In feng shui, it's location, location – and energy flow

By Alice Hinkle, Boston Globe, October 5, 1997

Books are scattered in piles on the bare wood floors and boxes are still unpacked, but Joyce Ho already has a good feeling about the Bedford house where she, her husband George and their daughter s, Bonnie, 6, and Jillian, 4, moved three weeks ago. They had searched for five months before finding the cozy red cape nestled in a quiet neighborhood.

While location and schools brought them to Bedford, Joyce said, it was "good feng shui" that clinched the sale.

Feng shui (pronounced fung shway) is an ancient Chinese tradition of aligning spaces and objects to allow what believers regard as positive energy flow and to bring good fortune, health and happiness. Based on its principles, the Ho family rejected houses on a downward slope, at the bottom of a dead-end street, split levels, and one house with a sunken living room.

The family has arranged their furniture to capture positive energy. For instance, headboards in the girls' pink and white bedroom flank a windowless wall and don't face the doorway, otherwise, Joyce said, feng shui suggests good health and harmony could escape.

George Ho learned about feng shui (which means "wind" and "water ) in Hong Kong, as part of his Chinese culture. Joyce, a linguist, spent four years in China, but she didn't read about it until a few years ago. However, growing up surrounded by woods, she has a feel for nature, and she said feng shui's focus on a natural flow of energy appeals to her.

She isn't alone. People who use feng shui ,range from Donald Trump to business people looking for more nurturing workplaces to families; who want their to be serene.

Community education programs In Concord-Carlisle, Acton-Boxborough and Westford are offering feng shui workshops this fall. Real estate firms are scrambling to educate staff, and feng shui books are flying off shelves in area bookstores.

"It’s the biggest trend in design that we see in books today," said Terri Jadick, senior bookseller at Waterstone’s in Burlington. The store now carries 22 feng shui titles.

At Unicorn Books in Arlington, owner Gita Bryant said, three feng shui titles in 1995 have grown to 50 today.

"It’s phenomenal," Bryant said. "Our workshops are packed to the rafters, and it seems to be catching on as a mainstream trend."

Unicorn staff members also used feng shui to brighten a dark corner at the shop’s entry, adding color and a fountain to get energy moving properly and draw people in.

In Westford, said Anne Butz, owner of Illuminations Bookstore, "feng shui books have been selling like crazy for at least the last year." And, after feng shui consultations Moday, Butz plans changes in both her store and home.

DeWolfe New England and Carlson Real Estate-Better Homes and Gardens in Lexington both arranged recent feng shui seminars for staff members.

Karen Adelson of Carlson recalled the customers who were ready to make an offer on a house until they saw a map showing an unfavorable alignment of the front door and street and changed their minds. "You have to be respectful of what people want, whether it’s a house near a school or one with feng shui," Adelson said.

One feng shui practitioner, Carole Dakides St Germain got calls from Laura Kangas – president of RiverBend Associates Inc., a Corcord management consulting firm – and Andover physician Robert Sampson, both of whom asked St.Fgermain to suggest workplace changes.

Kangas wanted to rework space after a reorganization. She said that modifications, which included moving her desk and adding an bubbling fountain and a handmade metal sculpture, unleashed new creative energy.

Sampson reported that patients at then center where he works with associate Patricia Hughes – called Beyond That Which Has Been – are delighted with the new look. A sink area was screened, a treatment table moved from under a beam, and color, plants, a poster, and wind chimes were added at the entry.

Lexington developer Carter Scott began working with Lexington feng shui practitioner Omi Preheim in 1992 when he was struggling with restoring the early 1800s Dana Morell House on Massachusetts avenue.

Preheim, who has a background in architecture design and holistic counseling, learned about feng shui after she tried to discover why family dynamics shifted after renovations. "I learned that I had committed some classic feng shui mistakes and set out to remedy them," she said.

Preheim calls her collaboration with Scott on the Dana Morell House "my first feng shui hit." She says she found trapped energy in the center of the house, a cramped entry, an awkward stairwell that left no breathing space, and a hole in the house's "wealth corner." A graceful central stairway and new second floor doors let energy flow freely, she says, while a new outdoor lamp pole and small pond remedy the "wealth corner " problem.

Scott says he incorporated feng shui design and balance in his Ellen Dana Court cluster development. His work with Preheim will continue at a new development on the Lexington-Bedford line, he said.

Another Preheim success story involves a couple who were divorcing and couldn't sell their house. Preheim found sharp angles that she says were creating an environment of dissension in the kitchen. The space was reconfigured, and the house was quickly sold, she said.

"There's no such thing as a perfect feng shui," Preheim said, because it can change along with people and circumstances. While some Westerners might dismiss feng shui as superstition, she added, "if you put feng shui on top of design principles, it ends up making good common sense."

Feng shui is easy to understand, according to St. Germain, who heads the WorkSoul Institute in Harvard. "You have all walked into a room that just didn't feel comfortable, and you've also experienced rooms where it felt wonderful and cozy, and you wanted to stay. That's feng shui," she said.

There are several schools of feng shui: traditional, with placement determined by compass direction; form, which deals with land details and shapes; and Black Hat Sect, which is popular in America. It centers on location of doors, windows and roads, as well as household energy flow.

To diagnose problem areas, practitioners use one of several types of feng shui "baguas" or grids. Each shows different aspects of life and how they correspond to "corners" in homes. "You also look for a balance of the five Chinese elements - water, wood, fire, metal, earth - and of yin and yang," St. Germain said. The history of the site and the owner's plans and dreams are also important, she said.

Bathrooms are always a problem area. "Wherever you have them, energy is going down the drain," St. Germain said. Joking that "an outhouse would be preferable," she stressed that nearly all flaws can be remedied. Cures for bathroom areas might include adding elements of upward energy - candlesticks or a picture of trees. And, she said, "always keep the toilet cover down and bathroom door closed."

A Medford woman who heard St. Germain speak may have been her speediest feng shui turnaround, St. Germain said. The woman called to report that, within three hours of moving her bed as suggested and making other minor changes in her relationship corner, she received a marriage proposal.

West Concord resident Linda Fialkoff said she first felt there was something to feng shui when her ex-husband suggested putting her office desk in the power position. "The change was dramatic," she said. New relationship opportunities also surfaced after Fialkoff set out items in pairs in her relationships area.

"I'm not saying this wouldn't have happened anyway, but it did," she said. "For me, feng shui is a fun way of making things happen."