In the dead of winter, it can be hard to find the motivation to do much of anything. That, paired with the anxiety of upcoming midterms and class projects can lead to negative energy. If that unproductive energy is reflected in your living space, rearranging the objects in your home and creating a warm, welcoming environment can enrich your life and increase your happiness. By utilizing feng shui principles when rearranging your space, you can infuse energy and enthusiasm into your life to realign that negative feeling.
What is Feng Shui?
In Chinese, “Feng” means wind and “shui” means water. These elements are used to create chi flow. Chi is the vital energy that resides in and flows through all living things. Despite the fact that everyone and everything has chi, it is possible for chi to become obstructed or misaligned. This can result in anxiety, misfortune, and internal conflict. Following feng shui principles allows you to harness good chi and avoid negative energy (sha).
There are nine areas of the room or home in feng shui that are associated with growth in specific aspects of life: wealth and prosperity; fame and reputation; love and marriage; health and ancestors; health and center; children and creativity; knowledge and self-cultivation; career and life path; and helpful people and travels. These nine areas, as depicted in the picture above, all have a certain location within your home, based on the wall containing the front entrance. With the center of the home as the “heart,” energy is then distributed outwards, ensuring a positive and reverberating effect throughout the other life areas.
Each life area has a theme, with various ways of enhancing that energy within your life. For example, wealth and prosperity can be enhanced by adding healthy plants or the colors blue and green to the rear left corner of your home.
It’s also important to note a few more things, namely, furniture placement and clutter elimination. Furniture placement is essential: it ensures the proper flow and movement of energy throughout the space, and when placed improperly, it can create those energy blockages that ultimately impact growth and success. When arranging furniture, keep the principle of the commanding position in mind. The commanding position in a room is the one that is the furthest away from the door and not directly in front of it. It positions you diagonally across from the door, providing you with a clear line of sight. When you’re in a room, you’ll want to spend the majority of your time in the commanding position, so place the furniture you plan to utilize the most in that spot.
Beyond the commanding position, there are a few key concepts for different rooms. In the living room, keep furniture arranged conversationally, which will put the emphasis on people versus focal points, such as the TV or fireplace. This arrangement fosters opportunity and happiness in terms of engaging in new ideas with others. In the bedroom, be sure to place your bed in that dominant commanding position, as it’s where you spend the majority of your time. Additionally, solid support behind the bed is essential in securing more sound sleep.
Eliminating clutter is also a major component of feng shui. This contributes greatly to the flow of energy within a room, and to the promotion of productivity and happiness. Get rid of anything you don’t need in your space, and eliminate any old or unused objects in favor of opening your mind to new ideas and experiences.
Utilizing Feng Shui in Your Life
While feng shui is typically applied throughout an entire house, it can still be utilized within dorms and apartments to alleviate anxiety and increase positive energy. Simply translate the essential principles into your space — furniture placement and clutter elimination — and add in decorations that align with the nine life areas.
While a small dorm room can make it difficult to rearrange furniture, try to position your bed so that it faces the direction of the doorway but is not directly in line with it. Again, this allows energy from the outside world to enter, but not in such a way that it disrupts your chi flow. When it comes to your desk, place it in the northeast corner, or the knowledge area. You should be facing the door when sitting at your desk; however, if that isn’t possible, place a mirror in front of you so you can see the door.
Addressing excess clutter could mean anything from sending home any old textbooks or clothing to recycling old notes from last semester’s gen eds. As stated above, removing old objects opens the door for new opportunities and paves the way for a positive flow of energy. This can be super impactful on how you view your space.
Decorations can also add to that positive flow of energy. Mirrors, flowers and plants are all great to utilize and are super beneficial to one’s energy. Posters can also help to promote various aspirations, and photos and banners are also good to add in different areas of the room. VALLEY recommends going back, consulting the nine life areas and figuring out how to best implement those themes into your room.
No matter what step you take towards improving the flow of energy within your space, you’ll be that much closer to reducing anxiety, encouraging balance and increasing your productivity. Planning to redecorate your room based on feng shui principles? Tag us on Instagram, @VALLEYmag, with some pics!
1 Comment