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Bainbridge Island Feng Shui

Welcome to Bainbridge Island Feng Shui,
providing consultations for your home or business!

For more information or to schedule a consultation, please contact Jennifer Conway at 206.914.0650 or email bainbridgefengshui@gmail.com

What is Feng Shui?

Recently, Feng Shui has become a highly visible and popular subject all over America. Almost every local paper and national news media has covered the topic. At public libraries there are waiting lists for most Feng Shui books in print. Bookstores have an overwhelming selection of beautiful and enticing books. Workshops and classes for Feng Shui have been proliferating to fill the growing public interest and demand. In this recent popularization, many subjects irrelevant to the authentic tradition are being presented under the blanket of Feng Shui. More often than not, people are left with more misconceptions than true knowledge. What is authentic Feng Shui really all about?

“Feng Shui” literally means “Wind and Water.” It represents the two most dynamic forces in the Universe – forces that are continually changing and searching for balance. Hence “wind and water” is used to represent the nature of the Universe, which is also resilient, always changing and in search of dynamic balance. In a nut-shell, Feng Shui is the knowledge and practice of the human search for balance with the environment, in accord with the natural laws of the Universe. Feng Shui applies to all aspects of living in the environment - where and how to build a city, how to site and plan a house, how to arrange the interiors of that house, even how to run a successful business – all in ways that are in harmony with the Universe.

When we talk about harmony in Feng Shui, we mean the balance of Yin and Yang, the two polarized forces of every entity, being, item or situation. When yin and yang are in balance there is harmony, and that harmony nourishes everything in a healthy way. According to Chinese tradition, yin and yang contain the seeds of each other, nourish each other, curb or limit each other, and change into each other. The dynamic of these yin and yang interactions takes place through five different mechanisms commonly called the “Five Elements.” Representing the cosmic and natural forces, this Five Element principle is a model in which Wood represents a growing force; Fire represents radiation and dynamic expansion; Earth represents consolidation and coagulation; Water represents spreading and penetration; and Metal represents condensation and concentration of force.

The Yin-Yang and Five Element principles are not man-made hypotheses; they exist in and of themselves. Over many centuries of observation, they were recognized by ancient sages as the Nature of the Universe in its fundamental essence and they became the fundamental philosophy permeating all wisdom and knowledge throughout Chinese culture. So when we talk about being in harmony with nature, we mean following the natural laws of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements.

Feng Shui is the embodiment of these natural laws combined with knowledge of astronomy, geography and other natural sciences. It was developed, refined and recorded over centuries of Chinese history. Feng Shui knowledge guided people in selecting the best spot for building their homes as well as choosing the tomb sites for their ancestors. It guided government officials in selecting the location for the capital city and was considered in every aspect of city planning. Feng Shui was the fundamental building principle for all of China’s magnificent architecture – the Forbidden City is the perfect example of Feng Shui application.

Where there is balance and harmony, there is ch’i (life force energy). When we say, for instance, that there is good ch’i in the Seattle and Puget Sound area, we mean that there is a good balance between the mountains and the water as they exist in the landscape. Where there is good chi’i there is good nourishment. Abundant ch’i nourishes abundant life, with prosperity, harmony, peace and so on for both the land and the people. Then, in turn, we can say that a place with abundant ch’i is a place that is in harmony with the yin and yang forces.

According to Feng Shui principles, any building should be constructed in harmony with the site in terms of size, form and style. A structure with good Feng Shui should have a wholesome form, where yin and yang features are in balance. If we squeeze a large building into a relatively small site, it is out of balance. People should be in balance with their houses. For example, a big family living in a large house is appropriate but one or two people living in a mansion would not be balanced. When people are in harmony with the house and the house is in harmony with the land, then we have the most wholesome and abundant ch’i. In this situation, there will be health, prosperity and good relationships.

The concept of Feng Shui is neither a belief system nor some mysterious Oriental magic. It is a universal idea that is embodied in everyone’s consciousness. We all respond to it in similar ways. Good Feng shui does not contradict common sense. Think of how we often prefer one room over another at home, or always pick the same table in a restaurant. In doing so, we are unknowingly responding to our inner ability to read and choose the most balanced situation.

Feng Shui can be studied through written records in the Feng Shui tradition. Nearly one thousand volumes of classic Feng Shui treatises have been written by countless masters over the centuries. Unfortunately, up to now, very few of these books have been translated for the Western reader. In the United States, most news stories and books present Feng Shui as a mixture of astrology, Oriental culture, folklore and fortune-telling. The more superficial and recently improvised aspects of Feng Shui have become mainstream. The true core of authentic Feng Shui is still waiting to be acknowledged in the West.

