Bedroom Feng Shui was a best-seller when The Crossing Press first published it in 2001. It is now available in a revised, expanded edition. In feng shui, the bedroom is the most important room. It has the most influence in a person’s life, because of the amount of time spent there, a third of a lifetime. For many people the bedroom is the only room that is theirs. The book explains everything a person needs to know when applying feng shui to their bedroom. People sense that the location of the bed is important and wonder, “Is my bed in the best location?” The main factors in making that decision are the location of the doors, windows, and bathrooms, as well as any features on the ceiling such as beams or ceiling fans. Many different types of beds are evaluated, as well as the bedding and any other fabric in the room. Various furniture choices are discussed, especially since some bedrooms must be multifunctional. Many optional solutions are offered when problem situations are mentioned. Every object commonly in bedrooms (clocks, rugs, lamps…) is carefully discussed. Some items are too yang (such as mirrors) and should be used sparingly, and too many items make the room too yin and stifle the energy. The various details, such as color, texture, lighting, and artwork, that help a bedroom support sound sleep, are thoroughly covered. “No detail is overlooked,” says author Susan Levitt. Chapters are devoted to special bedrooms such as children's rooms, studio apartments, and guestrooms. Even the bathroom is covered, since it is often adjacent to a bedroom. The feng shui bagua is thoroughly explained, telling the location and use of the Wealth Corner and the Relationship Corner, which are famous, for good reason, in feng shui. Harmony and prosperity are often the main reasons people first try feng shui. This book is based on Form School feng shui, not Compass School. Form School could be called the common sense school, because it is based on the form or shape of objects. The book does not discuss lucky directions or numbers, which are not a concern in Form School. Bedroom Feng Shui is for beginners as well as for those with more feng shui knowledge. If someone has studied feng shui, they are aware of the power of the bedroom, and will appreciate the attention to detail in this book.
Bedroom Feng Shui
By Clear EnglebertiUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Clear Englebert
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4620-5155-7 Contents
Preface.....................................................................viiChapter 2: Location of the Bedroom..........................................4Chapter 3: Location of the Bed..............................................16Chapter 4: The Bed as a Physical Object.....................................26Chapter 5: What Happens in a Bed............................................41Chapter 6: Other Furniture..................................................45Chapter 7: Other Things to Consider in the Bedroom..........................52Chapter 8: Lighting.........................................................85Chapter 9: The Bagua........................................................93Chapter 10: The Shape of the Bedroom........................................109Chapter 11: Closets.........................................................117Chapter 12: Children's Rooms................................................121Chapter 13: Studio Apartments...............................................126Chapter 14: Guestrooms and Other Special Bedrooms...........................129Chapter 15: Adjacent Bathrooms..............................................133Chapter 16: Implementation of What You've Learned...........................144Recommended Reading.........................................................149Sources.....................................................................161Glossary....................................................................163Index.......................................................................167About the Author............................................................177
Chapter One
The Importance of the Bedroom in Feng Shui
What is Feng Shui?
The words are pronounced fung shway, and they mean wind/ water. Feng shui is the Chinese art of placement. It originated in the mountains of China between three and five thousand years ago. It is popular because it works. Feng shui offers a system of arranging furniture and objects to assist you in accomplishing your goals and reaching your highest potential.
The old Taoist masters of China greatly respected nature. It was their teacher, and there is no end to learning from nature. All of nature and the movement of wind and water are considered to be an expression of ITLχITL energy.
Chi Energy
Chi is the basic energy of the universe. The concept of chi energy is easy to grasp if you think of it as energy that gets your attention. A car with flashing lights and blaring siren attracts a lot of chi energy because it is extremely noticeable. Heads turn and energy is required to make those neck muscles move. This is one aspect of chi energy. A wind chime has the same effect. When people hear it, they often turn their heads.
Some of the things that attract chi energy most strongly are light, brilliant color, movement, sound, and stunning beauty. The advertisers of the world learned these lessons long ago. That's why television commercials often attract your attention more than the program.
