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Read Article Now!
Gentry Magazine January 2007
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On newsstands now!
STEP INSIDE DESIGN May/June 2005 issue
5 W's of Who, What, Where, When & Why
an article featuring Marina Lighthouse
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| Feng Shui: Good Harmony for Home and Business |
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| Carol Tiegs |
| Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese art of placement and
spatial harmony, is fast becoming part of American
as well as chinese Culture. Articles in Publications
from the Arizona Business Gazette to the Investors
Business Daily testify that the art has found
application in America's businesses as well as
its homes.
Los Altos native and resident Marina Leeds is
one of a growing number of Feng Shuiconsultants
to business and private clients.
Leeds
describes Feng Shui (pronounced fung schway) as
"the relationship between self and environment
and, more importantly, how that relationship affects
the balance and harmony of one's physical and
psychological well-being."
She
began studying Feng Shui six years ago. "I've
always had an inclination towards Chinese culture,"
Leeds said. "Then a friend went to China.
He brought the Feng Shui master Professor Lin
in to do his offices and afterwards my friend's
business soared. I was fascinated to know why."
In
1996, Leeds began a 15-month intensive study through
Shelter of the Soul in Santa Cruz California,
which concluded with her certification as a Feng
Shui consultant. Leeds practices Black Sect Tantric
Buddhism Feng Shui, also known as Form School
Feng Shui. One of several schools of Feng Shui,
its roots go back about 10,000 years to the early
Bon religious indigenous to Tibet, she said
Form
School Feng Shui, as taught by Professor Lin and
his disciples, is a practical form "based
on intention in the human mind and spirit, and
on energy movement," Leeds said. In contrast,
she said, the Compass School is oriented toward
fixed orientation of objects in relation to energy
source and flow, although there is crossover between
the two schools.
Feng Shui's primary focus is on the flow of chi,
the most essential feature of life and the force
that connects us to our surroundings. It also
seeks to create balance among the five elements:
earth, fire, metal, water and wood.
"In
Feng Shui, we work with three different kinds
of chi - earth, atmosphere and body chi - to create
a safe and healthy environment," Leeds said.
"The objective of a consultation is to help
you achieve the most ideal state of chi by harnessing
and enhancing environmental chi to improve your
life, health, career, relationships and tranquillity."
Leeds
has worked with clients on career and relationship
issues, as well as on bringing harmony to home
design. During a consultation, she listens for
metaphors her clients use in speaking and looks
at their home
or office as a metaphor for their life, searching
for places where things are stuck or weighted.
In
addition to suggesting relocation of an object
or redesign of a space, Leeds helps clients use
symbols to focus on the desired change of energy.
"A small fountain can remind you of the flow
of water and the flow of new energy INTO you life,"
she said.
"She's
very professional and thorough," said Los
Altos resident Sheryl Johnson, one of Leeds' clients.
"I feel more like we are living in harmony
with the Universe since Marina came INTO our lives,"
Johnson said.
One
of Leeds' cases involved a store where owner and
employees were involved in competition and disharmony.
Revenues were low.
"The store had multiple departments,"
Leeds said. "It was confusing. There was
no focus. We created a center focal point for
the store and a welcoming main entrance."
Leeds
said the best time to call in a Feng Shui consultant
is "if you feel stuck or want something to
improve." But, she said, you must be ready
to be an active participant in the change. "For
results, you must honor the advice given and do
the work."
In
selecting a consultant Leeds advises checking
into their training and certification. "Get
references," she said. "Meet with them
and see if you resonate." |
| Dream Home Journal |
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| How the ch'i flows in the rooms of your home affects all aspects of your life such as career, health and relationships.
A well-conceived floor plan and corerrectly placed furniture can improve the flow of ch'i and thus improve your life. For Los Altos native and certified Feng Shui practitioner Marina Leeds, a consultation starts with a short questionnaire and interview so she can better understand how the client lives in their house.
