Q&A Sunday: Laying the Bagua Map on a South-Facing House

Anjie Cho January 19, 2020

Hi! I have been a listener of your podcast since the beginning and I really enjoy your practical approach! I am reaching to you with a question: What to do when the entrance of your house faces south? Is it possible to successfully apply the bagua to a space without getting it all wrong/opposite of where it is supposed to be?

Eight years ago, I had a consultant come to our house and help me map the bagua and cures. It worked wonderfully! We moved out of state almost five years ago to our current house, and our lives are completely different. I am mostly concerned with my husband's career. We went from having a lot of support and growth in our careers, to being overlooked and feeling completely stuck where we are now. Just yesterday he found out that he lost a big part of the compensation package that was the incentive that moved us to where we live now. How do I activate the career and helpful people areas without feeling like maybe I am doing it in the wrong place?

Veronica H., Forest City, NC

Hi Veronica,

Thanks so much for listening to the podcast since the beginning! Your first question is: what to do when the entrance of your house faces south. There are dozens of schools of feng shui, and the one that I practice is called BTB feng shui. In BTB, we don’t use the cardinal or compass directions to place the feng shui bagua map. So, from my perspective, it makes no difference whether your house faces south in successfully applying the bagua to your space.

As far as the layout of the bagua on your current home, I do think the “nagging feeling” is important to pay attention to. However it’s also useful to have trust in the feng shui consultant you worked with, because that’s what the universe has presented to you.

From a BTB perspective, I think the best way for you to activate the Career and Benefactors areas would be to focus on the bedroom. It’s beneficial to start closest to you, and it’s also going to be easier for you to lay the bagua map in a room as opposed to the entire house. You would stand in the doorway of your bedroom, looking in, then divide the room into a three-by-three grid. If you’re interested in the helpful people (Benefactors) area, that would be on the nearest right corner, while the career (Path in Life) would be the center of that wall that the entry is located on. I think that career as well as Benefactors - helpful people definitely need activation, but also maybe consider the Recognition - Fame area. You said that you were being overlooked, and the Recognition area can help to improve being seen.

When I do consultations, I always ask clients to choose three things to focus on, so this might be a great trio for you to look to in making adjustments. I encourage you to re-listen to the earlier podcasts on these bagua areas and check the blog for suggestions on how to improve the Path in Life, Benefactors and Fame areas. There are many ways to make adjustments here, and I'm certain one will be fitting for you!

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!

Visit the Holistic Spaces Store

Q&A Sunday: Feng Shui for Difficult Neighbors

Anjie Cho April 14, 2019

So excited your podcast is back. I'm really enjoying trying to incorporate feng shui into my home. I am wondering if you might be willing to suggest if there is any way to deal with unfriendly, aggressive neighbors? I am starting to feel like I attract them. I'm honest to goodness a normal decent human being/mom with two young kids. I've had to get restraining orders against neighbors and eventually moved to a new home to avoid them. Now, I have new neighbor who is becoming very paranoid and aggressive. I've got a turtle and a frog on the front porch. Would wind chimes help? Appreciate your time and any adjustments that might address neighbors.

Sarah S., Tacoma, WA

Hi Sarah,

Thanks so much for writing in. We’re excited that our podcast is back as well! Thanks for listening!

That’s great that you’re trying to incorporate feng shui into your home. I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve had some run-ins with unfriendly and aggressive neighbors. That’s pretty extreme that you’ve had to have restraining orders against your neighbors and that you’ve had to actually move!

I don’t know if this has happened more than twice, but oftentimes the universe presents us with the same challenges over and over again until we work through them and resolve them. As a general rule, I like to work with issues as they arise rather than pushing them aside, because I know they will come up again. This is not to say that you’re doing this; I’m just speaking in general.

I’m not sure what the turtle or the frog on the front porch does. There are many, many schools of feng shui, and in BTB feng shui I have not learned any adjustments that have to do with putting a turtle or frog on the front porch.

There are some secret BTB feng shui cures you can work with if you work directly with a practitioner, but they’re not adjustments that you share without an exchange of energy and without hiring a consultant. What happens in these secret adjustments is that you transform the harmful people into helpful people. What I can suggest without working with you one-on-one, are ways for you to protect your family while still opening your heart. By doing this, you can transform harmful people into helpful people.

If we look at the feng shui bagua map, you can look at a few areas that may help with the situation. There is the Benefactors area, which relates to helpful people, so you can activate that. You would activate that area in your home, not outside, because you can attract helpful people and transform harmful people into helpful people by becoming a helpful person, and maybe becoming more helpful to your neighbors.

