Over the last thirty years, millions of Westerners have been introduced to the fascinating topic of feng shui (pronounced fung shway), which reveals how people are affected by their physical surroundings. We’ve all had the experience of quickly feeling comfortable or uncomfortable in certain environments, but the ancient science of feng shui has documented the enduring and highly specific result of living or working in defined spaces.
The old real estate maxim “location, location, location” can be re-invented for feng shui purposes to: “location, direction, timing.” Based on when a structure is built, the direction the building faces and the total sum of the interior and exterior environment, both home and workspace can influence your health, relationships and even financial potential.
Some companies and individual employers make a conscious effort to make the commercial work environment a place where people can thrive, while most companies have a bottom line to squeeze the most out of employees and that can result in office spaces that undermine the person’s health and well-being.
Millions of Americans work in cubicles and windowless offices which are not ideal based on the most simple feng shui principles as well as common sense. But the most revealing influences are ones which cannot even be seen, although they can be calculated. There are buildings that are inherently good or bad for health or money and some aspects change over time.
For example, a building that faces magnetic northwest and built between 1984-2003 is a building that was in a long-termed phase considered bad for financial luck until 2024. No matter what the other circumstances are with this building type, there was an underlying layer which could have sabotaged a company or individual working in that kind of “energy field.” All structures go through a phase like this at some time or another. It’s called a Locked Phase.
According the feng shui principles, (which date back more than 3,000 years), when a structure is built will encapsulate energies seeping upwards from the ground it is built upon as well as drawing downward energy from the sun and other planets above. Once the roof goes on, that seals the energy inside the building, with a predictable effect on occupants.
In a commercial work space, most people will instinctually avoid sitting with their back to the room’s entrance door. We just know that we would feel vulnerable with our back to the door, especially in a place where customers or co-workers enter the room. But there are many other feng shui principles that one can apply to create more harmony, creativity and productivity. Sitting with one’s back to a solid wall with a clear view of the door and a nice view outside is just the beginning.
It is also advisable to avoid sitting directly under a large exposed beam or any type of heavy lighting fixture that might be looming overhead, as well as exposed air ducts and plumbing.
It is best to avoid sitting with your back aligned directly with the corner edge of a protruding column as this is known to cause back pain. The right angle edge of a protruding beam is called a Poison Arrow.
Even a singular room can be micro-managed, whereby moving a desk to a better section of the room could result in a promotion or more productivity. This is all happening in a non-obvious way, but we all know on a personal level what kinds of environments we feel more productive, happy, or inspired.
Personal remedies can be applied when a person’s birth date is taken into consideration. For example, if a person born in 1997 sits at work facing the direction of south, it can encourage wealth and prosperity. But if that same person were to sit facing southwest, they could attract accidents and other negative influences instead.
Sometimes it is even evident with feng shui calculations, why a company or individual can do well financially, but have a hard time saving what they make. And some work environments attract legal problems, which is rarely a good thing except possibly for a law firm.
Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®
From the Income, Money Matters and Career Blog Series
