Curating Spaces for Joy

Guest User July 28, 2021

Today I wanted to talk about curating spaces for joy. I’ve been thinking about this because we recently renovated our home, and there are some special areas I created in our home that really bring me joy.

Joy is related to the Completion area of the feng shui bagua, also called Dui in Chinese. This area is also connected to children and the metal element. If you’re not familiar with the bagua, it’s a sort of map that can be laid over a home, room, or lot, with different areas corresponding to different areas of life.

In the Dui area of our recently renovated home, I have a beautiful shelf that I’m really excited about. I’m using the shelf to display my tea ceremony items, including the different seasonal items I’m using at the moment. For me, tea ceremony feels really joyful, so I’m looking forward to curating my shelf as the seasons change.

I encourage you to consider creating special areas of your home with things that bring you joy! What are the objects or practices that are joyful for you? How can you invite those things into your home?

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: The Water Element as a Precious Resource

Guest User July 25, 2021

Can you talk about how water is connected to wealth and abundance?

Water is one of the five elements, or five phases, that we use as a tool in feng shui. In addition to water, the five phases include earth, fire, wood, and metal. Water is the element related to wisdom and career, as well as wealth. Your wealth and prosperity is a resource like water, and it flows like water.

I talked recently on the podcast about how fixing a leak in your home is a way of recognizing that water is a precious resource. Even one drop of water is so precious and meaningful, and we can receive a lot of teachings from that. When we take the time to care for our home, and take care of things like leaks, we also begin to consider ourselves precious and valuable. Something as simple as acknowledging a leak in your home, rather than ignoring it, and taking the time and effort to fix it, is really a way of recognizing how precious water is. This also connects to valuing the wisdom of others and our own innate wisdom, since water is connected to wisdom.

Feng shui translates to wind and water. Feng is wind, and shui is water. These are the most important elements that we need as humans to thrive. We need our breath, which is wind, and we are made up of mostly water. We need these two things in order to thrive.

I encourage you to look at how you work with the water element in your life. It could be something as simple as fixing a leak. It could also be thanking the water that you consume. We need water so much, to cleanse and hydrate our bodies. The small gesture of thanking water and acknowledging its preciousness will trickle back to how you value your own preciousness.

by Anjie Cho

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

Feng Shui for Your Dining Table

Guest User July 21, 2021

When was the last time you used your dining table for dining? What about the last time you used it for something other than dining? We often tend to use our dining tables for other activities, including working. This is probably especially true recently, with so many people working from home. Sometimes, we even use our dining tables as a storage area.

Your dining table is a space to nourish your body, and a place to connect with your friends and family. It represents how you take care of yourself as well as your relationships. Your home represents you and is affected by you, so when you neglect certain areas of your home, it can reflect upon how you treat different areas of your life.

If possible, take time every day to eat mindfully at your dining table. Just like you wouldn’t want your friendships or nourishment to become neglected, it’s important not to neglect your dining table and allow it to get cluttered or dusty. If you are working from home currently and space is at a minimum, it’s possible that you do need to use your dining table as a desk as well. Instead of eating amongst your work papers at the end of the day, take a moment to put away the items connected to your work before you sit down to eat. Sometimes we’re in such a rush because we have a poverty mentality and we think we are running out of time. In reality, it doesn’t take that long to set up a nice meal for yourself and eat mindfully.

If you don’t have a dining table, create a small space dedicated to eating mindfully, at least once per day. I encourage you to make a dedication to take care of yourself in this way. This might mean clearing off the coffee table, turning off the TV, and finding a beautiful placemat and dish for your dinner each night. Details like this can make your meal a more nourishing experience. By making space for a lovely meal, you’re making space to nurture yourself.

If you want to learn more feng shui tips for each room in your home, be sure to check out my book, Holistic Spaces: 108 Ways to Create a Mindful and Peaceful Home.

by Anjie Cho