How to use the feng shui bagua map in your home for success, abundance, and relationships

There’s a chance you’ve heard of feng shui. It is, as world-renowned Master Teacher of Feng Shui and the Law of Attraction Marie Diamond puts it, “about the flow of energy, the flow of qi.”

Now, ever heard of a feng shui bagua map? Perhaps, if you haven’t, you’d be excited to know it’s an excellent tool for improving the flow of qi (pronounced “chee”) in your environment.

When you grasp what it’s all about and how to use it well, you can, as Marie says, open the doors for abundance, success, and better relationships to enter your life.

What is a feng shui bagua map?

The bagua map, or pa kua in Mandarin, is the foundation of feng shui. Think of it as a special spiritual cleansing tool that connects areas of a space to specific areas of your life, like your health, relationships, career, and wealth.

Each one has a physical location mapped to the layout of a room, home, office unit, or building. By improving the space according to feng shui basics and principles, you can transform the corresponding areas of your life. After all, space is never neutral in this school of thought.

“Everything that is around you affects your subconscious mind,” explains Marie in her Mindvalley program, Feng Shui for Life. And using such a powerful tool can do wonders, not only for balancing energy but also for bolstering the abundance that comes with the law of attraction.

Overall, the purpose of a bagua map is to specifically…

• Enhance beneficial energy,
• Balance positive vibrations,
• Ground in your intentions,
• Identify and correct subliminal messages, and
• To create a sacred space that nourishes your mind, body, and spirit.

As the starting point of all feng shui work, every adjustment and enhancement builds on this framework. And when you strip it down to its essence, it’s really about how people relate to their space, no matter where they are in the world.

In The Western Guide to Feng Shui, author Terah Kathryn Collins outlines how the bagua functions as the structural foundation of feng shui practice in Western homes. It then becomes a universal way of translating intention into space. 

“The point is to anchor your newest self in your environment by changing it to fit who you are now and who you want to be,” she explains. “Change is an integral part of life, and can be used to your advantage.”

The bagua layout

When people Google “feng shui bagua map with directions,” they’re usually looking for structure. The bagua map is traditionally divided into nine equal sections, arranged within a square or octagonal grid. Each section corresponds to a specific life area, an element, and a directional placement within a space.

The bagua layout is, in essence, the blueprint of a space’s overall vibes. The map’s center represents its anchor point in real life, while the eight surrounding areas extend outward, each influencing a specific corner. 

This structure helps you properly map the energetic “grid” of an entire home or a single room, with TLC. This way, no area of your life gets overlooked, undernourished, or—gasp—left to run on autopilot.

Here’s a deeper dive into the nine areas and what they mean and do:

Bagua area	Direction	Life focus	Element	Color	Shape	Number
Center	Center	Health, balance, vitality	Earth	Yellow	Square	5
Fame and reputation	South	Visibility, recognition	Fire	Red	Triangle	9
Love and relationships	Southwest	Partnership, connection	Earth	Pink	Square	2
Creativity and children	West	Expression, joy, legacy	Soft metal	White, silver	Circle	7
Helpful people and travel	Northwest	Support, guidance	Hard metal	Gray	Oval	6
Career and life path	North	Purpose, work	Water	Dark blue, black	Freeform	1
Knowledge and wisdom	Northeast	Learning, self-mastery	Earth	Blue	Square	8
Family and health	East	Ancestry, growth	Hard wood	Green	Rectangle	3
Wealth and abundance	Southeast	Prosperity, opportunity	Soft wood	Purple	Rectangle	4

Each direction governs how qi moves through a space and how it expresses itself in daily life.  With these areas cared for, you get to remove negative energy from your home, so it supports you rather than becoming a source of friction that drains you.

Feng shui cures for each element

In feng shui, a “cure” is a small yet intentional change made within a specific bagua area in your space to either diminish or amplify the energy there. Once the map’s in place, you turn to cures to work with a specific space layout, one corner or nook at a time.

When a bagua area is “cured” to match its corresponding life area, you can expect the space to feel naturally zen. Most cures are simple. It might be moving one object, adding a missing quality, or taking out something that feels off. But you don’t need to change everything at once. One thoughtful adjustment is often enough to shift how a space feels.

Now, what does this mean?

For one, “earthy” objects, like ceramic pots and crystals, work well in relationship-related areas. They “ground” your connection in stability, presence, and emotional steadiness—all of which are represented by the earth.

