Map Your Way to a Better Life

I’ve been thinking about maps lately. I miss them. Even the awkward, too-big ones that you can never fold up in exactly the same way as they were when you first opened them.

Don’t get me wrong. I love me some GPS (except for the one in my new car, which always tacks on an extra 30 minutes to every ETA and sometimes leads us to a field in the middle of nowhere instead of to the soccer game).

What I love the most about a map is its potential.

And options.

The potential to show you the easiest way to get to where you want to go. And then, just in case you make a wrong turn somewhere, there are always the alternate routes, or the options.

How cool would it be if there was a map for your life? 

Guess what? There is!

It is called the Bagua, and it’s basically an energy template that represents your whole life.

It’s your starting point in Feng Shui, and it looks like this:

Each room of your house plays a role in your life, and your environment reflects your personal well-being and inner balance. The Bagua is set up like a grid that shows where the different aspects of your life are represented in those rooms.

You align the grid with the front door, which should enter one of the three bottom areas. The front door is important, since it is where the energy (chi) enters into the home. It should be clear of debris,well lit and welcoming. (If you use another entrance other than the front door, align the Bagua with that entrance.)

You can see in the Bagua above that certain colors and elements are associated with the different areas. These are used to enhance the energy in those areas. It’s as easy as incorporating wood furniture into your Family Room or silver picture frames in your Travel and Helpful People room, or even putting red drapes in your Love & Relationships room.

You can stretch or squeeze the map to fit your particular house, but if you have missing areas you will need to address those. You can do so by using feng shui “cures.”  It can be as simple as adding a deck or covered porch, or even just an outdoor light or landscaping feature. (I’ll talk more about that in another post.)

If your house has additions that alter the shape, don’t worry. These can be beneficial.

So what have you got to lose? Why not start mapping your own life?

You can start by printing or sketching a Bagua and then look at it as the potential you have to make your life better!

Then see where your options lie: where you can begin enhancing the good energy around you to make your life better.

If you want to read more about bringing good energy into your home, go here.

Let me know what you think. And please share if you know someone who might be interested!