Mind, Body, Home: Transform Your Life One Room at a Time (14 page)

Each square or section of the Bagua Map is called a
gua
. Each gua is associated with a specific trigram from the
I
Ching
. The
I Ching
translates to the
The Book of Changes
and is considered to be one of the oldest books. It originated in China and contains a set of oracular statements consisting of 64 sets of six lines, called hexagrams, commonly used as a
76 Your Home’s Path

divination tool. A solid line represents
yang
energy, while a broken line represents
yin
energy.

Abundance &

Fame &

Love &

Prosperity

Reputation

Relationships

Family &

Mind Body

Children &

Community

& Spirit

Creativity

Wisdom &

Career &

Helpful People

Self-Awareness

Life Purpose

& Travel

The Bagua Map

The specific arrangement of the guas holds a mystical quality that

can be applied to virtually any space, including a floor plan, an individual room, a desk, a vision board, and even your car. This arrangement

has also been indoctrinated into our collective consciousness, similar

to dream symbols. Think of each one of these areas as energy portals

underneath your home from which you can access energy or support.

Similar to chakras in your body, the goal is to unblock these energy centers, bring them into balance, and enhance if needed. The energy of

each of these guas is present in your home and is yours to harness, balance, and utilize to your benefit. When combined with our personal

intentions with each of these sections, the sky is the limit on what can be accomplished or overcome in each of these nine areas of your life.

The Bagua Map is a tool that can be used for self-growth. Look at

each of these nine areas of your life and determine in which areas you

want to make changes. In Figure 8, you can see how each of the guas

Your Home’s Path 77

relates to your life. See where each area lies within your home by overlaying the Bagua Map over your floor plan.

Wealth & Prosperity

Success

Love

Are your finances okay?

Fame/Reputation

Marriage

Are you open to receiving

What are you known for?

Partnerships

abundance?

How do you want the world to

Can you accept and receive gifts?

Are your relationships

see you?

Do you have a sense of everyday

nurtuing, loving, supportive?

Are you being seen?

abundance and prosperity?

What kind of partner do you

Do you feel successful in life,

want or want to be?

relationships and career?

Do you feel fulfilled in your

relationship?

Do you love yourself ?

Family & Community

Mind Body

Creativity

How is your relationship with

Physical Health

Children

your family?

How is your overall physical

Do you have unresolved sibling

How is your relationship with

health?

or parent issues?

your children?

Do you want to quit a bad

Is a dysfunctional family still a

Do you want children?

habit?

source of emotional pain?

Do you feel creative or would

Do you want to start new,

Do you feel a connection with

you like more creative projects?

healthier routines?

family, community or a group

Do you make time for fun?

of friends?

Knowledge

Life Purpose

Friends

Spirituality

Career

Helpful People

Are you happy with your

Are you happy with your daily

Are you connected to support

education?

work?

systems, mentors, friends,

Do you want to go back to

Do you feel stuck or frustrated

family members, guides, and/or

school?

with your job?

angels?

Do you feel spiritually

Do you feel like your work is in

Are you able to receive support?

connected?

alignment with you?

Are you able to give support

Do you have or want to have a

Do you desire more clarity

to others?

daily spiritual practice?

around your purpose?

Do you desire more friends?

Do you desire more self-growth?

The Bagua Map of Life

The instructions for applying the Bagua Map are in accordance

with the more western versions of feng shui. As opposed to orient-

ing the Bagua Map based upon compass directions, the alignment is

based upon how the human energy is intended to come into the space,

which is through the front door. Simply align the bottom edge of the

Bagua Map with the front wall of your home. This is usually the same

wall that your front door is on or the architecturally intended front of the home. If you are unclear as to where the front of your home is, it
78 Your Home’s Path

usually faces the street of your address. If your front door is centered on the front of your home, you will be walking into the
Career & Life
Purpose
section. The area in the back left corner of your home is your
Wealth & Prosperity
section, and so forth.

FAQs for Applying the Bagua Map

•
Do I include my garage?
Yes, include everything attached that is under roof, including garages.

•
What about porches, decks and patios?
If it is not under roof, then it is not included in the Bagua Map. Instead, those areas

would be considered ‘extensions’ of the gua they are coming off

of. For example, if you have a deck in the back middle of your

home, it is an extension of your Fame & Reputation section. Or

these architectural features can be great for filling in missing cor-

ners.

•
What if my front door is on the side of my house?
This is rare, but does happen occasionally, especially with condos and town-homes. You will align the Bagua Map with the front wall of the

house. If you live in an apartment or condo unit, you will align it

with the door coming into the space. If the front is still not obvi-

ous, then the side of the house that intuitively seems like the front

of the house or intended by the architect. Often, it will face the

street from which you enter.

•
What about other stories of my home?
For multi-story homes, the Bagua Map will be the same for each floor as if stacking the

Bagua Map on top of the other.

•
What about walls?
Ignore walls when orienting the Bagua Map.

For example, your kitchen may be in your Wealth Corner and

Fame Corner. Or your Wealth Corner may contain only part of

a room.

