When you first learn about feng shui and moving Chi throughout your home, one of the more confusing pieces is using mirrors.
Mirrors bounce energy and are often used as a feng shui cure to deflect unwanted energy from certain rooms or from outside of your home.
This can make it feel like mirror placement is tricky, but it really isn’t!
Let’s discuss how to use mirrors in feng shui!
Mirrors & Feng Shui
In feng shui, mirrors contain water element energy. The water element is responsible for wealth and good fortune flowing into your life.
Mirrors are also used as a way to direct Chi energy where you want it to go.
They can be used to deflect negative energy, as a cure to keep energy from going down a drain, and as a way to double good energy!
Mirrors are water element energy, but because mirrors reflect, they can also be used to double other elements (whatever they reflect) or reduce elements (like hanging a mirror above a fireplace.)
Mirror Shapes
The shape of the mirrors in feng shui can also enhance the energy, so you can use them to balance, feed, or reduce other elements too.
Square Mirrors – Earth element
Circle/Oval Mirrors – Metal element
Wavy Mirrors – Water element
Tall & Skinny/Rectangle Mirrors – Wood element
Triangle Mirrors – Fire element
Two other mirror shapes that can be useful in feng shui are:
Concave – these mirrors are shaped like a bowl. They reduce whatever they reflect, making it smaller. They can be used to reduce negative energy.
Convex – these mirrors bend outward, like the outside of a bubble. They enlarge whatever they reflect. They also give you a wider lens, helping you to see more of whatever it is they are reflecting. They can be used to expand energy.
Feng Shui Bagua Mirror
Feng shui bagua mirrors are shaped like an octagon, with lines that radiate from a center area, like the compass bagua map.
These are usually used as feng shui cures for outside of your home, to bounce energy.
They would be used to deflect energy away from your home, like T junctions, poison arrows, negative neighbors, cemeteries or other negative energy.
In Western feng shui, you can usually use a regular mirror for these things, but it’s usually not necessary.
There are other ways to deflect and soften negative energy that doesn’t need a mirror.
Key Do’s & Don’ts for Feng Shui Mirror Placement
Some do’s for using mirrors in feng shui are:
Do: Keep in mind that mirrors double everything they reflect.
The number one key to keep in mind when placing mirrors in your home is that they will double the energy of whatever they reflect, both positive and negative.
This can be GREAT when you want to double wealth energy or harmonious relationships, but it can be detrimental when reflecting things like drains or clutter.
When using mirrors to double energy, consider using them:
- In your home’s wealth area, to double wealth energy.
- Behind the stove to double abundance or as a command position cure.
- Across from windows, to double the pleasant view.
- In your dining room, to double abundance and happy relationships.
- Next to growing plants to double the expansive wood energy.
- Next to a cash register, to double sales and income.
Do: Use them to move energy.
You can use mirrors to help move energy throughout your home, deflecting it away from drains or from bouncing out of doorways.
For example, you can place mirrors:
- On the outside of bathroom doors, to bounce energy away from draining Chi.
- In your entryway (not directly across from the front door) to bounce energy into your home instead of away from it.
- Above fireplaces, to balance the fire element energy of the fireplace.
- In dark or long hallways to help move energy.
- Next to stairways to keep energy from moving up or down the stairs.
- In front of sharp corners or poison arrows to bounce and soften energy.
Do: Use them to correct the command position.
In feng shui, the command position is seat of power.
When seated in the command position, you should be able to see the door from your seat.
Ideally, you would be seated across from the door, so that you can see anyone who enters or leaves the room.
When someone can sneak up behind you, you aren’t in the position of power in the room.
The most important command positions are:
- Your desk. You should be able to see the door when you are seated at your desk, whether it’s at work or in your home office.
- Your main seating area. Wherever the head of household sits the most, that seat should be in the command position.
- Your bed. You should be able to see the door from your bed.
- The stovetop. When cooking, you should be able to see the doorway to the kitchen.
- Dining table. The head position of the dining table should be able to see the door.
Of course, it isn’t always possible to position furniture to be in the command position.
That’s where you can use mirrors instead.
Place a mirror in front of you so that it reflects the door.
This will help you see anyone who enters and put you back in the command position!
Do: Keep them clean.