To understand how chi energy flows inside your home, be aware of what gets your attention first. For example, if the first thing you notice in a room is a clean, bubbly fish tank, that's good. It probably puts a smile on your face and makes your eyes light up. But if the first thing you notice is a window with a distant view, you may be smiling, but your attention is miles away. One of the goals of feng shui is to keep your attention gracefully flowing around a room. The chi should be sweetly meandering.
Your home has vibrant chi energy to the degree that it feels vibrant. If the first thing you notice in a room is how cluttered and full of furniture it is, then the chi energy is stagnant. A bedroom should feel restful. A multifunctional bedroom may have to be used during the day, but at night you should be able to change it easily into a restful mode.
As another way to consider how chi flows, think about how you are able to move within a space. For example, think about a long hall that allows you to move quickly, like a bullet from a gun barrel. The bullet is harmful, and so is the speeding chi energy. The ideal traffic pattern of energy in a room is gently curved; you should be able to reach all areas without having to cautiously step over or around objects.
Think of yourself as an example of chi energy—because that is what you are. How you feel within a space is a good indicator of how chi is flowing there.
Solutions
There are two kinds of solutions to feng shui problems: real and symbolic. A real solution actually fixes the problem and changes the situation. A symbolic solution is used when a real solution is not feasible. The symbolic solution is a physical symbol of how you wish the situation were. When using a symbolic solution, say your intention out loud at the moment that you are installing it. You are thereby strengthening it by expressing it. In my opinion you are speaking to your angels or guardian beings, who hear you but can't read your mind.
The Importance of the Bedroom
The bedroom is the most important room in the home according to feng shui. If you sleep eight hours per night, that's a third of twenty-four hours; therefore a third of your life is spent in that room. Most people spend more time in the bedroom than in any other room. The more time you spend in a particular room, the more influence that room has on your life. This applies even if you are asleep—the room is still affecting you.
Universal agreement is a rare thing in feng shui, and some feng shui authorities maintain that the kitchen is the most important room in the home, because the food that fuels a person's life is prepared there. But modern "conveniences" such as microwaves, dishwashers, and prepared foods mean that less time today is spent in food preparation, and people now eat in restaurants more often than in the past—some people literally never cook. Both rooms are important, but kitchens are not always as important as they were a hundred years ago.
People aren't all the same, and they never will be, but almost everyone sleeps in their bedroom. I've had only one feng shui client who ignored her nice bedroom and chose to sleep every night on the comfy couch in her living room. Some people do that on an occasional basis, but this woman did it every night. After she told me where she slept, I ceased emphasizing her bedroom, and re-evaluated her living room.
Chapter Two
Location of the Bedroom
Some parts of a home are better places for bedrooms than others. Even if you have no choice about the location of your bedroom, it is still important to know what factors may be affecting you due to its location. The first factor used in feng to evaluate the location of the bedroom is the concept of yin/yang.
Yin/Yang
Everything that exists is classified as primarily yin or yang. Nothing is totally yin or totally yang. Everything is on a scale—more yin or more yang.
Yin Yang Lower part of a room Upper part of a room Private Public Moist Dry Dark Light Many things Few things Complex Simple Feminine Masculine Cold Hot Soft Hard Quiet Loud Indoors Outdoors Stillness Movement Death Life Horizontal Vertical Sleep Awake Closed and Tight Open and Expansive Textured Slick and Shiny
Imagine the floor plan of your home, or draw it if that's more helpful. Then draw a line through it from side to side. The rear half of a home (based on the formal front door as the front) has a more relaxed energy than the front half. That energy is called yin. The front of a home has a more active, or yang, energy. You don't always have a choice about where your bedroom will be—but if you do, pick a room at the rear of the house. The energy there is conducive to deeper rest.
Occasionally the rear of the home is more active than the front, such as when a large highway is just beyond your back yard. The situation dictates how to apply the rules—in fact, one of the names of Form School feng shui is Situation School.
