Q&A Sunday: What Is Feng Shui?

Guest User November 22, 2020

What is feng shui?

Since we’re spending so much time at home lately, there’s been a lot of interest in feng shui. Because of this, I wanted to take the time to share a bit more about what exactly feng shui is.

Feng shui is an Asian modality, and like other practices that come from Asia, it’s really a lifelong practice. In the western medical world, people say: “See one, do one, teach one.” This isn’t really how it works in feng shui or in other Asian modalities. You can certainly do that, but it won’t get you very far, and approaching feng shui like that is really appropriating it. It’s important to recognize that feng shui is a really deep practice from Asia, and to respect the way that it was meant to be cultivated.

That said, there are so many cultures, and most have some way of looking at how to organize their living spaces in order to invite more harmony in the home. You can look back at your own personal cultural heritage and ask your parents or cultural elders to learn more about what your ancestors and elders did to make their homes more harmonious. I’m inspired by some of my students who are incorporating their own cultural practices into their feng shui studies.

The words “feng shui” translate to “wind” and “water.” The way I look at it is that we as humans are a part of nature, and we rely on the elements of wind and water to survive. We need our breath as well as hydration to live and to thrive. Without wind and water, there is no life. At its core, feng shui is about bringing life to a space. It’s more than just knowing where to put the TV or what color to paint the door. That’s really a superficial way of looking at feng shui. I challenge you to dive in a little bit deeper, and if feng shui is something you’re interested in, work with a practitioner who can really help and support you.

It’s also really helpful just to acknowledge that your home is something that supports you, and recognize that you can transform it to be a place of harmony and support rather than a place that drains you. Feng shui is really about how to be in harmony with your home, your environment, and all the things outside of you, because they’re really not outside of you.

My personal definition of feng shui is mindfulness for spaces. It’s about paying attention to all the details of your environment and recognizing that you are interconnected and interdependent with the world around you. That opens you up to feel true compassion, since you know you’re not separate from everything around you, from helpful people and beautiful spaces to challenging people and draining spaces. Feng shui gives us the tools to slow down and create a home that supports and nurtures us. The world around us is beautiful, and a little bit of mindfulness can really help us appreciate all the beauty in our homes and in our lives.

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

How to Feng Shui Your Beauty Cabinet

Guest User November 18, 2020

originally written for mindbodygreen

In feng shui, areas and objects in your spaces represent something deeper. Your beauty cabinet, for example, is where you keep skin care products, hair styling tools, makeup and other toiletries, all tools that assist you in showing your best face and your inner radiance to the world. Giving your beauty cabinet the attention it deserves will maximize its potential and can reflect positively in how you view yourself and how you show up in your life.

Whether you have a beauty cabinet chock full of the latest products, or you just have a few precious bottles that you use daily, here are 3 tricks to give you and your beauty cabinet some radiant energy!

Toss the expired items

I think it goes without saying, but just in case... be sure to go through and toss any expired items. It may be hard to let go of some of your favorite or most expensive products, but it's important to know that using them past their expiration date can actually negate their effects! Using expired skincare products can essentially mean putting bacteria on your face, which can lead to irritation, inflammation, redness, bumps, rashes, swelling, and even infections.

Keeping them around isn't great feng shui either. The symbolism of a cabinet crammed with expired items is that your body is also cluttered with this similar energy, which is the opposite of radiant. We want to attract freshness and spaciousness instead of outdated, forgotten and spoiled qi.

Add Citrine to the Center of your cabinet

When I think of radiance, I immediately think of citrine, a quartz crystal with orange tones. Love is In The Earth, my crystal bible, states that citrine “promotes a radiance from within the self, culminating in a constant happy disposition. It brightens even the darkest corner of one’s perceived reality, and helps one to ‘laugh without restraint’.” I think we could all use some of that!

The reason why it goes in the center is that when we lay the feng shui bagua map on your cabinet, the center area relates to health and overall well-being. It also touches all the other 8 areas of life in the feng shui map, including but not limited to career, abundance, and relationships. The center touches all the aspects of your life! Among the many benefits of this stone include the ability to cleanse negative energy as well as clear itself. It will keep your beauty cabinet filled with bright and positive qi.

Change out your vanity light

The lighting around your beauty cabinet helps to bring clarity and light to whatever you're doing, whether it’s putting on makeup, washing your face, or brushing your teeth. The light also represents fire energy in feng shui. Fire energy is all about radiance, like the sun at high noon. It's a good idea to clean and dust off the bulb and fixtures periodically.

Something to consider as you’re choosing a lightbulb for this area is the temperature. If you happen to have a CFL or LED bulb (as opposed to an incandescent), opt for a bulb with temperatures of 2700K or 3000K (kelvin) or higher. The higher the number, the cooler the color of the light. You don't want to go much cooler than 3500K, or it will feel blueish.

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: How to Choose a Crystal

Guest User November 15, 2020

Hi Anjie! I have a question about crystals: I’m feeling really drawn to them but not sure where to start. Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you for your question! I get so many questions about crystals, so this seemed like a good one to answer on the blog.

My suggestion is to trust your intuition. Go to a crystal shop near you, or look online, and see what you’re drawn to. My feng shui teachers always taught me to first go with what you’re attracted to, not just for crystals, but other things as well. For example, when clients and students ask me what the best feng shui color is for a certain area of your home, I always ask what color they’re drawn to. Then you can look at what that indicates. I always recommend the book Love is in the Earth by Melody. It’s a really great resource when it comes to crystals.

For example, I recently bought an amazonite amulet that I was really drawn to. I chose it because I really love the shape and colors. Then I looked it up, and found that amazonite is soothing and is especially good for the heart and throat chakras. I’m working on the lower part of my throat chakra right now, so I love that I chose an amulet that will help me work with that energy.

What are you attracted to? What do you love? Go with your intuition, and then look up what it means, rather than the other way around. Once you’ve chosen a crystal that you love, you can wear it or place it in an area of your home. Listen to your intuition as you’re deciding where to place it also. Do you feel like you need it with you while you’re sleeping? While you’re working? It’s really important to pay attention to what your intuition is telling you, because that will give you the most meaning.

I also encourage you to not worry so much about sharing your crystal or making a big deal of it. Just be curious and sit with it.

by Anjie Cho