Let’s go back to a cosy Tuesday evening on cold November 9th, 1993, at Gina Lazenby’s flat in London. Gina, me, Mark Beakhouse, Graham Gun, and a cuppa or two, chatting about the charming wisdom and promise of feng shui. It’s here that Gina (with her genius of marketing) threw in the idea of starting the Feng Shui Society (FSS) – an easy-going gang to spread the cool vibes of feng shui. And, just like that, the rest, as they say, is history!
Zooming 30 years forward (blimey, how time flies!), I find myself pondering about the grand old times of the FSS. This society has turned into a beacon of knowledge and wisdom, spreading the essence of feng shui far and wide.
The FSS has grown into a treasure trove of ancient know-how, connecting age-old wisdom with our bustling, modern lives, making sure that the magic of feng shui is a piece of cake for everyone to grasp. It’s brought a wave of harmony and spark to numerous homes, offices, and lovely little corners of the world, optimising the flow of energy and rejuvenating spaces with happy vibes.
“feng shui is a physical affirmation, a ritual”
The FSS has been the heart of a vibrant community of feng shui buffs, offering a mix of workshops, friendly chats, and reads to anyone eager to learn and grow personally and spiritually. It’s woven a tapestry of people who are keen on living a balanced life filled with good vibes and prosperity.
The commitment of our society to uphold the real-deal principles of feng shui has made it a trusted brand name. It’s stood strong against the watered-down and commercialised versions, ensuring that the profound teachings of feng shui are passed down with respect and true spirit to the future chaps.
Feng shui encompasses various levels, including the spiritual dimension, which focuses on the transpersonal environmental aspects of individuals and organisations. Historically, feng shui was a spiritual discipline used in burial placements, but modern interpretations link it with contemporary spirituality and the holistic connection between environments and individuals. Research indicates that organising spaces with spiritual intent leads to improved well-being, and global health strategies have recognised the significance of the spiritual dimension. Read more about spiritual feng shui
Jan Cisek (MSc, FSSA) is a renowned international feng shui expert with over 45 years of experience, merging his expertise in interior design, electromagnetics, and environmental psychology. Specialising in Holistic and Integral Feng Shui, Jan is among the few consultants globally with a Master’s degree in Environmental Psychology, seamlessly blending Western scientific rigour with Eastern feng shui principles and he’s currently a PhD researcher in feng shui. His advice is predominantly evidence-based, ensuring its credibility through solid research. More about Jan https://www.fengshuilondon.net/
Introduction: As we traverse the journey of life, it’s commonplace to amass an array of possessions – photographs evoking nostalgia, clothes once cherished, or kitchen gadgets seldom used. This habitual collection of items, while seemingly innocuous, often leads to a desire for more space, prompting moves to larger abodes every decade or so. But what if the secret to a fuller life lies in the art of living with less?
The Case for Decluttering: Clutter, a seemingly benign presence in our homes and digital spaces, has far-reaching impacts on our mental well-being and productivity. It’s linked to diminished creativity, heightened anxiety, and even physical symptoms like allergic reactions. The minimalist movement, rooted in the 1960s art scene, now presents a compelling lifestyle choice, advocating for the reduction of consumerism and the prioritisation of life’s essentials.
Joshua Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus of ‘The Minimalists’ encapsulate this ethos as a tool “to rid yourself of life’s excess in favour of focusing on what’s important — so you can find happiness, fulfilment and freedom.”
The Psychological Impacts of Clutter: Our purchasing decisions, often driven by emotional triggers, lead us to assign sentimental value to objects, making it harder to part with them. This accumulation can cloud our focus and impede information processing. Studies, including those by Princeton University and researchers in Los Angeles, have highlighted the stress and performance deficits linked to cluttered environments.
