Q&A Sunday: Laying the Bagua on a Room with Two Doors

Anjie Cho April 26, 2020

Hi!I am reading your Holistic Spaces book and I have tried to find an answer to this on your website but so far no luck.... what if your room has 2 doors? Which way do you put the map as that would totally change the outcome. I appreciate your help and if you have a Frequently Asked Questions page, please let me know!

Linsey R.

Hi Linsey,

That’s a great question. We often get asked how to lay the bagua, or feng shui energy map, when your home has more than one door. You always want to use the formal or official front door, because that’s where qi (energy) enters the home. You use this door to lay the bagua even if that’s not the door you generally use.

It’s very common, especially in many areas of the U.S., to not use the formal front door. Often people use a back door or garage door instead. Because the front door is where energy enters the home, this can limit the opportunities that are available to you, so it’s important to start using your official front door if you can. It can be as simple as making an effort to use the front door when you get your mail; opening and closing your front door will activate it, and will help you start to welcome more opportunities and resources into your life.

You can also place the bagua map on an individual room. I often recommend that people who are not practitioners start by laying the bagua on their bedroom, because it can be much simpler than laying the bagua on a whole house. If your room has two doors, you also want to use the door that feels like the official front door. It’s not ideal to have multiple doors leading to your bedroom, as it can mean that things are a little complicated in your life.

Doors also represent communication, the mouth, and how you connect with the world. I worked on a project where the original front door was closed up and made into a window, and they had added a side door that became the front door. This meant that there was a voice that was blocked or not being heard in the home.

I hope that helps!

by Anjie Cho

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday". We will be answering questions submitted by our readers. Click here to submit any Feng Shui questions!

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui check out the Mindful Design Feng Shui certification program. Laura Morris and I launched our program in September 2018. To get on the list about it, sign up at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com.

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Q&A Sunday: Laying the Bagua, Health, & Skin

Anjie Cho April 19, 2020

Hi, We are in Australia (Southern Hemisphere) and I get to read your book in our local library. Do we read the map of bagua in the same direction? My daughter has eczema and I want to give her some help in Feng Shui. Health is in the middle of the space. What shall I do to help her recovery? Thanks a lot.

Chuiyin I., Victoria, Australia

Dear Chuiyin,

Thanks so much for your question. For anyone who doesn’t know, the bagua is a conceptual map that feng shui practitioners lay on a space. It’s a three-by-three grid with nine areas that each correspond to a different area of life. The word “bagua” actually means “eight areas,” because there are eight areas around the center.

There are many schools of feng shui, just like there are many schools of yoga, many ways to make pancakes...you get the idea. In the school of feng shui that I practice, BTB feng shui, we lay the bagua based on the formal front entry. We do this because that’s where the qi, or energy, enters the space. It’s also called the “mouth of qi.” In your case, even though you’re in the southern hemisphere, you still lay the bagua based on the formal front door. Other schools of feng shui, like Compass School, Classical, of Flying Star, may orient the bagua based on the cardinal directions, but I’m not an expert in those schools of feng shui.

You also mentioned the health area and wanting to help your daughter with her eczema. You’re correct that the health area is in the center of the bagua. This means it is touching all other bagua areas, and metaphorically, all aspects of your life. Think about it: if you don’t have your health, it can be hard to be successful in things like your career, relationships, or family life. Right now, it’s especially relevant to stabilize your health, and focusing on the health area would be helpful for your daughter and also your family in general.

You can start activating the tai chi by giving attention to the center of your home: notice what is going on in that area of your home or bedroom, start spending more time there, and make sure it is well cared for and uncluttered. You can also add the color yellow, which is related to this area, and/or plants, which bring growth and healing.

There are many metaphors in feng shui. If someone in your household is having skin issues, it may be helpful to notice what is going on with the walls, which represent the “skin” of your home. Are they dirty? Do they need a new coat of paint? Working on things in your home can work in tandem with what you’re doing for your health.

Thanks again for your question!

by Anjie Cho

Thanks for reading our "Q&A Sunday". We will be answering questions submitted by our readers. Click here to submit any Feng Shui questions!

Dive deeper into feng shui to transform your life!

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Create sacred spaces that support, and nourish.

Visit us at mindfuldesignschool.com

Q&A Sunday: Feng Shui Bagua Crystals and Missing Areas

Anjie Cho April 12, 2020

I am placing my nine feng shui bagua natural crystals around my space, and I noticed that, just like in our last home, my Relationship area is outside of my house in the yard. I’m not sure how that keeps happening... see my diagram below. The dashed lines are the outline of my house I traced from a blueprint I had. What do you suggest I do for that area? Do I put the crystal in my yard? Anything special I should do to this space?

Mary K., Dana Point, CA

Hi Mary

Thank you for listening to the podcast, sending in this question, and for purchasing the 9 Feng Shui Bagua Natural Crystals!

First off, good job on laying the bagua. It is definitely interesting that this is the second home that you noticed the Relationship area is missing from your floor plan. Sometimes we are attracted to spaces for a reason. It’s like how we live with habitual patterns. However there’s some intelligence in this, as you may up with spaces that may exacerbate or point out areas in your life that need attention or improvement. Are there any relationships that need some energy or consideration? That can be your primary relationship, business relationships, relationship with your mother or your maternal side or just relationships in general.

You also had a good instinct about completing the bagua by placing something in the yard where the missing bagua area is. That is something we often do as feng shui consultants. The crystal is a great way to do that. You can bury it at the top corner to energetically complete the bagua and “take back” the missing area. You can also do this with a light post, a tree or other ritual feng shui object. Just whatever you do, use the intention that you will be energetically filling in the missing Relationship gua.

One final note, the 9 Feng Shui Bagua Natural Crystals are a wonderful, simple way to activate each area; however, a more advanced technique would be to only use the crystals in the three areas that need the most attention. Since Relationships is missing from the house bagua, the corresponding crystal is one of the three that you can always have in place. Then consider for yourself or your family what other two areas need the most energy. This is something you can revisit every 90 days, or as needed. The reasons are: first, in feng shui, it’s not about fixing everything, especially if there are places that don’t need fixing. And when all nine areas are improved, it’s too perfect, and things then start to fall apart. Second, it’s beneficial to work on only the areas that need addressing. When you focus your energy on those three areas, more change can happen than when you try to fix everything at once.

Hopefully this helps clear things up around the bagua and your new space! Check out our podcast series on what each gua represents, and let us know what areas you end up working with! :)

by Anjie Cho