We have all heard the phrase: “clean house, clean mind” and feng shui takes this idea to another level, to help you elevate your mindset and create an overspill of balance and harmony from the home and into your everyday life. Louise follows the practice of modern day feng shui, which she describes as helping to release energy blocks, introduce beautiful energy into the home, and even likening it to “acupuncture for the home”.
Good quality sleep can increase our brain performance and productivity, contributes to keeping good mental and physical health, and even helps to reduce stress levels. So, we sat down with Louise to find out how we can utilise feng shui to increase the quality of our sleep and create positive impacts on our lives.
Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, we tackle the bed position. You may have heard myths that you should never have your bed positioned with the feet facing the door and Louise expands upon this for us. She advises to have your bed in the ‘command position’; this means the bed must be in view of the door and must give you a sense of control and awareness which helps to spark new ideas and introduce new opportunities.
When it comes to sleep and creating harmony in the bedroom, the bed is the most important tool to help achieve this. Louise informs us that a solid, wooden bed frame will provide support, stability, and grounding, whilst other fibers, such as metal, will make you feel cold and on edge, potentially causing anxieties. Make sure the headboard is high enough to inspire a sense of protection and security. The right bed frame can be the springboard for abundance, and choosing a solid wooden bed frame with a high headboard can change the way you sleep.
Finding space for storing extra nick-nacks, bed linens, and books can be a daunting task, and you may be tempted to store these things underneath your bed frame, but Louise urges us to refrain from doing so, as this can block the energy flow around your bed! She advises that if we must store items underneath our beds, to store only soft items, such as clothes and spare linens as this will cushion you whilst you rest. Louise draws a hard line for storing any bills, hard, angular items, or ex-partners’ belongings underneath your bed! This is especially true if you’re currently in a partnership, as any lingering items from exes underneath the bed will cause disruption in the relationship.
Another feng shui faux pas for Louise is exercise equipment being kept in the bedroom. Your bedroom should be a dedicated space for rest, free from the demands of everyday life, including exercise. The intrusion of exercise equipment can leave us more exhausted than rested in the bedroom, so if you can help it, try to keep your exercise equipment, be it treadmill, weights, or pilates apparatus, to a separate room in the house.
Finding ways to release the stagnant energy and to let in the fresh energy is integral to ensuring balance and harmony in the home. Louise invites us to air our bedroom for at least 20 minutes a day by opening the window. Ideally, we would release the current energy by firstly opening the back door for 10-20 minutes, before closing it again and opening the front door to welcome the new energy, but opening your window for 20 minutes in the morning works just as well.
Lastly, keeping the colours in the bedroom soft and neutral fosters a calm and inviting energy which will lull you into a restful sleep. White bed linens, oatmeal bedspreads and cushions, and natural linen headboards on a solid wood bed frame will provide the support, safety, and softness needed to create a soothing space ideal for an uninterrupted night of relaxing sleep.
We could have sat and picked Louise’s brain for hours as she passionately spoke of small and simple, yet meaningful actions you can take in your home to improve sleep, to create harmony in your relationship, or even to bring wealth into your home (top tip: keep the oven hob sparkling clean!). Implement some of these tips and let us know if you see an improvement in your quality of sleep, as well as a healthy impact on your everyday performance, productivity, and balance.