Introduction: Feng shui, acupuncture, and osteopathy may seem like distinct practices at first glance, each rooted in different cultural and scientific backgrounds. However, a closer examination reveals a fascinating interconnectedness in their core philosophies and methodologies. Each discipline, in its unique way, seeks to harmonise and balance the energies within and around us, whether it’s in our living spaces, bodies, or minds.
The Essence of Feng Shui: Feng shui, an ancient Chinese art form, is centred around harmonising individuals with their surrounding environment. It is based on the concept of ‘chi’ or ‘qi’ – the life force or energy flow. Feng shui practitioners believe that the arrangement and orientation of space, objects, and colours can significantly influence the energy flow in a space, impacting the inhabitants’ health, wealth, and happiness.
Acupuncture: Balancing the Body’s Energy: Acupuncture, another gem from traditional Chinese medicine, also revolves around the concept of qi. It involves the insertion of fine needles into specific points on the body, known as meridians. This process is believed to balance the energy flow within the body, addressing various physical, mental, and emotional imbalances, from chronic pain to stress and anxiety.
Osteopathy: A Holistic Approach to Body Wellness: Osteopathy, developed in the late 19th century in the United States, takes a holistic approach to healthcare. It focuses on the importance of the musculoskeletal system in overall health and uses manual therapy techniques, such as manipulating and strengthening the musculoskeletal framework. This discipline recognises the interconnectedness of all body systems and aims to restore balance, encouraging the body’s natural healing capabilities.
Feng Shui of the Battersea Power Station, Battersea London
The Battersea Power station was opened today, Friday, 14 October 2022, at 10 am and this is my first take on it. The old Battersea power station has been converted into a shopping mall that is branded as iconic. This building was made famous (and iconic) by the cover of the Pink Floyd album Animals (apparently, one of the band members bought one of the high-end apartments in the building but we know for sure that Sting lives in an apartment next door on the west side in the Circus West Village ).
Basically, it’s just a much smaller shopping mall than Westfield with fewer places to eat (at the moment). There are about 100 shops but half were open today. In short, the feng shui of the place was okay today. Let’s unpack… and see if the Battersea Power Station has been feng shui-ed?
NLP works with metaphors. Your home and workplace is also a metaphor and an anchor on the physical, environmental logical level. By unpacking your metaphors, eternal factors and constraints of your home and workplace, you’ll be able to transform them to work better for you – to become more efficient and effective at using your time and effort.
Environmental psychology, semiotics and feng shui study how environments affect your performance, health and ultimately your destiny. How you perceive your home and workplace (consciously or unconsciously) will affect the relationship you have with them. Learn how to use NLP to decode your home/workplace to represent your values, identities and empower your life on all logical levels.
The New Chinese year – the Year of the Yang Water Tiger starts on 1 February 2022
and will last until January 21, 2023, when the Year of the Rabbit begins.
How will you make 2022 work for you? How can you navigate it better, smoother and smarter? How will you enhance and boost your personal and professional luck? How can you protect yourself from negative influences, energies and environmental stressors? And most importantly how can you apply all these in your daily personal and professional life to have a great year?
A Scientific Understanding of Feng Shui
Presentation at the 3rd International Conference on Environmental Psychology, Siracusa, Italy, Friday 8 October 2021, 13:45-15:00
by Jan Cisek, MSc Location: Room B – Siracusa Municipal Theater
Via del Teatro – Siracusa (Italy)
ICEP 2021 International Conference on Environmental Psychology
Feng shui is a 3000-year Chinese practice for creating harmonious environments conducive to optimum human flourishing. Environmental psychology, an interdisciplinary study, focused on the interplay between individuals and their surroundings (Gatersleben, 2011), has similar aims as feng shui. In the last 30 years, feng shui has gained international popularity and prematurely has been dismissed as merely pseudoscience (Matthews, 2019). Instead, it can be more useful to examine this traditional practice for what it might offer. A scientific vantage point enriched by feng shui insights can be made useful to modern sensibilities. I will present evidence for some of its claims by drawing from relevant scientific disciplines such as environmental psychology, sleep science, biophilia, spirituality, semiotics, priming, placebo and epigenetic. I’ll also re-examine feng shui in its indigenous context to see how some of its concepts accord with modern Western understandings of place identity, place attachment, urban planning and human behaviour, nature-based solutions and inclusive design. My approach is transcultural (Glover & Friedman, 2015) and transpersonal (Friedman & Hartelius, 2015). I’ll examine how people who practice feng shui consciously acknowledge the connection between external surroundings and inner being to benefit their productivity and wellness.
