Category Archives: Blog

Is The Office Cubicle Driving You Mad?

Herman Miller invented the cubicle in 1956, with the idea of creating more privacy and helping to reduce distraction and increase concentration.  Since then, the  cubicle has become a standard feature of modern office design in the American workplace.  Offices designed using this modular unit, often called mouse mazes or cube farms, have become the symbol of human conditioning, and of the reduction of  individuality to uniformity and blandness.

One thing we know is that most people do not want to work in a “cube world”.  A common report from those working in cubicles is that they find themselves frequently checking the time, anxious for their workday to end so they can get out of the space.  After all, a cubicle design is similar to a prison cell.  Staring at a partition wall in such close proximity to one’s field of vision, throughout the long work day, replaces feelings of openness and comfort with a sense of being trapped.  This feeling, and the resulting impact on creativity, can lead to anxiety and agitation, and even make you feel that you might be going mad. How much of the work-related stress and low productivity of corporate America is due to this working environment?  Is this one of the reasons Americans seem to need to work longer hours in the office to finish their work?

Corporations at times try to save money by resisting change that benefit employees. The irony is, such changes in the long term actually benefit the corporation, as they can increase employee productivity, reduce stress levels, and increase overall morale.  But often enough, even if a company wants to move away from the cubicle work space; it is hard for most designers to know what to change to.

There have been few attempts to liberate workers from these constricting cell since the cubicle was invented.  Most changes have been superficial updates that meet technological and aesthetic advances. Over a decade ago, Knoll took on the challenge of reinventing this modular office unit, and hired a well-known architectural firm to take on the task.  However, after two years and millions of dollars spent on research, development, and engineering, they only managed to create a more expensive design that did little to resolve the core issue.

The fundamental reason for this impasse is that industrial designers have not been able to identify the real issue behind the cubicle problem. When you do not feel good in the box, you cannot argue with the feeling.  Although the cause may not be clear, the feeling itself is real and valid.

Naturally, when architects, interior designers, and furniture designers make any attempt to “improve” the design, they tend to understand and approach it from a purely physical point of view.  As I have often commented, the blind spot for designers throughout history has been that they only see a building or object as a physical body, but not as an energy body –  nor as an information carrier. There is much to learn from the wisdom of the traditional Form School feng shui in which all objects and manifestations are seen on all three levels:  as a physical body, an energy body, and as an information carrier. Designing with this in mind will naturally create functional, economical and beautiful designs.

God created the human body with a strong spine at the back to hold up the entire body, and  with openings in front, such as our eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.  Therefore, to live in resonance with our physical body, our living environment should follow this same pattern. In our daily lives, we always feel better when we position ourselves with some protection behind our back with a nice open space in front of us.

Throughout the history of world, people have followed their instincts and built their houses with the backs against a mountain, hill or more protective objects and the front doors facing bodies of water such as rivers, lakes, oceans or facing a nice field or other open space.  This is also how we should build our work spaces.  The innate flaw of the cubicle office is that it violates this feng shui design principle  which is based on natural laws.

In the terminology of Form School feng shui, we need to have Water (for expansion) in front andMountain (for support) at back. Why is this more ideal? In simple language, when we are protected from behind, (for example with a wall closely behind us), we feel more secure, and when we feel more secure, we are more relaxed.  When our bodies and minds are more relaxed, the energy in our body flows better, and contributes to a higher spirit, happier feeling and more productivity in our work. Furthermore, having a nice open space in front of us allows an extension of view and vision.  This not only helps release our stress, it also frees and expands our thoughts, enhancing creativity.  (This is why people nowadays need to have more windows as life becomes more stressful.)

The cubicle design turns this whole principle upside-down.  The computer is placed on the working counter against the partition wall (facing a mountain); co-workers pass or approach from behind, causing one to feel vulnerable.
Regardless whether one is aware this impact or not, it builds internal invisible stress. To help mitigate the problem, and in an attempt to bring life to an unexciting space, people who work in cubicles put photos, plants and even mini-fountains in their work spaces.  Some workers place small mirrors in front so that they can see reflections from behind without turning.  All these design maneuvers may help to some extent, but they do not fundamentally fix the problem.  As long as there is no Mountain behind the chair, the insecure feeling remains.

Most bosses would not feel comfortable working in cubicles; in fact, they have the luxury of well-protected private offices. It’s hard not to wonder why bosses would put their employees into spaces that they themselves would not feel comfortable in.  Without increasing the space, it is still possible to create a working environment making people feel much more comfortable.

Some office designs do have cubicle partitions that fully protect the worker, with the opening to the side, so that people pass or approach that side.  Many people who work in cubicles do this intuitively, when they have the space to do so, by orienting their computer or other work activities toward a side wall rather than toward the back wall.  Physically, this is not as comfortable, but emotionally it will be less stressful. This is a definite improvement. If this cannot be done, it may possible to put some large plant at one’s back, as a buffer between one’s back and the world outside the cubicle.

