Articles by Carol Cannon, BBEC, Certified Feng Shui Consultant

Carol Cannon's Feng Shui the Green Way

AN Organic Oasis

Snuggled up on an ultra-soft mattress made of all-natural rubber and cotton, you’d never know the Organic Mattress Store fronts the busiest street in Hellertown, Pa.

Lee and Dennis Hornick’s store has been a huge success up and down the East Coast since they opened three years ago. This year, it was time to match their retail space to their green values. They hired Carol Cannon, whose experience in Feng Shui and Bau-biologie green building principles would prove invaluable. Then, they bought a new, larger building down the street at 1075 Main Street in Hellertown and began to seek out the healthiest building materials.

Today, the new retail space glows with warmth, and Dennis reports sales have doubled. Part of that glow comes from the gold and red-toned earthen clay paint on the walls, based upon earth and fire elements that influence Lee and Dennis most. And some of that glow is coming from Dennis, who never felt healthier since his office was moved off a hotbed of electromagnetic waves to a sea of calm.

Dennis and Lee didn’t realize their former office was located above a circuit breaker, nor had they linked this hotbed of radiation to Dennis’ bouts with illness. They didn’t know the drab white walls weren’t optimal for their health. That is, until Carol Cannon walked in the store.

“We liked the old building and its charm,” Lee says. “But we thought maybe there was a leak and mold was getting us sick. We never really thought about the office location until Carol came in and talked about electromagnetic radiation.”

Carol has a gauss meter that she uses to measure the “Alternating Current Magnetic Field” level, a component of the alternating current that is commonly associated with the levels of high power electrical tension wires. Dennis’ old office registered off the charts.

“He was sitting on a hotbed of activity,” Carol says. “Now, his office registers at zero. It makes him feel a lot calmer.”

“It felt like a buzzing feeling,” Dennis says. “I was always tired.”

As the sun streams through the new storefront windows, Lee and Dennis bathe in its warmth on an unfinished Mission-style bed. The Hornicks were smart to hire Carol before renovating their building, formerly an appliance store called “Breezy’s.” Carol studies a building’s impact on the physical, emotional, spiritual and mental well-being of the people who are living or working inside.

“On Carol’s advice, we broke through some walls, got rid of the garage and rearranged the space,” Lee says. “Now the building has a real organic feel to it. The light is so nice and people love the colors. Organic materials aren’t something you can sell without living it. It’s a lifestyle, and important to believe in it.”

To create an environment in harmony with nature, Carol focused on Bau-biologie’s tenet of using building materials of natural origin and avoiding toxins. Just a few of the ecological building features in the store include:

• Full spectrum lighting, creating illumination and color in accordance with nature
• Recycled blue-jean insulation instead of fiberglass sheets
• American Clay, Original Earth Plaster™ clay applied by Anita Turner, Carol’s latest Feng Shui consultant alliance from Taos, New Mexico who specializes in the natural earth application. The 100-percent natural clay product resists mold, controls moisture, and has no toxic chemicals or VOCs (volatile organic compounds).
• All-wool organic carpet with jute backing. Soft on the feet and quiet on the ears.
• Native Pennsylvania blue slate
• Bioshield natural and organic finishes
• HEPA air filters to rid the space of toxic traffic fumes
• Recycled desks and furniture found at a local thrift shop
• All natural wall boards instead of drywall

Carol used Feng Shui principles in helping Lee and Dennis choose colors and placement of items within the store. According to the four pillars analysis in ancient Chinese astrology, both Lee and Dennis derive vital energy from warm red (fire element) and gold (Earth element) tones. She also helped them represent all of the five elements and find an ideal placement for each of their desks based on their birth information.

Lee is excited about their new digs. “The health of this building makes it nice to come to work. You don’t have to worry about what’s in the walls,” she says. “A customer came in on Saturday and said it feels really calm, which is important when buying a bed. I’ve spent 25 years in retail. People enjoy their shopping experience more when they feel comfortable in the space.”

Not only did Carol complete birth charts for Lee and Dennis, she also made recommendations based on the building’s birth date. Back in the 1930s, it served as a Studebaker dealership, so the building needed a lot of metal elements. Exposing the copper pipes in the ceiling was the perfect way to bring it all together, says Carol.

“We used as many natural products as we could,” Carol says. “I hope they feel a lot better in their new space. In addition to all the natural finishes, the lack of elevated electromagnetic radiation is a major contributor to well being.

As they work on planting trees in the front and painting the warehouse upstairs, the Hornicks look forward to the day when they can just sit back and relax. “Your workspace is just as important as your home,” Lee says. “It’s nice to come to work when you believe in the product.”

Feng Shui is an ancient art of the power of placement. Its principals are based on the location, facing direction and age of your building, as well as the shape of that building, the layout of the interior and placement of furniture.

Bau-biologie is the study of the impact of the “built” environment on human life as developed by Professor Anton Schneider, PH.D. founder of the German Institute fur Bau-biologie und Okologie. To create an environment in harmony with nature, we must consider the location, materials used, the use of the structure, and, the relationship of the people to the space.

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