Expanding Luck with Mirrors
Photo by Elena Kloppenburg on Unsplash
This post is inspired by a conversation we had recently with one of our teachers, Katherine Metz. Katherine has been on quite a few episodes of our podcast and is the founder and creator of Feng Shui Storyboard, where she’s chronicled His Holiness Grandmaster Professor Lin Yun’s teachings as succinctly as possible. We’re also excited to announce that Katherine has joined the Mindful Design Feng Shui School teaching team to co-teach an advanced feng shui studies program called Pure Professor!
Mirrors and feng shui
When you start learning about feng shui, you tend to come across a lot of information about mirrors. Mirrors are frequently used as feng shui adjustments for a variety of purposes, and there can also be a lot of fear and resistance around them. You might have read about places in your home where you should avoid placing a mirror because it’s “bad” feng shui, or you may dislike seeing your own reflection. However, mirrors are powerful, magical objects that can help us reflect upon our lives, gain clarity, and bring things to light.
We often talk to people who would prefer not to have many mirrors in their home. In many consultations, we recommend putting a mirror at your desk to help expand your perspective in your career. It’s easy to give an adjustment that’s more career-focused because it can feel less personal, but what often comes up is that people don’t want to see themselves. Some people also object to having a full-length mirror in their home where they can really see themselves clearly. This could point to some challenges, because if you are only seeing a part of yourself, you have no idea what you are actually showing to the world.
In addition, there is a lot of fear around mirrors, if you feel resistant to mirrors, we would encourage you to be curious about seeing mirrors in a different light. Instead of thinking of mirrors as something to worry about, try changing your perspective to see mirrors as helpful tools for expansion and self-reflection. However, while self-reflection is important and valuable, it’s not easy work! It can be difficult to really look at yourself and how you are showing up in your life. We would encourage you to approach this with kindness and gentleness. If you’re working with a mirror for self-reflection, try asking the mirror to be your friend, or asking it to take part of your challenging situation and start to dissolve it for you.
Another helpful way to think about mirrors is to consider the Buddhist tradition and become like a mirror: we can see what’s coming our way and reflect upon it without being changed by it. We don’t need to become angry or sad about the situation, but can instead maintain our vitality, decorum, and compassion.
Types of mirrors in feng shui
It’s important from a feng shui perspective to work with mirrors that are clear and undistorted, unless otherwise specified. In an era where many of us have become so accustomed to seeing our own faces on a screen with filters or other obstructions, mirrors offer a true, clear reflection of ourselves. There may be specific cases where we would recommend a concave or convex mirror, but generally you will want to look for a flat, unbroken mirror with no distortion. You can learn more about mirrors in this video we did a while back.
Listen to the entire podcast Episode 238 to get a special mirror adjustment from Katherine.