Ideally, Leeds will start working with a client before a house is even built.
"Your house is a metaphor correctly placed furniture can for your life. If your house improve the flow of ch'i and thus flows well, your life will too." Marina Leeds. |
| Deck the Yard (Better Homes and Garden - Do It Yourself Magazine) |
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| Dan Weeks |
| Description of Marilyn's Deck Design -"After carefully planning the deck areas to connect with indoor spaces, Marilyn...gave them equal attention to integrating them within the setting, turning to feng shui consultant Marina Lighthouse for advice." |
| Feng Shui and Its Impact on Your Next Listing |
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| Marina Lighthouse |
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| Balancing Act - Cover Story |
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| Joanne Griffith Domingue |
| 0639 | Thursday, September 21, 2006
Cover Story
Photograph by Vicki Thompson
Expanded Space: In feng shui, it is believed mirrors can expand 'chi' and create space, allowing good things to blossom. Here, feng shui consultant Marina Lighthouse stands in the doorway to one of the treatment rooms at Sandy DeRyke's business.
Balancing Act
Feng shui brings harmony to Almaden Valley
By Joanne Griffith Domingue
Almaden businesswoman turns to feng shui expert to bring success to the workplace
Sandy DeRyke wants her clients to feel better when they come to her office. After all, the Almaden Valley resident is a physical therapist with a large office and staff. Her business, Myofascial Therapy Center, offers physical therapy as well as pain management, hand therapy and a long list of specialties.
DeRyke wanted her office environment to be healing as well, so when an employee was studying feng shui, DeRyke decided to try it.
"It made a huge difference," she said. "Many times people come in and say, 'I felt better the minute I walked in.' I know it's because of feng shui that allows the energy to move more freely."
DeRyke's office is on Los Gatos Boulevard, which she calls a busy, chaotic street. But her office is a calm, peaceful space.
"People who come here feel good. That allows healing to happen at a different level. It also allows my employees to feel comfortable and supportive with people who want to get well," DeRyke said.
Jody Heckenback, a receptionist in DeRyke's office, who said she feels a sense of well-being when she walks in the office, notes other offices don't have the smooth flow of energy.
Ancient philosophy
Some might consider feng shui (pronounced fung SHWAY) just a bit of New Age chatter. But in fact, feng shui principles have been around for thousands of years. The roots are in ancient Chinese culture, but feng shui also embraces common sense.
Feng shui is the art of placement, a system of thoughtful arrangements of furniture and objects, artwork and plants to create a harmonious environment. Feng shui consultants purposefully arrange things for positive results.
Feng shui means wind and water that together are harnessed to produce energy. This energy is called chi (pronounced chee) and is a vital force that animates and moves through everything. Feng shui adjustments allow the chi to move freely through an environment.
At DeRyke's office, two large terra cotta pots filled with pink geraniums sit outside the front door, one on the left, the other on the right. Feng shui practitioners call those pots guardians to keep positive energy from flowing too fast out the front door.
Just inside is a gently bubbling water fountain, helping new clients to flow in like water.
The arrangement by the front door is very intentional, DeRyke said. "We want to bring people in and have them like what we do."
The furniture is arranged in a deliberate way. If you open a front door and can see out the back, it is thought the chi will race through a space too quickly. Placing plants or moving furniture, maybe adding a screen, can slow the chi.
In DeRyke's office, the back door used to be visible from the front--but no more. Now plants block the view through the space. The reception desk faces the front door and is a barrier between the front and the back. DeRyke has also draped a silk cord across the rear door to seal it visually, to keep the good energy in. These changes redirect the energy to circulate within the room.
When the employee who was studying feng shui left, DeRyke contacted Marina Lighthouse, a certified feng shui consultant in Los Altos. From time to time, they have made adjustments in the office together.
