QUESTION: I've heard that using feng shui in your bedroom can help you sleep better at night. I don't know the first thing about this and would like some information. Can you recommend a good book I can purchase that would be easy to understand? I have looked through these books before and find them hard to understand. -- Amanda, Huntington.
ANSWER: I don't know a lot about feng shui, but have always been curious about how it works. I agree with you about books on this subject seeming complicated, but I did find one that was easier for me to understand. It's called "Feng shui in a Weekend" by Simon Brown, and the following information comes from the pages of this book. I hope it helps explain this process a little for you.
"Feng shui translates into English as wind and water. It uses the forces of nature -- ebb and flow of tides and wind currents -- so they work for you. It's based on the idea that we are all connected to everything in the universe, thus making every event in the universe influence our lives. Different phases of the moon, the sun and the seasons, along with local weather, have an effect on us.
"Applying feng shui principles to your bedroom are supposed to affect the quality of your sleep, which in turn affects your long-term health. If you can't achieve at least six hours of deep, undisturbed sleep so that your body can repair and regenerate itself, you're apt to lose vitality, feel irritable, get run down, and so become more prone to illness."
This is a very involved process, so I'll be brief as I give you some of the examples given in this book. Your quality of sleep can be influenced by the type of bed you have, wood being preferred over metal. The metal is thought to interfere with the flow of your body's energy or "chi" while the more solid the bed frame, the more stable the energy will be. The location of your bed in terms of the direction the top of your head points will have one of the greatest influences on your chi energy field. For instance, while facing west or southwest might be helpful for a better night's sleep, facing only south is not recommended because south-facing energy is said to be hot and fiery in nature and can be mentally stimulating. This would be a better position for the desk in your office to face if you do any work from home.
Sleeping in a direct path with the door directs the chi energy entering the room toward the bed making it harder to sleep well. Leaving the door open makes the situation worse, so if possible, move the bed from the path of the door. A mirror facing the bed will speed up and reflect chi energy toward the bed increasing the risk of poor sleep. A simple fix of course is simply to move the mirror so it no longer faces the bed. It is suggested that you use heavy, full-length curtains to stop the flow of energy through the windows at night.
I have barely touched on all of the philosophies of feng shui, but I hope your curiosity is sparked enough to purchase this or another book on the subject and that you achieve a room that works to promote better sleep, health and prosperity.
Karen Hysell is the owner The Finished Room in South Point, Ohio. Her columns will appear each Thursday in The Herald-Dispatch. E-mail her your decorating questions at decoratinggal1@aol.com.
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