Meanwhile, “watery” items, embodied by mirrors, dark blue accents, or images of water, fit naturally in spaces connected to career and life direction. After all, flow, movement, and adaptability matter most here.

So, in this sense, feng shui is an elemental game. And it’s not at all hard to work with real life if you’re tuned to how the natural world logically works.

No wonder so many people in China still turn to the ancient practice today, as a 2023 systemic review, published in Heliyon, reports. And proving that its principles are universally appealing, a 2021 study in the International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research and Engineering reveals that interest in space-harmony principles continues to grow in the West (the same conclusion that Terah reaches in her book).

How the elements interact with each other

Once you start working with cures, it helps to understand how the five elements—wood, fire, earth, metal, and water—work together in feng shui.

It all boils down to their interdependent, cyclical nature:

• Water supports wood. When the roots of a tree (wood) absorb water, they replenish themselves (and every part of the tree) with the water’s minerals.
• Wood fuels fire. As a tree grows strong, its wood can be used as fuel. That stored growth turns into warmth, light, and visible energy.
• Fire creates earth. When wood burns, it eventually becomes ash. That ash settles into the ground, forming earth and creating stability.
• Earth produces metal. Over time, minerals and metals form in the earth’s soil. Structure, strength, and refinement emerge from that grounded base.
• Metal nourishes water again. Metal holds, carries, and channels water, allowing the cycle to return to flow and renewal.

And each one influences how qi moves, settles, and circulates more freely throughout a space. That sense of balance then influences other ways you show up in life, from how you rest to how you move throughout your day.

Of course, each element can have a shadow side. For instance:

• Extreme woodiness can equal unfettered growth without direction.
• Too much earth can feel heavy, setting the stage for lethargy and counterproductivity.
• Excess water leads to hypersensitivity, wishy-washiness, and melodrama.
• Too much fire sets the path to destruction and emotional destabilization.
• Metal in surplus outputs coldness, rigidity, and emotional distance.

Once you’ve recognized how these elements cyclically support each other, it gets easier to maintain this balance… by transforming a bagua area with the right cure.

Why you need a feng shui bagua map: 3 astounding benefits

“Feng shui works with the qi and the flow of a bigger body called your home, or your space, around you,” Marie explains in her program. Through the lens of this ancient Chinese practice, most problems you face are the result of blocked or imbalanced qi that’s often locked in the living and work spaces you spend most of your time in.

Apply the practice, and you’d stand to reap these benefits:

1. Mind-body synergy 

While feng shui is often perceived as pseudoscience, research shows that it can be highly beneficial. A 2021 study published in Building and Environment, for one, found subjects exposed to interior design approaches that put feng shui principles first tend to experience higher levels of comfort and emotions. Not only that, they demonstrated better heart rate variability and mood.

Ask Mindvalley member Greta Hass-Baccifava; she’ll vouch for feng shui’s effect on the mind and body.

“Little by little, as I moved with it and cleaned and organized my space, my life got better and better,” the opera singer from Houston, U.S.A., says. “Everything clicked, and my anxiety eased. I started to feel positive and hopeful, and I was gaining back positive feelings.”

So let’s say you want more prosperity, stronger relationships, or better health. Rearranging the pieces of your home or the workplace with a bagua map can help you shift the qi… and boost your overall well-being.

2. Clearer direction in daily decisions

The great thing about a feng shui bagua map is, it offers spatial clarity.

That is, instead of rearranging furniture or decor on a whim, it provides context for your home. It shows where effort is best placed and why. This, in turn, leads to better focus, fewer distractions, and a stronger sense of direction in both your personal and professional life.

An environmental psychology study published in Psychological Science shows that intentionally structured spaces reduce mental overload and support clearer thinking. Both are important in decision-making.

Feng shui consultant Karen Rauch Carter shares a similar view in her book Move Your Stuff, Change Your Life. She explains that when people change their space with intention, shifts in behavior and mindset often follow.

So, by bagua-mapping your space, from your living room all the way to your bedroom layout, you set yourself up for more organization that benefits you in the long run. Less confusion, more creativity for life day in, day out.

3. A space that directly reflects your life goals

“The space around you is like a three-dimensional vision board,” says Marie. And that’s precisely how a bagua-mapped home works. Each area of your space quietly points your attention toward a specific part of life, whether that’s relationships, health, career, or personal growth.

The map, in essence, helps give meaning to where things go. Instead of goals living only in your head, they start showing up around you as you walk past the spaces corresponding to them. When you do, you interact with these meanings without having to think too hard about it.