Imaging how much better it will be, when architects, interior designers, furniture designers — and all designers! — understand the traditional Form School feng shui.

The Tao of Tea

“As a tea drinker, one comes not only to enjoy the beauty of tea drinking, but also to find that tea can be a path for self-cultivation and spirituality:
Through sharing: harmonizing relationships with people,
Through appreciation: inspiring self-improvement, balancing body and mind,
Through understanding: achieving harmony with nature.
Through tea, one can come to unify the subjective and the objective, matter and mind, self and other, humanity and nature.”

Excerpt from:  The Essence of Tea by Shan-Tung Hsu

Yes, The Essence of Tea is published! To view the trailer on YouTube:

To order your copy of the book please go to Amazon.com or contact us for a special price.

Birthday Celebration

Birthday celebration has been an important and joyful event in modern human living.  For parents, the birthday of a child brings much happiness to know their child has experienced another year of emotional, mental and physical growth. However, in holding parties and giving presents to the birthday person, many usually don’t give much serious thought on “What are we celebrating?”, nor for the birthday person to think “What entitles me to expect and receive presents in simply getting one year older?”

In old time China, children celebrate birthdays for their parents and elders to express their gratitude for the love and support they have received from them.  Rarely did parents celebrate birthdays for their babies and children as in the West.   However, nowadays, all are westernized.

There is nothing wrong to find opportunity or an excuse to have a joyful gathering, to enjoy a good time together.  On the other hand, the deeper meaning of birthday celebration may have been lost.  In China, it used to be thought that ideally birthdays should be a day for reflection.  This is a day for people to reflect and appreciate the love and support they have received in the past year from family, friends, society, Heaven and Earth.  This is a day for people to reflect on their inner growth and outer progress in the year just past and to see if it matched or exceeded what they have received from outside in return. This is a day to meditate on making adjustment and setting a new goal for the coming year.

For the birthday person to show their appreciation for the love and support they have received, this is an occasion to give instead of to receive.  In many cultures, such as the traditional American Indian culture, instead of the birthday person receiving gifts, they would give gifts to those who come for the celebration.

I always tend to shy away from celebrating birthdays in the “normal” way.  This year,  in taking advantage of the rare occasion that I  am able to stay home for more than a month without  traveling abroad,  I decided to  celebrate my birthday with  a “21-day Lemon Juice Fast” to cleanse  my body.  Feng Shui is about designing a good living environment. Our Body is the living environment for our spirit and soul. Regular detoxification practice is a good way to ensure good feng shui for our spirit and soul.

I have now entered the 6th day of fasting and feel much better already. I will give a final report at the end of this fast.

Feng Shui and Religion

Does religion have a role in Feng Shui?

This is a frequently asked question.
The answer is: No.  Feng shui is not a religion nor has it ever followed any religious tradition or practice.

However, most religious groups do apply feng shui principles in building their temples and monasteries. Most Taoist and Buddhist temples in China are built on a site that nourishes spiritual energy.

Last November, I was invited by the headmaster of Yunjui Shan (雲居山Cloud Residing Mountain) ,in Jinagxi, China,  to locate a proper site to build a new meditation and training center for the monastery. This Ch’an (zen) monastery, was established during the Tang dynasty and has over 1200 years of history.  The headmaster was very much into feng shui and I found him also sensitive to the energy of the land.  Since my suggestion was very much in accord with what he had in mind, he was very happy with my visit.

This past March, he once again asked me to help with the proper positioning of the gate for a new temple. High up in the mountain, in the rain and cold, the master walked so briskly through the woods and muddy ground, that I had to pay attention to keep up.   Overall, it was a most interesting and rewarding experience.

From all the Buddhist and Taoist temples I have visited, I hardly find a temple without good feng shui.  Although in general, the energy at such sites is more supportive of spiritual cultivation and may not necessarily support business or commerce.

Good feng shui for business requires a more mundane energy, which in general means sites are on low ground, such as cities close to bodies of water.  Temples, on the other hand, are for spiritual cultivation, thus are mostly located on mountains or higher ground in a city.

Balance with the intended purpose is one of the key considerations of feng shui design.

Half of China

The last two months, I have had the rare luxury of not adding more frequent flyer miles to my account by staying in Seattle to diligently work on two books; Feng Shui:  Truths, Myths and Misconceptions and The Essence of Chinese Tea.

To give you a little taste of what’s to come, the story below is taken from my book The Essence of Chinese Tea. Hope you enjoy it!

 

Half of China

In 1972, President Nixon made his first visit to China, re-establishing diplomatic recognition between the United States and China.  Chairman Mao presented President Nixon with 200 grams of Wuyi Dahongpao tea as a gift.  Nixon was puzzled, and privately remarked that Chairman Mao’s gift seemed rather small for such a historical event.  When Premier Zhou En-Lai heard this, he privately explained to Nixon that this kind of tea came from very special tea trees that were hundreds of years old.   All six trees together produced only some 400 grams of tea per year.  “So you see” said Zhou En-Lai “Chairman Mao has already given you half of China.”