Your bedroom should be the single most relaxing room in your home, being the room for rest and recovery. However, even though we all spend more time in our bedrooms than in any other room in the house, it often comes low on our list of priorities.
If you’re finding yourself struggling with sleep or stress, there may be a number of causes – but there is one sure-fire thing you can do to improve your recovery time away from them: fix your bedroom. ‘Feng shui’ is the well-known Chinese art of achieving harmony between self and environment; if any room deserves the feng shui treatment, it’s your bedroom. So, how might you feng shui your bedroom for better rest?
Declutter Your Room
The first step to re-aligning yourself with your room should be to embark on an ambitious de-cluttering exercise. De-cluttering is a therapeutic exercise whatever your outlook but can have a dramatic impact on the feel of your room in terms of feng shui.
The principles of yin and yang feature heavily in feng shui philosophy. Yang is the light state, active and positive; yin is the dark state, being dark and passive. Our bedrooms should better cater to our yin state, being a time for rest, recovery and solitude. But our yin state can be interfered with through our belongings – especially the ones under the bed, which can weigh heavily on our subconscious mind.
Everything under the bed should come out and be sorted accordingly. New storage solutions can be employed to keep items and keepsakes safe and away from your bed; if you have a bay window, a fitted storage seating solution can keep your things out of sight and away from your rest area.
Remove the Electronics
Electronics do not pose a risk to your yin or yang states in and of themselves but using them improperly certainly can. This has been backed up by numerous scientific studies, that demonstrate the dangers of blue light exposure at night.
One of the simplest things you can do to improve your rest is to ban electronics from your bedroom. Many of us charge our phones next to our pillows, enabling us to make our phones the last thing we see at night and the first thing we see in the morning. Instead, charge your phone in another room; this will give you screenless time to unwind.
Additionally you can replace your screen time before bed with gemstones, which are great alternatives if you want to relax and clear your mind. There are many gemstones with different meanings and healing powers, so you are free to choose the one you need. For example, you can use Opalite crystal, which has a mental healing ability, or Alexandrite, a very beautiful stone that has the ability to change colors. The Alexandrite stone’s meaning lies in its ability to change colors, which brings balance to your energy. You feel relief while interacting with it and it helps to sleep peacefully.
Reposition Your Bed
Most people recognise feng shui when it comes to the physical acts of moving furniture for the best ‘flow’. One common feng shui practice is that of the ‘commanding position’; the commanding position enables you to empower yourself in any room, by the placement of the things you use.
In terms of your bed, commanding position means placing your bed so that you face the bedroom door. This way, your headboard is against the rear wall of the bedroom, for a stable position with a view of the door. You are empowered by virtue of having a commanding presence in the space.