Love Note from Anjie: Gratitude

Photo by Matt on Unsplash

gratitude

another quiet cool afternoon in New York City. it's not Saturday (when I usually write these), but it feels like Saturday because the holiday… which brings us to the topic of the moment.

Gratitude: “the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.” –Oxford Languages

after looking up the definition, as well as contemplating lojong slogan #13 (see below), I was invited to consider gratitude in way that includes, rather than rejects. Gratitude can offer us a different path that includes all of our experience as good, meaningful, as well as essential. All parts of me, including what I consider ugly, inadequate, or shameful, are valuable and deserve acceptance, appreciation, and kindness. all of your experience is included.

 

Photo by Darius Cotoi on Unsplash

LOJONG SLOGAN #13

Be Grateful to Everyone

Remember this holiday season that we can also offer gratitude for those in our life that we find the most challenging, who are often our family members or the ones closest to you.

They “blow your cover” as Ani Pema Chodron says here. Trungpa Rinpoche also taught that “if everything were lovey-dovey and jellyfish-liked, there would be nothing to work with. Everything would be completely blank.”

The obstacles are our greatest teachers and make us who we are, and teach us true compassion.

UPCOMING IN-PERSON/VIRTUAL CLASS

Clearing Your Space: Feng Shui for Abundance

Our inner and outer environments are interconnected and interdependent. Our homes are our bodies. We’re approaching the end of 2022. In feng shui, it’s helpful to clear your space during transitional times like this.

Anjie Cho smiling and sitting on the floor surrounded by flower petals

Photo by LOTUSWEI

In this workshop:

  • Let go of the qi no longer serving you to invite space for new

  • Learn about clearing your space with feng shui for abundance

  • Review five different ways to shift the energy of your home

  • End with a virtual space blessing

Hope to meet you IN PERSON!

Sun, Dec 12 at 6:30 PST (3:30 EST)

$33 In Person at RA MA Los Angeles or $26 Virtually on RA MA TV

Open for enrollment

Reset Your Home and Spirit

Our annual New Year Reset Package is now open for enrollment!

snowflake

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

COMPLIMENTARY CLASS:

Winter Feng Shui

Activate the mandala of your space for the Winter Solstice

Join me and the RA MA crew for the complimentary events for the RA MA Holiday Wellness Salon

Wed, Dec 7 at Noon PST (3pm EST) Virtually on RA MA TV

ON THIS WEEK'S PODCAST

Gratitude Bagua Mandala

Laura and I put together a super fun episode all about gratitude this week on the Holistic Spaces Podcast.

My favorite part is where we go through the entire bagua mandala and offer suggestions as to how you can energetically offer gratitude from a feng shui qi perspective using color and bagua location.

with heartfelt gratitude,

Anjie

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Love Note from Anjie: Celebrations

Photo by Skylar Zilka on Unsplash

celebrations

today is quiet, the air crisp and dry. I'm visiting my in-laws in Athens, Georgia for my nephew's bar mizvah, an honored rite of passage and celebration at the age of thirteen in the Jewish community.

In feng shui, this time - the fall - is also considered a time celebration, a time to offer gratitude and enjoy the fruition of the harvest. it's important to look at and acknowledge time.

I was thinking about why I like to title these weekly love notes by date. and why I begin by noting the weather at the moment. for me, it's a little celebration to stop - feel - and notice the phenomenal world. what will you celebrate today?

 

Photo by Alexander Tsang on Unsplash

from the Shabbat opening meditation:

WELCOMING DOORS

May the door of this synagogue be wide enough to receive all who hunger for love, all who are lonely for friendship.

may it welcome all who have cares to unburden, thanks to express, hopes to nurture.

a feng shui ritual

One Good Deed a Day

The first feng shui adjustment my mentor Rosalie prescribed for me was "One Good Deed a Day." My go-to deed at that time was to open doors for people. I would literally run to get the door for anyone. But what happened was by opening doors for others, I was opening doors for myself.

Try "One Good Deed a Day" for 27 days...and see what doors you can open in your life!

Photo by Rowan Freeman on Unsplash

Photo by Anjie Cho

Did you see this?

Smoke Blessings

offering tools:

  • dried botanical (you can dry your own tangerine peels or juniper)

  • a candle

  • firesafe container

instructions:

  1. start at your front door, the mouth of qi.

  2. circumambulate the space clockwise, hugging the wall on your left

  3. chanting OM MA NI PAD ME HUM

  4. visualizing the smoke is filling your home with love and protection

  5. close with a humble offering of gratitude

May all you walk through doorways with compassion,

Anjie

p.s. would you like to receive these love notes directly to your inbox right when they’re written? Join our newsletter and you’ll also get special perks only for subscribers!

What Does Your Home Want to Tell You?

Living room with grey cough, black reclining chair, circular table, windows, and large abstract art.

Photo and design by Anjie Cho Architect PLLC

Something that we teach our feng shui students at the Mindful Design School is the importance of deep listening. How often during a conversation do you find yourself thinking ahead to what you want to share, instead of really listening to what the other person is saying? 

I also invite you to think about listening when it comes to your home. It’s possible that you haven’t ever taken the time to listen to your home before. Your home is a place that has been there for you — it may have changed locations, outfits, or colors many times throughout your life, but your home has always been there to support you in some way. You’ve been in a relationship with this entity, your home, for many years. Maybe your home has been something you’ve relied on, or even something you’ve resented, but have you ever stopped to listen to it?

If you haven’t taken the time to listen to your home, I invite you to give it a try and see what your home has to say. If you keep doing the same thing over and over again, there may be a lot of messages that you are missing. When you instead stop and pay attention to the world around you, you can start to receive messages that you never would have known otherwise. 

In case this has encouraged you to start listening to your home, I want to share a few practical ways you can do this. First, I would recommend taking some time to sit in your favorite part of your home. You could set a timer for nine minutes, and just sit there in silence and listen. See what arises, and allow a voice that may have been forgotten for a long time to come forward. 

You could also do the same thing with the part of your home that feels the most difficult or challenging. Go to that place in your home, spend nine minutes there in silence, and receive whatever messages your home would like to share with you. 

Listening to your home and acknowledging it can be a practice. In this way, you can start to be grateful to your home not only by relying on it, but also by stopping and allowing yourself to receive something from your home. Your home has always been there for you, so how can you now be there for your home? What wisdom can you receive from it? 

by Anjie Cho

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com

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