BRANFORD – For years, Gregg Nodelman has spent hours each week inside homes giving consultations in an ancient Chinese craft that is exploding in popularity.

Nodelman recently opened Dancing Dragon, a full-service feng shui design and consulting firm.  The feng shui, (pronounced fung shway) is based on the theory that design techniques can be employed to create an uplifting environment that boosts energy and can improve health and prosperity.

Nodelman, 40, said he became engrossed with feng shui after reading an article on the topic eight years ago.

The English translation of feng shui is “wind and water.”  Feng shui is described as a science that can be interpreted as art and has been applied for more than 5,000 years.

“I’ve always been very interested in spaces.  I started to study it more out of curiosity,”  said Nodelman, who now holds two professional certificates in feng shui and a degree from the Metropolitan Institute of Interior Design.

While some people are aware that feng shui has to do with furniture placement, most have only a rudimentary knowledge of all that comes into play during a consultation, according to Nodelman.  Some people feel that feng shui is just hype, but Nodelman said that the belief that different colors have energies – an aspect of feng shui – is widely accepted. 

“The basic premise deals with energy,”  Nodelman said.  “Stagnant or too quick flow would create problems.”

Though its claims may sound unreal, more people seem to be buying into feng shui.

Interior designer Lynne DiPaolo-Davis said she is a firm believer in the power of feng shui.  DiPaolo-Davis claims Nodelman’s work helped with her career and finances when she was looking to move and enlisted his help after struggling to sell her 6,000-square-foot home in Bedford, NY.

“I had more lookers than buyers,” she said.

Within one month after making some of the subtle changes Nodelman suggested – such as adding a fountain in the kitchen and changing some colors on the interior – the contemporary-style home was sold.

Meihwa Lin, an instructor at the Metropolitan Institute of Interior Design in Plainview, NY, said feng shui has been widely practiced in Europe, and was popular for some time on the West Coast before migrating east.

In addition to teaching, Lin works as a feng shui practitioner in businesses from record companies to doctors’ offices and has also created a ling of feng shui products including crystals and jewelry. Lin grew up in Taiwan and said feng shui has been part of her heritage. Even though feng shui has been around for thousands of years, the surge of interest in recent years is no surprise , she said.

“I really think we are moving so far away from where we came from,” said Lin. According to Lin, people are being bombarded by today’s high-tech society, which is steering them away from nature and making them uncomfortable in their surroundings.

According to Lin, people are being bombarded by today’s high-tech society, which is steering them away from nature and making them uncomfortable in their surroundings.

“We are a product of our nature,” Lin said.

According to Lin, feng shui started as an art of selecting auspicious burial sites for the wealthy, but its rules transferred to other aspects of life. The principles of feng shui are based on five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, she said.

Enid Sherry, a Branford interior designer who employed Nodelman to help with furniture placement and a redesign of the entry to her home, said feng shui seems to have done just that. The new walkway is curved, instead of straight, which Nodelman said improved the flow of “chi” energy toward the house and its occupants.

Sherry said that from her understanding of feng shui, the techniques are logical.

“It’s not hocus-pocus; it just works,” she said.