What to expect hiring a professional Feng Shui consultant

There is a sense of mystery and often times confusion as to what goes on in a Feng Shui consultation.

In order to clear the air, I am going to provide you with some simple insights on what to expect when hiring a professional Feng Shui consultant to undertake a consultation in your home.

First, let’s clarify, I am talking about authentic, a classical Feng Shui consultation and not New Age or Superstition or Pop Feng Shui methods that recommend products and quick fixes to “cure” your problems.

Before the Feng Shui consultation

In the initial stage of the consultation, often referred to as the pre-consultation phase, you will be asked about your requirements and the reason you called.  What is it you intend to achieve with the consultation? What is the size and type of property? What are the general location of your property and the number of occupants or key personnel? (if it is an office building).

Once they have these details, they will usually quote you their consultation fees.

Beware of those who promise you the moon – Feng Shui practitioners are not gods and even if they want to, they usually cannot change your fate overnight or ‘make’ you an instant millionaire.

An honest Feng Shui practitioner will make realistic promises on what they are able to deliver based on your expectations.

Once the discussion is over, for their initial analysis, you will need to furnish your consultant with the plans of the property as well as the birth details of the occupants.

During the Feng Shui consultation – on site

This is the stage of the consultation when your consultant will be on site. Here, they will be surveying the area, checking the landform and taking note of the various environmental features in the surroundings.

On large projects, it is quite common for most professional Feng Shui Masters to conduct an aerial survey of the surroundings. Clients will oftentimes also need to guide them around the property.

This is a crucial step in an authentic, classical Feng Shui consultation – without assessing the landforms and environmental features, there is no way your consultant will be able to accurately determine the type and quality of Qi affecting your property.
(Note that an assessment that only involves the internal layout of your property or the immediate garden space is often not a complete assessment.)

Landforms (meaning the environmental configuration of the nearby mountains, hills, land contour, roads, river, neighbouring buildings and land quality) constitute a major portion of the Feng Shui quality of your property.

Once the external environment has been measured and taken into account, the internal layout of the property is then assessed.

The location of the key aspects of the property for a home is the main door, bedrooms and kitchen and for an office, the location of the CEO and key personnel. These aspects are all considered in detail.

During this on-site assessment, your consultant will usually advise you of their findings and make suggestions accordingly. It is during this phase that you will also be providing feedback to your consultant on what changes are possible and what would be beyond your present capacity.

After the Feng Shui consultation

A professional consultant will usually formalize the findings, advice, and recommendations into a summary or report. This will then be discussed after the previous site visit.

Some consultants may require you to take your own notes during the consultation and you would then clarify this with them after a consultation.

When implementing the recommendations your consultant has made, they will usually be available to guide you and make sure these recommendations are implemented correctly.

If you already have a report provided by them, this is usually much simpler since all the recommendations would have been clearly detailed in the report.

If necessary, your consultant may make follow-up visits to the site as well, to ensure things are implemented as per their recommendations.

At times, follow-up visits are essential when particular recommendations have been provided for in the consultation. (such as the main door direction or exact location of a water feature)

Although not commonplace for residential properties, you may also choose to have a yearly assessment. Consultants will usually charge for this, so this optional annual assessment may vary from client to client, depending on their requirements.

Conclusion

There are many different approaches and applications in classical Feng Shui.

You may receive a different level of service from consultant to consultant, depending on their skill and their level of professionalism.

Always check references if possible. Ask around and don’t take for granted that they are skilled or knowledgeable simply because they happen to be elderly or they claim decades of experience.

A Feng Shui consultation, done correctly, can be a very fulfilling and satisfying experience with the long-term potential to support you in achieving your goals and ambitions.

(Thanks to Joey Yap for the permission to re-work his original version of this post)