Another area you could address is protection, which you can do by repeating this mantra called Ho’ opono pono:

“I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you.”

Ho’ opono pono is practiced in Huna, a spiritual tradition from Hawaii. The idea is that you ask people that are hurting you to forgive you, because everyone in the community is responsible for everybody else. If some wrongdoing happened in a community, everyone in the community would be responsible, not just the person who did the wrongdoing.

Note: There are other secret feng shui adjustments that look at protection. Again, these are shared through one-on-one transmission.

You can also work to heal any karmic ties you may have by performing one good deed a day for 27 days. This will help to heal any karmic baggage that needs some attention at this point.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes. It may be helpful to find a BTB feng shui consultant in your area. Or, if a consultation with a full-fledged consultant is not something you’re interested in, we have students in our Mindful Design program who offer consultations at a reduced rate, and they would be able to share those secret transmissions with you. If you’re interested in a student consultation, please reach out to us at Mindful Design School.

Thank you for your question, and thanks for listening to the podcast!

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!

Visit the Holistic Spaces Store

Q&A Sunday: Feng Shui for Career Growth and Direction

Anjie Cho August 19, 2018

I just wanted to say thank you for your amazing podcast! I am also still deciding which Feng Shui school works best for me but I love learning about Feng Shui and your podcast really taught me so much. My whole apartment is located directly above a laundromat. I'm interested in tapping into some good energies for mine and my boyfriend's careers. I need to figure out what direction I want to go in career-wise, and my boyfriend is hoping to grow his business. Thanks for all your help Anjie!

Amy A., Easthampton, MA

Hi Amy,

Thank you so much for listening to the podcast and for submitting your floor plan. Maybe one day we’ll start the podcast again! But I’ve had a busy year working on my book, and launching Mindful Design Feng Shui School.

From your email, you’ve indicated that you and your boyfriend would like to have some feng shui advice on how to improve your careers. The boyfriend wishes to grow his business, and you would like some direction and clarity on your career in general.

Feng Shui for Career Growth Floor Plan.png

I appreciate the time and energy you spent on this floor plan, and even drawing it up on the computer! Everything is part of the story for you, including the appearance of this floor plan. My first observation was that that you’ve drawn this with a very thick black boundary. In fact the boundary is even thicker at the front door, and I had to spend some time to even find the front door on the plan. Of course all of this relates to your careers. This tells me that there may be some blocks in how business and career opportunities find you. You and your boyfriend can make a bit more effort to put yourself out in the world more. It can be literally getting out of the house more, as well as opening your mind up as well.

It's interesting that you live above a laundromat. A few things come to mind...living above a lot of things spinning around in circles. And also people coming in to clean their "dirty laundry" and coming out fresh and clean! Finally, the ritual of cleaning. So maybe in your life, you spin things around a few times, but end up with freshness and new beginnings!

A little more on the entry, since the entry and this large block is in the Benefactors area, I think that it would be beneficial to look for helpful people and to travel outside of your comfort zone. Are there mentors you can work with? Are there friends or colleagues that you can reach out to for support? Be sure the entry is clean, uncluttered, and bright. If you need to, add some lighting, or a brighter light bulb. Make sure the outside of your door is clean, and your house number is clear and easy to see.

The entry is super important to career. It’s how the world finds and sees you.

For your boyfriend, he would like some growth in his business, so I would recommend a green plant in the Recognition area of your home, which is in the living room where the table is. Near the table by the window would be a perfect spot for a new healthy green plant or tree. I’ve been loving fig trees lately like this one. The leaves are so lush and soft. The wood element can support and enhance the fame and recognition he needs to see growth.

If you want to have some more clarity and direction, keep your windows clean and clear. Even if they’re clean right now, clean them again! The windows symbolize the eyes of the inhabitants of the home. Keep your eyes open and clear so you can start to see what’s the best direction for you. So you can begin to notice the messages from the universe to direct you towards your life path.

Finally, the both of you can attract more helpful people and benefactors, which is in that entry area. Besides the suggestions above, you can also ring a bell like these to activate the benefactors area. The sound and vibrations will spread out so that helpful people will come to your support. It’s even more powerful if you can do this every day between 11am and 1pm for 27 days in a row!

by Anjie Cho

If you’d like to learn more about feng shui check out the Mindful Design Feng Shui certification program. Laura Morris and I are launching our program in September 2018. We have a free webinar “Five Feng Shui Tools Revealed: Must-Do Business Boosters for Soulpreneurs and Wellness Practitioners” coming up, too! To get on the list about it, sign up at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com.

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our 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.