I love feng shui for the home, and I try to follow the basic practices. If you’re not familiar, feng shui (pronounced fung schway) is “a Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing the human existence with the surrounding environment.” (Wikipedia.) The Chinese characters for the word represent “wind” and “water.” Feng shui is the practice of improving the gentle flow of energy in your home or office.
There are a few essential elements of feng shui that I always try to abide by in my home. Some examples are: (1.) Living things (plants, fish, pets, etc.) attract more lively and vibrant energy to a space; (2.) Clearing clutter in your environment helps clear clutter in every area of your life (mental, spiritual, relational, etc.); and (3.) There are specific rules about the drain of energy through toilets – put the seats down, close the bathroom doors and never put your bed against a wall that is shared with a toilet on the opposite side.
But today, we’re talking specifically about feng shui in the home office. For optimal energy flow, it’s important to identify where your office sits in relation to the bagua of your home. The bagua is essentially a map of energy hot spots that you superimpose on the layout of your house. It’s divided into nine squares.
Imagine this bagua in relation to the layout of your house: The bottom of the image (wisdom, career, helpful people) is at the front of your home and the top of the image (wealth, reputation, love) is toward the back. The middle sections (family, health, creativity) fall into the middle areas of the house.
Identify where your home office sits on this map. Depending on the energy center, you can enhance the features of that area. For instance, if your home office is situated in the love energy center of your home (as mine is), you can add pictures of people you adore, pictures or memories of romantic vacation spots, and other colors (pink, red, peach, and white) and symbols of love. Pair decorative items (i.e., rather than placing a single vase in the room, buy a matching set) to reflect coupledom and partnerships.
Taking this one step further, superimpose this bagua into the room itself. The wealth energy center is in the left corner of your office (again, facing front to back). Add a large healthy plant, flowing water (fountain or aquarium), or coins to that area.
When I was newly married and just starting out in my adult life, I used to travel the many toll roads in Pennsylvania. I felt as if I was always short on quarters as each toll road took 3 or more! Therefore, I attached great value to that coin. Having an abundance of quarters became a symbol of having an abundance of wealth in my life, and now I like to keep a bowl of quarters in the wealth centers of my home. To me, it represents that there is always change to spare.
If you’re looking to improve the health energy center, be sure to keep it clear of clutter, garbage, and dirt. Add healthy plants, earth elements, and symbols of peace and harmony to improve the energy; you want to keep it calm and peacefully flowing.
If you’d like to improve career energy, again, place a healthy plant or water fountain. That living motion is so valuable in this center that you might like to add a mirror that reflects the plant thereby doubling its symbolism. Make sure this is a well-lit (either by sunlight or lamp) area as well.
If you’re focusing on the family energy center, fresh or silk colorful flowers will brighten your relationships. Wood and bamboo objects will reinforce strong friendships and fresh greens or photos of green and lush landscapes will encourage them to grow. Place photos of cherished family and friends at happy occasions to attract more of the same.
The creativity center of the bagua is also the area for children. Make sure this is well-lit, and neatly store lots of arts and craft supplies in this section of the home.
If you want to improve the wisdom energy center, remove clutter – especially photos and books of people who don’t emulate wisdom or open-mindedness. Add books, videos and other study materials in areas you would like to learn or are currently learning. This is a fabulous area for meditation, allowing your innate inner wisdom to flow through.
To enhance the reputation energy center, light candles, lanterns and fireplaces. Use bold colors, such as red and orange to represent how you stand out in the world. Place objects of recognition here: diplomas, trophies, awards, etc. It’s a great area for the television or stereo to symbolize your fame being broadcast all over the world!
Finally, if you’re looking to attract lots of mentors and helpful people, add a healthy plant and a lamp to the room. Keep pictures or an inspiration board of your favorite role models, and display photos of the lovely helpful people who are already present in your life.
I hope that helps to improve the energy in your home office for much continued success! If you would like to learn more about feng shui, here are a couple of my favorite resources. Buy one and place it in your wisdom energy center! 🙂 Until next time and all the best~
Great article…I’m sharing on my fb so others can improve their studios!! 🙂
Thanks! Glad you found it useful.
Following a link from SheOwnesit.com This is my weekend project. Thank you!