The front door of your home is referred to as the "mouth of chi." It partakes of an active energy even if a side door is more commonly used in everyday life. If your bedroom is in the front of the house or close to any street, I suggest a fairly heavy window treatment. Venetian blinds alone are a bit skimpy in this case. It would be better to have sheers in the daytime and heavy, sound-absorbing drapes (such as velvet) at night.
Another aspect of yin/yang concerns the size of the bedroom. The larger a room is the more yang it is. A small bedroom is cozy and nice and contains the quiet, restful energy well. The larger a bedroom is the more likely there will be restless sleep or worse—a troubled relationship. Extremely large bedrooms can be a factor in unfaithful relationships. The intimate energy of the partners is dissipated in the huge room. I've seen this repeatedly in my career. A canopy bed with curtains that actually close at night would help. An overly large bedroom can be made to seem smaller and cozier by using warmer and darker colors. No bedroom should ever be larger than the living room of the house. If so, the energy of the house is severely disturbed. An alcove can be added to a bedroom to make it feel larger, but the alcove should feel like a separate space. This can be done with curtains dividing the alcove from the bedroom proper.
Small bedrooms are just fine. Using light colors makes them even better.
Bedrooms Extending Beyond the Bulk of the House
If a bedroom protrudes beyond the bulk of the house it can have a feeling of separateness. If you sleep there you may not feel as connected to the rest of the household as you would in a bedroom located within the main shape of the house. (This is of special concern with children's rooms.) In this case, a mirror is used on the wall of the bedroom that connects to the main body of the house. The mirror should face into the bedroom. If putting a mirror on that bedroom wall is not an option, then look to Fig. 2.2 for examples of other walls in the home that should have a mirror. Only one wall needs a mirror—whichever one works best in your situation.
Mirrors can simulate the effect of a window. When you are looking into that window, the extending bedroom is seen within the main part of that house. The mirror symbolically pulls the bedroom into the main body of the house. The mirrors in the illustration would reflect the bedroom if some of the walls were gone. The walls do not have to disappear to serve the feng shui purpose.
An L-shaped house is said to have a meat cleaver shape. One wall is the "sharp blade" wall and is not auspicious. To find the blade wall, make a drawing of the outside walls of your house as if you were looking down on it. Locate the longest continuous outside wall—then look for the parallel wall on the other side of the house which is farthest from the longest wall. That's the blade wall. To sleep with the head of your bed at the blade wall is considered to be bad for your health (among other things). Don't spend a lot of time at that wall—don't have a lounge chair, couch, or desk chair there. If the head of the bed (or any of the three seating pieces just mentioned) must be against that wall, put a mirror on the opposite side of the room, facing into the room. The mirror symbolically moves the furniture (and person) to the other wall. See Fig. 2.3. Usually mirrors at the foot of the bed are not recommended in feng shui—this is an exception. When you place the mirror, say out loud something like, "This is to move the bed (or chair, etc.) onto this wall. It is no longer on the blade wall."
Garages
If a bedroom is located directly above a garage, you may not be getting your best rest there. However, if cars are never parked in it, a garage is no problem for sleepers. Cars have very active come-and-go yang energy, and such a garage is too close to the place where sleep energy should be emphasized. To aid restful sleep in this situation you can put very heavy solid objects on the floor of the bedroom. Two examples would be a sculpture or a table supported by a marble base.
You can hang a crystal over the car in the garage. This can be done even if the garage door opens inward—use your ingenuity.
You can also put a mirror (any kind, any size) on the ceiling of the garage, reflecting the top of the car. Alternately, a very small mirror can be put under a rug or carpet in the bedroom, facing down toward the car.
As is often the case in feng shui, more is better. If possible do all three things, then do so. If a bedroom is directly behind a garage, there is a similar problem, because the "metal beast" is pointed directly at a sleep area and undue pressure could be felt in your life. Place a mirror on the back wall of the garage, so that it reflects the front of the car away from the bedroom. A reversed mirror could also be put in the bedroom with the reflective side pointing at the wall and at the car on the other side. A mirror in the garage is preferable to the reversed mirror in the bedroom. If you must face a mirror to the wall, cover it somehow so it doesn't look weird.
