Episode 185: 5 Ways to Use a Feng Shui Crystal Ball

HOLISTIC SPACES PODCAST

Episode 185: 5 Ways to Use a Feng Shui Crystal Ball

Faceted glass feng shui crystal ball hanging from red string in front of trees, grass, and lake.

Photo by Mindful Design School

Feng shui crystal balls are one of the most commonly used items in BTB feng shui, and people tend to be very curious about them. In this episode, we’re talking about why we work with feng shui crystal balls, five ways to use them in your home, and how to hang them properly.

We cover: 

Mentioned in this episode:

Purchase a Holistic Spaces Feng Shui Crystal Kit

Our feng shui certification is open for enrollment!

Sign up for a live info session to learn more about our feng shui certification.

Download our free bagua kit


Thanks so much for listening to the Holistic Spaces Podcast brought to you by Mindful Design Feng Shui School!


MORE QUESTIONS

Hire one of our Mindful design school Grads for a 1-1 consultation. We know so many personal questions come up. That's why you need a 1-1! Laura and Anjie offer all these freebies, but if you want to learn more it's time to ask a professional. learn more HERE

NEW EPISODES OF THE HOLISTIC SPACES PODCAST BY MINDFUL DESIGN ARE AVAILABLE EVERY MONDAY.

Episode 176: What to Do with "Bad" Bathroom Locations

HOLISTIC SPACES PODCAST

Episode 176: What to Do with "Bad" Bathroom Locations

Photo by Intan Indiastuti on Unsplash

We get a lot of questions about how to deal with bathrooms in “bad” locations. While we would encourage you not to be fearful of any home layout, there are a few places in your home where a bathroom can pose more of a challenge. In this episode, we’re sharing what these locations are and how to work with them in feng shui.

We cover: 

Mentioned in this episode:


Thanks so much for listening to the Holistic Spaces Podcast brought to you by Mindful Design Feng Shui School!


MORE QUESTIONS

Hire one of our Mindful design school Grads for a 1-1 consultation. We know so many personal questions come up. That's why you need a 1-1! Laura and Anjie offer all these freebies, but if you want to learn more it's time to ask a professional. learn more HERE

NEW EPISODES OF THE HOLISTIC SPACES PODCAST BY MINDFUL DESIGN ARE AVAILABLE EVERY MONDAY.

Episode 149: Feng Shui 101: The Bagua Map Part 1

HOLISTIC SPACES PODCAST

EPISODE 149: Feng Shui 101: The Bagua Map Part 1

Yellow armchairs with potted green plant in brown planter

Photo by Amanda Vick on Unsplash

If you’ve been listening for a while, you’ve probably heard us mention the feng shui bagua. The bagua is a tool that feng shui practitioners to gain more information and clarity about a client and their space. In Part 1 of this three-part series, we are covering the New Beginnings, Wealth, and Health areas of the bagua.

We cover:

  • What is the feng shui bagua?

  • How to lay the bagua on your home

  • A simple way to start with the bagua if your home layout is more complicated

  • The New Beginnings area

  • The Wealth area

  • The Health area

  • What each of these areas represents

  • When you might want to work with each of these areas

  • Simple ways to activate each of these bagua areas

Mentioned in this episode:

2022 Energy Reset Package

Download our free bagua kit


Thanks so much for listening to the Holistic Spaces Podcast brought to you by Mindful Design Feng Shui School!


Episode 118: Best Paint Colors For Your Front Door

HOLISTIC SPACES PODCAST

EPISODE 118: BEST PAINT COLORS FOR YOUR FRONT DOOR

Photo by Evelyn Paris on Unsplash

Photo by Evelyn Paris on Unsplash

Your front door is one of the most important parts of your home from a feng shui perspective, so it’s a good idea to give it some attention! In this episode, we’re sharing some of our favorite paint colors for front doors and what they represent.

We cover:

  • Why the front door is so important and what it means in feng shui

  • The importance of tapping into your intuition when choosing colors for your home

  • Our favorite paint colors for front doors and what each one represents

  • Taking an individualized approach to choosing colors

  • Why you should also take your design preferences and surroundings into account

  • Why you don’t need to be afraid to paint your door the “wrong” color


Thanks so much for listening to the Holistic Spaces Podcast brought to you by Mindful Design Feng Shui School!


Episode Transcript:

You’re listening to the Holistic Spaces Podcast brought to you by  Mindful Design Feng Shui School. Episode 118 Best Paint Colors for Your Front Door.

Welcome to episode 118 of the Holistic Space Podcast where we hope to inspire, educate, and empower you to create your own holistic spaces that nurture and resonate with you.