As we begin the 21st century, environmental issues have become an urgent concern. It has become imperative for us to re-establish a harmonious relationship with Nature. Feng Shui – this ancient Oriental wisdom – can provide the insight and the inspiration as well as the practical means to achieve this harmony.

Dr. Shan-Tung Hsu

Feng Shui: Natural Law

Many people are interested in Feng Shui because they are attracted to the idea of living in harmony with nature, for reasons of health, prosperity and overall well being.

People will generally agree that we are strongly affected by various environments: our country, our geographical region, our neighborhood and our home. And the idea that we can build a more healthful and helpful environment around us has become popular. But in the United States today, the most common presentation of this idea seeks to improve people’s lives with remedies and gadgets like hanging up wind chimes and bamboo flutes, using mirrors in certain places and adding a fish tank to the living room. Unfortunately, these practices are merely superficial gimmicks, and they wander far from the core principles and traditional methods of authentic Feng Shui.

Close study of the ancient Chinese concept of Feng Shui reveals that “living in harmony with nature” does not necessitate sharing one’s living room with a school of angelfish. Rather, Feng Shui recognizes that we live under the same laws that apply to the rest of nature. These laws, generally expressed as the Yin-Yang and Five Element theories, are the result of long observation of the natural patterns of every aspect of experience: animal behavior, plant growth, geographical and geological structure, and human life during times of both peace and war. In short, these laws affirm that everything we do, we do best within the natural patterns governing our world.

The concept of harmony is actually at work whenever we approach something or someone with respect and understanding. Building a house requires permission not only from the local zoning board but, first and foremost, from the piece of land on which the house will rest and then from the neighboring structures and geological features. We must ask whether the structure we intend to build will be acceptable to them. And we must be sensitive enough to hear their answers.

But how does one get permission like this? And isn’t this just more New Age mumbo-jumbo? It may surprise you how much information you can get just by asking. Nomadic people, such at the Mongols and the Native Americans, show their respect for the land by asking just such simple questions of the land they seek to settle on, and by doing so, they avoid violating the natural laws of the place. They are therefore more likely to achieve a harmonious relationship with their environment.

In the process of “civilizing” ourselves, and concerning ourselves with “modern” matters, we have dulled our intuition. Many of our expectations and reactions have to do with fads and styles, keeping ahead of the market or making shrewd investments. We have lost touch with the fundamentals of nature. We may observe, but we are less aware.

And so we do things like perch otherwise architecturally sound houses on steep bluffs such as those on Perkins Lane in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood. Each place has its own internal structure, which determines how best to live in, and with, it. When we fail to ask the land what its patterns are, or choose to go against those patterns or ordinary common sense, we inevitably suffer the consequences.

A purely academic understanding of Feng Shui, or a familiarity with “remedies,” no matter how extensive, cannot serve the intended purpose of Feng Shui. A superficial approach can never reflect a respect for the internal structures and states of the universe and will not precipitate harmonious living.

Feng Shui is not merely the study of the correct placement of objects in the home. It is a broader concept that is based on respect for the laws of nature. How and where we design and build reflects what is in our hearts. If our hearts are cold, arrogant and mercenary, then our relationship with the environment will be cold and even hostile. If our hearts are open, respectful and humble to the input from our environment, then our relationship with it will be harmonious and warm.

Feng Shui is a matter of mutual relationship. It seeks to balance and blend people with their places, and requires input from both. In this way, we can truly live in harmony with nature and fulfill our desires for health, prosperity and well being.

Dr. Shan-Tung Hsu

Form Energy: Ancient Wisdom in Modern Application

We live in a world of manifestation: we are surrounded by things, both living and non-living. And we, too, are one of these manifestations. We are also surrounded by forms, shapes, colors and substances; our senses respond to these surroundings and we are affected by them.

Everyone agrees that we are affected by our environment. On a very simple level, this is why we pick a certain table in restaurants or find certain rooms in our home more congenial than others. Most environmental factors can be quantified. One very influential factor, important but not quantifiable, is that of the physiological and psychological effect of the forms that surround us. By this I mean such things as the shape of the room, building or space, the configuration of the furniture, and so on. To demonstrate this point, consider the images of a circle and a square. Can you sense a difference in the feeling you get from these two images? We usually do have different responses to these different shapes. If a flat image can have an effect on you, what then of three-dimensional forms? And what of the more complex forms that surround us?

In Chinese metaphysics, a force know as “ch’i” is the very essence that composes the whole Universe. All forms, all manifestations come from ch’i. Every physical manifestation, then, is the product of ch’i, and the ch’i that manifests as form can be sensed from that form. For our purposes here, we will simply use the term “form energy” to refer to ch’i.

