Take Along Karma With Feng-Shui Bag

Sandra Ghosheh has a special bag she brings on every trip. It doesn’t contain toiletries or clothes, but crystals, candles and incense.

Whenever she travels, she uses the tools in her bag to unleash the energy in her hotel room and minimize negative influences.

Ghosheh is a follower of feng shui (pronounced “fung shway”), the ancient Chinese art of placement. Highly symbolic, it attempts to balance unseen forces to benefit the occupants of any room.

That includes motel rooms.

Ghosheh says feng-shui principles can help transform a strange room into a peaceful place. Taking a few minutes to properly arrange a room can result in a more successful business trip, and make it easier to relax.

“It all seems to be more comfortable,” says the woman who traveled frequently for her marketing business. “In the hotel room, I sleep better. When I’m doing business, there’s more focus.”

She has recently started to package and sell feng-shui travel kits, which cost from $55 to $85 depending on the size. (For more information, call her at 913-648-8851, or write Intuitions, P.O. Box 40095 Overland Park, Kan. 66204.)

The kits, which come in a silky or brocaded bag, also include a lighter, Mylar angels, ribbons, paper clips and safety pins for hanging crystals, and written inspirational messages.

If it sounds like silly superstition, you may be right. But maybe not.

Asian banks have spent millions to assure their buildings have proper feng shui. And every feng-shui master has stories of people whose lives changed dramatically after they rearranged their homes.

Feng shui, which literally means wind and water, has been around for millenniums. It is based on the idea of promoting the proper energy in every setting. Some have likened it to acupuncture for a building.

It’s easy to be skeptical that hanging a crystal could change your career, or painting a room can make you wealthy. But some traveling feng-shui principles are common sense.

Ghosheh advises avoiding hotel rooms near elevator shafts or busy roads. The constant movement can disrupt the energy in the hotel room - not to mention that it can be noisy.

Other aspects of feng shui are more complicated. Followers believe that different parts of a home or room are associated with different aspects of your life. And it’s important to have the correct balance in each room. The five elements of nature - water, wood, fire, earth and metal - should be represented.

Ghosheh’s kit includes a scarf decorated in colors associated with each element. When she reaches her hotel room, she places it in a prominent place.

She says hotels have not objected to her burning incense or candles in her non-smoking room, and clients don’t seem to notice her changes, other than feeling more at ease.

“It’s not intrusive at all,” she says. “It’s very Western; you wouldn’t notice a thing.”