Anjie Cho and Laura Morris are the founders of Mindful Design Feng Shui School. Together they have over three decades of experience designing harmonious spaces.Laura and Anjie  have guided thousands of people to shift their energy and revitalize their lives. Mindful Design School offers feng shui courses and certifications. Check us out at mindfuldesignschool.com 

A: So today we’re looking forward to starting our new class of Certification students this weekend. Laura are you excited?

L: I am, yeah I am.


A: It’s really nice. We keep the class really small so we get to know everybody. It's always fun to meet the new cohort. We just said goodbye to the last one, which is sad, but we have a lot of continuing education. We have a weekly community call that many of us grads are a part of so we still see them there. But yeah it will be nice to see all the new students.


L: Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.

A: So for today's podcast episode, you know I recently wrote an article for Real Simple. If you want a link to the article, be sure to sign up for our newsletter list. And we will have it in the newsletter. You can sign up for our newsletter by going to MindfulDesignschool.com and scroll to the bottom and there’s a place where you can sign up for our newsletter.

So besides teaching, I also write a lot about feng shui. I’m the feng shui expert at The Spruce and also have been writing a bit for Real Simple. So they asked me to write an article about the best paint colors according to feng shui for your front door and how to boost your curb appeal, so I thought we could run through that and also we’ll give it to you conversationally, which is really fun.

So Laura, let's talk about the front door.

What is the front door in feng shui?

L: The front door, we refer to it sometimes as the mouth of qi. And qi, if you've listened to our recent podcast, is energy or the vital energy that flows from nature. We want to invite that into our home. We want to be able to have it be signaled and called to and brought in and circulate through the house, so that front door is really really important.

So A) that it's working and that you can open it properly but also that you spend a little bit of time and intention on picking colors and how you set it up and what's around it and all that.

A: One thing with feng shui especially the feng shui that we practice. It's kind of a misconception that people ask us like “What color should I paint my room? What color should I paint my front door?” Because we’re going to give you guidelines on what the colors represent in feng shui, but when you work with someone or tap into your own intuition, you will know the answer. 

So you might not completely get the answer you want, but we are going to go over in general what the colors mean.

Again like Laura said, the front door is your mouth of qi so it's really important. One fun thing about paint colors is that you can quickly change the qi that you invite into your home with something as easy as a new coat of paint.

Also I feel that sometimes the paint color of the front door is often neglected and the color of the paint falls into disrepair very easily and people often don't pay attention, so you get accustomed to the front door of your home and sometimes you don't even use it that you don’t realize that your face to the world, or the world’s first impression of you is falling into disrepair or it’s crackling. Or there’s debris on it. 

So by taking a moment to decide on a new paint color and actually painting the door a new color, you're calling attention and bringing in qi into your home which can then trickle into other areas in your life.

So if you are looking to switch out the paint color of your front door or to bring in new energy, we’re just go step by step through a few different colors and talk about what the feng shui meaning is and how it may activate your front door.

So let's start with the most popular feng shui wise color

Guess which color that is Laura?

L: Is it red?

A: It is red!

L: Yeah... and there's so many reds too…

I would like to do my front door red, it’s just i don't want all of the...I don’t want all the qi...I want qi...and also i just feel for me that it's not what’s singing to me but it looks so good...

A: Wait why don’t you explain to listeners...you didn’t finish what you were saying...

L: It's very fiery. It's very dynamic. It’s very fiery. It’s auspicious. It’s good luck, it's protective. I mean red is great. Red is the color beyond all colors.

In feng shui, we look at shape, material, color when we are talking about the five elements right? And in BTB, shape is the most popular way to bring in the five Elements in. Unless you are talking about the color red. 

So the color red supersedes all colors. It is the king of colors, let’s put it that way, when it comes to feng shui.

I love it and I think it looks great when it’s a beautiful coat of red paint

But for me, right now...my house is actually red brick. It has a lot of fire in it already. You know I love it but I couldn’t do it right now.

But for some homes, especially if the qi is low and if you feel you need to shake stuff up, that's the color to do it with.

A: And another thing about red, what Laura was alluding to is that it could bring in a lot of new energy so even though people might think “red is the best feng shui color” that's true but it's not for everybody. So that's where we want you to come tap into what you need or work with someone who can advise you. Because red is not for everybody

It could also deplete you if you're not prepared for it.

There's a cute story, one of our recent graduates was telling me she did an activation of her fire area in her office. But it was too much. Because all of a sudden her ex boss, she said “oh my gosh my last boss,” she went on her own and she started doing something similar in competition with her former boss and her former boss contacted her and threatened to sue her.