In ancient times, through observations of natural phenomena like the change of seasons, the cycle of day and night and the changes in society, scholars and sages concluded that everything in nature contains the polarized dual forces of Yin and Yang. These two forces or principles are mutually inter-dependent: they enhance, construct, constrain and transform into each other.

Everything is constantly in the process of transformation, from ch’i to form and form to ch’i. How can we understand the ways in which these changes take place? Again, through observation. The ancients noticed that there were five different energy mechanisms or modes of change, and they used the words Fire, Wood, Water, Earth and Metal to represent them. These are known as the Five Element principles and they encompass all varieties of change: growth (Wood); radiation and dynamic expansion (Fire); spreading and penetration (Water); consolidation and coagulation (Earth); and condensation and concentration of force (Metal). They too have mutually enhancing and constraining inter-relationships. Yin-Yang and Five Elements – these are the natural principles. Once they are really understood, everything becomes much clearer as one sees them manifesting through forms.

Form energy affects us at all scales. The largest scale we can observe is that of landscapes. Generally, landscapes include tall mountains, smaller hills, flat regions and bodies of water. To go from tall mountains to low water is to go from one extreme to another. One of these extremes is yang and the other extreme is yin. Everything in the universe contains this duality of yin and yang, and where yin and yang are balanced, abundant energy manifests. Where land meets ocean or river there is likely to be flat ground, which is why most cities begin in such places.

Mountains are very stable and strong (yin) so they become metaphors for stability, control and support. Water is dynamic and flowing (yang) and is often associated with trade and business so it becomes a metaphor for commerce and economics. In a simple formula, we might say that mountains are linked with power and bodies of water are linked with money.

Let’s take these metaphors and do some quick map studies to see how landscape and environment affect the energy of a country. Take the United States, which is between two big bodies of water – the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans – and has the five Great Lakes in the north. The abundance of water is linked to an abundance of money. The two powerful mountain ranges in the east and west signify political and military power. The vast open spaces of the great prairie provide for an openness of mind that leads Americans to be more imaginative, creative and generous. (This also means that they can be more naïve.)

Let’s also look at Japan. Again there is an abundance of water, reflected in fortune and wealth. There is also Mount Fuji, an internationally recognized symbol of Japan. This clear, strong symbol provides a strong national identity. However, because of the limited flat space, squeezed between the mountain and the water, there is only a limited amount of space to act as a buffer. The means that the people tend to be less secure and more protective. The US government has complained for decades that the Japanese are too protective of their markets. But how can they avoid it? The necessity is clear in the landscape.

Flat space is very limited in Japan as the landscape moves quickly between water and mountain, between one extreme and another. This fact expresses itself in the Japanese personality, which is highly polarized and tends to swing quickly from one extreme to another: most tranquil and most violent, most ugly and most beautiful. Japan’s economy may be manifesting some difficulties now, but this already manifested in the land some years back when the snow pack of Mount Fuji started to disappear.

These examples indicate how landscape does affect a country’s political, economic and military power, as well as the characteristics of the people who live there. This is also true on smaller scales: regions, cities, neighborhoods, houses and even individual rooms within a house.

In ancient times, when people studied form energy, they carefully studied the quality and quantity of these four features -–mountains, hills, flat regions and water – and how they coordinate, because different coordinations produce different forms, which in turn emanate different energies and different impacts. It is easier to understand the quality and quantity of the features individually, but what is the ideal coordination and arrangement of these four features?

Chinese always look to nature for guidance. For human dwellings, the best model is the human body. The spine supports the back, protection comes from the arms and legs, there is open space in front (in the face) and energy in the center (chest and abdomen). In this model, we see the analogies of the spine to the mountains, arms and legs to the smaller hills, open space in front (face) to the bodies of water, and energy center to the flat regions where mountains and water meet. Naturally, then, an ideal house becomes our energy center and it would follow the same pattern: support behind, compatible neighbors to left and right, the open ground in front.

Just as landscape affects the whole country, the surroundings of the house naturally affect the health and quality of life of the people who live there. But people seldom realize the actual impact that form energy has on us. When people move to a new house and get sick or experience a decrease in energy or an increase in quarrels, they always tend to connect this change with something visible rather than with the invisible energy force. (Of course, to a Feng Shui master’s trained eye, form energy is also visible.)

This is why it is important to see beyond the visible form to the presence of ch’i. If anything goes wrong, we need to trace the problem to its source in ch’i, instead of just through surface phenomena. In this way, we can find the solutions that will restore balance to problems with health, relationships and finances.

Nowadays, when people talk about nature, they are more likely to talk about it from an ecological point of view, focused on that which is visible. Much of the energy we have been discussing – natural patterns, natural orders and principles – is not visible, since it lies behind and within what is visible. This is why form energy is the basis of all Feng Shui studies: in order to understand and live in harmony with nature, to become healthy individuals and create a harmonious society, we must base our understanding and our actions on the level of ch’i.

