Recently, when speaking about Feng Shui at one of our local library branches, an audience member asked a question that struck a chord:  “We’ve had a string of bad luck lately.  What can we do, right now, to change our luck?”  It’s a great question because most of us have experienced what feels like a string of bad luck at some point in our lives.  In fact, many heads were bobbing in agreement.  Like many good questions (and I count this as a good one for just this reason) it was asked in a way that held the answer.

When you ask what can we do, or what can I do, you are acknowledging your own power over your circumstances because you can do something about it!  In fact, research about luck, says just this:  you can improve your odds in life by understanding the difference between chance and luck.  Something that’s left up to chance is something we have no control over. But luck is something you can create by reviewing options, trying new things, changing your attitudes, being open to new possibilities.   Richard Wiseman, psychologist and researcher at the University of Hertfordshire in England has studied luck and written about it:  The Luck Factor:  Change Your Luck, Change Your Life. He believes so strongly that luck can be taught that he even runs a program called Luck School!

We don’t have to go to school, because we have Feng Shui luck — we know that we can change our environments to help us change our lives.  Here’s how to change your luck using Feng Shui:  (and this is what I told my audience)

• Look for places in your home where energy is stuck and unstick it!  Piles of papers or clothing or dishes can slow or stop positive energy from flowing.  Make sure doors and windows can open fully. And, get things off the floor!
  

  Energy is stuck in all the piles!

• Fix broken things or get rid of them.  Bad luck can be equated with things being broken.  When you fix things or remove them you’re taking control of the broken aspects of your luck.  Feng Shui can be very literal!
• Often bad luck mirrors issues with our Wealth & Prosperity.  Look at this bagua area of your home and make sure it’s clean, well lit, and holds items that say abundance to you (a gold box, a beautiful painting with reds, blues and/or purples, a photo of you and your family on one of your best vacations, etc.).  Put some coins in a dish – Chinese coins (round with a square center) are powerful, but any coins will work.  If your Wealth & Prosperity area is missing (it is in my home, for example) make sure wherever it’s located on your property that it is enhanced with a statue or a birdhouse or something that brings energy to the space.  (This area is in the left-hand corner of your home as your standing at your front door.  See below.)
  

  Chinese coins are said to bring good luck!

• Review your level of integrity with your work, whether it’s inside or outside the home.  The Fame & Reputation bagua area is adjacent (on the right) to the Wealth & Prosperity area.  How can our Wealth change if we’re not honest and above board with all things pertaining to money, integrity and our work in the world?  Enhance this area with fire energy – the color red, the shape of the pyramid, or animal prints.  Stick that thank you note on the refrigerator that was sent by your child’s teacher; it’s ok to showcase your good works, especially here.

Simply getting started with changing your environment should activate positive energy.   Good luck!

(For information about the bagua, click the Feng Shui tab on my website.  In general, when placing the bagua over your floor plan, put your front door somewhere along the entrance quadrant of the bagua – Knowledge & Self-Cultivation, Career/Journey and Helpful People & Travel and align your home so that everything under the roof line is included in the rectangle of the bagua.)

Recently I had the pleasure of changing out the energy in a friend’s kitchen – by simply applying Feng Shui principles to her countertops!  We changed out the energy in about an hour.   Do you have an hour?  Here’s how you can do the same:

Start by surveying your counter spaces and asking yourself for each item:  do I use it on a daily basis? If the answer is yes, the item gets to stay; if no, then you have some additional questions to ask yourself about how often you use the item and whether or not it continues to serve you in your kitchen.   In the case of my friend’s kitchen a large microwave oven, which she seldom used, was situated on her counter.  (It’s going to Goodwill, since she has a built-in over her oven.)

Microwave oven that isn't used taking up counter space.

Once every item on your counter has gone through the test, there could be items you need to find storage for.  In Feng Shui, the inside of the cupboards is an important as what you can see on the outside on the counters, but the inside of your cupboards may take you more than our allotted hour!   In the example of my friend’s kitchen we did work on one cupboard – by changing the height of her shelves we made space for olive oils and vinegars that were too “tall” for the shelf spaces.  Once we lifted the bottom shelf and adjusted the middle and top shelves we found plenty of room to store the bottles she didn’t use daily.

Kitchen counter cluttered with bottles

Next, look at the art, plants and other things taking up space on your counters – do they still fit who you are, do you use them, are they broken?  In the case of my friend’s kitchen we found a very funny picture of a woman drinking coffee with her feet up on a kitchen counter covered with a mess of children’s artwork, old dishes, newspapers, etc.  This picture had been given to her when her kids were toddlers and life was hectic.  With both my friend’s children launched in college and not living at home, plus her desire and willingness to keep the mayhem at bay, this picture very much no longer served who she is today!   It’s gone.  We also removed the broken clock radio that no longer told time but had a working radio.   She’s getting a new clock radio .

Broken clock radio and humorous photo of messy kitchen!

Allow yourself the time to live with your creative chaos while clearing your counter tops.  We used the island in her kitchen to put anything we were unsure of.  The space became crowded and messy – but we knew we wouldn’t leave it that way. Once the counters were cleared and arranged with items she uses daily, she could see and feel a different energy.  Then it became easy to take care of the “discarded” items on the kitchen island.  There was no way any of them were going to go back to their old spots now that the kitchen felt so good.

Energy flow where the old microwave was!

Here’s what she had to say:  “I LOVE my “new” kitchen.  It’s so much easier to clean and keep clean.  I want to spend time in here.  I even invited friends over for dinner.”

An hour of Feng Shui can change your kitchen, too!

Only bottles she needs, plus items she loves!

Decluttered; no more broken radio or picture of messy kitchen!