies suggested under “Irregularly Shaped Room” on page 156.
YOUR DESK IS UNDER AN EXPOSED BEAM
This oppressive energy will keep your business from flourishing. If the beam also crosses your sitting position (rather than just the desk itself), you may suffer from headaches or other health problems as a result. If you can’t avoid placing your desk under an exposed beam, hang two bamboo flutes on the side of the beam with red string, at an angle that implies the top of an octagon:
The root end of the bamboo should be at the bottom; usually this puts the mouth- piece at the top. However, if you can’t tell which end of the bamboo is the root end, hang the flutes with the mouthpiece at the bottom, so air blown through the flute would travel up.
• If flutes don’t appeal to you, use plants or uplights on the floor or a table beneath both ends of the beam, to lift the energy.
• Use imagery under the ends of the beam, or along the side of the beam, to symbolically lift the energy. Appropriate images include angels, birds in flight, and the like.
• Disguise the beam with fabric
• Hang a vine, garland, or string of miniature lights along the side or bottom of the beam
DESK UNDER THE LOW SIDE OF A SLANTED CEILING
While no remedy will fully counteract the effect of this oppressive chi , you can lessen the impact with remedies that lift chi on the affected side of the desk, as suggested on page 151.
EMF EXPOSURE
EMF radiation from household electronics and wireless communication networks is virtually inescapable these days. The potential health hazards are compounded if you spend many hours a day sitting in front of a computer.
A number of leading-edge companies are taking these threats very seriously, and have developed products designed to minimize the harmful effects of EMF radiation on your biofield. These include:
• Pendants that can be worn around the neck
• Small “chips” to stick on your cell phone, cordless phone, computer monitor, etc.
• Devices that plug into an electrical outlet
I use all of these devices in my home, and recommend that you do, too. For more information, visit EMF-Health.com and download the free ebook, EMF Dan-