Dr. Shan-Tung Hsu

Feng Shui and Common Sense

The recent surge of interest in Feng Shui has brought a publishing boom. More books on Feng Shui have been published in English in the last ten years than ever before. Those who buy and read these books are attracted by the underlying principle of being in harmony with nature, and by the suggestion of something ancient and mysterious.

The shallowness of some popular presentations of Feng Shui has lead many thoughtful people to simply reject it, out of hand, as a fad or just another kind of “New Age” nonsense. In fact, the core principles of Feng Shui, while very old, are not at all mysterious. Its central concept – to follow the laws of nature – is thoroughly rooted in common sense, that is, common to everyone: East or West, ancient or modern.

Common sense is the joining of human instinct with life experience. As members of the human race, we are all subject to common influences through living on the same planet: the sun and moon, wind and water, the alternation of day and night, and the change of seasons. We are nourished by the same kinds of things: the fish, rice, meat, vegetables, grains and so on, that provide us with the necessary fuel for living. Despite regional and cultural differences, all human beings share common influences and respond to them in very similar ways.

Feng Shui is the application of these common patterns of influence and response to the places in which we live and work. It brings knowledge of these patterns to bear on finding appropriate places and building livable structures where people will be nourished and protected. Much of the classic Feng Shui literature, which is concerned with the understanding and application of these basic patterns, is still fresh and relevant. Take the principle of building a house on a flat, dry site, not too far up on a hill and not too low in a valley, finding a balance by avoiding a place that is either too high or too low, too wet or too dry. This may seem like ordinary common sense, yet we often hear of people who have built houses in high places and on steep slopes where they are subject to landslides, or in low valleys where they are subject to floods.

The Feng Shui classics also state that the ideal house should be square or rectangular, with a good open space in front. These forms are not only more wholesome, but are also more ergonomic and more economical. This too is common sense, but modern buildings are increasingly quite irregular, with indentations, out-croppings and other variations. Such features not only make the buildings less ergonomic and functional to live in but also more expensive to build.

In the Feng Shui classics, rooms are classified into Yin and Yang categories depending on their function. Thus Yang rooms (like the kitchen or living room) should have more space, light and other yang factors, while the Yin rooms (like the bedroom or study) should be more private. Yet many modern houses, over-emphasizing certain fashionable features at the expense of practicality, have overly large bedrooms or bathrooms, or are over-exposed in quest of a better view. But in an overly large room, energy becomes scarce, often resulting in chronic illness or low energy for the occupants. Over-exposure, or an over-abundance of windows, can create more uncontrolled or conflicting energy.

The classics always emphasize balance: between the rounded and the square, between warm and cold, between exposure and privacy. They also stress the importance of achieving a balance between the size of a house and the number of its occupants. A house should be proportional to its lot, and not too different from other houses in its neighborhood in terms of size, style, form and color.

Feng Shui is an ancient art, but it is also timeless, because it can be applied to any current situation. Throughout history, in every country, people have applied these same principles; they are not unique to Chinese culture. You may encounter them in any graceful structure: mosques balance a square base against circular domes; cathedrals balance a square structure with circular stained glass windows, and so on.

But if Feng Shui is a matter of common sense, why does it seem so unusual, so exotic? Why has there been this recent surge of interest? In this fast-moving and ever-changing modern world, we are losing our balance. We struggle to grab knowledge and information from the outside instead of looking within, and we don’t pay attention to balancing our inner and outer activities. This leads to lopsided development, and fosters an unbalanced and over-extended life-style.

Nowadays, when people have emotional problems, they go to see counselors; when people have physical problems, they go to doctors; when people have trouble in school, they go to educational experts; when they have financial troubles, they go to money managers, and the list goes on. We no longer trust our own ability to solve things; we no longer look inward to seek the answers.

Unfortunately, the experts we consult are not always able to solve our problems either. From the Feng Shui point of view, when there is a problem, there is also a solution, and the answer is often nearby. We should not always depend on outside answers or experts, although sometimes we do need some external feedback.

Recently a Vietnamese herb doctor developed a treatment for drug addiction by applying the principle that where there is a problems, there is also a nearby solution. He sought, and found, the healing herbs for his formula in the opium fields. Similarly, as most people in the Pacific Northwest are aware, horsetail ferns are an effective treatment for nettle stings – and these two plants grow in close proximity to each other.

