If just walking into your workspace make you feel drained or uneasy, maybe it's time to consult a master of an ancient Chinese tradition to improve the area's "chi," or subtle energy flow. Many unbelievers will scoff at the suggestion, but a growing number of organizations are applying feng shui to their interior or exterior design, in hopes of improving worker productivity, attracting customers, or just plain adding a spark of comfort and well-being. River rocks, water fountains, plants and mirrors now grace once-austere offices and lobbies. Executives at Smith Barney and Morgan Stanley and a major real estate developer, among others, have consulted with one New York feng shui master in rearranging their office design. Applying feng shui is a practical way of adjusting a space to achieve balance and harmony, explains Cecile Wendover Clover, the creator of the online business, The Feng Shui Emporium, and her new Feng Shui directory for consultants, The Feng Shui Directory of Consultants. Clover has studied the art for nine years, and helps to coordinate feng shui seminars and retreats for her teacher, San Francisco-based Dr. Edgar Sung.

The ancient nature-based discipline "is one of the hottest topics in interior design in the English speaking world, because it offers a system with real benefits that often can be felt immediately," Clover says.

"This system is based on the I-Ching, the ancient Chinese Book of Wisdom which has guided individuals and rulers for well over a thousand years." Many feng shui applications offer Western-style common sense-making a building's front entrance more open and inviting to attract business, for example. Others are more arcane, such as hanging jade butterflies from a exit sign to keep people from quitting or being fired.

After a recent Charlottesville workshop led by Dr. Sung, Clover talked with Sung about feng shui and its applications:

CLOVER: Why would an employer be interested in feng shui?

DR. SUNG: There is a saying that if you have to call a feng shui consultant, you already know that you are in trouble. I have worked with countless businesses for many years, and know that employers can do a great deal through feng shui to increase the well-being of their employees and their clients while increasing the productivity and enhancing the general ambiance of the workplace.

C: Can you give an example of the specific feelings or sensations a person might have upon entering a room, before and after feng shui has been applied?

S: One of the best examples I can think of is the unpleasant problem of a small, cramped hallway. Feel how that space constricts you. Then pave one of the walls with mirror, a large sheet rather than small squares, and you will feel a sense of expansion and relief, even exhilaration and brightness at the result. With such a simple thing you can change a space dramatically and bring a real sense of well-being into it.

C: What are the potential adverse effects of poor workspace design, and some simple solutions?

S: Poor design can cause an undeniable sense of frustration on those afflicted, causing sickness and lack of effectiveness in their work. It can also cause confusion and short tempers. Poor design can cause the boss to not have the power and control he or she needs to lead effectively, and can have a definite effect on the financial success of the business. I recently had a client who always had enjoyed a tremendously successful business. Then he moved his plant to another location and began losing money like crazy. When he contacted me he was almost at the end of his rope-two more weeks and he would go belly up. When I arrived at his new plant, I noticed immediately that the entrance was unusually small and uninviting. I suggested that he renovate the entrance so that it would be very obvious, gracious and welcoming, and have a solid walkway leading directly from the entrance to the sidewalk as well as to the parking lot. Inside his office, I suggested that he move his desk so that he could get to it from either side, which would increase his opportunities to the outside world. Such simple solutions such as these brought everything into balance. Within two weeks my client's whole situation had changed. He began getting the work he was used to having. Good feng shui is good design. When you begin to study it, you might well think to yourself, "I knew that! I just never knew why I knew it." In these modern times we do not appreciate that we are one step away from our more instinctive animal-selves. So, what happens when you place your desk so that your back faces the door? You have no idea who is peering in at you or entering, or perhaps even looking over your shoulder. Regardless of how much we have on our minds, somewhere deep inside there will be an undeniable, palpable uneasiness. Poor desk placement may actually contribute to major stress, misunderstood as job-related. What do you do about that? Move your desk around to face the doorway, so that the back of your chair is against the side wall you see upon opening the door. If you cannot change your desk, then place a mirror in front of you, on your computer if necessary (a round convex mirror will do nicely), so you can see what is going on behind your back. You will immediately feel relief from an anxiety you might never have known was there. Cubicles are also a real problem. They create a maze-like situation that causes mental confusion and nervousness. They also are the breeding ground for poor relationships and lack of trust. After all, in such an arrangement "talking behind one's back" is unavoidable. Again, mirrors will greatly help the situation, but the real help would be in rearranging the cubicles so that each person could look out into a space which does not face another's back. Also, the addition of living plants to any work area enhances the chi and brings a sense of healthy growth to the space.

This article originally appeared in Workplace Vitality, May/June, 1998.


About the author:

Feng shui master Dr, Edgar Sung is available for consultations, and teaches regularly in San Francisco, New York and Charlottesville, Va. He can be reached via his Website, www.edgar03.com.

Also of Interest:

• Astrology by Dr. Edgar Sung
• Dr. Edgar Sung Web Site
• More articles at the Feng Shui Directory.