The Center
This year I will take you on a tour of the Bagua, starting in the Health and Balance Center Gua. In a home, office or even a room, it's the middle of the structure. It represents our energetic center that seeks to be in balance to maintain harmony in life. It is in our center where we understand who we are, where we reflect all aspects of ourselves to the world around us.
If we are in balance, it follows that we will be healthy; it's why this Gua is called Health and Balance. Feng shui teaches that what is going on inside is reflected in our spaces, so health issues will show up as an imbalance in our spaces. Imbalance may begin from the inside (a chaotic life) and will show up as stagnant energy in the form of clutter or disorganization. Or the structure itself may be off balance, which can result in physical or emotional "dis-ease". Stairways, long hallways or bathrooms often found in the center of a building may feel "off" in a way that puts those living or working there off their center and can affect their health over time.
Step into the middle of your home, office or a room. How does it feel? We often base how something feels on how it looks, although it may look just fine but still feels "off". This is your powerful inner sense of balance giving you a message. Pay attention to what images or thoughts you get when you "tune in" to what you're feeling, because it may be a clue to help you begin to re-balance the space. How you feel about your space is most important; your surroundings, especially your Center, should uplift your spirit. If it is anything less than this, there are many things you can do, both on a physical and energetic level, to lift it up again, and it all begins with listening to that inner voice.
Pay attention to the whispers – it's "good feng shui"!
Career and Life Path
Now we move out into the "wheel" of the Bagua, into the second gua called "Career and Life Path". This relates to the career path called Your Life. Underlying all the various and different events of your life is a theme or purpose that you came in with, something that gives your life meaning.
Most people question their lives at some point, asking "What's this all about, anyway?" This is the energy of this gua. If you have a deep understanding of your inner purpose, you will be at peace with this part of your life; if not, you may go through life having experiences in search for some sense of meaning.
In your home or business, as the front door is in front of you, it is the front middle of your space. Many front doors are located in the middle of the structure, so it is usually located in this gua. The colors are indigo and black, and the energy is deep (indigo) water. It represents coming out of the watery womb, moving from your center and being born into the world of experience. The question to be asked in this gua is, "Why am I here?" or "What is my purpose?"
Look at this area of your space. Does it represent who you are? When someone enters, do they get an understanding of you, a sense of your purpose? Because it is most often in the front entrance of a home, it is the first impression someone has of who lives within. If there is a combination of staircase, a hall and rooms on either side, this can be confusing. It is best when someone entering your space is able to pause and simply enjoy the entering of the space without having to deal with many other things immediately. Create the energy of grounding and comfort, with an eye-catching rug or a welcoming painting in the area.
This is especially important in a business, to help visitors "feel" the purpose of the business. First impressions are critical; as the saying goes, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression." So make this impression the highest and best representation of you or your business because it represents your purpose in life, it speaks for who you are. Enjoy the process – it's "good feng shui!"
Self-Knowledge
The second phase of the Bagua cycle is about looking within to find more about who you are. You are aware of your "mission" in life but need to know just who you are and how you will act out this life purpose. This is where you find yourself asking questions like, "who am I?" If you've never given this a thought, it may be time to do so, because it is an important piece of the life cycle according to feng shui. If you're not self-aware, you will likely have challenges in your life dealing with relationship, success and creativity – just about all aspects of life.
This is a life-long endeavor, because you are constantly changing and shifting, not only your physical body, but your emotional, mental and spiritual beliefs as well. It's so important to have a strong foundation of "self" to get you through life, because you will always be bumping up against people and events that seek to pull you off balance. A strong inner self awareness will help to keep you centered when the "shift hits the fan"!
In your home or office, this area is located on the left front side (based on your front door). It's a great area to journal or meditate, to seek answers to those "who am I?" questions. The colors are light blues to greens, because you are coming out of the watery womb and growing in awareness, and the shape is a rectangle, like the trunk of a growing tree. It's powerful to put a mirror in this area, hung so that you can see yourself, a reminder to look inside. If you like to create affirmations, these would be great to attach behind the mirror (affirmations are statements that you make as if you already are or have what you wish). You can make them either just for yourself or include other family members as well.