As you probably know Feng shui works on many levels, from physical to emotional to mental and to spiritual. Spiritual feng shui deals with the spiritual and transpersonal environmental aspects of individuals or organisations.
In classical and modern feng shui, humans are placed between heaven (spiritual/transpersonal/virtual) and earth (material) dimensions as part of the trinity of luck: heaven’s luck (spiritual), human luck (your skills, mindsets, beliefs, etc.) and earth luck (feng shui). Initially, when feng shui was conceived, it was considered as a spiritual discipline because it was used for sitting for burial places, so the ancestors’ spirits could rest in peace. Modern feng shui aligns itself with modern spirituality and transpersonal psychology in a holistic understanding of the interaction between environments and individuals.
Researchers such as (Koenig, 2012) suggests that when people have organised their homes or workspaces with spiritual understanding and connection, they feel better, are happier and healthier. Some of the research refers to creating sacred spaces for peace, harmony and wellness. In May 1984, the Thirty-Seven World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA37.13, which made the ‘spiritual dimension’ part and parcel of WHO Member States’ strategies for health.
Spiritual feng shui is here to help you connect with spiritual and transpersonal dimensions and realms and anchor them in your home or workplace. The function of spiritual feng shui is to remind you to balance your personal needs with your spiritual and transpersonal needs to create more connection, peace of mind as well as care and compassion.
In my talk on Spiritual feng shui I’m going to cover:
What is spirituality for? Health benefits of spirituality – there are over 3300 papers on the benefits of spirituality (people feel better, are happier and healthier when they take care of their spirituality)
What is spiritual feng shui for? Benefits of spiritual feng shui
Top practical tips for your spiritual feng shui How to enlighten your home/workplace
What is ultimately spiritual feng shui for? which will help you with your personal feng shui
and if there is time, I do have about 100 slides with very comprehensive and evidence-based information – I’ll finish with Q&A
I invite you to book the Feng Shui Conference – the 10th of July, Saturday in London
Looking forward to meeting you and showing you how you can boost you spiritual feng shui and enlighten your home and workplace
Jan Cisek (MSc, FSSA) is a leading international feng shui consultant and expert, trainer, mentor, feng shui researcher and writer with 30+ years experience in feng shui and a background in interior design, design and branding, electromagnetics and geopathics as well as environmental psychology. He specialises in Holistic and Integral Feng Shui which works in many domains: environmental or physical, emotional, intellectual or psychological, social, cultural and virtual or spiritual. Jan is one of the very few feng shui consultants in the world with a Master’s degree in Environmental Psychology thereby combining the scientific rigour of the west to the ancient eastern art of feng shui. Most of his advice is evidence-based so you can trust and have confidence that it will work because it’s based on solid research.
Over the past 40+ years of studying and working with feng shui, I’ve realised that one of the best ways to understand it and have better results is to go beyond it. Albert Einstein and others have recognised that in order to solve a problem we need to go to a higher level of thinking or beyond it. Otherwise, as Einstein said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” In short, a problem can’t be solved on its own level. Personal problems are notoriously difficult to be solved from personal perspectives – one needs to go beyond to transpersonal, spiritual domains.
Beyond feng shui
The key question is: what is feng shui for? Feng shui is considered many things: philosophy, art, science, design, cosmology and more. “What is feng shui for?” is the question: “What does it mean to live in a physical environment? “and “How are humans placed/positioned between Heaven and Earth?” and ultimately, “How to live (in harmony with the world)?
