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

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

Q&A Sunday: Abundance, Giving, and Receiving

Guest User April 25, 2021

How can I work on bringing in more abundance?

This is a popular question, and I invite you to read through some of my earlier blog posts on feng shui and abundance as well. Today, I want to talk about how we can approach this from the perspective of giving and receiving. There’s a Zen saying that there’s no giver and no receiver. I encourage you to think about what this means to you. It might sound paradoxical, and there are many ways to unpack this statement.

I invite you to contemplate how you give and receive, and what generosity means to you. In BTB feng shui, we were taught by our teachers to honor something called the red envelope tradition, and this is something we teach our students at Mindful Design School. It’s a way to formally exchange energy with our students, since we are offering them teachings. At the same time, my students are also my teachers because they help me to become a better teacher.

Whenever you do give something, you can think about why you are giving. Is there a balance in what you’re receiving? How can you be generous in new and different ways? This concept connects to the feng shui area of abundance, called Xun. In feng shui, the opposite areas of the bagua are closely related. Opposite Xun is Qian, which has to do with benefactors and helpful people. How abundant you feel is directly related to how you can invite helpful, supportive people into your life, and the way to invite more helpful people into your life is to become a more helpful person. A lot of people want to work on wealth, and it’s something I get asked a lot about as a feng shui practitioner. Often, however, what people really need to work on is how to give and receive. How can you become a benefactor to others, and how can you receive what is offered to you?

A lot of people, myself included, have a hard time receiving wealth. One lesson that many of us are learning is to not help other people so much that we hurt ourselves, and to be open to receive when people do offer their help and support. In addition to being open to support from others, it’s important to be able to support yourself too.

If you’re working with abundance, I encourage you to think about your relationship to giving and receiving. How can I give and support others, and how can others support me? Feng shui isn’t just about moving things around. Changing the objects in your home is just one way you can start to manifest these deeper philosophical concepts in your physical world.

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

Q&A Sunday: Gratitude for Your House Spirits

Guest User April 18, 2021

Do you have any recommendations for preparing for a home renovation?

I’ve helped many clients with home renovations, and am actually doing my own soon, so I understand that it can be a bit stressful.

One thing that I would recommend before embarking on a renovation is to offer gratitude to your home, as well as your house spirits. We all have spirits, or invisible beings, that help to protect our homes. It’s important to acknowledge these spirits, and have gratitude for all of the support and wonderful energy that they’ve given to you and your family, or anyone else who lives with you.

In feng shui, we talk about the importance of acknowledging your home as you start to make shifts to your space. For instance, your home represents your body. If you’re having health problems, you can look at your home and how it relates to different areas of your body. Your home also supports you in so many ways, so it’s important to acknowledge that support and offer gratitude.

Whether you are preparing for a renovation or not, I invite you to take some time to acknowledge your house spirit. First, meditate in a place in your home that feels like it has a great deal of power and energy. Don’t overthink where this is — your first thought is your best thought. When you think about the center of energy in your home, what comes up? Go to that area in your home. Then say hello to your house spirit, and be friendly, just like you would if you were meeting a new friend. Have curiosity, and offer gratitude. Then think about all the beauty and love that your house spirit has offered you over the years.

The way that you treat your home will be reflected in how your home treats you. This is really a law of the universe. Everything external to you is a mirror to what is going on internally, so I invite you to take a moment to acknowledge your house spirit and offer gratitude to your home.

by Anjie Cho