Can feng shui improve your cash flow?
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Even consultants can benefit from an outside feng shui consultant.

"There is also what psychology calls personal blind spots, where even if you went and took all the feng shui training and even became a practitioner, you still couldn't see your own house like an outside party would," he says. "The outside viewpoint is critical because the person can see you objectively in your context, and that's impossible for you to do."

A feng shui license?
Not everyone is pleased with the proliferation of feng shui practitioners, some of whom may have only rudimentary knowledge of this ancient discipline.

Betty Stone, a consultant and assistant to Master Larry Sang at the American Feng Shui Institute in Monterey Park, Calif., says Sang is working with colleges in the Far East to offer feng shui certification in hopes of helping separate the true practitioners from the wannabes.

"Feng shui is very scientific; it's all done by mathematic calculations of how the energy evolves on our plane," says Stone. "A lot of the myths and misconceptions that people believe, the do-this and do-thats, are easier for the everyday person to understand, but they don't have to explain to you why you need to do it. So many practitioners out there are using folk beliefs versus being scientific."

How do you find a well-qualified feng shui practitioner? Stone admits it's a lot like choosing a good doctor: Ask for references and check out their credentials -- who they studied with, courses taken, certifications earned (the American Feng Shui Institute offers one) and the feng shui disciplines they use. As with doctors, there are greater and lesser choices in every price range. Stone says fees vary too widely to estimate. But experience definitely counts.

"Some people are just naturally gifted," she says. "But even a doctor, if he graduated from the best medical school without practical experience, he's not going to be great."

Stone says one thing is certain: When you've found a good feng shui consultant, you'll know it.

"There are a lot of people out there just wanting to sell remedies, so that's how they make their money," she says. "Feng shui is actually a balance of energy, and with people who are actually trying to help you, you will see immediate results. If it takes you a while before you even see anything happening, you know that definitely that's not the case."

Next up: "The skeptics' view on feng shui"

Jay MacDonald is a contributing editor based in Texas.