Have you ever wondered why your clients take so long to pay you, or don’t pay you at all? Or have you ever felt that money takes long to arrive and when it does, it was such hard work?
And now I ask you: How do you treat your money? How do you behave with it? Are you someone who prefers to keep it on your side and pay the bills on the last day? Or do you let deadlines for payment pass often? And if someone hands you more money by mistake, what is your posture?
Just like everything else in life, what we give to the universe, we get in return. And Feng Shui, namely money, is no exception.
One of the basic rules of this ancient science is “all the energy we put into things returns to us” and for this reason, and not just, when we apply these techniques we can achieve outstanding results.
To have money with the help of Feng Shui it is not enough to work facing the direction of power and money, turning a fountain on in location x on day y, or having your home super tidy, organized and harmonized. You also need to apply these concepts in your thoughts, feelings and actions. In fact, this is where it all begins. “Have a great relationship with money”, treat it with respect and let it follow on its way. Don’t wait until the last minute to pay your bills, don’t shy away from commitments or take on anything beyond your means. If something arrives for you to pay, pay it. Always remember that someone else may need that money. That way, the more we give, the more we get back. And then, once that concept is ingrained and implemented in such a way you don’t even notice it any more, then you can sit facing the direction that is luckiest for money and prosperity, place the money plants in the right place and use a fountain in the right spot to watch your bank account grow.
Yet beware of fountains and fish tanks. Don’t place them without the indication given of the proper spot by a consultant, or else, this mere object can have the capacity to turn your life upside down. Why?
Because there is a whole process for calculating where to place a fountain and when.
For the most curious, this process begins with determining the cardinal sectors where we can place water. This will vary over time. After choosing the cardinal sector, we need to check whether there is a good energy combination on the house chart and, if for the year in question, the star flying in is lucky or not. Next, we fine tune a direction within that cardinal sector, what we call a hexagram (a set of two trigrams) which change at every 5.5º and inside this we still have the affinities, that is, every 0.9375º. Once the direction has been determined, it is necessary to check whether it benefits the inhabitant and is active during the period in question. If so, we pick the day, and this should nurture the energy of both home and inhabitant. So, what seems like a simple process and which could be for someone who isn’t’ aware of its benefits is in truth something complex and geared to the person, home and goals set.
Basically, have a great relationship with money to make sure you’re close!
A baby room or nursery is one of those images that any “applicant” mum dreams of early on. How many of us grew up fantasizing about this moment? Of being a mother and having a beautiful, healthy baby… many of us imagine ourselves pushing the stroller through a garden on a Spring morning.
When the moment does in fact arrive, we all want a prince or princess’s room for our baby and for the room to offer him or her the best well-being, harmony and development possible. That dream is easy to achieve. All it takes is for your baby’s room to be in accordance with Feng Shui and it will bring harmony, well-being, health, protection, good development and peaceful nights. Although you’ll achieve the best results with specific suggestions for your baby, there are many aspects we can put into practice that already yield great results.
Suggestions:
To make it easier, we’ll give you 10 suggestions below:
I’ve been giving monthly workshops at the Centro Pré e Pós Parto ante and post-natal clinic in Lisbon since 2010 and a lot of the mums have implemented these suggestions, as well as others, having achieved good results.
If you’re still expecting, you can implement these measures from the start, but if your baby is already here, give them a go and witness the results!
I wish you good energy and peaceful nights.
Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art “that helps us achieve harmony in our lives through healthy environments”. Feng Shui “studies the way in which (electromagnetic) energy flows in a given space and the way in which it affects us and interacts with us”. It allows us to “harmonize, balance and foster the energies in homes and spaces, helping inhabitants achieve certain goals, such as improvement in health, relationships, prosperity, wealth, studies, professional life and social status, among many others, seeing that a home is a reflection of those who live in it”, explains Sofia Lobo Cera, professional Feng Shui consultant, in her book “Change your Home Enrich your Life”. We spoke to Sofia about how we can apply Feng Shui in our home.
How and when did Feng Shui show up in your life?
Feng Shui showed up in my life around 1997/1998, when my mother bought a Feng Shui encyclopedia and brought it home. I started to read it and identified with this art right off the bat. Everything I read made complete sense and it was almost innate. At the time I was starting a Chemical Engineering – Environment and Quality degree at university and Feng Shui made even more sense, as I felt that everything was interconnected. Over the years, I read up more on the subject and the more I read, the more I was fascinated.
Later, when I was already working in the field of engineering, which in truth didn’t fulfil me and wasn’t what I’d imagined, I decided to take a professional Feng Shui course.
Why is it important to implement this ancient art?
Feng Shui allows us to harmonize, balance and foster the energies in our homes and spaces, helping inhabitants/occupants achieve certain goals, such as health, relationships, prosperity, wealth, studies, professional life, social status, among many others, seeing that a home is a reflection of those who live in it.