This checks out with research on intention-setting and creative visualization. When goals are clearly expressed and tied to physical or visual cues, the brain is more likely to act on them.

The reminders you see in the environment reinforce your focus. As a result, you’ll follow through with bringing your visions to life.

How to place a bagua map on the floor plan of your space

Whether it’s a home or an office, placing the bagua map correctly is what turns feng shui from a concept into a working system. 

The following step-by-step process on how to use a bagua map shows how energy enters, moves through, and settles in your space. With this crystal-clear view, any changes you make later to any part of the space become grounded and intentional.

1. Place the bagua map over a simple yet accurate floor plan

The first floor is the most crucial part of the bagua map since it’s the foundation of everything that happens in your home and where most activities take place. It’s also where the qi enters the living room via the front door before meandering throughout the rest of your home.

To get good at bagua mapping, you’d need a solid floor plan. It should include everything under your roof or part of the foundation, including your garage, patio, porch, or anything else attached to your home. If you live in a two-story or even a three-story home or more, make a separate floor plan for each level—the basement and attic included.

Now, a pro tip from Marie: when you’re drawing the floor plan, include any bay windows, architectural extensions, and any indents or nuances to the shape.

2. Align the bagua’s north section with the main entrance

This step is crucial. After all, like Marie says, “the front door is actually where the incoming qi comes from: the outside world.” 

Aligning the bagua here ensures the map accurately reflects how external energy enters your space and shifts across its perimeters. Since everything is energy, you can see how whatever’s happening outside your home will eventually make its way in. 

So, feng shui, in this sense, is a form of energy healing that helps external energies settle, soften, and adjust to support your personal life.

But back to the mapping work. 

If you’re using the octagon bagua map, align its north section with the front door. But if the nine-by-nine square map is more of your thing, then simply line up the bottom of it—where its north section is—along the same axis as the main entry wall.

3. Divide the entire house according to the bagua sections

Before you map everything right, you’ve got to know your center.

“When you have a square or rectangular house, you’d imagine the four corners connected with each other,” says Marie. “And where the two imaginary lines connect, that’s your center.” 

But what if your house isn’t conventionally shaped? Well, not to worry, she assures. Simply “fill in the areas that are not in the building and make it a rectangular or a square shape.” And from there, she adds, “divide the four corners, and in the middle is the center.”

Once you’ve got the center down pat? The rest falls into place.

From that midpoint, divide the floor plan into eight equal sections around it. Each section represents one of the eight bagua areas, with the center acting as the ninth.

Above all, they stay consistent, regardless of room layout or furniture placement.

How to work with the bagua map compass directions

Once you’ve established the different directions, you can start using the bagua map to “feng shui” for the life-altering improvements you desire.

Here’s what Marie suggests in her program:

Center

• Element: Earth
• Objects: Crystals, ceramics, or anything that’s made of earth are perfect for grounding this bagua section.
• Color: Since you’re working with earth here, it makes sense to place a lot of earth-toned things here. Think warm, subdued shades of yellow, beige, or brown.
• Shape: The yin-yang symbol, or an image of your family, can be influential in this area.

South

• Element: Fire 
• Objects: Consider positioning a fireplace, candle, or lamp here. Since it’s about fame and recognition, your certificates and awards work well here, too.
• Color: You can work with many shades of red, yellow, or orange to “dress up” anything from your wall to those throw pillows on your sofa.
• Shape: Decorations in triangular shapes, like a pyramid paperweight or a bookshelf, work best to “fire up” the energy here.

Southwest

• Element: Earth
• Objects: Crystals, like rose quartz, are excellent for this area. Pottery and ceramics are also good to incorporate into this space to complement the “lovey-dovey” energy.
• Color: Rosey pink best supports this direction.
• Shape: Anything circular would be good to have here.

West

• Element: Metal
• Objects: You can put your computer in this area. That, or a symbol of children playing.
• Color: Whites, silvers, golds, or any shades of metal would be best in the west.
• Shape: Find objects that are round, preferably in metal form.

Northwest

• Element: Metal
• Objects: A globe, beautiful pictures of your travels, or maybe something you’ve brought home from a vacation.
• Color: Things in shades of gray, like an artistic abstract statue.
• Shape: Round objects would be best in this direction.

North

• Element: Water
• Objects: You can place a fountain, a picture of a lake or ocean, or maybe a fish pond.
• Color: Black or blue items work best here.
• Shape: Turn to asymmetric shapes, such as an odd-shaped decoration or a mirror.

