Q&A Sunday: Feng Shui for an Office with No Windows

What are some feng shui considerations for a psychotherapist’s office with no windows?

Erin H., Mountainview, CA

Hi Erin, 

Thank you for your question: what some feng shui considerations are for your office, since it has no windows. I think the answer for this question may be helpful to many people in windowless offices. 

It's ideal to have at least one window in any space, as having natural light and fresh air is vital to human beings. Everything living grows towards the light. When I work with my private architecture and feng shui clients, one of the main desires across the board is maximizing light. Light is so important, and without it, we can feel claustrophobic, suffer from health issues and even become depressed. As an architect, for any habitable space, there are actually light and air requirements. We need air circulation and light, and it's difficult if we don't have them both.

In feng shui, the windows represent the eyes of the inhabitants and can symbolize how we see the world around us. If it's not possible to change offices, I recommend including some artwork that feels like a window. This doesn't mean finding pictures of windows. Instead, look for images of landscapes or other settings where you're bringing the outdoors in. Hanging this kind of art on the wall can give the impression of having a window, even when there isn't physically one there. 

There are also seasonal affective disorder lamps, which simulate natural daylight, that may help. These can be used in any space, especially one without sufficient natural light, to counteract the negative effects of lack of sunlight. They are often recommended by therapists during the colder, darker seasons. In fact, as a psychotherapist, you may already be familiar with them!

Finally, you could also bring nature into your space with fresh flowers or green plants. It's true that most plants need natural sunlight to grow, but you can opt for a low-light plant or even add a fake plant to your space. If possible, aim for a real plant, as this can help out with indoor air quality as well. Fresh flowers are also an incredible way to bring in nature energy and connect you with the outdoors. Take a look at some of our posts on flowers for ideas on which blooms to select for your space!

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 or Green Design questions!

Q&A Sunday: A Kickstart for My Kickstarter

A Kickstart for My Kickstarter.png

How can I expand the mouth of qi for my Kickstarter? Anything, actually, to make it more successful!

Christy P., West Tisbury, MA

Hi Christy,

Thank you for your question about how to make your Kickstarter more successful. Kudos to you for using some feng shui terminology! The mouth of qi is the front door, or a portal, to a space and is an entry for energy to come into your life or home, or in this case, your Kickstarter. So really, this is a question of how to get more energy for your Kickstarter and make it more successful. 

In feng shui, we use the bagua map, and there are three different areas that can help create a more successful Kickstarter project. Kickstarter is a place for you to attract Benefactors, so this would be one area for you to work on and improve: your Benefactors area. Next is the Recognition area, so that people know the Kickstarter even exists. And if you look at the bagua map above, we can create a triad (a triangle) including the areas of Benefactors, Recognition and Knowledge. These are the three ideal bagua areas for you to focus on. We actually refer to this as the Three Harmonies of Fire, and it can create a lot of recognition and fire for support. 

In order to get helpful people to support this project, you, of course, need to attract more people, but to do this, you need to be seen, which is where Recognition, Fame and fire come in. The last area is Knowledge, which includes skills and self-cultivation. Here, I encourage you to consider if you've done enough research and looked into ways to get your Kickstarter noticed. There is a lot of help available through feng shui, but my teachers have always said that the mundane solution is more important than the transcendental solution. So the magic will work, but you also need to do some heavy lifting yourself. 

Start with researching how to improve your Kickstarter (which you may have already done! But do it thoroughly). That, in correlation with the feng shui adjustments, can create success for you. Feng shui-wise, you can create more recognition by activating the three harmonies of fire in your office and/or on your desk. It can be as simple as, in the whole office space, adding a green plant. A living green plant can add fuel to the fire. If you're working with your desk and there isn't room for plants, you can use instead one nine-inch red ribbon in each of the three areas to activate them. The desk and/or office are spaces that connect to your career and business. 

Your product, electronic cases that protect us from EMFs, seems to be really interesting, and I hope that making these adjustments draws more attention to your campaign so that we can see these come to fruition!

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 or Green Design questions!

Q&A Sunday: Interior Doors - Should They Open Out or In?

I'm looking at an office space where the door opens out, rather than into the space. I have the option to change the door swing. But someone told me once that if the door opens it is "bad feng shui". It is confusing to me! Also, is it ok that the doors of office 1 and 2 (on my plan) are facing each other?

Teri G., New York, NY

Hi Teri, 

This is a great question. It all depends on the person and their floor plan, but in general it is better feng shui to have the door swing into your office. 

In feng shui, doors represent the "mouth of qi", where the life force energy comes into the space. If the door swings into your space, the flow of qi is smoother. For an office or business this is important, because you want clients and opportunities to be attracted and easily connect with you. When you open the door towards you as you walk into any room, there is a feeling of pulling back rather than a natural movement forward.

In your case, since you have the option, DEFINITELY change the door swings of the neighbor and #2. Besides attracting more clients and opportunities, you have a situation where your doors are hitting each other. When the doors hit in this situtaion, it may cause or exacerbate possible conflict between you and your neighbor. And we don't want that if we can help it. Based on your floor plan, if you can put the hinge opposite side even better (so when you open the door it covers the closet).

It's actually not as easy as it would seem to reverse the door swing of an existing door. It is always best if you can change the door swing, so I would recommend talking to a contractor. If this is not possible for whatever reason, unfortunately it's not really correctable. It's best just to accept the door as is with its faults and work with a feng shui consultant to compensate for this and improve the feng shui in other ways. Again though, if possible change the door swing!

Finally, the doors of office 1 and 2 are aligned but that's not a problem. Let us know how it goes!!!

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 or Green Design questions!