Pauline Danilowicz, Feng Shui designer.
Your workspace can either make or break your spirit while you’re #killinit in the work game. No matter what you do, the quality of your work environment can be directly linked to the quality of work you do. Whether you work from home, in an office, or on the go, these Western Feng Shui principles I’m about to share with you will help inspire greatness and calmness in you while you work. Good Feng Shui can feel like therapy, help you “lighten your load” at work, and open your doors for new clients and connections. So, here are my tips for activating the four most important centers in the office to get you vibrating on a higher level while you #SLAY!
The key word in “workspace” is ‘space’
Before we do anything else, let’s declutter all those loose papers, open books, open tabs, and pieces of trash laying around. You should be able to see about 50 per cent of your desk. Covering more than half your desktop with stuff is where that overwhelming feeling comes from, and we don’t need that! We need clarity, peace, and a clear desk space so we can focus on #SLAYING. Whew! Now that we’ve cleared the space…
Let’s get in the command position
Putting yourself in the command position is the equivalent of being in a power stance from your desk. It puts you in the best position to deal with whatever might come at you through the door and into your (work) life. This is one of the simplest tools in Feng Shui you can adopt to take charge of your life. Being up against a wall with your back turned to the entrance puts you in a vulnerable position when someone walks in. You are not in control; they are! Instead, position yourself and your desk so that your body is facing the entrance (without being in a direct line with it). If you are working out of a co-working space, or a café, seat yourself at a table where you have a clear view of the entrance, without being in a direct line with it. Don’t sit with your back to the front door. Be open to the possibilities that may come in through the front door.
Using the Bagua to reach your goals
This map helps determine what the energy does in a space, and how we interact with it subconsciously. There are nine energy centers, and each one can be looked at as a vehicle to materialize your goals. So pretend that you are holding this map at your bellybutton, standing at the entrance of your office space (the entrance should fall into one of the three squares at the bottom). Overlay this grid on top of your space, and then figure out which areas correspond to the Wealth, Knowledge, Helpful People, and Well-Being centers. By the way, you can overlay this map onto everything and every room. I use it to feng shui my desk, too 😉
Knowledge and wisdom (close left corner of the Bagua)
This area corresponds to an abundance of opportunities through learning, so let’s use this area to help us connect with higher education and inner contemplation. The element for this center is “mountain”: still your mind and imagine wise people coming down the mountain to share knowledge and understanding of the universe with you. Here are some ways to activate this area. You don’t have to implement them all, start with just one or two.
✔ Keep it clutter-free and free of negative symbols.
✔ Add healthy plants, light and lamps to become “enlightened.”
✔ Decorate with deep blue and green items.
✔ Books you are currently studying or wish to study.
✔ Photos or paintings of wise people such as Buddha, Einstein, your grandmother, or a motivational speaker or coach you admire.
✔ Artwork depicting images of mountains or quiet places like gardens or beaches.
Wealth and prosperity (far left corner of the Bagua)
In order to welcome more money into your life, you have to have a positive attitude toward acquiring it, and spending it wisely. Money is energy and in Feng Shui, the element governing wealth is “wind.” The idea of money circulating imitates the natural flow of wind and water.
Let’s energize the wealth center to invite more wealth into your life, be able to live out your passions, to buy material items you want, be able to go on vacation, and be able to help others. Ways to activate this area include:
Visualizing what wealth means to you, and creating a manifestation board with all your dreams and wishes for prosperity, wealth and abundance. Make sure you acknowledge the prosperity you already have in your life, and give thanks in advance for all that is on its way!
✔ Keep this area is clutter-free.
✔ Remove anything broken, any images of poverty, sadness, or emptiness.
✔ Adding large and healthy plants.
✔ Adding a water fountain to mimic and encourage the flow of wealth or artwork depicting water — but it should be rushing, never muddy or stagnant.
✔ Add a lamp.
✔ Use red and gold items and accent colours of green and purple.
✔ Include some of your valuable possessions here such as crystals or gold. You can place a mirror behind these to “multiply” them.
✔ Artwork with vibrant colours and expressing “abundance”
Helpful people and travel (close right corner of the Bagua)
Success doesn’t happen in a vacuum. We must acknowledge those who have helped us get to where we are, those who work alongside us, and those who we would like to enter our lives to help us and to mentor us. We all have angels in our lives that take the shape of good friends, family, inspirational speakers — and sometimes they are strangers at the supermarket who do or say something spectacular that moves our life forward in an unexpected way. This area of the Bagua can be activated to help us honour our helpful people and create space for more of them in our lives such as the right clients, connections, and guides. The element for this center is “heaven.” Some ways to activate this area are:
✔ Images depicting spirit, nature, and sky.
✔ Pictures of people you look up to, respect, and view as role models.
✔ A picture of your team or coworkers.
✔ Remove any pictures of people who hinder your development, deplete your energy, or get in the way of your dreams.
✔ Keep the area clutter free, and hold space for new people to enter your life.
✔ Colours to use in this center are black, white, gray and silver.
✔ Decorate with lamps, healthy plants, candles.
✔ Add a manifestation board.
✔ Symbols that connect you to the spirit realm.
✔ If you work in a place where people pop in an out of your office, consider placing a bowl of treats here for visitors.
Well-being (center of the Bagua)
The center of the Bagua represents your physical health, emotional and mental equilibrium, your grounding to the Earth, and your connection to the universe. If your body and mind are sound, you get to experience life’s pleasures — including a successful career — with more enthusiasm and joy. The elements for health and well-being are the Earth and the Sun.
✔ Stability, grounding, and life force should be represented here.
✔ Having a clear and vibrant center is a must.
✔ Mark the center of the space with a plant, a stone or crystal, or something of the colour yellow as a symbol for the sun, or brown for a symbol of Earth.
✔ Other energy sources you can use to activate the center include shells, terracotta pottery, artwork depicting the sun or sunrise, flowers, fresh fruit in a bowl (fake fruit are okay too), a lamp, and symbols of peace and harmony.
✔ If none of these are available to you, a yellow post-it note with a quote that makes you smile will fit the bill.
I hope you have fun implementing some of these Feng Shui tips and enjoy the process of transforming your work environment from blah to TA-DA! Feng Shui is a personal, therapeutic, heart-opening journey. Remember to use your intuition and enjoy the process. Open your heart to new possibilities and watch what happens.
About the author
Pauline Danilowicz is a Feng Shui designer living in Toronto. When she’s not creating spaces for her clients she loves travelling and refurbishing furniture in her garage. Follow her on Instagram @growinginsideout.