So, try to make time on a regular basis (even a few minutes helps) to do some inner self-searching. It will increase your quality of life – and it's "good feng shui!"
Family and Ancestry
Last month we talked about self-discovery. After you've done the self-searching, now it's time to dig into your past to find out the wisdom of your ancestors. You are a compilation of all those who have come before you. It's in your genes as well as how you view the world from long-standing traditions and mores. If you doubt this, just take a look at the wars that have been fought around core cultural beliefs.
In your home or office, the Family area is on the left middle side of your space. This is a great place to hang family pictures, especially those of your ancestors. It is a way of honoring their lives and the wisdom they imparted to their children and grandchildren who eventually were your parents. Every time you create a holiday tradition, you are partaking in a ritual that has been passed down to you from your ancestors. You keep this alive by passing the knowledge on to your children.
On a larger scale, Americans are a "family" with a Western culture, and even further, we are a "family of man" on the planet. This is the larger and deeper aspect of feng shui, which is to see the individual as an integral part of the whole. Changes and shifts begin with one person intending to create beauty in their world. Below is a Chinese saying that speaks what I believe to be a great truth. If every person would live by this, our world would be a much better place!
Abundance
The next phase of the Bagua cycle is about Abundance and Opportunity, or what some call "the Wealth corner". Most people think of money when they think about this part of their spaces, although money is just one aspect of abundance. We can feel abundant about many things in our lives – family, health, nature, and the most important – feeling it within.
Abundance is a mindset, a feeling that you can have no matter what your current circumstances are. I admit that it's a challenge to get there when you are in need of things in your life, but I will tell you that when you can begin to feel this deep within, only then can it even begin to manifest in your world. This is because everything, every thing, is composed of energy, and each thing has an energetic vibration to it. Gratitude is a good practice in vibrating at the abundance level, because you know how good it feels to have what you desire.
When you have a desire for, say better health, your thoughts about having this are vibrate at a certain level. The more you can keep your thoughts at that level, as if you already had it, the stronger and more likely the possibility that it will actually manifest in your life. Unfortunately, most people think about all the reasons why they don't have it – and then they don't match the very vibration that resonates with it. It's all about energy and how you're vibrating to match with what you desire. This is abundance thinking! You have to feel what it's like to already have it before you really do have it.
In your spaces, the Abundance gua is located in the back left corner of your house or room. It is a wind energy, because opportunities are coming to you. It is auspicious to hang a wind chime in this area, or hang something that flies in the wind, such as a butterfly, hummingbird or dragonfly. The color is purple; you can add touches of this color to the space. These things are all done to honor your intention for more abundance. Keep your energy vibrating at the abundance level – its "good feng shu"!
Success
This month's gua is Success and Reputation, sometimes called the Fame gua. You are now out in the world, expressing and teaching all that you've learned so far. The element is fire, because you are "on fire" with the expression of all that you know. You've taken the abundance you feel and manifested it into the world; you've become successful and have a reputation that precedes you.
What does it mean to be successful? Much of the world bases it on outer endeavors. The opposite of success is seen as failure. However, from a feng shui point of view, success is something to be measured from within. Others may call what you've accomplished a failure, but this is their opinion, their point of view and is based only on their experience; it has nothing whatsoever to do with how you feel about it. If you feel like you're a success, then so you are. Hold onto that feeling and forget about what anyone else thinks or says.
It is your feeling about success that keeps the cycle of the bagua moving. Keep the flames of success alive by motivating yourself! You are your best advocate to know what success means to you. In the home or office, this gua is located at the back middle of your space. Colors are reds and oranges, like the flame, and it is an energizing gua, good for rooms where expression and high energy are valued.
Consider the baby who is desperately trying to fit a square peg into a round hole – quite a feat for a little one just learning shapes! That baby is frustrated until he finally puts it into the proper hole, and then – success! It can happen at any level and is always, and in all ways, based on personal feeling. Don't let the world tell you otherwise – it's "good feng shui!"
Relationship
This month is about relationship, on the Bagua. After one has become successful and "burns out" with so much fire expressed, they go back to the earth (ground) and take on an intimate relationship. This is the time to gather around the home fire and begin to tell stories of a live well lived out in the world. It's time to share life with another.