And she had to balance that, so she balanced that in a mundane way with working with communication and figuring out what her legal rights were but she also balanced by using water. Sometimes when you activate with fire and if you aren't ready for it, it can consume everything. So you have to balance it and I don't want you to take a fear based approach, it's more like “Don’t over do it and watch your monitor.”
Thats why its always good to do one thing at a time and try it out.

And how with nutritionists, how when you do cleanse, you bring one thing back in at a time and see how your body feels. That's another way you can approach feng shui.

Make one shift and see how that feels and see if you're okay with it. 

And it’s okay to change a paint color back and change it to something else

So we’re not going to do all the colors in this article but let's go through a few of the popular ones. 

What about black? What do you think about black Laura? 

L: Well I have a black door

Well I think personally it looks on a design standpoint, it looks great on an old Victorian house, it looks awesome, that's why I did it. But also it also worked out for me.

Black is the water element. Water is about bringing in opportunities and having things flow to you but also in the position of where my door is, it also lined up with the bagua. And in that area is career which lined up for me perfectly which is black and water

For me it worked out well.

If it sounds like too much for you, then work with a feng shui consultant.  

When the design for the house, what's happening with the elements of the house and positioning of the door, when that all lines up with what also resonates with you, that's when the energy is lining up. 

When we bought this house the door was yellow, the door, and it just wasn't what I wanted, for me it didn't land for me. So I immediately, that was one of the first things, was paint the door black

A: Let’s talk about the yellow in a second, but back to black. Yeah, I agree that black is an elegant color. And in feng shui it's related to the Water element which is deep wisdom so it makes sense that it has this deep elegance to it. So if you're thinking of black, you'd be welcoming the Water element. It also has the quality of bringing in and absorbing positive energy from the outside world.

So since you're a Water element. And your husband is Earth. Yellow is actually an Earth element too. So you changed it because you probably also don't really, if your door is in the water area, the earth can muddy things up a bit and slow things down, and also maybe you just didn't like the yellow. So people need to understand your tastes and your attraction should be called into play here and we all 

With design in feng shui there's so many considerations, there's so many creative ways to manifest it that you want to pay attention to also what you're attracted to.

So if you're not attracted to the yellow door, that will probably be really bad feng shui. It's not going to feel good to have a door color that you really dislike but because you think it's good energy.

L: And for me, again, when you start to practice this, it's sort of in your brain and you sort of just look at things

So my house has a lot of fire and earth overall. And so I just instantly felt it needed balance.

And having that yellow there which is really strong in Earth, I just needed to break it up. There was too much Fire and too much Earth and Fire makes more earth and it felt really stuck to me and water was one of the ways and of course adding greenery and stuff around it, but for the door itself, it also worked for me to not have the Earth

But having said that, yellow doors are also great. I think it looks great on gray houses. It just looks fantastic.

And the yellow is connected to health. Connected to nurture. Connected to really slowing down and embracing, receptive and it's got all these lovely qualities. I like yellow as a color, don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I don’t like it. And I have it in my house, but for the door it does not work.

But for you, if that's something that clicks for you — that homey earthy nurturing vibe, then yellow is the color of Earth. 


A: Yeah I agree. Earth element if you need more Earth, more stability, more self care, support with your health. And that said again, there's other ways to do feng shui.

But if were just talking about front doors, that's what yellow can invoke

And the last tip I have on your front door doesn't have to do with paint colors necessarily. Also you have to pay attention to what’s happening in the environment around you

So what does the rest of your house look like, like what Laura said, if you have a gray house, yellow actually compliments it really well. So you have to look at that aspect of it

Does it make sense? Does it look correct? Is it in harmony with your environment?

And say if all the houses look a certain way in the block, do you really want to be the odd house out with the purple exterior and purple doors.

There's actually a story that Professor Lin told someone to paint their house purple and it's something like that where basically..it worked really well for them because it really stood out

They were making sales...

But I'm going to stop before i start creating a fake story...you know what I’ll make up a story.

But the idea is if you want to pay attention to your environment, so either being in harmony and complimenting your environment, and seeing if you want to stand out.

If you do want to stand out, you can do something shocking, like paint your house purple and your front door purple. But know that there’s implications with that, with the harmony of how you connect to your environment, not just people and your neighbors, but also how you connect with people as a whole.

But that said, there’s also really elegant ways to stand out as well and that's where you can bring in your own skillfulness and your design eye right?

