I wanted to move my desk - this is what I did to ensure it's facing the right direction.
Have you ever wondered whether the direction you face while sitting, working, resting—or even sleeping—might subtly influence how you feel?
It sounds a little woo-woo, perhaps. And yet, the ancient traditions of Feng Shui have been asking questions like this for thousands of years.
Are you sitting in a direction that supports your energy?
Could the direction of your desk encourage creativity, clarity or productivity?
Could turning your chair—or even your bed—bring a different quality of energy into your life?
And what about love, health, prosperity and personal growth?
This is where your Kua number comes in.
Think of it as a little energetic compass—another way of looking at yourself and your relationship with the space around you.
And, as I always say in the Crone Zone…
Don’t panic if you discover you have been facing the “wrong” way for the last twenty years.
Your head won’t fall off!
This is a nuance, not a commandment. You don't need to move all the furniture, redecorate the house or divorce your partner because their Kua direction is different from yours.
Instead, think of it as an invitation to notice, experiment and become curious.
So, what is a Kua number?
Kua (sometimes written Gua) is a concept from Chinese Feng Shui.
Your personal Kua number is traditionally calculated from your year of birth and gender, and is used to identify four directions considered particularly supportive for you and four that are traditionally considered less favourable.
The idea is that different directions carry different qualities of energy, and that aligning ourselves with our more supportive directions can help us feel more comfortable, grounded and in harmony with our surroundings.
There are traditionally eight directions to explore:
Direction | Traditional Feng Shui association |
North | Water |
Northeast | Earth |
East | Wood |
Southeast | Wood |
South | Fire |
Southwest | Earth |
West | Metal |
Northwest | Metal |
These Five Element associations are part of the broader Feng Shui system.
Your personal Kua directions, however, are calculated separately and give you a more individualised map.
And this is where it gets interesting…
YOUR FOUR SUPPORTIVE DIRECTIONS
Depending on your Kua number, your four favourable directions have traditionally been associated with different areas of life.
🌿 Sheng Chi — Growth & Prosperity
Often associated with success, abundance, opportunity and forward movement.
This can be an interesting direction to face when you're working, creating, making important decisions or wanting to encourage a sense of possibility.
Crone Zone question:Where in my life am I ready for something new to grow?
❤️ Tian Yi — Health & Wellbeing
Traditionally connected with health, healing, support and helpful people.
You might experiment with this direction when resting, meditating or simply wanting to create a sense of calm and restoration.
Crone Zone question:What would support me to feel more nourished right now?
💕 Yan Nian — Relationships & Longevity
Associated with relationships, harmony, connection and enduring bonds.
And relationship doesn't necessarily mean romantic partnership. It can include friendships, family, community—and perhaps the relationship we have with ourselves.
Crone Zone question:Which relationships deserve more of my energy at this stage of my life?
🧘 Fu Wei — Personal Growth & Stability
Traditionally associated with peace, inner development, stability and spiritual growth.
This can be a lovely direction for meditation, reflection, journaling or simply sitting quietly with a cup of tea.
Crone Zone question:What wisdom is quietly asking to be heard?
AND WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER FOUR DIRECTIONS?
The remaining four directions are traditionally regarded as less supportive for your particular Kua number.
But please don't interpret this as “bad”.
I rather like thinking of them as directions that may require a little more awareness or balance.
Life isn't asking us to spend our entire lives facing our lucky direction!
Sometimes we have to sit somewhere because that's where the window is, the view is beautiful, the radiator is warm—or because that's where the dog has decided we're allowed to sit.
Wisdom is knowing the difference between guidance and obsession.
FIND YOUR KUA NUMBER
There are several versions of the Kua calculation, and traditional calculations take into account the Chinese solar year, so if you were born in January or early February, it's worth using a reliable calculator rather than calculating it manually.
For everyone else, the basic calculation is relatively simple.
For a woman born before 2000, the traditional method begins by adding the last 2 digits of the year of birth, reducing them to a single digit and then adding 5.
Whatever year you were born.... click on this link to quickly calculate your KUA number .... https://yournumerology.com/kua-number-calculator
Note: Kua numbers 5 are traditionally assigned differently for men and women, so if your calculation gives you 5, use a Kua calculator for the appropriate direction.
YOUR KUA DIRECTION MAP
Once you know your Kua number, you can look up your four supportive directions. Let's simply dwell on them shall we :)
Kua | Sheng Chi — Growth | Tian Yi — Health | Yan Nian — Relationships | Fu Wei — Inner Growth |
1 | Southeast | East | South | North |
2 | Northeast | West | Northwest | Southwest |
3 | South | North | Southeast | East |
4 | North | South | East | Southeast |
6 | West | Northeast | Southwest | Northwest |
7 | Northwest | Southwest | Northeast | West |
8 | Southwest | Northwest | West | Northeast |
9 | East | Southeast | North | South |
NOW, PLAY WITH IT!
This is the part I really love.
You don't have to rearrange your entire house.
Start small.
Your desk
Which direction are you facing when you work?
If your Sheng Chi direction is practical, could you experiment with facing that way when you're writing, creating or working on your business?
Your favourite chair
This is particularly interesting because it's somewhere you probably spend quite a lot of time.
Could you turn it a little?
Your bed
Traditionally, the direction in which the crown of your head points while sleeping is considered significant.
You don't have to move the bed immediately. Try noticing how it is positioned first.
Your meditation or self-care space
Could you sit facing your Fu Wei direction when journalling, meditating, using your pendulum/oracle cards—or simply enjoying five quiet minutes with yourself?
Your front door
You might also become curious about the direction your home faces.
But again, curiosity rather than obsession.
A LITTLE CRONE ZONE EXPERIMENT
Choose one of your favourable directions.
Don't move house.
Don't buy anything.
Don't redecorate.
Simply spend 10–15 minutes a day for a week sitting or working in that direction.
Notice:
How does your body feel?
Does your breathing change?
Do you feel more settled?
Do ideas come more easily?
Does your mood shift?
Do you feel more focused?
Do you feel more open or expansive?
Or… do you notice absolutely nothing?
Observe, evaluate, because we are highly individual and the real wisdom isn't in blindly following a formula.
It's in paying attention.
YOUR PERSONAL COMPASS
As we move through the Crone Zone, we become increasingly interested in the subtle things.
We start asking:
What nourishes me?
What drains me?
What makes me feel more like myself?
What needs to change now that I am no longer living by everybody else's rules?
Perhaps your Kua directions can become another little tool in your personal toolbox.
Not a rule.
Not a prescription.
Just another way of becoming curious about the invisible relationship between you, your energy and the space you inhabit.
And perhaps that's the real beauty of growing older.
We become less interested in being told what is “right”…
…and much more interested in discovering what feels right for us.
So…
Which way are you facing?
And perhaps more importantly—
Which way would you like to be facing?
With love Maddie ......
NB this is an update of a blog I wrote a few years ago.
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