Q&A Sunday: Complete Your Unfinished Projects with Feng Shui

Guest User May 9, 2021

I realized I’ve started a ton of things and projects, but I don’t finish them so easily. Do you have any suggestions?

This is a very common challenge! It’s easy to get excited about new projects, and then lose interest. If this rings true for you, you might have a lot of wood element energy. Wood element people tend to start a lot of projects, and not finish them. (You can read more about the five elements here.)

One way to work on finishing projects is to activate the completion area of the feng shui bagua. This area is called Dui in Chinese, and it’s related to children, the metal element, the color white, and completing things. To find Dui position, stand at your front door looking in, and imagine a three-by-three grid laid over your space. The middle right section is Dui, or the completion area. Here are a few ways to activate this gua:

Add a new, healthy plant. You could even look for one with white flowers or foliage since white is the color associated with Dui.
Decorate this area of your home with white accents. You could paint a wall or piece of furniture white, or you can choose something small like a planter or throw pillow.
Ring a bell to activate the metal element.
Invite more metal element qualities into your life by wearing more white clothing.

Another way to make sure things get finished is to get help from other people. If you have a business and are having a hard time finishing work-related projects, consider hiring people who are really good at finishing things — maybe people who have a lot of metal element in them. If you want to finish household projects, could you hire someone to help you? Could you ask your partner or kids to lend a hand?

by Anjie Cho

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday". If you have personal questions, we encourage you to check out Practical Feng Shui or hire one of Anjie's Grads.

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

Feng Shui Paint Colors for Relaxation

Guest User May 5, 2021

A lot of us are living modern, speedy lives these days, and so we’re seeking ways to find more relaxation and harmony in our environments. We want to feel less rushed and less anxious, which can be a challenge with everything that’s going on around us. Through feng shui, we can work on creating more relaxation and ease in our homes and our lives.

One of the simplest ways to shift your environment and your feng shui is through color, including paint colors. I know it may seem daunting to repaint your space, but it’s actually pretty noncommittal. It doesn’t take as long as many other home projects, and if you don’t like the color you choose, you can always change it. If you really don’t have the bandwidth to paint your walls, you could instead get a blank canvas and paint that. You can also bring in color with accents like pillows, blankets, rugs, drapes, or even small items like candles or crystals.

Colors can have a strong impact in terms of creating an ambiance and shifting your mood. Most of us are visual people, and we’re very affected by what we see. That’s one of the reasons that feng shui is so important: not only do we move through spaces physically, we also focus on visual cues. (That’s why our phones and Instagram are so attractive — they activate our vision!) The color we surround ourselves with makes a big difference.

Feng shui is inspired by nature, so when we talk about relaxing colors in terms of feng shui, think about the colors you see most often in the natural world. Those are usually the most tranquil.

Here are a few colors you can try out in your home to create a more relaxing environment:

Blue: Use relaxing tones of blue to create a meditative feeling. Think of the pale blue of the sky, or the deep, dark blue of the ocean, and how these make you feel. Blue can create a quiet, settling sensation, like an exhale or letting go of tension.

Green: Greens represent tranquility and the wood element. There can be very vibrant greens, but for a peaceful, relaxing feeling we want to look at deep and pale greens. Bright green can be very active and stimulating, so choose something more subtle if your goal is relaxation.

Brown: Browns bring in the earth element — think of the earthy tones of sand and soil that remind us of being grounded in the earth. Pale browns can be reminiscent of sand on the beach, and darker browns call to mind the steadiness of a strong tree trunk, or the support of Mother Earth below you.

Purple: While this might be less common in the natural world, I find that pale and deep violets can be very balancing and relaxing. They can also invite more inner peace and support self-worth and abundance.

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: Bathroom in the Wealth Area

Guest User May 2, 2021

Do you have any advice for a bathroom in the wealth area? Is that bad?

The way that I approach and teach feng shui is to not label things as good or bad. That’s the easy way of looking at the world: this is good and that is bad, or I am right and they are wrong. When you look at the world this way, you’re creating separation.

A bathroom in the wealth area isn’t the most desirable, but I wouldn’t call it bad. In fact, I encourage you to not use the word “bad” in general. You have to have a bathroom somewhere, and you have to work with what you have. Often, we’re attracted to feng shui that may be challenging. This isn’t necessarily negative, because with the greatest challenges come the greatest rewards. We’ve all been through challenging times, and there is so much beauty that can come from them. For instance, you might reach out to people or ask for help. You could create connections, or start to see others with more compassion as you realize the kinds of things that people go through.

Another thing to note is that most people lay the bagua incorrectly, so without looking at your floor plan, I can’t tell if your bathroom is actually in the wealth area or not. If you want some help figuring this out, you may want to check out Mindful Design’s free bagua kit or our Practical Feng Shui course.

If you do have a bathroom in the wealth area, called Xun, the first thing I would ask is whether you have any problems with wealth. If not, this isn’t something you need to worry about. If you do, there are ways that you can correct this. One way is to put a plant in your bathroom to activate and uplift the qi in this part of your home. You can also work with a feng shui consultant to look at what you can do for your specific situation.

by Anjie Cho