Q&A Sunday: Beach Holidays and the Five Elements

Hi Anjie. I would appreciate some Feng Shui tips for a beach holiday in terms of balancing the seaside environment, which seems to me water, earth (sand, pebbles) and fire (sun). I wondered if one should add the missing elements in order not to be too exhausted and overwhelmed.

Giuliana G., France

Hi Giuliana,

Thank you so much for always sending such wonderful questions! I previously answered this question on this blog post, but you sent me a follow-up and clarified that you were more curious about the five elements. A beach holiday can be at any time of year--a lot of times we go on beach holidays in the summer, but we often go during the winter as well because we want to go somewhere warm for a bit.

So what do we do to balance elements in a seaside environment? First, it’s really important to be in touch with what resonates with you. You can look at your Four Pillars or your Bazi, which is your Chinese astrology. You can see what your Day Master is, if it’s weak or strong, and what element you’re supported by. For instance, I’m a weak yin wood. Since my Day Master is wood, having water around me is really great. I’ve always lived near water; I grew up in Los Angeles, I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I lived right on the water in New York City. Because water is really supportive for me, I don’t really need to balance things when I’m by the seaside.

If you don’t know anything about Four Pillars or Bazi, we have some information on the website about how to figure out your Nine Stars. If you look at the Nine Stars and you’re a wood element, for instance, it may mean that the seaside environment is supportive for you.

But what if you are not supported by water? That’s what it sounds like, because your question implies that you become exhausted, overwhelmed, or depleted near the seaside. That’s the main thing to pay attention to; you can look at numerology and astrology, but it’s important to see what you’re personally attracted to. For instance, as I mentioned, I’m always really drawn to the water, whereas my husband is more drawn to the forest and the country. For me, going to the country is neutral, and if I was going to the country, I’d want to be by a lake or another body of water. You usually know yourself, so if you close your eyes and think about your ideal vacation, that would be a good indication of what element you need. If being by the seaside makes you feel exhausted and overwhelmed, and your ideal vacation is in the country, that’s the number one indication that you may not need more water.

You mentioned that at the beach the main element is water, and you also mentioned earth (sand) and fire (sun), so what’s missing is metal and wood. Metal actually creates more water, so if you’re feeling depleted, metal isn’t the best thing to bring in. And if you think about it practically, metal gets hot very easily, so I would recommend you bring more wood into the situation. That could be as simple as carrying more wood-colored things around you. For instance, you could bring blue or green clothing, or a blue or green beach towel or bathing suit. You also see the color blue in the water, so it may be very comforting to look at the water if it’s not too bright. You can also bring the wood element into the place that you’re staying. The wood element is also living green plants, so you may want to bring those into the place where you are staying.

Hopefully this will help you for your seaside beach holiday at any time of year. Thank you so much!

by Anjie Cho

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our a unique training program takes an holistic approach to learning the art of feng shui design. Mindful design is about becoming aware, and attentive, to the energy around you: both inner and outer qi. It is about promoting a better way of living and creating sacred spaces that support, and nourish. Visit us at mindfuldesignschool.com.

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: Decks, Feng Shui and Affordable Adjustments

I've been doing some work in my home and am trying to apply western models of feng shui to my choices (as affordable and possible). I'm hoping someone can give me a little confirmation of what I believe to be true about my house plan. Or correct me, which would make things better and easier. When I look at the bagua map over my house plan, the wealth, fame, and love areas are predominantly over the deck, which runs the length of the house. (The deck is 1/3 of the width of the entire footprint.) I'm not sure how specific these things get, as technically there is a small amount INSIDE the house, too. By the way, those three areas of my life are definitely works in progress. So my question is - am I right that the deck holds the three baguas? Until I have the resources to modify the space the way I really want to, what are some low-cost ways to improve the space? Thank you for any and all help!

Elizabeth O.N.

Hi Elizabeth,

Thanks so much for submitting this question to our feng shui Facebook group: Your Feng Shui Journey. I encourage any other readers who would like to join. Your Feng Shui Journey is managed by my partner, Laura Morris, and I, as an extension of the Mindful Design Feng Shui School. Elizabeth, this is a great question about a floor plan that comes up a lot: is a deck included in the bagua?

There is one main piece of information missing that I need in order to answer this question: is your deck under the main roof of the house, and is it under any kind of roof at all? A trellis would not be included as a roof. If the deck is under a roof, you have laid the bagua appropriately. However, if the roof ends before the deck begins and doesn’t cover the deck, as I’ve shown in the diagram below, the deck is not included in the bagua.

