Anchorage woman turns bad energy into good

Injured, out of work, Emy Aurigue used feng shui to change her life

By JULIA O'MALLEY jomalley@...

Published: February 25th, 2008 12:05 AM
Last Modified: February 25th, 2008 05:04 AM

Inside a small Dimond storefront, among trickling electric waterfalls and curls of incense smoke, Emy Aurigue clicked past a chubby gilded Buddha in a pair of lime-green mules. She wore a green shirt and a matching green necklace. The outfit was cosmic, she explained.

"For every one of us, we have our self elements. For me, green is an energizing color."

A decade ago, Aurigue, a mother of four from the Philippines, found herself bankrupt, injured and out of work. She resurrected her life, she said, by changing the energy in her house using feng shui, a practice that involves changing the arrangement and colors in rooms based on Chinese astrological calculations.

"It was a tremendous change. It really gives me a sense of peace and comfort," she said.

Books fed her interest, and led her to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where she studied at the Institute of Feng Shui. Soon she began advising friends, and then, in 2006, she opened Feng Shui Alaska, offering consultations, crystals, Buddha statues, New Age music and espresso.

Feng shui may have faded from fashion Outside, but not in Anchorage, where interest in her business continues to grow, she said. So far, Aurigue says, she's helped a hundred clients rearrange their homes and businesses to bring good luck, good health and prosperity. She charges 80 cents a square foot.

"Every time you fix things, you're activating more of the good energy," she said.

This month is especially busy because it marks the beginning of the year of the rat in the Chinese astrological calendar. Aurigue's been telling a lot of new year fortunes, though she prefers to call it "destiny analysis."

In general, the year of the rat is a good time to begin things: romances, marriages, having children, new careers. But in terms of calamities, the forecast is not too good. Across the world, people can expect floods, mudslides, earthquakes and strange weather, spurred by the warming earth.

"Don't live too close to water," she said.

There are remedies: Water in a southeastern corner helps activate prosperity. A big metal object at the south side drains the bad energy.

CAUTIOUS CLIENTELE

Many who come to her are middle-aged women looking for a change. She advises painting front doors red, placing metallic objects in certain spots, incorporating new colors into wardrobes and moving beds away from the door. Some come secretly, asking her about help with relationships gone cold and dreams of changing careers.

"For a lot of people it's all about their wealth and their love life. The third is their health," she said.

Customers often ask Aurigue to be discreet because they fear feng shui conflicts with the Christian church, but Aurigue, a Catholic, assures them it is a science. A priest even came to bless her shop, she says.

"This is not based on religion. First is your god and whatever you do with your faith," she said. "Then earth luck, which is based on feng shui, how you arrange the energy in your environment."

In early February, after consulting with other feng shui masters around the globe, she read the fortune of the city for the coming year. Among the highlights:

• Anchorage will have a cold spring; it may seem like it never comes and then it will suddenly be summer.

• Those living in East Anchorage will be most prosperous; property values will hold steady; businesses will do well.

• Those in South Anchorage can expect more crime and should be on guard against legal problems, health problems and marital issues.

• In the northwest, look out for illnesses, especially among family breadwinners. And, there could be some legal issues.

• Those living in the north should have a good year; many will get promotions.

Deborah Fachko's interest in feng shui brought her to the storefront last year. Aurigue detected she was deficient in her water elements. Fachko added blue to her clothing and home.

"It helped me to become healthier emotionally, mentally and spiritually," she said.

Ginny Jacober, a retired interior designer, took Aurigue's advice about hanging a crystal in the center of her house. It seems to lighten her mood, she said.

"I feel just like when you get up and have your coffee."

RELIEF FROM SUFFERING

Aurigue's feng shui awakening came after an injury caused her to lose her job and her family spiraled toward financial ruin. She realized that her house wasn't a true rectangle shape because the front door was inset, carving a square out of the southwest section of the home. The southwest section is the mother section.

"Which is why I was suffering," she said.

She had an uncle plant a garden around the entry-way using flowers in auspicious colors to fill in the missing part of the rectangle.

"I got my job back, and we were able to move into a bigger house," she said.

Don't buy it? Like any belief, it's an act of faith.

Feng shui makes people think about bringing balance to their lives, she said. It discourages clutter, in the home and in the mind. Change takes internal work, not just rearranging furniture.

"You need to change your attitude first, then you change your environment," she said. "If you have good intentions toward other people, good will come."

• Added a new page to meet the members of the Century Sports Massage Team
• Added a new page of this year's Calendar of Events
• Added a new page to make buying Gift Certificates easier!
• Modified the Corporate Wellness page in order to make purchasing hours easier through PayPal. Seated Massage are now available in the Seattle and Portland areas!
• Modified the Membership page to make purchasing membership discounted hours easier through PayPal.

• Logos and links to sporting events our sports massage team provide our services annually
• Logos and links to recommended businesses

• Call your insurance agent
• Ask if you have PIP or MedPay (a version of PIP minus wage or loss of services coverage). If yes, ask about limits on time and dollar amount (3 years/ $10,000).
• Ask your agent to take your Report of Loss claim
• Ask your agent to phone in your report to the claims office
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• Call the claims office and get the name of the claims adjuster handling your claim
• Ask the claims adjuster to mail a PIP Application, Attending Physician's Report and Salary Verification forms
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      This article is for information purposes only. It is not the intent of this article to diagnose, instruct individuals in self diagnosis or instruct individuals in the treatment of disease. Some Individuals could have a serious medical condition like Addison's or Cushings disease. A physician should be consulted to diagnose or rule out serious medical conditions.

      The hormone cortisol is produced in the adrenal cortex in response to adrenal cortical stimulating hormone (ACTH) produced in the pituitary gland. Cortisol plays an important role in regulating blood sugar, energy production, inflammation, the immune system, and healing.

      If you have too little cortisol, you may suffer from fatigue, chronic fatigue, exhaustion, and a disease of the endocrine system called Addison's disease. If your adrenal glands are producing too much cortisol, you may develop conditions such as weight gain, especially around the abdomen, depressed immune function with all of the consequences, accelerated aging, and stomach ulcers.

      Recently, a lot of attention has been directed to the effects of excess cortisol on weight gain and on the difficulty in losing weight. Collectively, the various diet plans being promoted by a long list of diet gurus have a failure rate of approximately 93 to 97 percent. There are several reasons for this. One is clearly the difficulty in achieving behavioral modification in the face of easy availability of the wrong kind of foods, inherently sedentary lifestyles, and intense media programming. Another reason is that our hormones work against us, in the weight loss perspective. High cortisol levels is one of the culprits. 
 

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