Through meditation or simple relaxation exercises we de-stress or adjust our body's energy. In seeking to balance our energies to those of the universe, we feel more connected and confident. We may experience great comfort and even healing through these practices. Many inventors credit their great achievements to times of meditation.

Our buildings do not have the ability to meditate and balance their own energies. Structures are intended to be supportive to their occupants. However, many may actually have the opposite results. Their energy patterns are determined when they are built, just as ours are determined when we are born.

One year may be better for us than the next; the same is true for our buildings, because they are affected by the current universal energy just as we are. The Chinese have been tracking these effects for many centuries to understand their patterns. The Yin Yang symbol is a reflection of the ebb and flow of energy. It illustrates darkness following light, yet each has a little of the other deep inside. Even our not-so-good years have small miracles and our great years have a few challenges.

The purpose of Feng Shui is to create a supportive environment. By simply removing clutter, turning on a fan when you are hot, purifying your air or water you are practicing one of the many layers of Feng Shui. These layers include the placement of your building in relation to the street, furnishings in relation to doors, and energy patterns inside, to name a few.

Most of us are aware of the increase in crime and general craziness during the full moon. Science can not measure the moon's influence on us, yet crime statistics verify the effect. The same is true of the affect Earth Element Energies in our buildings have on their occupants. Unbalanced energy patterns create varying degrees of good or bad influences on our finances, relationships or health.

Traditional Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese science developed around 3,000 years ago by observing universal energy patterns outdoors and within buildings. Feng Shui enhances prosperity, promotes good health and improves relationships by balancing the unseen Earth Element Energies in your environment. It is so powerful that the Chinese Emperor would not allow the Ancient Feng Shui Master to assist anyone outside the royal family.

Fortunately, Master Yang escaped the Emperor's Palace. While living in hiding to avoid execution, he became known as "Yang Saves the Poor" because of the secret readings that he gave people who came to him for help. He taught the exact method of determining remedies to his direct descendants and a young man named Sang. That was the origin of the Yang/Sang Theory. I have the honor of studying with Master Larry Sang (a descendant of the young Sang mentioned above) and being an instructor at The American Feng Shui Institute in Monterey Park, CA.

One of the biggest fears of having a Feng Shui reading is that the remedies will make you think you are living in a Chinese restaurant! That is not necessary or even preferred. Your personal tastes determine the fashion in which remedies are implemented, because they must appeal to you and not be offensive.

The actual Earth Elements (water, wood, fire, earth and metal) are remedies recommended in Ancient Feng Shui to achieve balance ... which is probably why mirrors are so misunderstood today. During ancient times, mirrors were made of highly polished metals. When a metal remedy was required, the Old Master would simply recommend a mirror be placed in a particular area. The only Feng Shui uses for glass mirrors are to brighten a dark room by reflecting light or to make spaces appear larger.

The Science of Feng Shui uses a series of exact calculations to reveal the individual building's energy pattern. A LoPan compass reading taken at the building and the date of construction are required for an accurate evaluation. The Earth Element Energy patterns are carefully examined, including the current annual energies' influences, before any remedies are discussed.

The most important layers are your personal best advantage areas, your favorable 15 degree areas of the compass. These personal aspects include: doors for "Best Prosperity" or "Big Consumer" (extravagance); your "Lonely Pillow" (sleep alone) and the many others.

A word of advice: if you have metal wind-chimes inside, move them outside. They could actually cause more harm than good inside. In 1999 the East, West and South directions outside are where metal windchimes would help and protect your health the most.