Ahead of our in-depth Chinese horoscopes and lunar forecast (coming soon!), we asked expert feng shui consultant Derelle Ball for a little advice on how we can ensure our office is arranged for success in 2015…
When examining the Feng Shui of an office and its impact on the occupants, there are many levels of detail that can be examined via the occupant’s individual birth details, the date the office was constructed and/or refitted by the current business owners, the compass orientation and surrounding landform of the building and so on. However, for those of you who do not have access to this information yet still wish to enhance your work space for increased wellbeing and wealth support in 2015, you will find below some general Feng Shui and Chinese Astrology guidelines for furniture location and orientation plus specific recommendations pertaining to the qi (living energy) of 2015.
There are many types of office space available these days, ranging from open plan, separate rooms with one or more window and even centralised rooms with no actual window. If you are in a position to choose your work space, it is better to opt for a room with a window.
When decorating your office, aim to have the lightest colour and round, circular shapes on the ceiling and the darkest colour and square patterns or shapes on the floor. It’s safest to keep the walls a neutral tone unless you have access to a Classical Feng Shui Consultant who can recommend specific colours based on a Fei Xing/Flying Star assessment of the space.
Your chair should ideally contain a high, supportive back, and when sitting at your desk, it is preferable to face towards open space, rather than having the front of your desk positioned directly against a wall. If this is the case, and you have no alternative position, then place a large, beautiful landscape image with plenty of depth of field on the wall in front of you to give the illusion of space in front of your desk. Also, try to get into the habit of regularly leaving the section of your desk directly in front of you, empty of files and clutter in order to create a mini ‘Bright Hall’ effect for accumulating positive qi.
When sitting at your work desk, look up. If there is an overhead beam directly above you, shift your position so you are not seated directly under the beam. If this is not possible, then the only practical alternative is to paint the beam the same colour as the ceiling and position an up-light near you so that it shines directly towards the beam, thus raising the qi, while you are working. The same advice applies if you have the low side of a slanted ceiling above you.
If you tend to have piles of documents and folders on your desk, aim to have the pile on the left side of you (when sitting at your desk) higher than the pile on the right side. This will provide you with supportive authoritative Dragon energy that will help keep the prowling Tiger qi under control.
If sitting in a room with a window, it’s best to have a solid wall behind you and a clear view of the doorway in front or beside you. If the internal office doorway is directly behind you, this position can trigger feelings of vulnerability and lack of support.
Over time, office environments tend to accumulate toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene and ammonia from furniture, cleaning products and office equipment such as photocopiers. You can help reduce the chemicals and increase humidity in air conditioned environments with the addition of indoor plants such as a Peace Lily, Dracaena, Rubber Plant, Dragon Tree or Areca Palm.
Now, here are some specific tips to increase your luck potential for health and wellbeing in your office environment according to the energy of the current year of the Wood Goat which begins 4 Feb 2015 and ends 3 Feb 2016, according to the solar Feng Shui & Chinese Astrology calendar.
If you have an iPhone, download a compass app and make sure you calibrate it to Magnetic North and NOT Map/True North. The compass sectors of your individual office space begin in the centre of your office and extend out to the walls of your work space, like 8 big pieces of pie.
To ascertain the compass sectors, stand in the centre of your office space with a compass and note which areas fall within the following compass measurements:
North Sector: 337.5 – 22.5 degrees
Northeast Sector: 22.5 – 67.5 degrees
East Sector: 67.5 – 112.5 degrees
Southeast Sector: 112.5 – 157.5 degrees
South Sector: 157.5 – 202.5 degrees
Southwest Sector: 202.5 – 247.5 degrees
West Sector: 247.5 – 292.5 degrees
Northwest Sector: 292.5 – 337.5 degrees
Now that you know which sections of your office space fall within each compass sector, here is what you need to know and do:
Sit at your work desk and check the direction you are facing towards when working. Try to AVOID facing directly towards 202.5 – 217.5 degrees SW for extended periods of time while working, designing, planning and when meeting with colleagues and clients. This direction is affected by the annual Tai Sui energy which tends to block creativity and productivity when confronted in the work place.
Place an image, symbol or small statue of a Horse in the Tai Sui location of your office within the Southwest sector to help appease any astrological clashes of energy if you happen to have Chou/Ox anywhere within your 4 Pillars birth chart. To do this correctly, simply stand in the centre of your office with a compass and locate the area that corresponds to 202.5 – 217.5 degrees within the Southwest sector.
Place additional Metal element (via white, gold, silver, shiny grey, golden yellow, brass or bronze tones and metallic furniture and ornaments that are round or curved in shape) in the West, Southeast and East sectors of your office to help protect your health and wealth qi in the West and Southeast sectors and enhance your intelligence and financial acumen in the East sector.
If you have a small indoor water feature in your office, place it in the North, Southwest or East sector. There are many Feng Shui formulae to stimulate wealth qi with water features, and it can get very complicated for those unfamiliar with the concept. So, this is a very general guide only using the compass sectors that will attract positive annual energy this year. Experiment with your water feature within all 3 of these compass sectors one week/compass sector at a time to see which sector attracts the best financial benefits to you when activated with water. If you notice a distinct downturn in profits after adding water to the North, Southwest or East sector, then relocate the water feature to one of the other sectors and take note which of these 3 sectors attracts the most beneficial luck to you when activated with water and leave it there until 3 February 2016.
Try to avoid renovations including hammering, drilling, excavating etc in the entire West sector and also within a third of the Northeast sector (closest to where NE meets North) and a third of the Southwest sector, (closest to where SW meets South) if practically possible. Otherwise, if renovation is unavoidable in one of these locations this year, then you can help appease the disturbance of negative annual energy by activating the annual Dragon Virtue energy in the Yin/Tiger location of your office (which is located within 52.5 – 67.5 degrees Northeast).
Activation of the protective annual Dragon Virtue energy within the Northeast sector can occur by purposely hammering or drilling in this specific location and hanging an image containing water and metal element colours and forms (eg black or medium-dark blue combined with white, gold, silver, golden yellow, brass or bronze tones, and mainly curved, round or wavy shapes).
Finally, when seeking to connect with universal synchronicity via your subconscious mind this year, you can gain additional support when you sit facing towards Northwest while visualising your most important positive goals and aspirations for the year. This will help you tap into the Fu/Chief (Master Healer) energy of the year according to Qi Men Dun Jia which is an advanced form of spiritual Feng Shui application.