Feng Shui for a Good Night Sleep

A Personal Note:

Many years ago, before I discovered Feng Shui, I spent a weekend on The Cape for some much needed rest and relaxation.  I stayed at a cozy inn with wonderful hosts. The room was beautifully decorated and had real plants to bring in some elements of nature. The only problem – I couldn’t sleep.  I now know the reason. There was a huge rubber plant looming over my bed. My subconscious perceived it as something threatening hanging over me. And it interfered with the Chi flow over my bed.

Perhaps the solution to your sleep problems may be in your bedroom.

Feng Shui for a Better Night’s Sleep

There are two basic factors in a room that contribute to sleep problems: the energy in the room and your subconscious response to what is in your room while you are sleeping.

Chi energy is the “breathe of life” that is the foundation of Chinese medicine, martial arts and Feng Shui.  As it moves through our homes and work spaces like a breeze, it brings positive energy.  Chi flow can be affected by clutter, bed placement and oppressive beams, among other things.

Clutter can take many forms in a bedroom

• Unfinished projects, such as laundry, ironing or things that need to be put away.
• Too many guilt inducing self-help books that nag you with “read me and become a better person/achieve your goals.”
• Or simply too much stuff which gives the room a claustrophobic feeling. Note: clutter hidden in closets still effects the room – out of sight is not out or Feng Shui mind.

How the bed is positioned can support or undermine good sleep

            Ideally have a solid wall behind the head of the bed, a window view of nature and a view of the door to the room.  When consulting, if I have to make a recommendation between placing a bed against a wall with windows so the door can be seen, and positioning the bed against a sold wall and loose the view of the door, I will choose the solid wall behind the head of the bed. If the only place you can fit your bed and make the room work is against a wall with windows, then I suggest you install shutters or heavy curtains in that window, which you close at bedtime and open in the morning.

            If possible, avoid having your bed aligned with the door to your room, you may get blasted with Chi entering the room, and it may be just enough stimulation to keep you awake.

Oppressive Beams in their many forms

Oppressive beam is the concept of something heavy over where you are laying or sitting.

• This can be a beam, ceiling sofit or ceiling fan over your bed.
• Bookcase headboard
• Tall heavy furniture near the bed, like a tall bureau bookcase or armoire
• Heavy artwork on the wall over your head
• Big rubber tree plants

These problems can be cured by moving the bed, hanging a crystal from the beam, sofit or ceiling fan, remove some of the heavy items from the bookcase headboard, move big furniture to another place in the room, and secure or remove hefty artwork.

Colors

            You know that red walls are just too stimulating for a room that you want to sleep in. Save the red for decorative accents or your bed cover.

            There is some preliminary research that suggests that our skin absorbs color. (Think of the ultraviolet light we are protecting ourselves from with sun block lotions.) If our bed sheets are brightly colored or have a bold pattern, that may be just enough stimulation to make it harder to sleep for those who are sensitive.

Television or Computer in the Bedroom: Classic Feng Shui No-No’s

What is in your room that can make it more difficult to sleep.

Watching TV creates a hypnotic-like trance. You find yourself watching even after you have become sleepy or bored (“I‘ll just watch Letterman’s monologue, then I will turn off the TV”) leading to the dread 11:30 Second Wind that keeps you awake until 2 AM.

If you use your computer to surf the net, it will have the same hypnotic-like effect as your television. If you use your computer for work or study it will beckon your subconscious with “why are you wasting time sleeping, when you should be working at your computer and doing something really important.”

Ideally you will not have a TV or computer in your bedroom, but if that cannot be changed, then hide them in a cabinet, armoire or put them to bed with a lovely fabric throw.

Honor your own sleepiness, whenever you ignore it you will get a burst of energy that you will not be able to turn off. When you feel sleepy, go to bed, your body is giving you signals to help you take care of yourself.

Dim the lights in your home at least an hour before you plan to sleep to stimulate melatonin production. Melatonin is the brain’s natural sleep hormone. During the summer time, when you are trying to put your wide-awake kids to bed, close the curtains to make the room dimmer and more relaxing and keep the lights low.

There are as many variations on sleep habits and sleep needs as there are human beings. Some of these factors may affect you and some may not.  Use what is helpful and ignore the rest. Sweet Dreams.