Q&A Sunday: My Favorite Feng Shui Crystals

Photo by DDP on Unsplash

Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels

I’m curious about working with crystals, but not sure where to start. Do you have any favorites?

Thanks for your question! Crystals have been really popular lately, so I get a lot of questions about them. First, I’d recommend you read my post on following your intuition when choosing a crystal. It’s always beneficial to trust your intuition and choose the things that resonate with you the most, whether it’s colors, crystals, or healing modalities. 

To give you some inspiration, I do have some favorite crystals to work with! First, I want to point out that in feng shui we often recommend faceted crystal balls, which are actually made of glass, and not a naturally occurring crystal. I recommend getting a crystal ball like this instead of a cheap glass one, because they refract the light so much more beautifully than plain glass.

When it comes to naturally occurring crystals, one of my favorites is clear quartz. I’ve had the same piece of clear quartz for some time - it’s been in my refrigerator, as well as other places in my home, and I sometimes even take a bath with it. I like to connect clear quartz to the bagua area called Dui, related to children, completion, metal energy, and the color white. 

Clear quartz is a natural amplifier, and you can program it to amplify any positive intention that you have. For instance, your refrigerator represents your health and nutrition because it holds and cares for the food that you eat to nourish your body, so I like to program my clear quartz to amplify the nutrition of the food in my refrigerator. A great way to program your clear crystal is to first clear it with salt or sunlight, and then very humbly ask the crystal to receive your intention to increase the digestibility, nutritional quality, and life energy of the food in the refrigerator. It’s important to create some ceremony around this: meditate and calm your heart before you program your crystal, instead of rushing to fit it in between your everyday activities. 

I also love rose quartz, which has a gentle pink tone. Rose quartz is calm, soft, and soothing, with a really warm, feminine energy, and it cultivates healing and self love. It’s a great stone to work with if you want to soften your heart or heal your heart to invite in love and partnership. For us to invite a partner into our life, we have to actually heal our own hearts and heal ourselves first. When we feel whole is when we can really attract someone to us that’s going to be a partner in our life, rather than someone who we think is going to fill a hole where we feel empty. We need to learn to fill our own cup. 

Naturally, I associate rose quartz with the Kun area of the bagua, related to relationships, self love, partnership, marriage, the mother element, and the feminine principle. Kun is also connected to the earth element. 

One way to work with rose quartz is to place it on your nightstand, because your nightstand is very close to you and a private place. If you want to invite a partner into your life, place a pair of rose quartz crystals to represent your openness to work on healing yourself and caring for yourself, in order to invite a partner that you can also care for.

If you want to go deeper when it comes to inviting love and partnership with feng shui, I encourage you to check out Mindful Design’s Feng Shui Love Story course!

by Anjie Cho

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday". If you have personal questions, we encourage you to check out Practical Feng Shui or hire one of Anjie's Grads.

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

Q&A Sunday: Feng Shui and Taking a Leap

Photo by Sammie Vasquez on Unsplash

Photo by Sammie Vasquez on Unsplash

Hi Anjie! I have been loving your podcast, especially the episode about how you got into feng shui. My question is about starting something new. I have been wanting to make some big changes in my life but I keep getting scared, and then I feel like I stay stuck. Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you so much for your question, and I’m so glad you’re enjoying the podcast! 

When it comes to taking leaps in your life, whether it’s moving across the country, leaving a stable job, or any other big change, there’s a connection to letting go. Taking a leap is scary. It requires you to be courageous, to give yourself permission to do what you’re scared of doing, and to let go of anything that may be holding you back. 

One way that this fear translates to how we live in our homes is being scared to get rid of things. People become terrified of letting go of even simple things like a cup or a sweater, because they worry that they might need it one day. Just by starting to practice letting go of things in our home, we are starting to soften our hearts. This helps us take leaps and let go in other parts of our life. 

Decluttering can be challenging for many people, because we can get very attached to our things. There’s a traditional Buddhist practice of generosity that is very simple, and I would suggest giving it a try if you are having a hard time letting go of items in your home: Take an object, and practice moving it from one hand to the other. Begin to notice how it feels to let go of something in one hand, and how it feels to offer it to the other hand. 

Once you’ve practiced this exercise, begin to practice letting go of things in your home that no longer serve you. You can start with the low-hanging fruit, like items that are broken. Notice how this begins to open your heart, and helps you become more courageous in letting go of things that no longer serve you in your life. This can apply to people and situations as well.

I think the reason feng shui is so attractive to people is that it can be easier to make changes in your external environment rather than your internal environment. In a way feng shui is sort of a gateway drug, because once you really unpack things and connect to your environment more deeply, you begin to see that you’re really interconnected to everything outside of you. You begin to soften and open up, and you can start to really dig deep within yourself, too. 

I hope this helps, and I wish you all the best in the changes that lie ahead! If you’d like more feng shui support in making changes in your life, I encourage you to work with a consultant or join us for an upcoming session of Practical Feng Shui to dive deeper. 

by Anjie Cho

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday". If you have personal questions, we encourage you to check out Practical Feng Shui or hire one of Anjie's Grads.

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

Q&A Sunday: Feng Shui Your Front Door

Photo by Lina Kivaka on Pexels

Photo by Lina Kivaka on Pexels

Hi Anjie, I have heard you talk about the front door being important in feng shui, what suggestions do you have for making it better?

Thank you for your question! You’re right that the front door is an important place to look at when you are looking at your home’s feng shui. The front door is also called the mouth of qi, because this is where energy enters your home. An inviting front door will help welcome opportunities to you. 

In terms of specific suggestions, your front entrance should be tidy and free of obstacles. Start by removing anything that’s blocking the path to your front door, and making sure it’s visible. Remove clutter and trim any bushes that obstruct the view of your door. Next, is the doorbell functional? Is your house number clearly marked? If new guests can find your entrance easily, so can positive energy and new opportunities. 

In order to make your entrance more inviting, you may want to place plants or flowers around the front door, or paint your door in a color that you’re attracted to. Red is an auspicious color in feng shui, so it can be a great choice for a front door. A new door mat can also make your entrance feel more welcoming. 

It’s also important to keep your front door clean. Wipe down the surface of the door, and don’t forget the frame, hinges, and knob. Neglecting parts of your front door can represent blocks. Alternatively, by giving your door some love and attention, you can begin to activate it and welcome more opportunities and new energy into your life. 

Finally, use your front door! If you’ve been spending more time at home and feeling a bit stuck or stagnant, experiment with using your front door every so often, like when you go out to get your mail. Taking a moment to mindfully open your door nine times can also air out your space and activate your entrance. 

by Anjie Cho

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday". If you have personal questions, we encourage you to check out Practical Feng Shui or hire one of Anjie's Grads.

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