Although Feng Shui is rooted in common sense, it has grown over the centuries into a huge body of knowledge derived from long observation and repeated validation. This body of knowledge cannot be transmitted or even described in a single burst. To receive it, we must first become more aware of, and more attuned to, the patterns of energy movement in the natural world. As our awareness increases, we become more able to assimilate the available information. In order to do so, we must begin by reflecting on what our common sense tells us. Authentic Feng Shui gives us the language and structure to connect our innate knowledge with universal natural principles, allowing us to analyze, understand and improve our surroundings.

Dr. Shan-Tung Hsu

Feng Shui versus Superstition

Feng Shui is the name for the ancient, venerable Chinese field of study that is concerned with the effects of various aspects of an environment upon its occupants. Also known as “Chinese Geomancy,” it is a way of reading the land or one’s surroundings. The words “Feng Shui” literally mean “wind and water,” because the core principles of Feng Shui reflect the universal patterns of natural law, which, like the patterns of wind and water, flow spontaneously and repeatedly emerge in nature. Some older traditional names for Feng Shui are di li (laws of the Earth) and kan yi (the way of Heaven and Earth).

Through a long history of observing Nature’s patterns, the knowledge gained from these studies has been accumulated and refined into a very sophisticated system. It enables people to discern the energy in the land through the patterns of the landscape and through the composition of its features: mountains, hills, flat areas (energy spot) and bodies of water.

Form defines energy (ch’i), which affects the people who live with the forms. Throughout Chinese history, this knowledge has guided people in choosing the locations of cities, homes, grave sites, and the design and arrangement of structures, gardens and other landscape features.

Under the influence of ancient Chinese culture and philosophy, a central principle of Feng Shui was that human beings should live in harmony with nature rather than control it and force it into their own patterns. This attitude is even more important now, as we awaken to the destructive results of a domineering, forceful attitude toward nature. Great and swift changes are taking place in the modern world, making the need for this Feng Shui perspective and knowledge more urgent each day.

In recent years, however, as Feng Shui has swept through the United States and Europe, many misinterpretations have swept along with it. As one architect with a serious interest in Feng Shui said to me, “I find this Feng Shui ideal of living in harmony with nature very fascinating and convincing. But most of what’s written about it is all crystals, bamboo flutes, putting mirrors over the stove and so on. What does all that have to do with living in harmony with nature?”

In fact, these practices have nothing to do with Feng Shui or living in harmony with nature. Much of what is presented as Feng Shui in the US today has been influenced by essentially modern ideas. Now there are many mixtures of superstition, folklore and religion, wearing masks of Feng Shui, but whose teachings do not appear anywhere in the eight hundred or so existing volumes of Feng Shui classics.

Something that addresses the relationship between people and their environments should be universal, independent of culture, religion or local customs. Unfortunately, most of the popular Feng Shui currently practiced in the West derives from a mixture of exactly these things. It has found quite an audience, because it promises quick and simple results. It offers hundreds of gadgets for fixing problems with relationships, money, careers, health and so on.

Perhaps the most familiar of these gadgets is the mirror, sometimes called “the aspirin of Feng Shui.” In a doorway, a mirror is said to improve the flow of ch’i. Over a stove, it will allegedly build fortune. Hung above an entrance, the mirror will supposedly dispel evil and encourage auspicious energy. If a nearby building looms oppressively, a cracked mirror is believed to break up the structure’s image, softening its effect. But a mirror, in reality, has no magical computer chip that lets it distinguish between good and bad energy, or that enables it to decide what to let in and what to keep out. Mirrors do have real functions: to create a false image of larger space, to reflect more light into a dimly-lit room and, of course, to check our own images, but these uses have nothing to do with Feng Shui.

Bamboo flutes are another popular gadget meant to expel evil energy and bring good fortune. The Chinese word for a bamboo flute, xiao, sounds like the Chinese word meaning “to cut” or “slice,” prompting the idea that a bamboo flute will “cut out” negative energy. A bamboo flute has knots, jie in Chinese, which sounds like the word for “stage,” as in “ascending in stages,” suggesting a gradual improvement in status. But in English, this Chinese word-association game is a lost cause.

At least one currently popular practioner recommends that a main entrance should be painted red, because red is an auspicious color in China, where it has always played a significant role in special occasions. Chinese brides traditionally wear red, but in the United States, the bride’s color is white (which in China would be used for a funeral). These are no more than cultural symbols; there is nothing universal about them.

In classic Feng Shui theory, the flow of water (or of traffic) is used as a financial indicator. While it is true that most big business cities are near large bodies of water, a naive interpretation takes this to mean that water equals money. So indoor fountains have become a hot item. People think that putting a fountain in the “fortune corner” of a house will attract wealth. While an indoor fountain can be a nice touch, the pleasant quality it lends to a house has nothing to do with bringing wealth or fortune to the inhabitants.