Feng Shui techniques allow us to finetune this energy, using it in our favour, strengthening the more positive periods and supporting us through the hard times. When spaces support their inhabitants energy wise, life flows more harmoniously and people become happier, wholesome, healthy and financially stable. Since we have this technique available, why not make the most of it and lead the happy, joyful life we want?
Can the way in which we lay out our objects and decorate our homes influence our well-being, health and happiness?
Absolutely. This is because according to the Feng Shui approach, there are five elements (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal) that relate with one another in either a constructive or destructive way. When the constructive or creative cycle is present in the spaces we use, through the items we place in them, as well as furniture and decoration, then energy flows and everything is in harmony. When the destructive cycle, however, is present in those spaces, there are blockages and problems start arising. Another fundamental aspect is the layout of these items and the furniture in our home, the most relevant of which are desks, beds and sofas.
Could you give us a few practical examples of a wrong layout that we could have in our homes and which is hurting us?
There are many examples, but the most common are when people want to have an active social life and/or opportunities in life and their sofa is positioned with its back towards the door. Another example is mirrors in front of the bed. In addition to accelerating energy, mirrors can cause sleep disorders, as well as doubling the number of people in bed, which in a couple can bring situations of infidelity. These are just a few examples that are easy to fix, yet which can have significant consequences in our life, and clearly show the risks that a house that is not in harmony can bring.
What is the best way to have a house in harmony?
The best way is to ensure that the house’s energy flows properly and for this, interventions need to be made that can include tidying up or organizing the house, laying furniture out differently, decorating, the way in which we experience the space.
To start harmonizing a home according to the general principles of Feng Shui, simply buy a good book on the subject and apply what is in there. This is the best way to start achieving good results quickly. However, if you want to take it a step further and harmonize the house/company in a tailor-made way, according to the specific goals of the inhabitants/space occupants and thereby make the most of this art, then I advise you to book a professional Feng Shui consultation.
When it comes to colours, what are the most appropriate ones for each room in the house?
That depends a lot on the energy charts for each space. I know it’s frequent for us to read that for example the Fire element should be in the south area, Water in the north and so on. But, that’s not the whole story. What that means is that south is governed by the Fire element, but that is not to say that this is the element to use there. Only when we do the calculations of the space taking into account inside and outside can we find out which elements, and thereby which colours, should be placed in each cardinal sector, that is, in each room. However, there are colours that should be avoided in certain locations, for instance, peach in couples’ bedrooms, as they bring divorce; red walls in hallways, that generally bring throat conditions or related conditions, or having very dark north sectors, which could bring problems with conceiving or situations of fear and deep anxiety.
How can we let energy flow naturally, in a positive way and without blockages in our spaces?
There are various key points for this. The first one is to air our home every day and let the sunshine in so energy can be renewed. Next, our home should always be neat and tidy so that everything is in its rightful spot and balanced. Lastly, another key aspect is to not hoard or store clutter, as this creates stagnation in people’s lives, that is, we should apply the principle of “out with the old and in with the new”. These three principles are fundamental for our home’s energy to flow better. If you want to learn more, on my website you’ll find a free pdf with the “8 steps to get rid of stagnation!” where you will find more tips on how to unblock spaces and get everything flowing. Having said that, a personalized analysis is always more effective.
What are the ideal features when house hunting and what should we avoid?
There are several features we should take into account when picking a home and I go quite deep into them in my book “Change your Home Enrich your Life”. However, we should always pick houses with a good view, unimpeded. The floor plan should be as balanced as possible, that is, rectangular or square shaped. Avoid any alleys as they can lead us to situation we can’t turn around.
Feng Shui has as its basis the five elements (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal). For harmony, should those five elements be represented in all the rooms in a house?
Not necessarily. As I said before, depending on the calculations for the space taking into account inside and outside the space, and the goals that a person has during the consultation, each room should have one or more elements, but not necessarily all of them. Here the key point is to have the constructive or creative cycle of the five elements, in harmony, working in a constructive way and not activating the destructive (or control) cycle.
If the various elements are in conflict, does there tend to be conflict in people’s lives?
Yes. When our objects and furniture (decoration) which represent the elements are not in the right place, problems tend to show up In people’s lives and can show themselves on several levels, such as health, finances, family and marital relations, and others. In these cases, what we need to do is insert the necessary element to harmonize the cycle or drain the negative element (energy). For instance, if we have a situation where Water puts out Fire, considering that this Fire is a positive energy (the Fire element is controlled), then it becomes necessary to introduce Wood in order to have the constructive cycle where Water feeds Wood and Wood fuels Fire. Yet, if we have situation where the Metal element is negative, then we need to use Water to drain it.
What decorative items should we avoid having in our home? And what should we invest in?
Once more, this depends on the home, but we must certainly avoid objects we’re not fond of or which were given to us by someone we don’t like, or which bring bad memories. In our home, we should only keep what makes us feel good. Even so, in general, anything related with death of our loved ones are to be avoided. Symbols that represent unity, such as the Mystic Knot, are generally good investments.
