For most visitors to Bali, the island's ceremonies are a feast of colour and exotic culture. To most Balinese they are simply a matter of ritual, the relevance a part of their very being and often not consciously considered.

For best selling author, Karen Kingston, they are a reaffirmation of everything that has led her to this point and this place in her life. The island, its spiritual life and ceremonial rituals strike a very deep chord as they relate to an unseen world that is very real to those who have chosen to address it.

As one of the world's leading experts on Feng Shui and Space Clearing - a term that is now internationally recognised as a result of her first book - she is her own best endorsement, a woman who seems perfectly content with where she is physically and personally. Her two books, Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui and Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui were both published after she had discovered Bali.

"The Balinese have the most highly developed purification ceremonies I have witnessed anywhere on earth," she explains. "I had no idea until I came here that the Balinese did this. Imagine my delight when I discovered an island of three million people for whom energy clearing is a complete way of life, suddenly my work took a great leap forward,"

English-born Karen began to develop her sensory abilities over 25 years ago in search of answers to life's important questions. She had already been working as a practitioner for over twelve years when she came to Bali and discovered a whole culture that worked with very similar premises.

"I had been working with Feng Shui long before I came here and had discovered that I could apply the principles of Feng Shui beyond what had been written by working with the energy. I set about developing space clearing techniques to clear the unwholesome frequencies from buildings, primarily so they wouldn't interfere with my continuing studies of the energy world. In so doing I inadvertently discovered the core principles on which Feng Shui is based."

Karen embraced Bali both professionally and personally, she set up home in a Balinese village, learned the language and the customs and then set her sights on a Balinese husband.

"My work takes me out of the country a lot and I always felt tied to this place when I was away. When I met and married Rai, my husband, I felt free of that, it was as though wherever I went I had my own piece of Bali with me."

With the island having such a profound effect on her, she is happy to have reached a point where she can begin to give something back. To this end she and her husband found a piece of land that met all their requirements in Amed and have built a hotel, the first Feng Shui Boutique Hotel in Bali and possibly the world.

They have named the hotel Dancing Dragon Cottages as Karen claims the land has real dragon energy, "I love this piece of land". The hotel has been designed and built by Karen and Rai entirely according to universal and Balinese Feng Shui principles.

A tour of the hotel is an education on the basics of Feng Shui. The path that leads from reception to the pool and the rocky craggs overlooking the beach meanders downhill. It is described as walking the dragon's back, "There are no straight lines in Feng Shui," explains Karen.

There are also no sharp corners to be found anywhere throughout the property, the columns, terraces and even the corners of the rooms have all been scrupulously rounded. The placement of furniture in the rooms also follows these principles, the head must face Agung according to Balinese lore, and here this has been arranged. The shape of the bed heads has been designed to enhance creativity and the colour schemes compound the romantic energy of the area that many claim is sexually regenerating.

Electrical appliances in the rooms have been kept away from the bed so the electromagnetic fields (EMFs) don't disturb the sleep. Nothing is overhead while you're asleep and the bedside lamps have wooden bases rather than metal (metal creates high EMFs). The bedside tables are well balanced to create a feeling of equality in which romance can flourish. The bed is positioned with a view of all the windows and doors and the highest quality futon mattresses have been purchased.

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