•
What if the functions of the room don’t match up with the

Bagua Map?
That’s okay. Rarely will your bedroom be in your

Love & Relationships Corner and your home office be in your

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Wealth Corner. Your Love Corner may be in your garage or bath-

room. Either way, that is your Love Corner!

•
What if a section or part of a section is cut-out or missing

on my floorplan?
This is referred to as a ‘missing corner’ in Feng Shui. Bad news is that that section of your home is missing. Good

news is that there are remedies!

Bagua Map Analysis

For each section of the Bagua Map, consider the following questions:

• What room(s) are within this section?

• Go to this area of your home. Look around objectively as if it’s someone else’s home. What jumps out at you, positively or negatively?

• Does this area seem to flow or feel constricted? Does it feel like there are too many pieces of furniture or too little?

• What is your
FAVORITE
part about this area of your home?

• What is your
LEAST FAVORITE
part about this area of your

home? i.e. color, furniture, layout, clutter, pictures, function, etc.

• Are there any items that conjure up old memories? If so, are the

memories happy, sad, bitter, sweet, guilty, regretful, resentment,

or feel stagnant in any way?

• Are there cluttered zones within this area? i.e. drawers, closets, cabinets, pantry?

Missing Corners

Think about the footprint of your house without the interior walls or

second story. If a tree were planted in the center of your home, how

would it grow? Would it grow really tall or really wide? Would a part

of it expand out down a corridor and into a wing of the house, for example, in the case of an L-shaped home? Would its growth be stunted

in any way or would it look like an evenly balanced oak tree?

80 Your Home’s Path

In feng shui when a bite out of a floor plan occurs, this is called a

missing corner
. A missing corner creates an imbalance in the home because that energy is missing from the home. You can imagine in the

case of a tree how its growth would be stunted or cut short from that

section of the home. Occupants would be affected in the same way.

This is why missing corners are inauspicious in a home and a square or

rectangular home is ideal.

Energy of Missing Corner

If you have a missing corner, then the energy associated with that

section will be in effect be missing from your home. This can lead to

challenges or struggles in that area of your life. Most missing corners tend to show up on the back area of the house, particularly in the Love and Money corners. Not surprising that love and money tend to be the

two areas we as a society struggle with most. If it is your Wealth corner, then you may be financially challenged while living in that space.

Even if money is flowing in, perhaps it flows out even faster.

The good news about feng shui is that there is a remedy for just

about anything. And so is the case with missing corners. In fact, you

could turn a negative into a positive. I once heard a feng shui consultant say that she had put so much energy and attention into remedying a

Your Home’s Path 81

missing corner that that area of her life began to flourish as a result.

Here are some ways to remedy a missing corner:

Work From the Exterior

Add landscaping or ornamental features in the missing corner, such as

a patio, bushes, flowers, birdbath, and/or chimes. Fill the space in with lighting. With solar lighting so accessible, this can be an easy and inex-pensive way to fill in a missing corner.

Work From the Interior

If the exterior is not accessible, for example, in a condo, then you can fill in a missing corner from the inside of your space. Work with one of the two walls (or both) that create the missing corner. If one or both of the walls has a window, then the missing corner is already being remedied. The window helps to expand the energy out into the missing

space. If you do not have a window on one of the walls, the next best remedy is to place a mirror on one of the walls. In this case, the mirror will energetically extend the wall out similar to a window. Another option is to add a piece of artwork, preferably a landscape. Place or hang a crystal anywhere in that area to further balance the energy.

Extension

Missing

Corner

Missing Corner versus Extension

82 Your Home’s Path

If your floor plan is not a perfect square or rectangle, then you ei-

ther have a missing corner or an extension. If the missing area is less than half of the length of the house, then it is considered a missing corner. If the missing area is more than half of the length of the house, then it is considered an
extension
. If you have an extension of one of the guas, then that area of your life will be highlighted while living there.

For example, my client, Cindy, had a large extension of her Love & Relationships corner. During the entire six years she lived there, her love life was her primary focus and the area of significant personal growth.

Unfortunately however, it can lead to an imbalance on one’s overall

wellbeing. When a certain area of your life is highlighted, it can lead to deficiency in other areas. So once again, the ideal shape for optimum

grounding and balancing is a square or rectangular-shaped house.

The Bagua Map can be used as sparingly or extensively as you pre-

fer. It certainly not the be all to end all “fix” in making changes, but it certainly is a great place to start. I have witnessed significant changes in my clients’ lives in using the Bagua Map by placing their energy, focus, and intention in the desired areas in which they want to make changes.

I also hold online workshops where participants really dive in and put

a microscope on each of these areas of their home and life. By clearing clutter and bringing in certain colors, elements, remedies, and intentions, transformation will happen.

While the specific characteristics of each gua of the Bagua Map are

beyond the scope of this book, more information can be found in most

feng shui books and on my website. In the following sections, we will

take a look at some typical floor plan arrangements with regard to the

Bagua Map. There are certain architectural elements and rooms com-

mon to all spaces that can significantly enhance or hinder the flow of