What is a Feng Shui consultation?
A Feng Shui consultation may vary a lot depending on the consultant, as well as the Feng Shui method used. I follow Classical Feng Shui in general, which starts with a diagnosis, i.e. visiting the site, where I speak to the customer in order to identify his or her goals for the Feng Shui consultation, as well as observe the space and take the required measurements using the Lo Pan (Chinese compass) for further analysis. After this, I draft the Classical Feng Shui project, which I then send to the customer. This project includes the analysis of the space. It’s a full, detailed and comprehensive analysis and goes right to the core of the issues the customer wants to correct. The project looks at the whole analysis and the suggestions to mitigate any negative points and encourage the positive ones, meeting the customer’s goal, as well as harmonizing the space.
There is also follow up of the implementation of the recommendations, namely the results achieved.
How can someone book a Feng Shui consultation with you?
It’s so simple! Any person or company can book a consultation with me. All they need to do is get it touch with me via my website www.sofialobocera.com or my Facebook page www.facebook.com/SofiaLoboCera.FengShui or via my email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
How do you feel helping people live a better life?
I feel grateful and great joy. It is in fact a blessing to be able to help people live a better life. It is fascinating when my customers give me feedback and tell me how happy they are that their life has improved. Basically, I love Feng Shui and above all, I love what I do.
In June of this year you released the book “Change your Home Enrich your Life”, with publishing house Verso de Kapa. Why did you feel the need to write this book?
It was something I’d been planning for a long time now, in truth it’s a project with 8 years of research and at the end of last year, I felt it was now time to share it. The need came up with wanting to make it easier for people to be in touch with and access this ancient subject, to answer the frequent questions I get asked, such as “Sofia, my living room is so-and-so, what can I do so we may have moments of leisure? And can I place a mirror in the hallway? And the kitchen, what can I do to have the family sitting together at the table? And in the bedroom? Is my bed well positioned? And how can I organize the baby’s room and the study?” These questions, and so many others, were asked frequently and you’ll find the answers in my book. All of them, divided into the different rooms and always with a lot of pictures, which are sometimes worth more than a thousand words.
Is this practice still largely unknown in Portugal?
Feng Shui started making an appearance in Europe 30 years ago and in Portugal at the end of the 1990’s. When I started reading up on it 20 years ago, it was practically unknown, but nowadays, as it is so much more disclosed, there is increasingly more knowledge, more interest, even if we do have a long road ahead.
What does this book mean to you?
This book is very special to me. It’s a dream come true and being able to help people live a better life, the life they want to live.
What do you wish to tell readers with this book?
In addition to demystifying Feng Shui and making it simpler, I intend to transmit to my readers its logic and basic principles and the requisites they can apply by themselves so that the energy in their homes flows and they can have a happy, balanced life, in harmony.
Every day, I get beautiful messages telling me they’re read the book and loved it. Many have started putting it into practice and feeling the results. There are some who tell me this is a book everyone should have, and I agree, as even after reading the book, you can refer back to it at any time.
Did you know that your home could be an excellent indicator of how your life is now and what lies in store for the near future?
That’s right… although houses aren’t exactly living beings, they give out signs that we can interpret depending on the type of manifestation and the area in which they happen. Under the type of manifestation, that is, the corresponding element (Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal) there are still various sorts.
Is there a part of your home with mould? Or infiltrations? And what about floods, have you ever been “flooded” in any way? And what about the health of your plants? Has a plant suddenly just died? And short-circuits? Have you ever turned on a lamp that seems to explode when you flip the light switch? And in your home, is there an area that seems to catch a lot more dust than the others? Or tends to get rusty?
These types of manifestations can indicate situations that are happening or about to happen.
Mould, depending on the area of the house, indicates that something inside us is blocking a given situation, for instance, having the feeling that the people around us don’t help us enough.
Infiltrations are internal issues that are hard to solve. It’s something that could be under pressure, like depression.
Floods may indicate that sudden changes will take place in our family life.
If a plant dies suddenly, we need to be aware of our health or family matters or even situations from our past.
When we turn on a light and it short-circuits, we should analyse whether we or someone close to us is too agitated, edgy or stressed out. If that is the case, we need to calm down, as these situations can lead to serious arguments or even nervous system or heart conditions.
The lint that tends to build up in certain areas of our house, to the point where we need to remove it every day, is an excellent indicator that the energy is stagnant and blocked and something isn’t flowing the way it should. Removing the lint is not enough. We need to analyse what the blockage is about and fix it. Lastly, Metal manifestations like simple rust indicate jealousy, falsity or even lack of objectives.
Our home is an extension of our body and as such, it manifests itself. Knowing how to recognize the signs and interpreting them can be of added value in your daily life, helping you solve existing problems and preventing situations that are about to happen!
We wish you good energy,