Northeast

• Element: Earth 
• Objects: You can use objects similarly placed in the center and southwest sections here—ceramics, for one, are ideal. And since northeast connects with the concept of purpose, you can include items that support spiritual healing as well as your religious or philosophical beliefs.
• Color: Anything in shades of blue would reign supreme here.
• Shape: Place things that are square or boxy.

East

• Element: Wood
• Objects: Bigger plants and wood furniture work really well here.
• Color: Place things with different shades of green or earth blue.
• Shape: Opt for tall, billowy items, like a wooden floor lamp or an indoor tree with long leaves or stripes.

Southeast

• Element: Wood 
• Objects: Smaller plants and wood furniture, compared to the East section.
• Color: You can put purple-flowered plants and wooden decorations.
• Shape: Look for long rectangular objects to place in this section, such as small plants with stripes or long leaves.

Frequently asked questions

Which is the wealth corner of the house?

In feng shui, the wealth corner is located in a home’s southeast section. This area is associated with prosperity, abundance, and the ability to grow opportunities.

To find it, place the bagua map over the floor plan of the space and locate the southeast section once you’ve aligned the north with the main entrance. Once identified, you can enhance this corner with all things wood, which is its corresponding element.

Simple ways to activate the wealth area include:

• Adding healthy plants or fresh flowers,
• Using shades of green or purple,
• Placing objects that symbolize growth or value, and
• Keeping the area clean, uncluttered, and well-lit.

Here, the goal is to create a sense of steady growth and openness—attributes associated with wealth and the abundant life.

How to use a bagua map in the bedroom

Using a bagua map in the bedroom follows the same principles as mapping an entire home, just on a smaller scale. 

Start by overlaying the bagua map on the bedroom layout, aligning its north section with the door. From there, notice which parts of the room connect to life areas like relationships, health, or rest.

Once you’ve identified their placement, it’s easier to make choices that actually support sleep and emotional health.

A few simple guidelines help here:

• Keep the space calm and supportive of sleep,
• Limit excess stimulation, especially in areas tied to rest and relationships,
• Use colors and materials that match the elements in the sleep-supporting bagua areas, and
• Position the bed well so it feels stable, grounded, and easy to relax in.

The bedroom works best when it feels restorative and emotionally safe, since it directly affects rest, intimacy, and overall well-being. As Marie points out, it is “the most important room in your home, because this is where your body recharges.”

How can I improve the energy in specific areas of my life using the bagua map?

The bagua map links specific areas of a space to specific life themes. When one part of a room or home feels blocked, ignored, or overstimulated, it often shows up as friction in the matching area of life.

Say the relationship area of a home is packed with old boxes or things tied to the past. That corner will often feel heavy, and it won’t be unusual for your relationships to feel stuck in real life, too.

Once the area is cleared and grounded, though, the space feels lighter. And eventually, your mood for other people would follow suit, too.

To work with this practically:

• Start by noticing which part of life feels off right now.
• Find the matching section on the bagua map.
• Support that area with the right element, colors, or materials.
• Clear out clutter or anything that feels out of place.

Work with one bagua area at a time to keep things simple. Small shifts add up. Before long, your space starts meeting your life goals instead of pulling you in every direction.

Unlock your brilliance within

“Everything that’s around you,” says Marie, “is affecting your mindset.” So if you want to learn how to not only create a beautiful, harmonious space but also develop and maintain a solid internal balance and flow, you can learn all the secrets from the feng shui expert herself.

Marie’s free Feng Shui for Life class is where you can begin. It’s essentially a 20-minute glimpse of the full Mindvalley problem, where you’ll learn to:

• Optimize positive energy in your space with simple, practical tips,
• Turn your spaces into 3D “vision boards” for your goals,
• Rapidly dissolve energetic blocks that have held you back,
• Make your workspace a magnet for abundance, success, and productivity, and
• Turn your home into a conduit for unshakeable love, empathy, and health.

So many Mindvalley members have benefited as well, including Dr. Debora Trimpe, the Dallas-based founder and executive coach at Prime Performance Strategies. She shares with Mindvalley:

The directions Marie gave on how to implement different feng shui ideas were very clear and simple to implement. I noted a change in myself and my environment every week after implementing something Marie taught us.

Now, you, too, can reap the same rewards when you start reorienting your environment to meet where you are within. Once your external and internal worlds align, growth stops feeling like work and starts feeling natural.

Welcome in.