Q&A Sunday: Space Clearing in Feng Shui

Guest User December 5, 2021

I’ve heard so much about sage. Is there a special way to sage a space?

Sage is traditionally used in cultures that are indigenous to the Americas, and is not traditional in Asia where feng shui is from. However, you can burn sage or other botanicals to clear a space. Burning plant material is a way to transmute the energies in a space and clear things out, and many herbs have antimicrobial properties that help to purify the space on a physical level as well.

A more traditional way to clear space in feng shui is with fresh oranges. Because you don’t have to burn anything, it’s much better for air quality. It’s also more travel-friendly, since you might not be able to burn things when you’re staying somewhere other than your own home.

Oranges represent yang energy in Asian culture, and they bring a lot of vitality. They’re also connected to the energy of abundance, because they are round like coins and are similar in color to gold. One great way to harness the clearing energy of oranges is to keep a bowl of them in your kitchen. It’s okay to eat them, too — the act of peeling each one will really uplift the energy of your space!

If you don’t want to use fresh oranges, or if you’re looking for something that’s even easier to travel with, you can use a mist with orange essential oil.

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 Lay the Bagua in BTB Feng Shui

Guest User November 28, 2021

Does your method of feng shui use the main door to lay the bagua?

First, I want to clarify that the feng shui that I practice is not my method. Feng shui is an ancient practice, and no practitioner living now has created it. It is lineage-based, and it’s been passed down for generations. It is true that there are many schools of feng shui, and I study and teach BTB or Black Sect feng shui.

In BTB feng shui, we lay the bagua according to the main entrance to the home. We align the bottom of the bagua map with the front door, so your front door will fall in the blue, black, or grey area of the bagua map. The red area, often called Fame, will be on the wall opposite to the front door. If you’re working with a different school of feng shui, this may be different, but that is how we lay the bagua in the BTB school of feng shui.

I also want to note that all schools of feng shui recognize the importance of the front door in how they look at the energetics of a room, and how they place things in the home. Even though they might not place the bagua according to the front door, it is still an important feature to pay attention to.

If you are wondering how to lay the bagua on your home, I would definitely encourage you to work with a skilled practitioner. It might seem simple, but unless you have a very rectangular floor plan it can actually be quite complicated. You can also get on the Mindful Design mailing list to be notified when we do floor plan bootcamps or other workshops where you may have the opportunity to see us lay the bagua on your space.

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: The Best Feng Shui Bedroom Color

Guest User November 14, 2021

What’s the best feng shui color for a bedroom?

I get asked some version of this question a lot, and I’m going to let you in on a feng shui secret: there’s no perfect feng shui color for a bedroom, or any room for that matter. The best color for you depends on what you want to manifest, your unique energy, and what colors you like. For me to recommend a color for your bedroom, I would need to know what elements you need more of, where you need more support, and what you’d like to work on.

For example, if you want to invite in a partner, pink or peach could be a supportive color for you. If you want to feel more grounded, an earthy brown or yellow might be the most nourishing. We can look at feng shui color theory, but I can’t give you a cookie cutter answer. If that was how feng shui worked, it would be really easy to just say that all bedrooms should be blue. However, not everyone wants a blue bedroom, and it might not be the best fit for everyone energetically either.

When choosing a color for your bedroom, first think about what it is that you want. Then, you can start looking at different colors and the connections you have to them. You can look at the feng shui meaning behind colors, but also pay attention to what you like and what resonates with you. If you read somewhere that orange is the best color for a certain room but you hate orange, it will be bad feng shui for you to paint your room orange.

What colors do you gravitate towards? What colors do you not like as much? I have a lot of metal element naturally and I love metal element colors, like whites and off-whites. I also really like black, which is connected to the water element. Those tend to be good colors for me to work with because I enjoy being around them.

Another thing to note is that there are many ways to bring color into your life besides painting the walls. Once you’ve figured out what kind of energy you want to create and which colors resonate with you, you can start by bringing in that color in small ways. It’s often a good idea to play around with accessories before committing to a new wall color. You can even start wearing a color, and see how it makes you feel.

by Anjie Cho