Decks, Feng Shui and Affordable Adjustments - Bagua Layout.png

You’ve also pointed out that there is an area, which appears to be on the right, in the Relationship area, that is part of the deck but is also part of the house. I’m assuming this area is under the roof, and the remainder of the deck is not. But even if the landing area isn’t under the roof, the bagua layout in the drawing here is still correct, as that area would be a weak gua, since it is exterior to the house. A roof over the deck, even if it’s in the house, would make this area stronger.

You also mentioned that Abundance, Recognition and Relationships are the areas where you most need improvement in your life. Don’t worry! Most people find this to be true. These are the most areas of the feng shui map people usually want to improve, their wealth, reputation and partnerships, so you’re not alone in that respect. However, it may not be as dire as you think! If the bagua is laid out as I’ve drawn it, your exterior deck is providing some support in these areas! What could be the most challenging area is what looks like the landing area, which is a weak spot in the Relationship gua.

Your second question is, until you have the resources to modify the space the way you really want to, what are some low cost ways to improve the space? Feng shui doesn’t require you to modify your space and spend a lot of money. This is a common misconception. There are a lot of resources available for free online, and you can do your best with those or purchase a book. I would just recommend you follow one person and not get all mixed up with a lot of different teachers. Pick the one book that really resonates with you, use that and do one to three things that you can put all your energy and attention into. Focus on that, and maybe one of the three areas you mentioned having issues with, and do those things really well instead of feeling like you can’t do what you really want. In fact, you can! You have all the tools you need; just select one free resource, follow that resource really well and do your best.

by Anjie Cho

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our a unique training program takes an holistic approach to learning the art of feng shui design. Mindful design is about becoming aware, and attentive, to the energy around you: both inner and outer qi. It is about promoting a better way of living and creating sacred spaces that support, and nourish. Visit us at mindfuldesignschool.com.

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: Colors and Elemental Energy in Feng Shui

Hi, I’m redecorating. I’m doing two walls green and the other two walls grey. The colours are called jade jewel and subtle stone. Do the colours green for wood and grey for metal still stand or can I count them as earth colours, as they represent wonderful shades of crystals/stone? (in the context of the bagua). Am I making sense? Thanks in advance. PS I like crystals ;)

Thomas C.

Hi Thomas,

Thanks for your question. You submitted this on our feng shui Facebook group: Your Feng Shui Journey. I encourage any other readers who would like to join. Your Feng Shui Journey is managed by my partner, Laura Morris, and I, as an extension of the Mindful Design Feng Shui School. Thomas, you asked about colors and how they relate to the five elements, or if the specific shades you’re using are connected. This is actually a really good question, so thanks for asking!

Colors are an important part of feng shui, because people are very visual, so color is something we notice immediately. There is a quote I like on color from His Holiness Master Lin Yun, who started BTB feng shui:

“How does color influence our life-world? First, color defines for us what exists and what does not exist. Second, color discloses the status of one's health and fortunes... Third, color inspires emotion.”

Colors are one of the most powerful ways to work with your feng shui. There are lot of ways to look at color, and you’ve touched upon two of them here. One is the relationship to the five elements, and another is your personal relationship to colors, for example your reference to the crystals and stones you love. Your own personal conditioning is important, as are cultural associations and the relation of certain colors to nature. So to answer your question, you can use the colors in the way that makes the most sense for you. If you want to use them based on the five elements, you are correct that the color green is related to Wood and the color grey is related to Metal. If you want to associate the colors with the meanings of the crystals and stones, that’s possible too! However, in feng shui, we would not use the colors you mentioned to represent the Earth element. In the five element system, Earth colors are brown, orange, yellow and other colors that would be considered “earthy.”

If you want to think of the shades you’ve chosen as colors that you love, of course go ahead and use them with this connotation! I would not recommend using them to represent the Earth element, however, because they don’t in our system. You want to make sure to keep the element systems straight.

I’d also like to share something a teacher of mine always said. When clients asked him what color to paint their walls, his first question was “Well, what color do you like?”. The most important thing here is to use colors you love and follow your heart and intuition. From there, if you want to follow a system like the five elements, aim to do so with precision and not muddle the colors.

by Anjie Cho

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our a unique training program takes an holistic approach to learning the art of feng shui design. Mindful design is about becoming aware, and attentive, to the energy around you: both inner and outer qi. It is about promoting a better way of living and creating sacred spaces that support, and nourish. Visit us at mindfuldesignschool.com.

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!