Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Ring My Chimes: Feng Shui consultant Linda Lenore says it's good to place chimes near the front door.

Feng shui adds pop to shops

A growing number of Bay Area residents are following the ancient principles of feng shui

By Sandy Sims

If your finances are going down the toilet, you might consider sticking a plant in the bathroom or perhaps calling Roto-Rooter to clean out your drain. No kidding. Freddy Howell, owner of the Wild Bird Center in Los Gatos, says business perked up dramatically in January after her husband, John, reamed out the store's plugged-up sink. When Howell shares such facts with franchise headquarters in the East, people there think Howell is talking about one of those crazy New Age California things.

Actually, she's talking about one of those crazy ancient Chinese things--feng shui (pronounced "fung shway").

Feng shui is the practice of working with ch'i (the Chinese word for energy) in the environment in order to create harmony and balance. Advocates say feng shui can affect everything from career to health to relationships.

When Howell wanted to crank up sluggish sales 3 1/2 years ago, she didn't call a business consultant. She called feng shui consultant Linda Lenore.

With the influx of Asian immigrants to the United States, more Westerners are embracing Eastern philosophies and enjoying the benefits of such Eastern practices as yoga and acupuncture. It's not surprising that the practice of feng shui has also taken hold. Even financial magnate Donald Trump, after losing millions on real estate ventures, turned to feng shui for help.

While the practice is growing nationwide, it's especially prevalent in the Bay Area. Feng shui has become so popular in Silicon Valley that San Jose magazine's May-June issue listed the ancient practice as one of the upscale expenses for living in this valley.

There are even feng shui classes at local community colleges and UC-Berkeley. Stanford and San Jose State University hold brown-bag seminars in feng shui. The Silicon Valley Association of Realtors offers classes for local Realtors.

Lenore creates an annual feng shui garden for the South Bay Home and Garden Show. She says that in addition to private home and small-business owners, she's consulted with 5 percent of the Fortune 500 companies. She's even "feng shuied" boats and recreational vehicles. She's consulted with politicians, sports figures, CEOs and CFOs. Business has grown so much that Lenore says she needs a clone to meet the demand.

When Howell called Lenore to help boost business, Lenore suggested some conventional decorative tips but for unconventional reasons. The idea, Lenore says, is for positive energy (ch'i--pronounced "chee") to flow harmoniously through the store. Feng shui teaches that the single most important consideration in any environment is how ch'i is inhibited or enhanced.

"You need to change the shelves," Lenore told Howell. According to feng shui, negative energy runs along straight lines. So Howell staggered the shelves. Lenore said energy was trapped in the far left corner of the store. So Howell put a diagonal display across the corner so the ch'i could flow better. Howell added green leaves to an artificial display tree standing in the middle of the store because Lenore said it would add life. Lenore also told Howell to add color--hang some red over there, some purple there.

Howell put a bowl of popcorn kernels in the bathroom because the bathroom sits in what feng shui recognizes as the wealth area of the building. According to Lenore, live plants or grains keep the money symbolically from going down the toilet because growing things reabsorb water and keep it recycling.

"We noticed a big change in business immediately," Howell says.


Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Arbor Vital: Patti Wilson created an arbor linking her garage to her house because Linda Lenore said connecting the two buildings would bring Wilson and her daughter closer together.




Howell and her husband, John, had another direct feng shui experience early this year. The first two weeks in January, few customers came into Howell's store. "It was really bad," John says. Coincidentally, the sink in the bathroom was plugged up. As soon as John unplugged the drain, customers started pouring into the store. Sales tripled the next day. John shrugs his shoulders. "Coincidence? I don't know," he says.

In her book, The Gift of the Red Envelope, Lenore explains that the Chinese have practiced feng shui for over 4,000 years. Feng shui means respectively wind and water, the two elements that shape the land, and the two most crucial elements we need to live, Lenore says. The practice of feng shui assures living in harmony and balance with the elements. "When you understand energy," Lenore says, "it can change your life."

