Love Note from Anjie: Gratitude

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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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Feng Shui for the Holidays

Photo by Libby Penner on Unsplash

Although the holidays are a time for celebration and rest, sometimes they can be quite the opposite. This time of year can become stressful and exhausting. Since feng shui concepts can give us tools to help create harmony and positivity in our living spaces, I’d like to share some feng shui tips to support us during the holiday season.

Family

Thanksgiving was just a few weeks ago, and of course there is often a little drama and turmoil in the Cho household. Thankfully, it was resolved. But no matter how well your family gets along – I don’t think it hurts to have more harmony in the home. Did you know there’s a section of the feng shui map that relates to family? This area also relates to new beginnings. 

Locate the family/new beginnings area of your home or bedroom on the feng shui map. If you divide your home or bedroom into a 3x3 grid, it’s the center left area. You can use this feng shui map to help you locate the area. For more harmony within your family, try adding a live green plant to represent growth and support for the family during the holidays. If there is not enough natural light for a plant, try a low light plant or a very high quality, realistic looking silk plant.

Space Clearing

Holidays are often a time to gather with friends and family. Some of us have visitors staying with us in addition to parties and get-togethers. When there are many gatherings in the home, it may be helpful to do a light space clearing on a regular basis to clear the air and energy in your home. Each time you clear the space, dedicate your home to creating a loving happy space for your family and friends. For frequent space clearing, I like smudging (burning) palo santo or diffusing sweet orange essential oil. Palo santo has a light, clean, minty smell that is delicious. The sweet orange scent is life affirming, happy and bright. Use the one you like best, or alternate!

If you’re traveling you can use this to clear the space you are staying in whether it’s a hotel or as a guest in someone’s home. Probably better to use the orange essential oil rather than burn something ☺

Gratitude and Thanks

Finally, the holiday season reminds us to be grateful and thankful for the love and support we’ve received in our lives. I recently received some Buddhist teachings on patronage. I find that supporting others as a patron is a truly rewarding way to offer thanks. I'm so thankful for my abundance and success and am happy to share that with the world.

Take some time to thank the ones you love who bring you support in your life. Bring some feng shui into this practice of honoring those helpful people by offering to be a benefactor for them as well! The benefactors’ area of your bedroom would be the corner front right if you’re standing in your room looking in. Make a list of those caring and generous people, and then place the list in the benefactors area of your bedroom with the intention that you're grateful for their help and you wish to offer them even more in return. 

Thanksgiving, Christmas and the days in between have always been dedicated to family, friends and remembering how fortunate we are to have life. Over time though, the holiday season has, unfortunately, become associated with high stress levels and weariness as well. Through feng shui practices and awareness, we can use well-established methods to lower stress and focus on what's really important during this time: our loved ones. 

by Anjie Cho

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

Q&A Sunday: Easing Tension at Family Gatherings

Could you suggest easy-to-implement tips on how to relieve tension at a family summer holiday gathering in a rented place? 

Guiliana G., Lille, France

 

Hi Guiliana,

Thanks always for your thoughtful questions that you send in and your diligent readership :)

Yes, tensions can run high during any family gathering, especially the extended ones, like a summer home, or during the extended end-of-year holidays. I have two suggestions for these challenging times. You can do both!

Clear the space with Oranges

Our Holistic Spaces store launched an apothecary section, carrying room mists. Happy | Orange & Clear Quartz Mist, for uplifting abundance and positivity, would be totally perfect for the summer vacation home or during the holidays, when you have a lot of guests over and family conflicts, to brighten and cheer up your home. or to just lift your spirits :) Oranges are used in feng shui to clear out any negative energy such as family tension. 

Harmonize the Family

Another feng shui adjustment is to activate the three harmonies of family-wood in the entire home, whether that be the rented vacation home or your home where you have many family members visiting you. If you also have family issues in general, activating the three harmonies of family-wood will also be very effective to perform in your bedroom.

The three harmonies of family-wood can be activated by locating three green living plants or 3" round mirrors in each area indicated on the image above. The mirrors can go on the walls, or the plants can go on the floor, wall or on a stand. Green plants are the most effective, because they represent the wood element of kindness, flexibility and open-heartedness. 

These three areas also relate to Chinese zodiac animals: Rabbit, Goat and Pig, which also relate to feng shui bagua map areas: New Beginnings, Relationships and Benefactors. Finally, it all ties back to support the family, because they also represent Family, Mother and Father.

I hope this brings some ease, understanding and joy into the holidays of all of my readers.

by Anjie Cho

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our a unique training program takes an holistic approach to learning the art of feng shui design. Mindful design is about becoming aware, and attentive, to the energy around you: both inner and outer qi. It is about promoting a better way of living and creating sacred spaces that support, and nourish. Visit us at mindfuldesignschool.com.

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday".  We will be answering questions submitted by our readers. Click here to submit any Feng Shui or Green Design questions!