L: Actually the one story I know about doors and the Professor and painting is him looking at the neighborhood and telling someone to paint their door to create a particular cycle, because he looked at all his neighbors doors, and it worked out that he was moving up the five element cycle

So that was integrating with the whole community but also working with what is around you

Now, that is the Professor, and you know obviously that kind of level of figuring out paint color is is not what we're trying to tell you today, but it shows you how feng shui is so much more than the color itself, it is about the surroundings and working with the energies all around you

So that for me is why it's so important not to get so worked up and nervous that you're going to make a mistake about the color you pick.

Like oh my gosh what if I put this color and it’s not in the right Gua or whatever ..if you are that worried, work with a consultant first of all and they will talk you down and calm you down and realize there’s no fear around this..

But look at what's happening, feel what it is, get some swatches, feel how you feel, like Anjie said, slowly try to integrate it. And again you can paint and leave it for 27 days if you hate it paint a different over


A: Yeah I see a lot of people get into this fatigue of making decisions, especially if you're doing some kind of refresh for your home in general. And it's totally understandable so just make a decision. It's not the worst thing in the world to re-do your door. It's one of the easiest fixes

So if it's not working for you you can always change it. But it's also something fun, to regularly change the qi in the door. Kinda like a new haircut or lipstick. Yes change it up. 

Well thank you so much Laura.

And thank you listeners for listening to this episode of the Holistic Spaces podcast. And you can tune in every Monday for a new podcast episode. If you like our podcast and this episode, please share it with others. You can subscribe on Itunes, or Stitcher, or Spotify, we’re on a bunch of things  

We're really excited. Next week we are going to host one of our graduates, Will Brown, and he’s going to talk about feng shui gardens and a feng shui gardening project he did.

And if you would like to explore the world of holistic spaces and feng shui on an even deeper level, you can visit our website, online store, and blog for more information about feng shui and holistic living at holisticspaces.com.


You can support our podcast by checking out our certification and mini courses on mindfuldesignspaces.com. We should have maybe a practical feng shui up in the next couple of months so that's a great class to go to if you just want to get some feedback. And thank you so much for listening. We’ll see you next week!

Episode 117: Feng Shui 101: Best Bed Position

HOLISTIC SPACES PODCAST

EPISODE 117: FENG SHUI 101: BEST BED POSITION

Photo by Trend on Unsplash

Photo by Trend on Unsplash

In this episode, we’re talking about an important and foundational feng shui concept: bed placement. We discuss why you should be mindful of where your bed is, and how to optimize this area of your home.

  • What your bed represents in feng shui and why it’s so important

  • The best way to position your bed in your bedroom for optimal feng shui

  • Why we often focus on the public areas of our homes and ignore the private areas

  • How your relationship to your home is mirrored in your relationship to yourself

  • Bed positions to avoid

  • How to make the most of a less-than-ideal bed position

  • The personal shifts Anjie experienced after moving her bed

  • What to do if you feel resistance to moving your bed

Mentioned in this episode:


Thanks so much for listening to the Holistic Spaces Podcast brought to you by Mindful Design Feng Shui School!


Episode 116: Ask Anjie & Laura

HOLISTIC SPACES PODCAST

EPISODE 116: ASK ANJIE & LAURA

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Welcome to the very first Ask Anjie & Laura episode of the Holistic Spaces Podcast! In this episode, we answered questions submitted by our newsletter subscribers about going back to school, crystal and essential oil recommendations, plants with pointy leaves, and how to boost confidence with feng shui.

We cover:

  • Feng shui suggestions for an adult going back to school part-time

  • The best position for your desk or home workspace

  • An overview of each of the bagua areas

  • A recommended crystal to activate each area of the bagua

  • Our favorite essential oil and how we work with it in our spaces

  • Whether or not a listener should get rid of a plant with pointy leaves

  • Feng shui adjustments to cultivate self-esteem and confidence

Mentioned in this episode:


Thanks so much for listening to the Holistic Spaces Podcast brought to you by Mindful Design Feng Shui School!


Episode transcript:

You’re listening to the Holistic Spaces Podcast brought to you by Mindful Design Feng Shui School.

Episode 116 Ask Anjie and Laura

Welcome to Episode 116 of the Holistic Spaces Podcast where we hope to inspire, educate, and empower you to create your own holistic spaces that nurture and resonate with you.

Anjie Cho and Laura Morris are the founders of Mindful Design Feng Shui School. Together they have over three decades of experience designing harmonious spaces. Anjie and Laura have guided thousands of people to shift their energy and revitalize their lives. Mindful Design School offers feng shui courses and certifications. Be sure to check us out at mindfuldesignschool.com and holisticspaces.com.

