Use some fundamentals of feng shui to maintain a healthy lifestyle. According to the bagua (feng shui map of the home) the center of one's living space holds healing energy. By nurturing this zone, or gua, with its corresponding color and materials, you are essentially nurturing your own well-being.

The health gua is characterized by earth elements and yellow, orange, and brown hues. Add color, stones, and living plants, or flat, square shapes (which hold the correct energy for the space) to transform the chi. Photo murals of bamboo forests or other greenery in lieu of live plants also work well. The element of fire can energize this space, too-keep red or yellow candles on a flat stone surface or tabletop with healing intentions.

Imperial oil, which comes from the tea gardens of China's Jiang Xi Province, is now being used as an alternative to olive oil. The seeds of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, are cold pressed to extract oil as savory and healthful as that from the olive.

Tea oil's high concentration of vitamin E and other antioxidants protects the body from free-radical damage and heart disease and lowers levels of harmful LDL cholesterol, all with less saturated fat than either olive or grape seed varieties.

You use tea oil much like you would fine olive oil. For more information on where to purchase this product, contact us at [email protected]