Using the eight parts of the traditional Ba Gua diagram to label and assign attributes to the parts of a house may seem neatly logical and appealing, but it is not authentic Feng Shui. The Ba Gua is an important feature of classical Chinese tradition, but its teachings are not concerned with assignment of points and directions to the Ba Gua diagram. This recently devised practice has more in common with traditional Chinese palm-reading than with Feng Shui.

No matter how unrelated these methods are to authentic Feng Shui, some people swear by them. A new client once insisted to me that mirrors were very effective. Having been disturbed by people dropping in to her office, she had followed the suggestions of a popular Feng Shui “expert” to put mirrors all around her office. She was no longer bothered by unwelcome visitors, but she admitted that even welcome friends had also stopped coming by. This was not due to mysterious forces – nobody feels comfortable surrounded by mirrors.

Without ever studying it seriously, people often pick up on isolated bits of Feng Shui. They might share this “secret knowledge” that a house should face south, a tree in front of the house must be taken down, the entrance should not face a T-intersection or dead end, a stair-case should not face an entrance, it is bad to sit under a ceiling beam, and so on. There may be some Feng Shui principles behind these notions, but it is a big mistake to apply them blindly. For example, in the Pacific Northwest, it is rare to find a house without a tree somewhere in front of it. But there is a big difference between a large tree looming up right in front of the door and a dwarf tree or sapling that is fifty yards away. To master the art, one must have a real understanding of the meaning behind such “rules.”

With so many books on Feng Shui coming out, some people may be intrigued and even partially convinced by the first one they see. They might be puzzled by disagreement between it and the second one they read. By the time they look at a third book on the subject, they are totally confused and ready to dismiss the whole idea.

How does one resolve the disagreements and judge which books are useful and which are not? Understanding Feng Shui starts with understanding the fundamentals: the equilibrium of Yin and Yang in the four features of the landscape -- mountains, hills, energy spot and water. A true understanding also involves the ability to apply the principles to any level or scale of organization, from the planet to a single room. After learning the principles, people should be able to sharpen their sensitivity, develop their intuition, and transmute the information into knowledge and the knowledge into wisdom. The information thus obtained should make sense on its own, and not need to be taken on faith.

Dr. Shan-Tung Hsu

Design Principles: The Bedroom

People spend an average of eight hours a day in their bedrooms – it is one of the most important rooms in the house. The Feng Shui of the bedroom affects the health, emotional state, quality of relationships and fertility of the people who sleep there.

In contrast to other rooms, the bedroom is meant purely for rest and renewal. Therefore, it is essentially a yin room. For this reason, an ideal bedroom is quiet, with adequate light, good air circulation, a wholesome shape, a simple floor plan and a neutral color scheme.

The bed should be at standard height, neither too low to the floor nor raised up too high. Bedside tables should not be taller than the bed itself. A ceiling beam that cuts horizontally over the bed, especially over the upper part of the occupant’s body, may cause health problems. The bathroom and closet doors should be as far as possible from the head of the bed.

If the ceiling is too high or if the floor plan is too big then the energy of the room becomes scarce, possibly resulting in low energy or chronic disease for the occupants. Too low a ceiling can cause depression. If the room is too bright or too dark, the occupants may suffer from insomnia or stress. Placing the bed in front of a window or on the wall with the door may negatively affect the occupants’ health and/or the relationship of a couple. Skylights that are too numerous or too large can also have a negative impact. Mirrors are best placed where they can be used by choice and not in direct view from the bed or doorway.

A: The head of the bed should be against a solid wall, diagonally opposite the door to the room.

B: The bed should have good support from solid walls on either side.

C: An ideal window provides light from the side, and not directly next to the bed. For the average room, one window is adequate.

D: A dresser should not be directly beside the bed unless the room is very wide.

E: The entry should be visible from the bed and also on the diagonal from it. It should not be behind, to the side of or immediately in front of the bed.

F: The closet door is as far as possible from the bed.

G: Healthy plants can be placed in the corner diagonally opposite the entry, or in front of or to the sides of a window. Don’t use too many plants and avoid varieties with spike-shaped or jagged leaves.

Dr. Shan-Tung Hsu

Feng Shui for Business Success

The right place, the right people, the right time: these are the key ingredients for any successful human endeavor. This is especially true for any business venture.

One kind of business operation is what we usually think of as business, out to make money, like a retail store, restaurant or corporation. A different kind of business is also an organization that deals with money and requires the same kind of good management, but aims at achieving other kinds of goals. Examples of this are charitable foundations, universities and government agencies. Even though profit is not their goal, they need the same effective management and use of resources as the profit-oriented activities. So one kind of enterprise is measured by profit and money, the other by influence and power, but both can be regarded as kinds of businesses.

