What Your Cluttered Desk Says About Your Career

featured this week on Over the Moon 

I like to say that feng shui is original green design because it seeks to examine space and how humans impact nature and the environment around us. Feng shui looks at how physical spaces affect us on a spiritual and energetic level. Through feng shui principles, we observe how the earth influences us; how does earth affect us and how do we affect it?

A powerful place to start is to look at the feng shui of your desk. Your desk, whether it resides in your home or outside, represents your career and path in life. What you do and the direction in which you walk in this life.

So lets take a look at where your clutter happens on your desk.

If it’s in the top left corner, your money and wealth might be stuck or tied up. If you have a pile of papers on the furthest right corner, the “Relationship” corner, you might need to cultivate your relationships more. Clutter isn’t a bad thing, as long as it doesn't interfere with your life or cause guilt and distress.

Next, look at where you need to add some support in your life. On my desk, I have a status of Kuan Yin, the Buddhist goddess of compassion. The statue represents weight and stability. I placed the statue in the relationship area of my desk to provide support and cultivate compassion in my business and life relationships.

For some time I also had a beautiful orchid on my desk in the top middle of my desk in the recognition position. Recognition represents fame, and how you’re seen in the world. It also represents the fire element. The orchid is a living plant, which is the wood element. Wood feeds fire, so this orchid provided fuel to the fire of fame that I wanted to cultivate in my career. Finally in my top left corner is the wealth and abundance area. Here I have a beautiful piece of citrine. Citrine is a natural crystal that attracts prosperity and does not require cleansing.

I encourage you to look at these areas of your desk and select one or two that need the most attention in terms of your career and life direction. Stimulate some growth and change by clearing up the clutter and examining the feng shui.  

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 Your Way to Better Health

featured this month on Examiner.com, by Cheryl S. Grant

As we get ready to spring clean our closets, now is the perfect time to create a sense of peace and harmony within your home. Anjie Cho, architect and author of 108 Ways to Create Holistic Spaces, offers up five tips for elevating your life and living space.

General health:
The Health area of the Feng Shui Bagua is called TAI CHI, which is related to your overall health, signified by earthy colors yellow-orange-brown, the number five, square or flat shapes, and the element of earth. The energy of the center affects physical, mental and emotional health.

The health area is in the center because it affects, and is influenced by, all eight bagua areas around it. This central area touches all aspects of your life, so of course it influences your health and well being.

A yellow toned square rug in the center of your bedroom, living room or home provides centralized stability, which is a great way to support your overall health.

Relieve stress:
Your bed, desk, and stove should be positioned so that you can see the door, the expanse of the room and you have your back against the far wall. You don’t want to be directly in front of the door. Instead, across the room, diagonally from the door, is typically the most ideal position or the “commanding position.”

This helps to curb your physiological response of fear that you may experience when you cannot see the door or what may be coming your way. Even if you are not consciously aware of it, it does affect you. It is like a stone that has water dripping on it lightly for years; the stress levels begin to wear down at you, “ says Cho. 

Kitchen nourishment:
The kitchen is the room where we are able to nourish our bodies with food. A kitchen with an open plan, cabinets that maintain between their tops and ceiling and white walls are ideal for promoting energy and proper nutrition.

Your refrigerator is also important so remove all expired or spoiled foods and keep it de-cluttered. 

Clear the Air:
The indoor air quality of your home is essential to our health and healing. Since we spend the vast majority of our time indoors we must eliminate toxic chemicals from your living environment. These chemicals are absorbed easily through the air and skin, and are also extremely dangerous if swallowed.

Non-toxic, green cleaning products are easy to find now at your local grocery stores. It is also easy to make your own with household items like vinegar and baking soda.

Cho’s favorite DIY recipe is for an all-purpose cleaning solution is to mix 1 part white vinegar and 3 parts water, with 9 drops of essential oil. Eucalyptus and tea tree oil are good options, as they are naturally anti-bacterial and anti-microbial. Shake up all the ingredients in a spray bottle and you’ve got a homemade, non-toxic cleaner. 

14 Easy Tips That Will Help You Be Happier In Your Home

featured this month on BuzzFeed, by Mackenzie Kruvant

What is feng shui and why is it important?

Feng shui looks at how energy (also called chi) moves through your home. If there is an area where the chi is moving too quickly or is stuck then that can represent either an area where you’re stuck in your life or things that you need to improve on.

There are two ways to look at your apartment. You can think, "This is just my apartment" — or you can look at it as an ecosystem, an environment that affects you. If you choose to look at it the second way, then feng shui can help you achieve good energy and a space that will get you over your energy funk — and it’s easier than you’d think. We asked feng shui expert Anjie Cho to show us how.

1. Make sure your entranceway reflects who you are — it’s how energy comes into your home.

“Your door represents how opportunities come to you. It’s where energy comes into your home,” Cho tells BuzzFeed Life. “That’s why it’s so important that it reflects you.” It’s also important that you have a clear number or name written somewhere. “If you don’t have anything on your door it may stop people from being able to find you,” Cho says. If possible, try not to crowd the door. “Make your entry look nice, because it’s your face to the world. Have a clean and positive doormat for clean and positive energy.”

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by Anjie Cho