5,000 Years Old and Still Going Strong

GIVING A modern-day twist to an ancient art, an increasing number of feng shui practitioners are offering advice to clients on which building or home to purchase, and how to decorate offices and residences to maximize well-being.

Feng Shui is the optimization of energy-energy from land, buildings, people and the earth, says Dolores Kozielski, a practitioner in Marlton. "Every time you open the front door, you want the best energy coming in to enhance the people who live there," Kozielski

Feng shui, pronounced "fungshway," means wind and water. It began in China about 5,000 years ago as a way to orient gravesites and evolved into a method for dealing with wherever people live or congregate.

Christy Kass, spokeswoman for K. Hovnanian Homes in Red Bank, says the state's largest homebuilder uses feng shui principles. "It's important in building every home," says Kass. "People are more concerned than ever about creating a home that is a sanctuary.

"It makes you think about the practical application," she says. "For example, is the floor plan open, or is the furniture in your way?" At the Four Seasons at Mirage, an active community in Barnegat, homes have soft, or rounded, corners to enhance the flow of good energy.

In Flemington, Pia Vilaragut, a former Realtor, has been a feng shui consultant since 2000 through her company, Geomancy. "It's about making the environment comfortable and healing," she says.

Vilaragut says a CEO's office should be in the upper left-hand corner of a building, which she calls "the money corner." And she warns against positioning employees in high-traffic areas that can cause them to feel rushed.

Kozielski became interested in feng shui a decade ago through a friend who was studying reflexology, a traditional Chinese healing art. The friend was also learning feng shui and invited Kozielski to a class. "I said, 'Why not,' recalls Kozielski, who is also a freelance writer. "I'll learn something different."

Kozielski considers factors ranging from diagrams of a building to the history of a site, and conducts interviews with occupants. After all the information is gathered, she draws a chart of energies and elements based on ancient Chinese philosophy.

"You are made up of those elements," she says. "You have to know which are your strongest elements and which are your weakest." She says balancing the two brings harmony.

Kozielski recently worked with Autrostrada, a car dealer in Bensalem, Pa. Among other things, she told the owners what color cars to put in the showroom and advised them to reposition a fish tank.

Jeff Coello, who co-owns the dealership with his parents, says Kozlieski paid two visits and sales rose afterward both times. "Sales increased 50% within two days," he says. Coello says he sold 18 cars within a week of her first visit, compared with normal volume of five-to-10 cars a week. He says employee morale also improved.

Coello first heard about feng shui from a realtor. He says his parents have asked Kozlieski to evaluate their home.

Kozielski says employees need to personalize their work space. "You've got to know your own energy and how to enhance it," she says. She advises employees with offices with a window that their backs should never face it, since that leads to feelings of vulnerability. "It's like having something not protected," she says. "You always need your back protected in feng shui."