Because mirrors double energy, make sure you keep them clean!
Mirrors that are cloudy, dirty, or smudged will reflect the stagnant Chi.
Mirrors also affect how we see things, so looking in a cloudy or dirty mirror can reflect how you see the world and your home.
Add all of your household mirrors to your cleaning routine and the energy Chi energy will continue to be clean and clear.
Do: Hang them so you can see your reflection properly.
Be sure to hang mirrors so that you can see yourself when you walk by.
If you have a mirror by your front door, for example, you should be able to see your entire head whenever you pass by it.
Mirrors that chop up your reflection can cause problems, like the inability to see yourself clearly.
If possible, you want to be able to see your entire face (or your entire body if the mirror is large enough!)
Do: Be mindful of decorative mirrors.
Because mirrors are so important in feng shui, be careful about buying decorative mirrors.
Crackle mirrors, cloudy mirrors, or other decorative mirrors that have sharp cracks or cloudy reflections can cause Chi to not move properly.
This includes mosaic mirrors or antique mirrors.
If you want to keep the mosaic or antique mirror, make sure to display it as decoration and not as a feng shui energy cure.
Using Mirrors in Feng Shui: Don’ts
There are some mirror placements that can cause Chi to bounce to the wrong areas, or cause energy to move too quickly.
Don’t place a mirror directly across from the front door.
This will cause fresh Chi to bounce right back out of the door every time it’s opened.
Don’t place mirrors directly across from the bed.
While this isn’t 100% a don’t, it’s generally not recommended to have mirrors reflecting the bed while you sleep.
They can bounce energy and cause it to move too quickly, causing insomnia or restless sleep.
If you already have mirrors across from the bed and they don’t bother you, that’s great!
You don’t have to change them.
But if you struggle with insomnia or sleep disturbances, try covering them or moving them and see if it helps.
Don’t have a mirror reflecting the toilet.
Toilets are energy drains, so reflecting the toilet can cause energy to bounce directly towards the drain.
If you can’t move the mirror, try placing a plant in front of it to soften the Chi.
Don’t keep broken mirrors.
Broken mirrors can cause all sorts of energetic problems, from interrupting the flow of wealth to causing distorted vision. Replace or repair a broken mirror ASAP!
Feng Shui Mirror Placement for Good Luck and Good Fortune
As we discussed above, you can use mirrors in feng shui to double your wealth and good fortune! Some ideas for using mirrors for wealth energy are:
▶ Reflecting a water feature, river, or aquarium. Water is wealth energy, so reflecting a water feature can double your wealth!
▶ In your home’s wealth area. Again, the water element is the element of wealth and good fortune. Hanging a mirror in your home’s wealth area can double your wealth energy!
▶ Reflecting your cash register or feng shui wealth bowl. If you own a business with a cash register, you can place a small mirror next to it to double your income! If you don’t own a business, you can double your feng shui wealth bowl.
▶ Reflecting your wealth crystals. Placing a mirror so they reflect your wealth crystals can double their energy and help move it throughout your space.
▶ Reflecting your wealth altar. If you have a wealth altar, you can place a mirror nearby to double the energy.
▶ Reflecting your dining table or kitchen table. In feng shui, your dining area or kitchen table is where wealth is shared with others. Having enough food and abundance to share with others is the epitome of overflowing wealth and abundance! Hanging a mirror that reflects your table will not only double your wealth, but it can also help double and enhance your friendships!
▶ Reflecting the burners on your stove. The burners on your stovetop activate wealth Chi. You can use a small mirror to double and increase that energy, or you can also use a reflective tea kettle!
Placing Mirrors for Missing Bagua Areas
You can also use mirrors to define missing bagua areas.
If you have a missing bagua area, you can place small mirrors as a “wall” that will bounce and define the energy in that area.
You can hang the mirror on the nearest wall to the missing area, to “expand” the energy into that area.
The mirror reflection essentially fills in the view, creating an expansion of energy into the missing area.
You can also use small mirrors outside to define the corners of the areas and bounce the energy back towards your home.
Now that you know how to use mirrors in feng shui, you might also want to know:
give your bedroom a makeover with these DIY feng shui bedroom tips!
how to design the perfect feng shui living room!
8 Quick & Easy Ways to Feng Shui Your Dining Room
