Let's test your knowledge of feng shui in the office.

When considering the placement of furniture in your office, should you:

1. Place your desk in a direct line with the door so that you can see all the way down the hall?
2. Situate your desk set-up so that your back is to the door and you have a lovely view of the outdoors?
3. Arrange the space so that you can see the door but are not in a direct line with the entry?

    The “Cool Chi Award” goes to those of you who picked answer number three: your desk is best in an off-line position. Sitting in front of an open doorway, as described in answer number one, tends to draw energy out of the person who can be seen from all the way down the hall. It also leaves that person wide open to any negative energies coming in from the doorway. Moreover, there is rarely (if ever) a need to see all the way down the hall.

    As for answer number two: never have your back to the door, even if the view looking the other way is the best view of the Grand Canyon. Having your back to the door inevitably creates a feeling of vulnerability and a consequent anxiety.

    Answer number three is the ticket to happy chi because control plays a central role in feng shui. You should control that door with your eyes, but you dare not be a straight shot through the door. You want to be protected and empowered in your space; but that in no way means to be anxiously, fearfully, aggressively in control.

    If you have art on your office walls, that art should be:
1. A reflection of the people, places and things that are an inspiration to you.
2. Inherited from the previous occupant of this space.
3. Full of symbols or information that cause you discomfort or confusion.

    Even those who have not heard the words “feng shui” most likely intuitively know that office art really should be a reflection of what inspires you. Your office is not an alien space into which you have been dropped and sentenced to spend 40 hours a week. There is also a continuum between home and office. If a home is disharmonious, a lack of harmony may then be brought into the office, irrespective of whether the office itself is an energetically integrated and balanced space.

    Your home is a reflection of you and a space in which you consciously create an arrangement of objects and space that works to enhance your energy and well being. Your office should also mirror you and will either foster your capacity to operate effectively or detract from that capacity. The sorts of integration of elements that feng shui advocates for a living space is also the essential ground for an office space. In both home and the office, one should strive for a harmonious, balanced integration, either literally or symbolically, of the five elements: wood,water, fire, metal and earth. (Please see diagram

In feng shui, it is vital to have a balance of all elements. This chart shows the controlling and creative cycle of the elements. For example, if you have too much of the fire element, a norm in most office situations, the controlling element to establish balance is water.

    As indicated in the diagram, there is complexity inherent in the relationships among the elements in the space, and feng shui's arrangements not only operate on the level of the unconscious mind but also correlate with other criteria for arranging a space. There is, for example, a fine line between a stagnant energy flow and a turbulent one, and it is easy to cross that line in the wrong direction by the careless use of, among other things, color, furniture arrangement or instruments of adjustment (feng shui cures – such as mirrors and wind chimes – which adjust the flow of chi in a space, either speeding it up or slowing it down). In addition, a room created to harmoniously integrate the elements and principles of feng shui will both look better aesthetically and feel more relaxing.

    According to the octagonal bagua, the primary analytical tool of feng shui, every office has a wealth area that is especially significant to the financial health of the office's organization. This area is particularly susceptible to symbolic manipulation in order to enhance the financial success of the organization. The wealth area can be enhanced by using color, plants, wind chimes, crystals, mirrors and other instruments to control and balance the energy flowing through a space.

   As a final fung shui principle to consider, it is crucial to banish the clutter. We have certainly not yet achieved the day of the paperless office and there is an inexorable tendency for papers, books and other artifacts to appear in office spaces. The more mindful we are of that tendency, the more resolute we can be to control it. A clutter-free workspace is a basic tenet of good fung shui.

    By utilizing the principles of feng shui to improve harmony and the positive flow of energy in an office space, productivity and prosperity can be enhanced. In addition, the aesthetics of the space will also be improved. Whether you are setting up a new office or looking to reconfigure your current space, first consider how the principles of feng shui can help the way your space looks, feels and affects your life.

Johanna Pockar is a feng shui consultant and interior designer who has traveled throughout the United States doing consultations. Johanna is intrigued by balance of color, space, materials, textures and energy, and she is particularly attuned to creating harmonious environments. Johanna has studied with Professor Lin Yun, the foremost feng shui master in North America, and she continues to work with various teachers across the nation in order to refine her understanding of the ancient craft. For more information, contact Johanna at (216) 731-8996. or pockar@ameritech.net.