Q&A Sunday: Feng Shui, Color, and the Bagua Map

Guest User October 17, 2021

I’d love to learn more about using color in feng shui.

This is a popular topic! Laura and I actually just recorded a whole podcast episode about feng shui and color. I’ll share a few ideas about this here, and if you want to dive deeper, I would encourage you to check out the episode.

One way to approach feng shui and color is to look at how colors relate to the bagua map. The bagua map, in case you aren’t familiar, is a kind of energetic map that feng shui practitioners lay over a space. It has eight areas around a center.

Something that I noticed recently is the connection between the center of a flower and the center of the bagua. The bagua is a mandala, just like a flower can be. The center of the bagua, called the Tai qi, is yellow, which is often true for the center of flowers as well. In feng shui, yellow represents the earth element. Earth is connected to stability and feeling grounded, and the center of the bagua affects all of the areas that surround it.

One of the most popular areas of the bagua is the purple area, or the abundance area. It’s called Xun position in Chinese. In addition to abundance, it’s related to the eldest daughter and your feelings of wealth and prosperity, which go beyond financial wealth. It’s also about having a feeling of abundance, a feeling of enough. It’s the opposite of a poverty mentality. Xun is also deeply related to self-esteem and self-worth.

Purple is also the combination of red, which is the fire element, and blue, which is the wood element. (There’s a misconception that blue is the water element, but it actually represents wood in BTB feng shui.) Purple brings together the kindness, flexibility and growth of wood with the inspiration, passion, and protection of fire. This makes purple a wonderful color to work with in your home, if these ideas resonate with you. Some easy ways to incorporate purple into your home are through small decor accents, like a throw pillow or blanket.

Sometimes people think that you need to paint a whole room the color that corresponds to the feng shui bagua map. The way that I teach my students at Mindful Design Feng Shui School is to realize that you don’t want to activate every single area of the bagua map. Not only is it unnecessary, but the I Ching, which is one of the foundations of feng shui, teaches that there’s no such thing as perfection. Everything is always in transition and always moving. If you try to make everything perfect, the only place to go from there is down, so aiming for perfection will actually work against you. Painting your walls according to the bagua map is also not the most skillful way to work with this tool, and it probably won’t work very well from a design perspective.

Another way to work with feng shui and color is to make your own art and explore different shades of a color. If you want to work with purple, for example, it’s really fun to get a watercolor palette and create purple with red (fire) and blue (wood), and see how these work together. Make it a fun, exploratory activity, and see how that correlates with your feelings of abundance. Once you’ve made some purple art, you might want to place it in the abundance area of your bedroom.

I hope that helps you as you’re thinking about feng shui and color, and if you want to learn more, be sure to listen to the podcast!

by Anjie Cho

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

Welcome More Sunlight into Your Home

Anjie Cho October 13, 2021

Have you noticed the days getting shorter? Just as the school buses start their daily routes and the pumpkin spice take-over gets underway, the sun tucks in under the horizon a little bit earlier each day. If you’re lamenting the loss of summer’s languid sunlight, read on. I’ve got 6 tips to help you bring more sunshine into your home.

Mirrors

Mirrors are a quick and affordable way to double the sunlight in your room. Select a beautiful, large mirror and place it on the wall opposite the window. Don’t overlook other reflective surfaces as well. Incorporate metallic decorat ive elements like candlesticks, picture frames, and even doorknobs to increase the level of reflected light.

Paint

Open up your rooms with a lighter paint color on the walls. Dark paint will absorb light, while lighter hues reflect it. Likewise, selecting a satin finish as opposed to flat will increase the amount of reflected light. If you prefer a darker palette, consider going light on the walls and introducing your warm, more saturated tones in design elements like your furniture, or accents like pillows, throws and rugs.

Window treatments

Those gorgeous drapes may be hindering your ability to let the sun shine in. Look for window treatments that offer privacy without blocking the light. Beautiful bamboo shades, translucent blinds and drapery sheers are beautiful, light-welcoming choices.

Yard work

Don’t forget to look outside when you’re looking to let more light inside. Trim hedges and trees that may be blocking the sun’s path through your windows. This bit of yard work can make a big difference.

Alternate light inlets

Go beyond the traditional window. One option is to replace a solid exterior door for one with window panels; even a small window can make a big impact. Adding in skylights or “sun tunnels” will lighten things up in your room from the ceiling down. Also pay attention to your light fixtures. Avoid heavy lampshades that obstruct the light being given off. Consider installing a dimmer in some rooms so you can pump up or dial back the light depending on your need.

Keep it clean

You may already know that cleaning your win dows can boost the level of light they let in. Don’t forget to dust off your lamp shades and bulbs as well. While you’ve got the cleaning materials out, go ahead and finish tidying the room. An open, uncluttered space simply feels lighter.

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: Making Life Easier with Feng Shui

Guest User October 10, 2021

I noticed on your podcast that you said, “Avoid creating difficulty for yourself that doesn’t need to be there.” What do you mean by that?

This is a really interesting topic! Feng shui isn’t just about adding a plant to a certain area or moving a chair or painting a wall a certain color. That’s part of it, but feng shui is really about looking at how you’ve set up your space so that it’s supportive. You want there to be a flow that is generous and full of ease.

Have you ever been to a home that feels challenging, where you hit your head, or you have to squeeze by a lot of stuff in a hallway? Maybe you can’t walk in the door easily, or it’s difficult to come in with your groceries. When a home has been designed or cared for in such a way that creates difficulty in the space, it creates difficulty in the inhabitants’ lives as well. How you move through a space is exactly how energy flows through a space. You want to be able to notice if you are creating difficulty for yourself that doesn’t need to be there.

Another way that people can create unnecessary difficulty for themselves is by getting into a “fear shui” mode, where they are really worried about having bad feng shui in their home. Sometimes, when I unpack this for people, I find that they have wired themselves to love drama, or to feel like they need drama in order to feel something. That can be reflected in their home as well.

One simple way to notice whether you’ve created difficulty for yourself that doesn’t need to be there is to look at how easy it is to get to your bed. Are there obstacles on the way to your bedroom? Do you have to push a bunch of things out of the way to get in bed? Sometimes, people have their bed in an odd position or a lot of equipment that physically gets in the way. That can indicate difficulties in your life, including challenges in intimate relationships. If you do notice anything in the way of your bed, see if there’s anything you can remove. Removing obstacles will make your life easier energetically as well as physically.

by Anjie Cho