Feng Shui for Friendship and Community

Guest User December 29, 2021

wooden dining table with chairs next to living room with big windows — Photo by Anjie Cho Architect PLLC

I’ve noticed that a lot of people are yearning for more friendship and community right now. The holiday season in particular brings up a lot of feelings around belonging connections with other people. It’s a time when many people are thinking about creating a greater sense of family, whether that’s with their family of origin or their family of friends.

There are a few places in your home that relate to friendships, and one important one is your dining table. A lot of people nowadays aren’t using their dining tables for the purpose of dining. Especially since the pandemic began, many people are using the dining table as a substitute desk for their work-from-home space. Even before the pandemic, I found that many people didn’t end up eating around their dining room table. While eating around the kitchen island is fine, it’s also important to eat around the dining table sometimes if you want to invite more friendships into your life. Your dining table represents how you connect to your community. It’s the place in your home where you can break bread and enjoy a meal with close friends.

If you are looking for more friendships, deeper friendships, or more community, take a look and see if your dining table is being neglected. If it is, one simple thing you can do is to just start using it. Even if you have to use your dining table for work or other purposes as well, try cleaning it off and giving it some attention. Then, start eating some of your meals there.

You can also notice whether there is enough space around your dining table for the friends you want to invite into your home. If there’s just enough room for you and your immediate family, you might want to make space for more friends by adding an extra chair.

If you live in a smaller home and don’t have room for a dining table, do the best you can with what you have. You might need to make accommodations when you do have friends over, and move some of your personal things out of the way to make space for them. You can also create smaller place settings so that there is more room for people to sit and move around. It also might be that you need to go out in the world more, and create connections with friends at restaurants or at other people’s homes.

by Anjie Cho

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

Lonely Rooms

Anjie Cho August 19, 2020

The practice of feng shui is connected to how we move through our homes. Feng shui translates to “wind and water”; think about how each of those elements flows through a space. How do you connect with the spaces in your home?

Good places to look at are any areas that are lonely or neglected. For example, my closet has been pretty lonely lately, since I’ve been spending so much more time at home and not wearing as many of my clothes. Clothing represents how we show up in the world, so that’s something to reflect on if you also have a lonely closet: how are you showing up in the world right now? To find another layer of meaning, I can look at what area of the bagua my closet is in, and reflect on what is going on in that area of my life.

Once you’ve identified a lonely room or an area of your home that’s been neglected, notice what’s happening there. Is there dust accumulating? Are you tossing stuff randomly and using it as storage? Try personifying that area and thinking about how that room might feel given how you are treating it. You can start by recognizing that and apologizing. Also, notice if it symbolizes anything in your life. It may not be symbolic, but it’s something to look at and be curious about.

This idea also extends to the people in your life. Especially right now, a lot of people are feeling lonely. Even as an introvert, after months without contact, I’m starting to miss people! Think about who in your life may be lonely, and how you can connect with them. You may not necessarily need to apologize to them for not being in touch, but you can offer them some attention. By connecting with someone else, you’ll also receive something in return.

Even though we each have our own little bubbles of energy, we’re actually all interconnected. When you start to acknowledge and care for the lonely rooms in your home, the lonely people in your life, or the lonely aspects of yourself, the insight and joy that comes from that experience radiates. For example, if you start to pay attention to a lonely room, that joy starts to permeate the rest of your house. Then it starts to permeate your heart, and then the people in your life, and beyond. When we make a change, we don’t just affect the lives of people we know; we can also profoundly change the world.

Start with your home; that’s what feng shui is about. What can you do about the lonely rooms in your home? Notice how the energy you give to these rooms starts to resonate out to other areas of your life.

by Anjie Cho

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

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

CURERS - Healers and Practices

Anjie Cho July 4, 2018

featured this month on Free & Native

We were inspired to start our Saturday IG Story CURER series to highlight some of our favorite healers teachers, expanders, and thinkers. We asked some of our CURERS to now share their own go-to healers and healing practices with all of you. Stay tuned Saturdays on @freeandnative IG for a new CURER each week!

So honored to be featured among Katie Dalebout's healing practices!

iii. Katie Dalebout • Let it Out

Feng Shui consultant Anjie Cho of Holistic Spaces (NYC + LA)-- has designed and cleared every space I've ever lived in which as helped so much. I wouldn't live anywhere without first having Anjie clear it and set it up optimally according to Feng Shui principles.

Sacha Jones, Stiggly’s Holistics NYC, Sacha is one of the coolest, smartest, women I’ve ever met. She’s an herbalist, holistic health counselor, and officiates weddings. I don’t know where I’d be without her wellness and life guidance.

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