Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Ainley
Mark Ainley is a Contemporary Feng Shui Consultant with a unique sensibility. His advanced training in multiple disciplines and nearly 30 years as a teacher and workshop facilitator have given him an integrated perspective that helps him to synthesize the roots of this Taoist science-art into practical, easy-to-apply solutions for modern architectural spaces.
Hi Mark, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
In the natural world and in interesting stories, things almost never follow a straight trajectory, and that’s most certainly the case in my life. Not only has my life path been unpredictable, but the fact that I would be where I am – and that this is where I would WANT to get to – has most definitely been unexpected.
I could never have anticipated that I would work as a Feng Shui consultant: those foreign words and the modality itself were nowhere near my awareness when I was in school and entering the workforce back before the internet existed. It was only after I lived in Japan – another unexpected development – that I would come across this ancient practice.
I moved to Japan right out of university in the Autumn of 1992 because I had no real interest of finding a 9-to-5 job after graduating and I had no idea what kind of work would satisfy me. My sister had moved there a couple of years before and said it was relatively easy to make a good living as an English teacher, so why not give it a shot – so I did. Although she had long had a fascination with Japan, I hadn’t; however, I soon grew enamoured of the country and living in Tokyo, despite the initial stresses of moving away from home and living in a culture so different from mine – and not speaking the language (which I eventually did pick up).
I then moved to London in 1996, drawn by my musical interests: I had for ten years already been fascinated by the history of recording technology and the great classical pianists of the past, and I had done research that took me to London and elsewhere in Europe; then while in Tokyo I paradoxically became intrigued with electronic music – and London was a major epicentre for both musical avenues. It was there that I came across Feng Shui in the most mundane way: I moved in with the friend of a friend and he had a book on the topic.
So while music remained my major focus at the time (and it is a field in which I still work today as a writer and presenter), Feng Shui grew ever more important as I implemented what I learned in books and soon after noticed positive results. I was intrigued by how changes to our living spaces could shift not just our frame of mind but our life experience … creating beauty and harmony, like music does.
As a child, I was fascinated by Leonardo da Vinci and how he was so skilled in both the arts and sciences – and although I didn’t recognize it at the time, Feng Shui integrates both. There is an art to the application of the principles and there is also a science to it: environmental psychology has the same intent of creating supportive spaces, and biophilic design is based on 14 principles deriving from scientific data about how nature & design work together – and Feng Shui has been incorporating all of these principles for millennia.
Although I trained to be a Feng Shui consultant in Vancouver (where I now live) in 2001, even at that time I didn’t expect to do this work professionally – I was just pursuing it out of personal interest. But the more my suggestions helped my friends and the few clients who were referred to me by word of mouth, the more I realized that this kind of support was needed, so I devoted more and more energy to it.
So – long story short: as a child … in school … and in the workforce … I could never have anticipated that so many seemingly unconnected factors would lead me to be where I am now doing what I do!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This question itself connects to my practice of Feng Shui, which teaches that harmonious flow is neither linear nor predictable – this is because trajectories will change based on conditions in the outer world and how we relate to them internally. The human mind loves to consider unanticipated conditions ‘obstacles’ or ‘blockages’, but ‘challenges’ is perhaps more neutral and accurate – yet under stress we can see them as struggles. And I most certainly have struggled with some of these course-changing circumstances – which in retrospect I can now refer to as ‘supportive rerouting opportunities’.
Looking back, I can see that each time I faced what appeared to be a setback, new opportunities would present themselves. For example, as registration declined with the first organization that arranged my seminars in Japan (I had begun making business trips there a few years after I’d moved back to Canada), new possibilities with other promoters became available. Eventually, one former client became the most incredible promoter: packed seminars two or three times a year for 15 years, two sets of DVDs released, magazine appearances, and dozens of consultations each visit.
When Covid struck, it seemed that – in addition to personal and global health concerns – my business might suffer as travel ground to a halt and home visits were also not possible. However, as online meetings, consultations, and courses became the norm across multiple industries, I was very quickly able to start teaching and consulting online. It took some time to adjust to teaching online: after nearly 30 years of experience presenting in person and being able to ‘read the room’, I had to learn to tune into students’ needs in a different way. Now I LOVE teaching online, and in a single seminar I often have participants in several countries on several continents who otherwise wouldn’t be able to know each other and share and learn together. This development has not only helped me to help more people but to introduce people who might not otherwise have met and to see these supportive international friendships develop as a result!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I work as a contemporary Feng Shui consultant, helping individuals and businesses to create living and work spaces that support them on all levels – not just on a basic functional level but aesthetically too – in a way that aligns with the innate balance of the natural world. Although the practice of Feng Shui dates back thousands of years, its principles are timeless; my contemporary approach reframes older applications into more personalized, modern ways of arranging and decorating spaces to match my clients’ goals and desired states of being.
There is a prevailing perception that Feng Shui is strict and archaic, yet I am known for exactly the opposite: I can’t count how many times my clients have said, ‘This is so logical! This is just common sense!’ I am particularly skilled at distilling numerous considerations for decor and arrangement ideas into practical suggestions, and for emphasizing that my clients need to actually LIKE what they will implement – and that we will keep brainstorming together until we find what will work. The result is spaces in which those living and working feel welcomed and balanced. I am delighted to have received feedback from so many clients over the last 20+ years that the work we did led to tangible positive effects in their mindset and lives, that issues dominating their mindset seemed to fade as they created supportive surroundings and adjusted their mindset to see their home and life stories differently.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
A memory that really stands out is interesting just a glimmer from when I was very young – probably between 2 and 3 years old. My parents, sister, and I were only holiday in a cottage and having breakfast in the kitchen, and I remember being absolutely overjoyed at the sunlight coming in through the back windows, illuminating the room with discernible beams of light, seeing some specks of dust in the air and feeling that time was unfolding second-by-second in absolute bliss. I just felt so completely at peace and energized, not needing anything else, feeling completely fulfilled and in awe at the light, the air, and where I was.
This might have been my first awareness of full engagement with and delight in a physical space and my experience of it, utter fulfilment second by second with where I was and what I was experiencing. I am certain that it made a mark with an imprint of how exuberant we can feel indoors when the right elements are present.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.senseofspace.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sense_of_space/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ContemporaryFengShuiWithMarkAinley
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SenseOfSpace23
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/senseofspace
Image Credits
Tallulah Photography (Vancouver)
Temple Beautiful (Japan)
Ben Cuevas Art (Los Angeles)