So we have a fun episode today. We’re actually recording this live, streaming it live on Instagram. So if you want to see it on Instagram you can visit our account @mindfuldesignschool. And we also have one of our listeners with us on Zoom. So she’s going to be with us to ask her question. But we have this fun episode which we’ll try to do more often which is called Ask Anjie and Laura.

So what we did is for those who are on our newsletter list, you have the opportunity to receive a link and submit a question. We got quite a few questions. We picked the top that are most helpful for everybody and the ones that made the most sense. We tried to keep it broad and most helpful for the listeners. So we selected a few and we’ll go over a few today.

Jennifer is one of the people who asked a question and she’s here with us live on the zoom so she’ll be able to ask us out loud.

Before we get into that, we wanted to let people know about our upcoming info sessions.

We’re going to have different info sessions in April for our certification that starts May 1st. So if you’re interested in learning more about the Mindful Design Spaces Certification program, you can go to mindfuldesigntraining.com or just find us on Instagram.

L: Go to our website, there’s a button that can take you right there. We’re running them through April. If you’re interested in the program, it really is the best opportunity for you to come and learn all of the details. We’ll walk you through all of the modules, what the requirements are, dates, and all that stuff.

If you’re interested, our next class session starts the first weekend of May. So join us and ask questions. We always do them live and online. This isn’t a recording, it’s actually us walking you through the program.

A: And one more thing too, there’s certainly a lot of people who join the certification program who don’t necessarily want to be Feng Shui consultants, but who also really love feng shui and are ready to dive deep and not just do it kinda half-way, but to really study with Laura and myself, and we keep the class group really small. It’s a small cohort. We want to make sure we know everybody and it’s very personalized. Laura and I do every single student’s feng shui consultation on their home and you have access to us for the full certification. Also we know you, you are our students, our grads, and our colleagues for life. So check it out. And you can learn more at mindfuldesignschool.com.

So yes let’s start with Ask Anjie and Laura. We’re doing this for the first time. Jennifer, thanks for being our guinea pig. I’m going to unmute you.

J: Can you hear me? I’m looking at you through my phone. How are you??

A: We’re good. We’re good.

J: My question for you is: do you have any suggestions for creating a supportive environment for an adult returning to school for part time?

A: We’re going to mute you to keep the audio nice. Laura, do you want to go first?

L: So the question..supportive environment. Returning to school part time. Yeah, I would say, the first thing I would look at is your desk. Or your workspace. Where are you going to start this new part of your life. Because it’s a big deal. You’re going back to school as an adult. Also you’re going to want to be more focused. Because as an adult, when you’re an adult you wanna do this right. You want everything lined up and ready to go. So I’m gonna say carve out a space somewhere in your home that is your dedicated work space, that you can study in, focus in and wherever you find that. It doesn't have to be its own little room. That’s a luxury if you can have that. But if you don’t, it can just be an area that you carved out as your spot that stays as your spot. It’ll be good if you marked that as your territory. So you know when you go there that that is when you go into that study mode or focus.

You also want to make sure in that area you have a really good solid chair, preferably one with a high back, supportive, to give you that mountain feeling, that support, cradling and nurturing feeling.

And then the work space itself, where it’s positioned, sometimes you may be limited. So i don’t know if you have heard of this before, Jennifer, but we talk a lot about the commanding position. So where are you in relation to the energy coming at you? Let's say you’re sitting at the dining table, when you’re looking up, maybe your back is to the front door, or you’re in your bedroom and you set up your work area, and your back is to your bedroom door.

You really wanna be able to have it if you can position your desk or work area if you can see what’s coming at you, and that's generally the main door.

It could be the front door, it could be the door to whatever room. It could be the open space that if you turn it's the main main open space and your back is preferably if you can to a wall, so it's supportive and that's the ideal position. Now if you can’t do that, what we recommend you do is that you can just use a mirror.

Really simple. Small mirror. If you have a desktop computer, you can put a little rearview mirror. You can find it online. It’s 2-3inches wide. It’s convex generally so it can capture more of the space behind you. So you position that somewhere maybe on the wall, maybe on your desktop, on your monitor so you can capture what’s behind you so you have a vision of the qi that’s coming in.

You want to be in control of your space. And if you're learning and starting over again, you really do want to make sure that you can harness those opportunities, be in control, feel confident, so all those things go with it.

