Welcome the New Year with Feng Shui

Guest User January 6, 2021

In addition to wishing you a happy new year, I wanted to offer some direction from a feng shui point of view on how to welcome 2021, and a few things that I’m doing. The start of a new year, whether it’s the western new year, lunar new year, Jewish new year, or another date that marks a new cycle, is a good time to reflect on the passing of time and also to welcome in new energies, especially with ritual. In feng shui, we do a lot of rituals that relate to the home.

My approach to feng shui is to begin by looking at the home, because we can make changes there that feel doable and even exciting. However, it’s really important to see that our inner environments and our homes are interconnected and interdependent, and they’re not separate from each other. There’s a lot we can learn from our homes.

One thing I like to do to welcome the new year is to acknowledge that my home is something that is connected to me, and not separate from me or from any of us. This helps me appreciate my home and environment. Even simple practices like offering gratitude to your home can start to change the qi, or energy, in your life and in your spaces.

Another thing I’m doing is to start working on a beautiful journal I received from a friend. Part of what I’ll be doing there is looking at how I can begin to simplify my life, and also reflecting upon what I learned this year. I did a self-led meditation retreat over the holidays, and something that’s been coming up for me is that although it’s been a really challenging year for all of us, I’m grateful that the pandemic brought us together on a global level, and we all began to see how we’re all interconnected and interdependent. Even oceans can’t separate us. We’re all connected in this vast network, and we can resonate with other people from all over the world.

This network of connection includes our homes, too. Like I said above, we’re connected to our homes and our spaces. You can talk to your home in English, in another language, or just talk through your energy, but I recommend you offer thanks to your home somehow. Then, make a list of what you’d like to keep and what you’d like to let go of, and how you can simplify. It might also be interesting to see if there’s anything you can do in your feng shui to correspond to how you are simplifying your life.

I hope this gives you some ideas for how to welcome 2021, and I’m wishing you all a happy new year!

by Anjie Cho

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

Create a Meditation Space with Feng Shui

Anjie Cho December 30, 2020

Feng shui is a philosophy developed in ancient China that outlines positive ways in which to organize yourself in your environment. Meditation is a practice in which you can learn to become familiar with your inner landscape. Both feng shui and meditation are used to generate harmony and peace within your life.

Why not use feng shui to create a sacred space in which to meditate that can support and improve your meditation practice?

Define a Space

Select a dedicated space that you can routinely go back to for your meditation practice. It can be the corner of your bed, a room in your home, or a place outside in your backyard. My meditation space is a quiet section of my living room that faces a river view. Since it's not in the commanding position, I've set up a mirror so I can see behind me to put me in a relaxing and calm mental space. It is okay if you cannot find a perfectly quiet spot. Life is full of distraction, and part of meditation is to learn to accept the interruptions.

You can further differentiate your space by sitting on a special pillow, cushion or blanket to define your place. I have a couple of buckwheat zafu cushions specifically designed for meditation. This can help you to dedicate and define your special “spot.”

Dedicate and Clear the Space

After you have selected your meditation space and defined it physically, it is of utter importance to clear and dedicate the area energetically. Space clearing dedicates the invisible energy of space so you can start fresh and set your intention for the space, the particular moment and for your life.

In feng shui, oranges and orange peels represent vibrant, life-affirming energy. Orange essence is refreshing, happy and contributes positive, fresh, and brightening energy to our inner and outer environments. You can use 9 drops of orange essential oil in an aromatherapy diffuser to transform your area into a space with vibrant, life-giving, positive energy. Remember, when you clear the space of the existing energy, be sure to replace it with positive intention.

Add a Crystal for Clarity

Feng shui crystals are used to adjust the flow of energy in a space. They are particularly effective for bringing light, brilliance and clarity to your meditation practice. Feng shui crystal balls are made of faceted, leaded glass. For this application, purchase a crystal that is a minimum of 40mm and place in the center of your meditation space, above your head where you’re sitting or just in front of you so you can see it. The ball should be hung with a red string in a length that is a multiple of 9, for example 18”, 27”, 36”, etc. You can find crystals and red strings at the Holistic Spaces store here.

Use these three simple feng shui tips to create your own sacred meditation place to create harmony and peace in your inner and outer spaces.

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 Knowledge Area

Guest User November 8, 2020

I noticed that there’s a “knowledge” area on the feng shui map, and I’m wondering what that means?

In case anyone isn’t familiar with the feng shui bagua map, it’s a tool that feng shui practitioners use to assess and adjust the energy of a space. It’s usually depicted as a three-by-three grid, and it’s made up of eight life areas around a center.

One of these life areas is the knowledge area. It’s called Gen in Chinese. It’s also about self-knowledge, self-cultivation, and skillfulness. It’s represented by the color dark blue, the number eight, square and flat shapes, and the element of yang earth. Yang earth is like a big mountain, one that you might climb to the top of to meditate.

To find the knowledge area of the bagua, stand at the front of your home or bedroom looking in, and imagine a three-by-three grid laid over the home or room. The corner that is closest to you on the left-hand side is the knowledge area.

This area of the bagua is related to your spiritual development as well as your skills and wisdom in mundane areas of life such as your career. It’s a great place for a library or a meditation space. Both books and meditation are related to the knowledge area. Reading books can be educational, and meditation assists in your spiritual development. Experience and practices like reading and meditation are really the most impactful way to cultivate yourself, and they may be especially effective if you do them with intention in the knowledge area of your home.

If you want to take it a step further and incorporate color, try a dark blue bookshelf or meditation pillow, since dark blue helps to activate the knowledge area.

by Anjie Cho