Feng Shui analysis relates power and money to factors called Mountain and Water. The power factor is dealt with in terms of Mountain configurations; the economic factor is dealt with in terms of Water configurations.

Businesses oriented toward profit require spaces with abundant energy flow -- places where Water can collect and Qi can coagulate. This is why most shopping malls and business centers are on the lower ground of cities -- not on high plateaus. At the same time, businesses oriented toward influence and power require strong Mountain features. Many universities, hospitals and churches are on higher ground.

Every successful business requires abundant, smooth energy flow. This is what Feng Shui looks for in terms of Water. At the same time, business requires support and stability; this is a matter of the Mountain features.

It is not always easy to find the kind of space most appropriate to your enterprise, or to figure out how to achieve the most effective use of that space. Applying the principles of Feng Shui can make these choices much simpler and significantly improve the effectiveness and success of the business.

The foremost consideration for an ideal space is that the form should be wholesome. In general, a square space, or a rectangular space proportioned according to the Golden Rectangle, is best. A wholesome space provides wholesome energy. In a building, the location of the main entrance is also crucial. The door defines the quantity and quality of energy (Water) that can flow in. The front door and facade of a building are like the face of a building, and help define its image.

The image of a business also manifests through such things as the design of letterhead and logo. The logo of a company is like a summary of the energy pattern of the company. All successful companies (Nike, McDonald’s, Mercedes-Benz) have good logos. The designs of the logo, business card and similar image-bearing items have a striking impact on a company’s business success.

Some structures never have successful businesses, no matter how many different kinds of organizations pass through the space. From a management point of view, this does not make much sense, since each business has its own management style. But from a Feng Shui point of view, it is very clear: the space is lacking some key Water or Mountain feature, and will never support a viable business.

Good design of interior space is crucial for the success of any organization, since it has direct effects on personnel and financial management, on communication, on productivity, and marketing. All of this can be managed, to a large extent, through careful design of layout and relative position of the workers in an office. The human factor is crucial; employee talents and motivation are vital. How to motivate employees, retain them, increase their effectiveness, fully use their talents - these are constant challenges for managers. It is important to provide people with working environments that support them.

A key element to support is limiting or managing stress. Stress is only partly related with the kind of work one does. It also has a lot to do with the configuration of the place one works in. A golden rule for work spaces is for people to sit in positions that give them support -- which means, basically, solid walls at their backs. Whenever people have a solid wall (Mountain) behind them, they naturally feel more relaxed and at ease -- which means that they feel less stress, and can be more productive. It is no surprise that people nowadays complain about increased stress. It is increasingly common for people to work in cubicles -- to sit all day with their backs not only unsupported, but actually exposed to traffic. This undermines any possible sense of stability or security, and significantly decreases the quantity and quality of their work.

The success of a business is directly related to marketing and sales. So much depends on how effectively one can market one’s products or services. Marketing is the link between the company and the consumer.

Communication (at all levels, and between all levels) will also have an impact on the soundness of the operation. Communication requires two things: good connections, and effective potential contact. In Feng Shui terms, good connections require clear and effective links between the work positions or offices; good contact requires at least potential face-to-face communications between those who need to work together. (These face-to-face connections do not need to be actual, but they should be potential. People who need to work together should face toward each other, or towards a central space, even if there are partitions between them.)

Feng Shui principles make use of spatial relationships, orientation, shapes, color and light to improve the energy flow and get better results in all kinds of businesses. Because these principles follow natural laws, they can be applied with equal success at any scale, from a large factory or corporation to a small restaurant or professional office.

There is one basic Feng Shui application that any organization can try. That is: to supply their workplace with abundant healthy, living plants. Healthy, living plants serve as energy connectors and energy enhancers. They help cleanse the space, and bring life to it. This is a change that does not require a huge investment, but that can produce very immediate positive effects

Business operations are successful to the extent that their location and design approach Feng Shui ideals. Unfortunately, Feng Shui is so popular nowadays that there are vast numbers of Feng Shui books, and many Feng Shui classes and workshops - but these are often full of confusing or conflicting information. Many of these books and classes deal with faddish objects and superficial associations, never presenting the core teachings.

These core teachings of Feng Shui derive from and follow natural laws. Feng Shui principles describe how people actually respond to their environment. They are not a matter of faith or convention based on foreign ideas or values. The first step to understanding Feng Shui is to begin to tune in to our own reactions when we consider the present layout of a workplace, and when we explore plans for changing it. By awakening our own intuitive awareness, we will have a way of telling whether the design suggestions of an expert are worth following or not.

