Feng Shui for Bedrooms by Carla Miles-Robinson

Even if you don’t know anything about Feng Shui, or want to, as a Feng Shui Consultant, I can tell you that the quality of your rest and your ability to relax, sleep and recharge is pretty much the best thing you can do for your health and wellbeing. In this world of stress, long working hours and worries, it is easy to dismiss the need to regenerate and heal the body through rest.

Keep it simple.

We don’t all need the same amount of sleep and some of us are wired as early birds or as night owls; your genetics will influence your body’s own natural rhythm. However there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that there are certain things we can do to improve our sleep and restorative capabilities.

If you want a good night’s sleep, bedrooms should ideally be a temple to peace and calm. That means, ideally, no televisions and no computers in the room. This is because the light that is emitted from a computer or a TV screen can put your body clock out by several hours. A quick look at the web will show you many websites going into the details, e.g. www.bluelightexposed.com and www.sleep.med.harard.edu for example.

It is also best to not have mobile phones by or near your head when you are in bed for the same reasons, unless you need to be on alert for work or a potential emergency.

In accordance with Feng Shui, it is better to not have a mirror in your line of sight when you are in bed. Feng Shui says a mirror doubles the energy in the room, therefore having one opposite the bed doubles your chances of not sleeping so well. You can always try draping a scarf or sheet over the mirror and see if it has any effect.

Traditionally it was thought that your soul left your body at night and if it caught sight of its own image as it came back into the body it would give you a nasty shock! Even if that doesn’t bother you, remember that a mirror literally doubles everything it can see, so if you have a lot of clutter in your room, the mirror doubles the clutter!

The best position to place a bed is with your head at the opposite end of the room to the door. Psychologically it gives you the best vantage point for you to see immediately if someone is entering the room. As for the bed itself, Feng Shui would always choose wood and natural products over and manmade substances. For example, if you have a metal headboard, Feng Shui would advise you to put up a padded back or drape some beautiful material over it.

If you read any Feng Shui books you will come across the term ‘cutting chi’ and ‘poison arrows’. This refers to the sharp pointed corners of wall edges, furniture, wooden beams etc. What they don’t always say is that providing you are a reasonable distance away from them, they are unlikely to have a detrimental effect. However, for some very sensitive people, Feng Shui consultants would recommend furniture with rounded corners to soften the effect. Ideally, you should have at least a metre between where you lay and the sharp corner of a wall, wardrobe or cabinet.

Geopathic Stress; ever heard of it?

The underlying energies of the earth / ground beneath our homes can have subtle but detectable changes in frequency and these can have an effect on our health and our sleep without us even realising it. The optimum healthy frequency for our bodies, according to NASA, in order to keep astronauts healthy in space, is 7.83 Herts. There may be underground water streams or rivers, underground cables, nearby industrial plants, the vibrations from motorways etc. all of which can cause variations in frequency that can negatively affect us, especially young children, the old or infirm. It is possible to find out where they are through dowsing, although modern technology is catching up with the old ways and there is a lot of research, especially in Germany, looking into the way it can affect our health and our sleep.

Moving onto the use of colour in the bedroom: soft, subtle, gentle sleep-inducing colours are best, with accents of warm earth colours, for example, yellow, ochre, sand, cream, terracotta, brown and pink. A dash of red is fine but not too much in a bedroom… unless you don’t necessarily go to bed to sleep! Red is associated with fire, warmth, love; you get the picture. White, grey and blues are fine but they can feel a bit cold for a bedroom and lack a, cosy, comforting atmosphere.

So be happy, be at peace and may you slumber well.

With grateful thanks to Carla Miles-Robinson. Carla is a fully qualified and registered consultant member of the Feng Shui Society. She has studied with some highly respected teachers in the field of Feng Shui, alternative healing, energy work and dowsing techniques. She is also a registered consultant member of the British Society of Dowsers.