Sometimes were lucky to have neighbors that within a short time, they become our friends. But sometimes, we’re not that fortunate and we have to deal with bad neighbors, negative vibes, unfriendly energy and it can get very frustrating at times.
Negative energies coming from our neighbors can sometimes affect our home’s energies, especially if our neighbors are loud, rude, or just plain negative. What we need is to find ways to protect ourselves and our homes in order to block this negative energy incoming into out homes and disturbing our everyday lives.
Our first advice? Don’t let them get to you, and don’t give anyone the pleasure of disrupting your home.
For the last several months, I have been dealing with a very troublesome noisy neighbor situation. I love my apartment, and in all the years I’ve lived here, I had never had a neighbor problem until last fall, when a couple of very social guys moved in next door. They immediately began to have noisy parties nearly every weekend. Their party space was a large deck, located about fifty feet from my bedroom (our houses are VERY close together).
I tried a variety of approaches over the months to help these guys understand my need for sleep…to no avail. Letters and calls to their landlord, letters and calls to them…nothing really worked. A few weeks ago, while reading your book, I read about “deflecting” the energy of (as you called them on page 218) “sucky neighbors.” I put a mirror in my bedroom window, facing outward. This mirror has special meaning for me: it’s from the home of an aunt whom I loved very much. Seeing the mirror reminds me of her house, a place where I always felt safe and happy.
Feng Shui can help with bad or difficult neighbors to protect yourself from their negativity that’s blocking your own success and goals. By dealing with bad or difficult neighbors, you’re able to focus your energy on expanding your personal and professional life.
For those that live in an apartment, condo or even suburban area means sharing close space with people you wouldn’t necessarily choose to be around.
Even if you live in a large luxury apartment, you may see your neighbors in the elevator or parking garage every day; if they have negative energy, and that negative energy surrounds them and also affects your home, it’s time to take action.
Neighbors can be bothersome because of loud noises (loud pets or children, especially above you; vacuuming at midnight; practicing guitar at 6 AM). They might bother you because they are gossips and you never feel safe or secure in your apartment, worried about what they’ll say or do if you reveal, or they discover, your personal business.
Or they might just be garden variety Debbie Downers, who greet every friendly “How are you?” with 20 minutes of all that is wrong in their life, from their cappucino without enough foam to heartache, heartbreak, illness and job loss all around them.
All of these personality types are toxic to be around, and if you’re in a Manhattan apartment, real estate is far too valuable to just pick up and move because you don’t like the neighbors.
Here are five ways to use Feng Shui to minimize the effects of bad neighbors and keep their negativity from blocking your own success and goals.
1. Hang a mirror
If the neighbor across from you is creating problems, hang a ba gua mirror above your door to dilute the negative energy.
2. Wind chimes
A wind chime with 5 hollow metal tubes, which produces a crisp, clear, pleasing sound, will deflect negative energy if your neighbor lives to the right of your front door (when you are standing at the door looking out.)
3. A lush plant
Place or hang a planter between your door and your neighbor’s door if your troublesome neighbor lives to the left of you. Keep in mind that it is not always advisable to put something in direct line of the front door to the street as you want all of the positive energy and opportunities to be able to come to you so be careful on this placement.
Simply entering your own apartment or house every day with a broad smile on your face can help raise the energy of your apartment building. If you’re permitted, hang a bright colored flag or a set of colorful crystal balls outside your door. You’ll raise the positive energy of your hallway and this will help all your neighbors, as well as yourself.
5. Activate the helpful people trigram of your home with the intention of attracting better neighbors.
The above suggestions are Feng Shui fixes which help but are not as effective as solving the problem by not having difficult neighbors in the first place. To attract better neighbors in to your building, activate the Helpful People trigram of your apartment. When you’re standing at your apartment door looking in, the helpful people trigram is in the corner immediately at your right hand. You can activate this trigram of the Feng Shui Ba Gua by placing a live plant in this corner or metal objects. When you activate the helpful people trigram, envision your perfect neighbors, the people you want to share a building with, in as much detail as possible.