Dr. Shan-Tung Hsu

How Much Does Feng Shui Matter: The Case of the Bellevue Art Museum

We define Feng Shui as the knowledge of the relationship between the energy of an environment and the people who live in it. Recognizing that we are affected by the energy of the environment we live in, we accept the validity of Feng Shui. But that still leaves open the question of how much effect Feng Shui factors have.

In general, the amount of effect is a matter of scale. It is directly related to just how good or how bad the Feng Shui of a place or building happens to be. In other words, it is a matter of intensity. In all human endeavors, there are three related elements: Heaven, Humanity, and Earth — the Time, Human, and Space factors. As in a three-legged stool, each leg is crucial. Feng Shui deals especially with the space factor. Thus, when the Feng Shui has a serious flaw, even if the Human and Time factors are very good, the overall effect will not be good.

The recently closed Bellevue Art Museum is a case in point. The BAM was situated in downtown Bellevue, right across from the Bellevue Mall. From a Feng Shui point of view, this was a good energy spot. However, the extremely flawed building design (by New York architect Steven Holl) doomed the Museum before it even opened. People described the barn-red building as a “bold statement” in the midst of the sterility of downtown towers, shopping and traffic. It was certainly bold — shamelessly bold, and stupid. The color is a minor issue: the main problem was the extremely unwholesome form. The building was the equivalent of displaying a dismembered, eviscerated human body, with broken parts haphazardly piled up. It was not even possible to see a central form from which the parts had been broken: it was simply a disjointed heap.

I first saw it in January 2001, when I was taking students on a field trip for my Interior Space Design class. Our project was to analyze Bellevue Mall. We were all appalled — even students who had only taken a few classes could see right away that, from a Feng Shui point of view, the project could not possibly be successful. With such a bad exterior design, it didn’t matter what the interior structure might be like. The building could not be a success.

Furthermore, the door of the Museum was facing north, and it was on a slope that fell off from north to south, leaving it without good support (in other words, no Mountain). As soon as the Lincoln Tower was built at the northeast corner of the Museum this year, representing a “hostile White Tiger” for the Museum, the inevitable happened. The Museum found itself forced to close.

From a Feng Shui point of view, with such a badly designed building, no amount of managerial skill or vision could make the Museum work. Nor is it likely that any other organization would have any future there. The building is simply a waste of $23 million.

This is how much Feng Shui matters.

There is another museum basket case in the Seattle area — the Experience Music Project, generally known as the EMP. The building is a signature design of Frank Gehry, an architect with a world reputation, the recipient of the Pritzker Award. He threw this fabricated steel frame and sheet-steel panel building into Seattle’s favorite public locale, the Seattle Center area. There is no harmony between the building and the land, or between the building and any of the buildings in the vicinity. It is like a bully that has forced himself into a crowd, punching and kicking wildly in order to draw attention to himself. Even if such a person is somewhat restrained by the situation, he can easily hurt someone, if only by accident.

This kind of design might work well in a much more open space — like that of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain (another Gehry design). But not in the Seattle Center area.

The self-centeredness of many modern architects allows them to see only their own design, without having any sense of the other buildings with which it will exist. Their designs thus have no energetic balance with their surroundings. Unfortunately, the style of modern architecture has become orthodoxy — and, as in the story of the Emperor’s New Clothes, no one dares to challenge what everyone seems to accept.

At the grand opening of the EMP, most Seattleites found the building ugly and distasteful — but the news media could only bring themselves to call it “interesting”! It seemed that the media did not want to take the chance of offending the power and influence behind the EMP. The striking, dazzling color was intended to evoke a visceral response — and it does, in a thoroughly negative way. It creates a visual pollution, which on a daily basis affects everyone who lives nearby, or who drives past. And this effect will persist as long as the building exists.

From a Feng Shui point of view, this is naturally a bad design. First of all, it has a negative effect on the innocent public. Second, it has a negative effect on the owner and the institution, which will never be successful as long as they are anchored in that building. Luckily, the owner, Paul Allen, has pockets deep enough to continue to make up for the consequences of the poor design. But this need to pay will last as long as the building exists.

This again is how much Feng Shui matters.

Good Feng Shui is about the harmony between a building and the land it rests on, about its resonance with the immediately surrounding buildings and features, about the wholesomeness of the form that manifests wholesome energy, about the quality of the energy flow both outside and inside, about having good features and interior design that provokes good feelings. Most of all, Feng Shui is about seeing beyond physical form, and seeing the energetic form, since what ultimately affects people is the intrinsic energy that manifests from the physical form. This concept is very foreign to the culture of architecture, which is why knowledge of the Feng Shui principles that derived from the Form School approach could be very useful for architects — and their clients.

Feng Shui matters more than most people think.

Dr. Shan-Tung Hsu

Bainbridge Island Feng Shui

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