A: Great, I also have a couple things to add. By the way Jennifer, I know you follow us, it’s great that you participated and asked a question that we can work with you today. A couple of other things to consider when you’re starting something new, because your question was if you have any suggestions to create a supportive environment for an adult returning to school part time.

When you are starting something new there's also one area of the bagua map related to starting new things and another area related to your skills. Because I'm assuming if you're returning to school part time,you want to cultivate your knowledge and your skills in yourself.

The first position is called Zhen position, which is New Beginnings. That’s the family area, that’s the green area of the Feng Shui bagua map. And it relates to New Beginnings and starting new things. So that’s a great one to activate and you can look at some of our old blog posts to figure out how to lay out the bagua map for those listeners.

And Gen position is the skills and knowledge area, which is the dark blue area. So that's another area you can activate as well. You can activate it really simply by looking and seeing what’s in the area. You can bring in a living green plant. Or maybe that’s a great place to place your new desk.

Thank you Jennifer!

So let me go through the other questions. We have a question from Rita.

Rita asked, “Your podcast is a wealth of information. Would love to learn about crystals, essential oils, and the different guas please, thank you.”

Laura is going to go through some crystals, but in general, a couple of things to note when it comes to crystals and feng shui: we often talk about feng shui crystal balls, but there actually different to those natural crystals like amethyst and quartz. Feng shui crystal balls are glass crystals and they are faceted. Feng shui crystal balls are different from a naturally occurring crystal but I think Rita is talking about natural crystals.

Laura is going to go through all of the feng shui bagua areas and the crystals that connect, and you can also go with a crystal that’s the color of the gua to keep it really simple and to really enhance the gua.

Another rule of thumb is do not try to activate all the areas on the bagua map. You really want to select one or two, maximum three areas you want to activate. Otherwise you're trying to perfect everything and that’s not what feng shui is about.

L: You asked about activating areas again with natural crystals. So what I thought to do is, we will give you one crystal for each area of the bagua.

For those of you listening and watching, you need to understand the bagua. You need to know what the bagua is, where it is, etc. So if you are confused and you don’t know what this is, go to our website mindfuldesignschool.com, and go to Blog you’ll get a free download that will talk you through the bagua. [download the bagua kit here]

So bagua is a grid, for lack of a better word, it's a grid. It’s a way to look at your space and see all the elements and parts of your life. It's an energetic way to map out a space. And most commonly we use it on a house, but you can use it on many things. It’s a great way to map out your space so you can see different areas of life and what you can do to activate them. It’s like a mirror of your own life when you know how to map it correctly. Let’s assume you’ve mapped it and you know what we are talking about here.

We’ll go over the 9 areas, the first area is Family or New Beginnings and the one we will suggest will be green quartz. It speaks to the color etcetera.

The next one is Wealth. Wealth is the gua connected to prosperity and abundance, we would say amethyst. It’s purple. You know it's got the right qualities.

The next area is Helpful people, benefactors, synchronicities, all those great things, travel. The crystal to activate would be smoky quartz.

The next is Productivity and Children, this area is about completing things, your creative output, things that you have made that have come to fruition and children. And the crystal we would suggest is quartz, clear quartz.

The next area is Knowledge, the knowledge area is about your own self knowledge, the skills you need, your meditating, your self awareness in general, what you do and how you feel about it, all the skills you've come in your path. The crystal to activate we would recommend is blue sodalite.

And then we have Fame, reputation, this is how you are perceived, your visibility out in the world, what people think of you basically, how people see you. And the crystal to activate is Carnelian.

The Career Gua, really it's about your path in life but really on a deep level, the wisdom you have, the deep knowing and the wisdom that you’ve obtained on your journey, your purpose etcetera. The crystal we would say to activate is Black Obsidian.

And then Love and Partnership. It's yes, about relationships, romance, and all those things, but it's also about self care, female energy, we would say rose quartz.

And with that, and last but not least, we come to the center. It’s not a gua, because it's not a direction or an area. It is the center. But it is very important, it represents unity and well being and everything coming together. It’s the Center. The Tai qi. So the color associated with this Earth gua, Earth area, and also health and well being, the one we connect with is tiger’s eye.

So that’s all 9 areas of the bagua. One natural crystal each.

Woo!

A: Thank you Laura and just a little plug for the Holistic Space store. I do have an online store called Holisticspaces.com. And we sell all of these crystals in a kit. But don’t try to use all the crystals like we said. And the last part of Rita’s question, I’ll touch upon is essential oils.

In general one of our favorite essential oils to work with is Sweet Orange Essential Oil.

