The Feng Shui of Generosity

I recently learned a Tibetan phrase:

Len Tang Nammin La Rewa Mepa

which translates to “without hoping for response or results.” 

I found it particularly fitting to learn this phrase during the holiday season. This Tibetan phrase pertains to generosity without hoping for anything in return, including any sort of response or even any karmic retribution. I think sometimes we forget that true generosity has nothing to do with what we get back. Though we may be generous, we often still give expecting some result. For instance, we offer advice but are disappointed if recipient fails to respond to it. 

What does this have to do with feng shui? Feng shui is all about qi, or life force energy, and energy affects your karma. Everything we do and everything in the spaces around us carries qi that influences us. So this holiday season, I want to share a couple tips on how to use feng shui to enhance your generosity.

There is an area of the feng shui bagua map that relates to Benefactors. You'll find it in the bottom, right corner of the map. I’m very lucky to have helpful people who support me in my life, such as mentors, clients, family and friends. But since we’re talking about giving, how can we change to become benefactors to others? One feng shui technique involves cultivating this Benefactors area in your home or bedroom and adding a living green plant to symbolize growth and kindness towards others.

Another way to enhance your generosity is to become a benefactor to your home. What does this mean? It means being kind to your space. This can be as simple as acknowledging the home spirits with thanks for protecting you, listening to your home's needs (like fixing a broken door knob), or offering flowers or acts of service, such as keeping the space clean and sacred. 

Of course, even though it’s not about what you receive in return, true generosity does attract abundance and kindness. This holiday season, and even into the new year, use some feng shui to cultivate generosity, starting with your home, and see how it blooms in your outer life. You may be pleasantly surprised! 

by Anjie Cho

Q&A Sunday: Welcoming New Friendships

What is a good way to welcome new friendships in your life? Not just superficial friends but actually friends with whom you truly connect and are supportive?

Charmaine B.M., Morganville, NJ

Hi Charmaine, 

Thank you so much for your question! It's a great one, because many people run into the same issue as we get older, in that it's not as easy to welcome new friends into our lives. It's harder to meet people, and we also tend to grow apart from former friends. Not everyone walks the same path, and sometimes friends don't serve us as well once our paths diverge. 

My first suggestion for you is to look at the location of your dining room and dining table in your home. How close are they to the front door? In your case, it's better if the dining room and table are further towards the back of the home. If they are close to the front door, is it possible for you to move the dining room or table towards the back of the house / room, past the mid-line? Your dining table represents how you break bread with people, interact with them and connect with them. When the dining area is close to the door, it may indicate superficial friendships coming into and leaving from your life quickly. Kind of like "dining and dashing!"

If you do have the situation in your home with the dining area near the front door, but can't change it, there's still hope! The second option, if the first is not available to you, is to place a mirror in the dining area. Choose a large mirror (the larger, the better) and set it up so that it reflects the dining table towards the back of your home. This means that when you look at the mirror, you're facing the back of the home. This energetically pulls your dining table back further into the home and therefore further into the feng shui bagua layout of your home. This may seem a bit confusing, so I encourage you to submit your floor plan, and I can specify which wall to use. 

I also suggest using your dining area often, if you don't already. These days we often neglect dining tables and end up using them as landing places for old mail, working at home and essentially everything but eating! In fact, if you're working at your dining room table too often, that could signify that you are spending too much time on work and not enough on cultivating friendships. Take some time to clean off your table, and host a dinner party or a few friends to activate that energy. 

Finally, activate the Benefactors area of your home. You're not just looking for superficial friends, but for people who can connect with and support you. This means you're looking for Benefactors, helpful people in your life who comfort and encourage you. To welcome these relationships, activate the Benefactors area of the bagua. You can do this by adding a heavy statue in this area to provide support and stability. You can also add plants to your Benefactors area, especially plants with red flowers. Red is auspicious in feng shui, and green plants stimulate new growth and new beginnings. 

If you'd like, send your floor plan along, and we'll take a more personal look at your dining area. If you're already working with a consultant, consider getting into the question a bit deeper and looking at your specific situation. Are you meeting lots of friends but not connecting? Do you not meet anyone? Do your friends often betray you? It's important to answer these questions so that you can take steps to adjust your space and life to make room for great friends!

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 or Green Design questions!

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How to Choose Your Bathroom Vanity Lighting

featured this month on Houzz by Yanic Simard

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The bathroom vanity is a special part of the home, but one that can sometimes get overlooked. In a primary bathroom, it can be the central hub for many important parts of our self-care and the true workhorse for much of our daily routines. For this reason, bathroom vanities need carefully selected lighting to live up to their full potential. There are many options to choose from, all of which work in different scenarios and can be used together to get the best of both worlds. Read on to find out how to pick the right bathroom vanity lighting.

Use a Single Sconce Above the Mirror If:

  • You don’t have room on one or both sides of the mirror to fit a pair of sconces.
  • You have a very wide mirror with no breaks in between.
  • You have a tall space and want to dramatically accentuate the height by adding a focal point up high.

...read full article

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