Relationship means many things. There is, of course, marriage or an intimate partnership with a significant other. But relationship also is important with those you spend much time with, such as in your job; some people spend more waking time with those they work with than their families at home! The root of the word relationship is "relate", which is what this gua is all about. How do you relate to those around you? Intimate relationships are about being "real", taking off the mask that you present to the world and showing your true inner self. Westerners grow up in a culture where this is typically not honored…."big boys don't cry", "show your best side", etc. so it can be a challenge, but it is important to do just that for stronger relationships.
Balance in this area is found through Love. Not the romantic, sticky sweet type of love, but the true deep core of who we really are. We ARE love, we were created out of a loving relationship. We come from Oneness (however you believe that to be) and instinctively seek relationships out of a desire for oneness.
This gua is located in the back right of your space. Because it is about relationship, it's important to have pairs or multiples of things in this area, such as matching chairs or lamps, or things that relate to each other. The colors here are pink (it's the love color), and brown tones, because it is earth. Clutter in this area usually means that you are having challenges with relationships in your world.
Take a look at your relationships; are they fulfilling? Are you giving them the attention they deserve? Bring more love into your relationships – it's "good feng shui"!
Creativity
The next gua on the cycle is called "Children and Creativity". Out of an intimate relationship comes a creation, in the form of children or some artistic expression borne out of relationship with your inner creative self – the most intimate of all!
We are creative beings; Matthew Fox says "humans are simply primates with the ability to make things." We are co-creators with the world around us, using elements of the earth to create our world. Look around you; every thing that you see, use or own has its origins in or on the earth. If you think that you aren't creative, think again. You may not be an artist or a musician, but you do create your life every day, either by yourself or with connections to family, friends and community.
Knowing that we create every moment of our lives empowers us to create more consciously, to make better choices, create things and situations that feel good and keep us moving forward. It has been said that there are no accidents, that everything in our life is our creation. If this is true, it really benefits us to become more aware of how we feel and act as we move through our lives. Lifting yourself out of a bad mood can possibly prevent a fender-bender from happening! Welcome to the world of energy; the "vibes" that you put out attract the circumstances that are drawn to you. Beauty creates beauty, and peace creates more peace.
In your space, this gua is located on the right side, in the middle one-third. The color here is white, because it is like a blank canvas, where you can let your inner child out and have fun being creative! Use your imagination to "image in" your heart's desire in this area. The element is metal and the shapes are anything round, oval or arched.
I believe our ultimate creation is Joy. This is probably the most challenging and most rewarding thing we can do, especially during these chaotic times when it is mostly absent. Imagine a world where everyone was joyful – what a beautiful world it would be!
Helpful People
We've now come to the last aspect of the Bagua cycle, called Travel and Helpful People. This is the time to offer your creation to the world, which means putting yourself out there, being helpful to others and drawing helpful people to you. Because it is the last of the nine guas it is sometimes also known as the Heaven gua, because (in the birth-to-death cycle) you are now ready to go back to the source, the center from which you began.
All the wisdom you have gained through Knowledge, Family, Opportunity, Success, Relationships and Creativity has culminated into this offering, so it is very powerful, this "ending". Many cultures around the world honor their elders for the wisdom they have gained in their lives; this is something that our Western culture could highly benefit from. Have you ever sat and listened to someone who can tell you what life was like before computers?
There is an underlying sense of completion at the end of a cycle, whether it is the end of a life or the end of a creative endeavor. In life we complete many cycles, only to move on to the next one, and the next. Actually, every day is a new cycle, an opportunity to be creative in a new way. Your old self as you knew It yesterday is gone and in the new day you can image-in something new and different, if you so choose. There is no power in the past, you can't bring the past back into your present, and this is a great gift of renewal and re-cycling. How many times do we wake up and think – Ah! A new day filled with new possibilities! The opportunity is there if you "seize the day".
In your spaces, the Helpful People gua is located in the right front. It is a metal energy, which means anything round, oval or arching, and the colors are of precious metals and stones. It is here that you offer the silver chalice you have created to the world. If you're wondering just how you can be more helpful, sit in this part of your space and ponder on it – it's "good feng shui"!
