Q&A Sunday: What to Look for in Houseplants

Guest User September 27, 2020

I just moved to a new apartment and am excited to get some new plants! Is there anything in particular I should look for feng shui-wise?

Congratulations on the move, and thanks for your question!

Everybody is loving their houseplants right now, myself included! They’re also great from a feng shui perspective. Indoor trees and plants add positive qi, or life force energy, to a home. They also bring wood energy into your home, which is related to vitality and growth. They’re especially great additions to any area of the bagua where you would like to invite in new beginnings and flexibility.

It’s true that certain plants are better than others when it comes to feng shui, although it always depends on your circumstances. This is why it can be helpful to work with a consultant.

In general, you want to look for plants with soft, rounded leaves, and avoid plants with spiky leaves or thorns. This is because you want to invite in soft, flowing energy. Plants communicate a lot about the kind of energy they will bring to a space through their appearance. Think of the adjectives you would use to describe a certain plant—that’s also how you could describe the energy of that plant. This is why plants with spiky thorns or needles need to be used with more care, and are not usually recommended in feng shui.

I also always tell my students that not everything needs to be a feng shui application. You may have a cactus that came from your grandmother that you really love, and that’s ok! If you love something, it has positive energy around it. There are always exceptions to the guidelines.

It’s also important that the plants in your home, including ones you already have, are healthy and well taken care of. When you’re getting new plants, do a little research to make sure you are getting a plant that’s suited for the conditions of your space. You don’t want to have plants that aren’t thriving because they’re in the wrong environment. Putting a plant in a space where it can’t thrive is like putting a square peg in a round hole, and can cause difficulties and obstacles.

One last thing to keep in mind as you’re choosing a plant is to look for something you love and are attracted to. If you love your plants, they’ll be a source of positive energy!

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

Clear Your Space with Oranges

Guest User September 23, 2020

Space clearing is an important practice in feng shui. Our homes and spaces are made up of energy that impacts us, so it’s important to make sure we are surrounded by supportive, healthy energy as much as possible. Clearing space in your home helps to remove stagnant, stuck, or negative energy that has accumulated to make room for new, positive energy.

Space clearing is especially helpful during times of transition. This could be moving to a new apartment, starting a new chapter in life, or even a change in seasons. The transition from summer to fall that we’re currently experiencing in the northern hemisphere is a great time to clear your space.

One of my favorite ways to clear space is to use oranges. In feng shui, oranges have a lot of yang energy. Yang energy relates to brightness and sunlight. It’s the opposite of night, which is related to yin energy.

Take a moment to close your eyes and visualize peeling an orange, and imagine the experience through all of your senses. Oranges are visually bright and cheerful, like the sun. The color orange is a protecting, uplifting, and vital color. The smell of oranges can also instantly uplift any space. As you are visualizing an orange, or even as you’re peeling a real one, notice the smell, the way it looks, the taste, the way it feels in your hands, and even the sound as you peel it.

A great way to clear your space using feng shui principles is to use a mist with orange essential oil. You can purchase some here or make your own. To clear your space with oranges, open all your windows and doors for at least 15 minutes and allow air to move throughout your home, then spray the orange mist all over your home. If you want to make it more of a ritual, start at your front door and go in a clockwise direction around the perimeter of each room. This makes your space clearing more of a special, sacred experience, and not just an everyday activity.

As you’re clearing your space, set the intention that you’re filling your home with bright orange light or sunlight, along with feelings of joy, contentment, and vitality. This will help set the stage to welcome in positive energy and opportunities.

by Anjie Cho

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

Open the Eyes of Your Home

Guest User September 16, 2020

In feng shui, the windows of your home represent your eyes. Because our surroundings are a reflection of our inner worlds, the state of your windows can say a lot about your vision and how clearly you are seeing the world around you.

If your windows are dirty or dusty, it can be harder to see, not only on a mundane level, but also in life. If you are seeing the world through a film of dust, this can represent a lack of clarity in your life. Perhaps your vision is clouded by perceptions or judgments, just as your home’s windows are clouded by debris.

Clean windows, on the other hand, represent clear vision and being able to see with open eyes. Because of this, it’s helpful to wash your windows regularly. Instead of using toxic chemicals and paper towels, you can make your own cleaning solution from vinegar and water to use with cloth towels.

Make sure your window frames are in good repair also. Broken things in general often indicate difficulties or challenges, so it’s a good idea to fix anything that is no longer functioning properly. Because windows are connected to eyes, dirty or broken windows could even relate to eye problems.

When you clean your windows, both your environment and your perspective become clearer. Not only does your space become brighter and more cheerful with the added light, this allows you to see things in your world with more clarity, precision, and truth. It also allows you to see the everyday magic and beauty in the world around you.

The transition to fall is an especially great time to clean your windows and clear your vision. I encourage you to take some time in the next few weeks to work on this, or hire your local window cleaner. Let me know if you notice any more clarity in how you see the world around you!

by Anjie Cho

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