There are two schools of feng shui thought: the compass school and the black hat school. The compass school espouses the exact placement of things. For instance, the compass school says a house should face north and south to be in the best position for receiving ch'i. The black hat school says ch'i comes from everywhere and what is important is the mouth of chi--the front door or entrance to the property.

Daphne Lin, originally from Taiwan, says most people in Taiwan look at a house's feng shui before buying. Lin's brother is an architect in Taiwan and when he designs or remodels a home, Lin says, he always keeps feng shui in mind.

Lin, who holds a Ph.D. in educational technology, says there are a lot of Chinese in the Bay Area who take feng shui into consideration when buying a house. "For many feng shui reasons, the front door is important," Lin says. For instance, Lin says, a straight hall running directly from the front to the back door "means the money and the ch'i will go right out of the house."

But for every feng shui problem, there is a remedy. Lenore says that hanging a crystal or an interesting chandelier or setting up some kind of barrier near the front door will keep the energy from running out the back door.

Another feng shui challenge is a house that sits at the head of a T intersection. Lenore says the ch'i that is coming at the house in this position is powerful, and often these houses have a history of cars crashing into them. The remedy, she says, is simple: Put up some kind of barrier to block the energy, perhaps a fence or a thick hedge.

"Chinese people put living things all around the house and business," Lin says, "an aquarium, plants, fountains. It's good to have water that is constantly moving to keep the ch'i circulating."

"Most of feng shui is common sense," Lin says. For instance, feng shui says not to clutter your house. "If a house is too messy, you won't have good ch'i," Lin says.

Another basic feng shui guideline is to avoid having your desk chair or your couch with its back facing a door, because you can't see what's coming. There's a tension especially if someone comes up behind you and scares you. "You feel better if you see what's coming," Lin says.

Advocates believe the practice of feng shui can improve all nine aspects of one's life: career, knowledge, family, wealth, fame, partnership, children, helpful people and health.


Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Tweet Suite: The wild bird store is always transforming, trying new things. The artist who painted the mural continued it on the window.




Feng shui is really a very individual thing, says Lin. As one delves deeper into feng shui, the process becomes more personalized. Some advocates use astrology, numerology, palm reading, face reading, and other occult practices to tailor feng shui to the individual. Believers even pay hefty fees to bury their loved ones in carefully chosen settings, near living trees and running water. The happiness of the deceased, it is believed, will flow to the living relatives.

In China's past, only the very rich or powerful could afford a feng shui master. Feng shui was believed to be so powerful that it should only be used by those powerful enough to handle it. The harmony and prosperity would then flow from the rich and powerful to the rest of the people, a type of trickle-down theory.

Today, especially in Hong Kong and Taiwan, feng shui is popular among the masses. People pay a feng shui master to evaluate the land before any building takes place. Lenore says people will often pay more for their feng shui master than their architect.

Joan Green, feng shui consultant and teacher at Evergreen college says that UC-Berkeley now offers a three-year feng shui certification program under the supervision of Professor Lin Yun. The program started four years ago and is only now certifying feng shui consultants. This has become necessary, says Green, because there are many people out there who read a few books and then hang up their feng shui shingle. Green will receive her certification this semester.

Green echoes Lenore's words that practicing feng shui constantly transforms one's life. "It's dynamic," Green says. "The environment impacts you; you impact the environment; then the environment impacts you, and so on."

"You are constantly evolving," Lenore says. She says that spirituality in addition to feng shui is powerful no matter what one's spiritual practice is: Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam or even a 12-step program.

Howell and her husband say their store is always transforming. "We are always changing things around," Howell says. "And when Linda comes in, she makes new suggestions, too. She'll say, 'You need some red over there,' " Howell says, pointing to the back left corner of the store--the wealth area where there's a fountain bubbling over rocks.

In the meantime, customers love being in the Wild Bird Center. They are not only relaxed, they are buying--at least as long as John keeps the back drain clear.

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