"Materialism was born when nature was no longer seen as an extension of the self" -Nancilee Wydra

When I first met Nancilee Wydra, I had no idea who she was. All I knew, was that there was a very loud, outspoken, unapologetically candid, and brilliant woman scouring the halls and dining room tables at the Hippocrates Health Institute campus where I attended this past fall. Where most Hippocrates attendees diligently labored to keep to themselves during the first week of classes, unsure of the social dynamic of the arena, and striving to maintain some semblance of privacy during the difficult transitional period of health and lifestyle transformation, one couldn't help but notice the ebony-haired, sassy, brazen, no bars-about-her woman in her mid-to-late fifties casually plopping herself down at dinner tables, on fire and ready to lend much needed laughter and seasoned advice to those who truly needed it the most.  While everyone else was striving to maintain the proper introductory social paradigm, this woman seemed to effortlessly bypass the conditioned initial status quo of "strangers sharing the same space" etiquette. This woman, I was later to find out, was Nancilee Wydra. Had I known then what I know now, I probably would have been assiduous about scribbling down every syllable that passed from her candid lips, either taking mental notes later to be accessed, or taking notes with literal pen and notebook in hand.

As the most published Feng Shui author in America, writer of 8 Feng Shui books including Feng Shui: The Book of Cures, Feng Shui in the Garden, Feng Shui and How to Look Before You Love, founder of the Pyramid School of Feng Shui, national lecturer and Fortune 500 company Feng Shui consultant, Nancilee Wydra is, needless to say, a Feng Shui guru. Nancilee is to the modern Pyramid School practice of Feng Shui, as J.P. Morgan was to banking, as Martin Luther King Jr. was to the civil rights movement, and as Britney Spears was to the degradation of pop culture. Nancilee's words are like gold. But I figured this long out before I ever found out who she was professionally. A conversation with Nancilee is like a conversation with yourself, or your mom (assuming you have a terrific, irreplaceable, and functionally optimal relationship with your mom). You just don't ever want the conversation to end. One on one, Nancilee has somehow mastered the ability to balance forthcoming honesty and direct constructive criticism, with deep unwavering compassion, non-judgement, and strikingly genuine reverence.  In a group setting, which I was lucky enough to have gotten to see Nancilee, she is the life of the party, the cat's pajamas, the voice of reason, and the source of the most engaging and glass-shattering, heart-warming cackle you will ever hear.

Nancilee is famous not only for the qualitative, prolific, and abundant professional experience that 

her lengthy resume boasts, but also for the fact that she has managed to take a very esoteric, comprehensive, and complex ancient eastern art, and put it in practical, user-friendly, and accessible western vernacular. I think it's fair to say that there is usually an evident disconnect between western and eastern culture, art, and tradition. To popularize an ancient art-science such as Feng Shui, and to bring it to mainstream attention in the 1970's would be a daunting task for just one person, were that person not Nancilee. But somehow, she managed to successfully bridge the cultural and philosophical differences between our two cultures to cultivate an extraordinarily successful platform of demonstrable and everyday home and office Feng Shui utilization. Nancilee founded the Pyramid School of Feng Shui, which is more than just a school, it is a philosophy, or a school of thought upon which many Feng Shui schools base their curriculum, and upon which many modern Feng Shui professionals, consultants, and students from all over the world encompass and promulgate. In the early 1960's she started her pioneering research on the human condition as it relates to the environment in both nature based and built spaces. She traveled extensively to study Feng Shui and a myriad of other disciplines in order to compile scientific research that substantiated Feng Shui's basic tenets. In 1989 she officially founded the Pyramid School of Feng Shui and in 1991 she assembled her research and teachings into a formal educational program and launched the Feng Shui Institute of America (FSIA), the umbrella under which Pyramid School is taught. It was one of the first professional certification schools in America based on contemporary, Western approach that blended traditional Feng Shui tenets, Eastern philosophy and social/physical/environmental sciences. In fact, Nancilee's work is so engrained in the westernized, adopted modern Feng Shui practice of today, that it would not be a stretch to ascertain that most certified Feng Shui consultants in the United States today have either been trained by Nancilee's institute, or they have been trained by some derivative of her original pyramid Feng Shui teachings. 

Since Feng shui is extraordinarily individualized to each person's own sociological, biological, psychological, physiological, and physiological components, it is somewhat moot to give generalized advice on how to rearrange your home to its optimal Feng Shui-compliant state, but there are many guidelines that we can all familiarize ourselves with in order to begin cultivating our journey to further understanding and utilizing this ancient and brilliant eastern art-science. I have listed a few snippets and samples from Nancilee's published works concerning personalized Feng Shui and how we can apply it to our own homes and lives... 

(please see 'Part 2: An Intro to Feng Shui; some tips and guidelines from Nancilee Wydra')