For me, feng shui is to affirm life. The function of feng shui is to create a lifestyle you want. Feng shui is a physical affirmation. We do things physically to get results in our personal and professional lives. Most people (consciously or unconsciously) use feng shui or variations of feng shui in order to better themselves. Yes, you can change and improve your life by moving furniture in your home or workplace AND you can get the same results by mentally affirming life – by rearranging or improving the interior (design) of your mind and soul. Feng shui is a holistic interior design of your exterior environment and interior milieu. Obviously, working on both (interior and exterior) can bring better, quicker and more powerful results, not to mention the fun of the journey.
My curiosity about the feng shui of Geneva stems from the general good feng shui of Switzerland. Switzerland is luckily surrounded by mountains which makes it an ideal feng shui location. Mountains, water, clear air and obsession with timekeeping, what else would one wish for a feng shui setting?
Geneva is surrounded by three mountain chains, each belonging to the Jura: the Jura main range lies north-westward, the Vuache southward, and the Salève south-eastward. Mountains give
Geneva, Switzerland is a beautiful and historic city with plenty of attractions to explore. Here are some of the top attractions that have good feng shui and positive energy that you might want to consider looking into:
As the pulsating heart of Germany, Berlin presents an intriguing tapestry of history, innovation, diversity, and resilience. This vibrant city also provides a unique context to explore the ancient Chinese principles of Feng Shui, including the five elements (water, wood, fire, earth, and metal), the Yin and Yang, and the Bagua model as well as energy/chi flow. Let’s journey into the essence of Berlin through the lens of Feng Shui.
The Yin and Yang of Berlin
Yin and Yang symbolise the dual forces in the universe, representing balance and harmony in Feng Shui. This principle of duality beautifully illustrates Berlin’s dynamics.
Yin, the passive and feminine energy, is expressed in Berlin’s peaceful retreats, like the tranquil banks of the Spree River, the calming atmosphere of the Botanical Garden, and the serene space of Museum Island. These areas offer a respite from the city’s bustling pace, embodying the calm, receptive energy of Yin.
On the other hand, Yang, the active and masculine energy, vibrates in the city’s energetic facets. The bustling Alexanderplatz, the lively nightlife in Kreuzberg, and the vibrant art scene manifest the dynamic and expressive energy of Yang.
Lastly, the harmony of Berlin’s Chi flow also relies on the balance between Yin (quiet, passive energy) and Yang (active, vibrant energy). The city’s bustling marketplaces and energetic nightlife embody the Yang, while the serene gardens, tranquil riverbanks, and quiet museums represent the Yin. This balance contributes to Berlin’s vibrancy, offering spaces for both activity and rest, excitement and tranquility.
The term feng shui means, literally, “wind–water”. Not “wind AND water” as many feng shui consultants, teachers and even authors of books translate. (This raises the question: if reputable book authors can’t translate just two words accurately, what else can be inaccurate in their books?) There are several problems with such incorrect and misleading translations.
Feng shui, often referred to as “wind-water,” is a fascinating and ancient Chinese practice that delves into the harmonious relationship between our environment and our well-being. The term “wind-water” encapsulates the essence of this practice, emphasizing the interconnectedness and oneness of these two fundamental elements of nature. Contrary to the commonly used translation of “wind AND water,” this distinction is far from arbitrary and holds profound significance within the realm of feng shui.
1. Deep Understanding of Feng Shui The first issue with the incorrect translation of feng shui as “wind and water” is that it betrays a lack of true comprehension of the concept. Feng shui is not merely about acknowledging the presence of wind and water; it’s about recognizing their dynamic interaction and influence on the energy, or “qi,” of a space. In feng shui, wind represents the movement of energy, while water symbolizes its accumulation and retention. Understanding feng shui as “wind-water” underscores the importance of these elements working in harmony to shape the quality of energy within a given environment.