Kitchens
If a kitchen is located directly over a bedroom, a small mirror should be placed on the ceiling of the bedroom, reflecting up. The mirror symbolically reflects away and seals off the bustling kitchen vibrations from the quiet bedroom. The mirror can be quite small—even one inch will work. Such mirrors are available in craft and hobby stores. You can paint the back of the mirror the same color as the ceiling. Remember when using mirrors as a symbolic cure to always say out loud, at the moment you install the mirror, your purpose for placing the mirror. It could be a simple as, "This is to reflect away the energy on the other side, so that it doesn't affect the peaceful bedroom." You can also hang a crystal from the ceiling of the bedroom, with the intention of dispersing the influence of the kitchen that is above.
If a kitchen is directly below any part of a bedroom, there can be more restlessness in that bedroom. Put at least one very small mirror on the floor of the bedroom, with the reflective side pointed down. The mirror can be placed under rugs or furniture. Alternatively, you can place one or more mirrors on the ceiling of the kitchen (reflective side pointing down), and paint over the reflective side with the ceiling color. Also, a crystal can be hung from the kitchen ceiling, with the intention of dispersing the kitchen's influence before it gets absorbed into the bedroom above it.
A bedroom and a kitchen really shouldn't share a wall at all. If they must share a wall, put a mirror on that wall. The reflective side of the mirror should face the kitchen, which is seen to be a potential disturber of peaceful bedroom energy. The mirror can be in the bedroom and/or in the kitchen, as long as it is attached to the shared wall. Remember to say your intention: "To reflect away the yang energy of the kitchen."
No bedroom door should open directly into a kitchen, and it's even worse if the bedroom door directly faces the kitchen stove. It goes against common sense as well as feng shui. One room should be quiet and restful and one room is active with the bustle of food preparation. Hang a crystal between the stove and the door.
Microwave ovens almost always have high electromagnetic fields around them (including behind them) when they are on, from a distance (depending on the oven) of about four feet to almost 20 feet. Built-in microwave ovens usually have high EMF leakage—much more than counter-top models. A built-in microwave oven should not be directly behind the head of a bed, on the other side of the wall. If there is no other choice, do not turn the oven on when someone is in the bed. There's no microwave oven in my home, but I've measured thousands of them with a gaussmeter. Only the high-end Viking built-in microwave ovens seem to have very low EMF leakage. When any counter-top microwave is turned on, be sure to step back at least four feet, and this is especially important for children. More information on EMFs is in Chapter 7.
Sometimes the head of a bed must be located directly behind a refrigerator, on the other side of the wall. Most refrigerators don't have excessively high EMFs, but they do hum occasionally, so a symbolic cure is called for. Put a mirror between the bed and the refrigerator to reflect the electrical, buzzing refrigerator away from the quiet bed. The mirror can be in the kitchen or in the bedroom, with the reflective side toward the refrigerator.
Basement
If the bedroom is in a basement partially below ground level, it has the advantage of being in a yin location, because it is low in the building. The main disadvantage of this location is that it can have a vibration of "pressure" because the bulk of the space is above it. This is especially a concern in a building that is six or more floors high, and without windows in the basement. This is usually not a serious problem and can be fairly easily fixed by using light.
The best type of light fixture for a basement or other low room is an uplight, one that aims the light up, such as a torchiere or wall sconce. Light is energy and when it strikes the ceiling it symbolically pushes it up and away, thus relieving pressure. The simplest uplight is a can light, a type of directional spotlight that is in effect "a light bulb in a can." They are inexpensive and available at hardware and lighting supply stores.
I generally recommend clear light bulbs for any type of uplight as long as the bulb is not seen by the eye. The force of the light is a bit more yang and powerful than with frosted bulbs. Also, if it looks appropriate (or is completely unseen), use some kind of pointy bulb, such as a flame tip. That way, even the shape of the bulb is symbolically pushing away the pressure from above.
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Excerpted from Bedroom Feng Shuiby Clear Englebert Copyright © 2011 by Clear Englebert. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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