Oranges are really revered in feng shui because they are super Yang energy. They are very bright. It’s very bright and life affirming. It's like the energy of the sun. Even when you look at an orange, it looks like a little sun. So the Sweet Orange essential oil has the essence of the oil which you can use to diffuse into your home. You can mist it in your home. I also sell this on the Holistic Spaces store. It’s called Happy. And that’s kinda what orange does. It’s happy.

It brightens your space. And it's also a way of space clearing. So that’s one essential oil we love for feng shui.

So thanks Rita for your question, and we’ll move onto the third question from Adriana. And Adriana asked, “I don't have a very green thumb and the only plant I can keep alive is a snake plant, however I heard plants with spiky leaves aren't the best to keep in the house. Do I need to get rid of the snake plant?” Laura?

L: No, god no. don’t get rid of the snake plant. I love snake plants. They are beautiful plants. They are super easy to grow, like you said. If you don't have the greenest of thumbs, they are so forgiving.

They are so stately. I have a huge one, and it just makes the space. So no, don't get rid of the snake plant.

So this is the thing with feng shui and plants. There always seems to be a lot of rules, don't do this or don't do that. But it depends. There are places you can put the snake plant, and there's areas you can use it for, especially when it has brought you so much joy and you've cared for it and you’ve managed to make it thrive.

That alone for me as a feng shui practitioner, trumps and bypasses everything about “don’t do this and do that”. Because the fact that you struggled with plants and growing them and you've taken the time and you've named your plant, that in itself, I think is a feng shui adjustment. One thing about plants is it represents the wood element and wood qi, it is about compassion and flexibility and when you spend the time to really care about a plant like that, I mean you really brought some special energy into your home.

So I would say absolutely do not get rid of it. Anjie, do you agree?

A: Yes, and we also have a whole podcast episode that talks about this. It’s episode 111 and it's called Bad Feng Shui plants. But I totally agree with everything Laura has said.

So last but not least, we have one question. And remember the Ask Anjie and Laura questions are only available to those subscribed to our newsletter. So you have to sign into our newsletter and occasionally we’ll send an email saying “we’re doing another Ask Anjie and Laura and you can submit your questions” [subscribe to our newsletter here]

Otherwise you can hire one of our students if you have personalized feng shui questions. But yeah be thoughtful and respect people's knowledge and hire people for their information right? Unless they ask you to ask you for questions, which we did here.

So our last question is from Deeksha, “what are some changes I can make in my space to boost my confidence and self esteem?”

L: If you listened to what I said in the beginning to the first question, setting up your space and going back to school in the commanding position, that would be one of the things I would start with. If you think you're lacking in confidence and you're not in control, you can look at 3 areas. But I’ll give you two to focus on.

One would be your bed and two would be the desk. So we talked about the desk position in the first question. If you didn't hear that, listen back. And the next would be your bed. So make sure when you’re lying in bed you can see the door in your bedroom. And if you can’t, you would use a mirror to be able to capture that view of that door. So however you need to place the mirror, whatever you need. It doesn't have to be a giant mirror, it can be a small convex mirror that captures more of the room and sort of pulls the door and opens it up for you so you can actually see it.

That would be the first thing I would say to look at because it's really connected to confidence and being able to feel like you’re in command and in control

A: I would also add that one of the bagua areas that people are quite familiar with but they don't really know the nuances with is the wealth area, called Xun position and its related to wealth, abundance and prosperity, but it can also be related to your self work and your self esteem.

We’re not working with you specifically, I don’t know your specific situation Deeksha, but my sense is that in general when a lot of people ask for confidence and self esteem, it has to do with not valuing themselves. And value, self worth, prosperity, abundance, all those are really woven together, they are deep seeded issues that are woven together and relate to that area of the bagua map. So you can start to unpack that and work on it. That's something great to work on more in depth with a practitioner, but if we’re going to give you some general basic thing to do, then listen to the early part of this episode and find out what crystal relates to that area and use it.

And I'm not going to tell you because you have to go back and listen. So you have to do a little bit for yourself and that's part of boosting your self confidence and self esteem, to take, not control, but take responsibility for helping yourself. Don’t just ask people for advice but really unpack what it means to you to value yourself more and where is this coming from, this lack of confidence and lack of self esteem.

So how do you think it went Laura? Our first Ask Anjie and Laura?

L: Good, lot’s of technology happening here. I’m trying to work through it. But yeah, I think it was good. Good questions and hopefully people enjoyed it. And I hope we do it again.

A: Jennifer how do you think our first Ask Anjie and Laura went?