In 1992, when DeRyke began using feng shui in her business, she became more sensitive about noticing how things feel. When business slows down, DeRyke calls Lighthouse, "and we make a change. It is not in my head that it makes a difference. Things in the business do begin to shift, and business does better."
Feng shui 'cures'
Most people have been in places where they immediately feel comfortable, enjoy spending time and want to return. And most have also walked into a house or business and wanted to walk right back out. For some reason, the space evoked a bad feeling.
Feng shui addresses why a place does not feel right. People live healthier, happier, more prosperous lives when home and work environments are harmonious.
To achieve harmony, feng shui practices suggest cures, practical solutions to produce a certain effect. A cure might mean rearranging furniture so you can walk freely through a room. It might mean adding artwork, plants or mirrors.
DeRyke has used many feng shui applications. Mirrors grace walls throughout the suite of offices and treatment rooms. Mirrors create a feeling of more space and endless opportunities.
Crystals hang from the ceiling in several places. Crystals lift energy upward, to invigorate the mental process.
Every room has at least one live or silk plant. Dried plants, because they are dead, are not used.
Objects are placed to round out sharp edges. In one area, silk wisteria in shades of rose and purple twine around a pole from floor to ceiling.
"This is a medical group of physical and occupational therapists," DeRyke said, "but it's a little different. It's not a traditional setting. Feng shui is assisting us to help more people be educated about wellness."
DeRyke also uses feng shui applications in her Almaden Valley home, which she and her husband bought 20 years ago. In a 10-year span before they bought their house, it changed hands seven times, and the marriages of six of those seven owners ended in divorce.
"Bad energy hangs around," said Jo Preston, a San Jose feng shui consultant, "causing one failure after another." Lighthouse agrees "History tends to repeat itself. There's something there when you have a divorce, a divorce, a divorce."
The DeRykes' house is L-shaped, and the highest rate of divorce is in L-shaped houses, Preston said. That is because L-shaped houses lack a partnership corner, the space in a home that nurtures love and relationships. In feng shui practice, this corner is in the right, rear of a home.
Feng shui beliefs suggest all of life is interconnected and enhanced in different places in a building--whether it is a home, an office or a dorm room. If architecture has left out one of these places, such as a right-rear relationship corner in an L-shaped home, efforts must be made to add that back.
This does not mean a remodel. You might put a patio or deck in that missing corner and add inviting, comfy furniture. You might landscape that corner and add a fountain, or plant flowers with red, pink or white blossoms that are feng shui colors for love and relationships.
The DeRykes made some changes addressing the L-shape. They added a little spinning flag that circulates the energy, put in a fountain in the back yard, added lights to fill in for the missing spaces. They planted different-colored flowers in various places.
"It was simple," DeRyke said. "We were doing these things anyway. It makes sense to do them in a certain way."
Twenty years later, they are still in their house, and their marriage of 38 years is strong. "The house now feels very different," she said. Feng shui cures have made "such a dramatic difference in the home."
With feng shui, there are remedies. "Everything can be fixed, with a sincere heart and good intentions," Lighthouse said.
More mainstream
There are many books about feng shui. Twenty years ago, not much was written about it, and few knew what it was. Today books such as 10-Minute Clutter Control: Easy Feng Shui Tips for Getting Organized by Skye Alexander, or The Everything Feng Shui Book: Create Harmony and Peace in Any Room by Katina Z. Jones, are in bookstores and libraries.
"It is getting more mainstream, especially in our area," Lighthouse said. "People are looking at feng shui as a consideration when buying or selling a home. If people go into a real estate office today, they can expect Realtors will have knowledge of feng shui."
Some websites offer information, but some just want to sell candles and plants. Check the Yellow Pages for feng shui consultants in this area.
To be certified, a feng shui consultant has followed a particular course of study and received a certificate. Fees for a one-hour consultation may cost from $165 up to $500 or $600 for a home. Some practitioners have a two-hour minimum. Fees for a business begin at $175, for a small business.
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