When I began studying feng shui I was all about the elements, colors, balance and the inherent connection to decluttering. And then I hit the information about the bagua and came to a screeching halt.

What is a bagua? A small baguette? No, it’s not delicious fresh bread. It’s a map of the energy centers in your home. This map gives you a foundation to refer to when wanting to curate good chi (energy).

This was a whole new level of conceptualization of my home environment. It was a lot to take in which is why I wanted to give you a taste of this concept in hopes that it will get you thinking in a new way.

My advice is to startVsmall by becoming familiar with the 9 centers (sections), where they lie in your home and what means to you.

You can see the 9 centers in this diagram:

Wealth and Prosperity upper left
Love and Relationships upper right
Fame and Reputation upper center
Family and New Beginnings middle left
Health and Well Being center
Children and Creativity middle right
Knowledge and Wisdom bottom left
Career and Life Journey bottom center
Helpful People and Travel bottom right

Place this map over a sketch of your home, aligning the “bottom” of the bagua with the side of your house with the front door. Here’s an example:

Most houses are not perfect squares so feel free to elongate the dimensions to rectangles.

From there notice what areas of your home fall into which centers.

In this example you can see the front door falls within Career and Life Journey. If the front door was not centered, as it is in this house, it would fall in either Knowledge and Wisdom or Helpful People and Travel. None of these options is bad. The front door is important to understand, though as it is where energy, or chi, flows into the home.

You can see in this example the living room is bisected by the Fame and Reputation, Love and Relationships, Health and Well Being, and Children and Creativity centers. First, it would be interesting to see how this home owner uses those quadrants of their living room. Is there a place to snuggle with a loved one in the Love and Relationships area? Is there space for creative fun, or a beautiful work of art in that area?

Second, you can also apply the entire bagua map to a single room, again lining the bottom of the map with the wall with the main entrance, which appears to be from the center hallway. This isn’t necessary when acquainting yourself with the use of your bagua map, but it’s another way to envision each room individually.

That’s Great Kate, But What Do I Do with This?

Let’s say you’re having difficulties with finances. Take a look at your wealth center and see if there’s anything weird going on there. Clutter, broken items, unfinished projects, stuff you don’t like, things that remind you of bad times or failures.

Fix it.

Want to take it a step further? A primary color associated with the wealth center is red. Ever noticed how prevalent red is in Chinese culture? That isn’t an accident. So, can you get something red or energetic in that area?

The element associate with the wealth center is wood. Can you get something wood in that area? Furniture? A plant?

That’s a great place to start.

Have Fun

I tried too hard to understand everything about a bagua at the outset and ended up not knowing anything. When I came at it more light-heartedly, I began to notice little things. A small change here or there and the energy of my home changed.

There’s a ton to know about feng shui and I’ll keep bringing you little pieces here and there to help you on your own journey.

Even if it seems a little woo and silly to you. Even if you’re skeptical, I recommend you try a little something. You don’t have to spend money on anything. Notice and become curious about your home. Let this be a fun thing to play with instead of yet another thing to do perfectly.

When you decide you’re interested in incorporating more of the ideas of feng shui into your life get in touch with me and we’ll focus coaching around that idea. I’m not an expert in feng shui, but I’m an expert in people with just enough knowledge of feng shui to get me in trouble. That will translate into a wonderful place to start for you!

My Favorite Resources

Instagram: @amandagibbypeters, @fengshuibeginnner, @jaymebarrettlifestyle, @fengshuisociety,

Books: Simple Shui Every Day by Amanda Gibby Peters, Feng Shui Your Life by Jayme Barrett, Clear the Clutter with Feng Shui, by Karen Kingston