J: I think it went really well. I really got a lot of information from everybody else's questions too to help me with my path. I think it's a wonderful thing you're doing.

A: Great, thank you so much and thank you so much for following us. I see you all the time on Instagram and also good luck on your new beginning.

J: Thank you, I'm very excited. Thank you very much.

A: You're welcome.

Thank you all for listening to this episode of the Holistic Spaces podcast.

And if you guys like Ask Anjie and Laura, we’ll keep doing it. So we’ll try it again. If you tune in every Monday, we’ll have a new podcast episode. If you like our podcast and this episode, you can share it with others, you can subscribe, and even better leave a review.

And if you would like to explore the world of holistic spaces and feng shui on an even deeper level, you can visit our website, online store, and blog for more information about feng shui and holistic living. You can support the podcast by checking out our courses and certifications at mindfuldesignschool.com and the podcast is at holisticspaces.com. So thank you so much for listening and we will see you next week!

Episode 045: Starting in a New Home - A Mini Consultation

HOLISTIC SPACES PODCAST, EPISODE 045

STARTING IN A NEW HOME - A MINI CONSULTATION

On our last podcast, we did a mini consultation with my team member, Shanna, who is moving and looking to find stability in her space. We'll catch up with Shanna in this episode and discuss maintaining a stable home, adjusting for some feng shui issues in her new space and more.  

  • Wishes for a new space

  • Minimizing adjustments

  • Doing the mundane things

  • Activating the New Beginnings area

  • Feng shui and spiral stairs

  • Double doors in a bedroom

  • Feng shui adjustments for a stove out of command

Hopefully these suggestions will help Shanna to create a nourishing environment in her new space.

Do you have questions that could be covered in a mini consultation? You could win one in our giveaway! Just review the podcast on iTunes, then email us and let us know which review is yours. At the beginning of September, we'll choose a winner for a free mini consultation!

For answers to feng shui and green design questions, you can also reach out or schedule a 15-minute consultation call. Your question may even be featured on our Q&A Sunday series.

Be sure to also sign up for our newsletter to get monthly tips on living holistically, feng shui and more, and support us on Patreon.

Come back this Saturday, July 1, for our next episode of Astrology & Feng Shui, and we'll be back in July with Feng Shui for Health! 



Episode 030: Attracting a Successful Career - A Mini Consultation

HOLISTIC SPACES PODCAST, EPISODE 030

ATTRACTING A SUCCESSFUL CAREER - A MINI CONSULTATION

This week's podcast is very exciting, as we'll be listening in on my mini consultation with Anna, the winner of our podcast giveaway! She left a wonderful review and chose to receive the free mini consultation. Interestingly, one of Anna's wishes is to improve her career, so this week we'll build on last week's podcast and talk about how Anna can welcome a happy, stable career to her life. Let's get started!

Thanks so much, again, to Anna for her great review! We have high hopes for her career in real estate (or whatever she decides)! :) Anna, please let us know how things go and how these feng shui tips work out for you!

If you'd like more tips and tricks on holistic living, feng shui and green design, be sure to join our Holistic Spaces newsletter! You'll even receive a 10% off coupon to the store for signing up!

We'd also love to hear from you with any questions about feng shui and creating your holistic space. Send them along and you could be featured in our Q&A Sunday series!

Thanks again for listening, and we look forward to our next podcast with you! 


Episode 006: the Feng Shui Bagua Map: Benefactors, Completion and Knowledge

HOLISTIC SPACES PODCAST, EPISODE 006

THE FENG SHUI BAGUA MAP: BENEFACTORS, COMPLETION AND KNOWLEDGE

 

 

This week I’ll go over the following three bagua areas: Benefactors, Completion, and Knowledge. Next time we’ll have a special holiday episode (exciting!), then continue the following episode with the final three baguas (Recognition, Path in Life and Relationships). Be sure to tune in for that!

  • Feng Shui Adjustments for

    • Benefactors

    • Completion

    • Knowledge

  • Questions to determine which guas need work

I encourage you to make ONE change to just ONE area this week!

I also encourage you to email me your floorpans for our Q&A sunday blog posts at info@holisticspaces.com.

You can find many of the items I discussed for sale on my website holisticspaces.com.

Also check out the newest item, a feng shui starter kit including many of the items you need to get started! 

Products Mentioned on this Podcast:

Tara Yantra Mandala for Support & Assistance

Rose Quartz for Relationships

no. 1 Happy | Orange & Clear Quartz Mist for Uplifting Abundance and Positivity

Saraswati Yantra Mandala for Knowledge and Creativity

Feng Shui Starter Kit