Sitting & Facing Directions – Apartments, Houses & Buildings

Sitting and Facing Directions

Some methods of Feng Shui use the front door to establish the orientation of a building and then determine remedies to correct or enhance energies. As an example, Black Sect (also known as BTB) orients the Bagua’s career area at the front door (or mouth chi). Varying approaches are confusing but especially when it comes to multi-floor buildings such as apartments and high-rises.

There are four generally-accepted approaches to determine sitting and facing directions:

  • The facing direction is determined by the facing direction of the building regardless of where an apartment or internal door faces (like into a hallway which makes the door face the building’s side wall). As an example, if the building faces East, everything in the building faces East.
  • The facing direction is determined by the main entrance of the building regardless of whether it faces a road or another building. As an example, the main entrance enters from the parking lot on the East side but the building itself looks South.
  • The facing direction of an apartment or room is where the door faces regardless of how the building is oriented. As an example, the apartment door faces North but the building faces East. In this approach, it’s believed that energy that enters from the stairs or elevator is brought into the apartment through the apartment door.
  • The facing direction of a building is determined by the side having the grandest view (most windows). In this approach, it’s believed the sunlight determines how energy enters.

Which is the correct? Well, let’s explore different types of buildings:

A traditional apartment building consists of five or fewer floors. Typically rental units are two or more on a floor and overlook a parking lot. In this case, the facing direction would likely be the facing direction of the building itself.

For multi-floor complexes such as high-rise buildings, determining the facing direction can be tricky. It’s likely that apartments and office suites have different facing directions than the building itself. To make this more complex, sometimes the building has a grand entrance or foyer with elevators facing a busy road that does not have the same facing direction as the building.

Feng Shui is about understanding your environment which starts with the geography. Buildings are man’s impact to Mother Earth, so they may or may not determine the facing direction. Start by observing your surroundings and the source of chi (or energy). Let me explain:

  • A building may have a parking lot at the entrance, but the drive comes off a side road. However, the building has a busy road on another side. The busy road determines the source of yang (active) energy. This is its facing direction.
  • A house may be on a secluded street and face the road, but a busy golf course at its rear has most of the activity. The golf course is its facing direction.
  • A high-rise overlooks a busy street and the back of the building is on the ocean. Oceans are always in motion so it becomes the yang area and facing direction.

If it’s still unclear, you can usually determine the facing direction of an apartment building by walking around it. Locate the side with windows and the most exposed view. Which direction would you generally face when you are sitting in the apartment? Normally the living room has the best view.

Determining the correct facing direction (and thus the sitting direction) is crucial to an accurate reading of the building, and understanding energy patterns inside it. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

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