I‘ve come across quite a few people lately who have problems sleeping. A good night’s sleep is very important for your body as this is the time for healing and regeneration. Not only is it important for your brain and your general wellbeing.
Sleep is vital to all your cells and organs so that they get to do what they need to do. They need to have time to “clean up” after the day that you have had and get your body ready and in shape for the next day.
If you are not sleeping, not only are you waking up tired, you are also not allowing your body to go through all these processes that it needs to function at its best. The easiest to spot result of bad sleep, too little sleep or interrupted sleep is of course tiredness.
There are other “side effects” of too little sleep as well, such as loss of concentration, memory loss, stress, and in the long run – illness. You can become sick due to the lack of sleep.
Using Feng Shui principles in your bedroom can help eliminate some of the most common reasons for insomnia or “bad sleep”.
If you at least create a supportive environment to begin with, you’re much more likely to get a good night’s sleep then not.
There are of course mental and psychological reasons for lack of sleep as well. Sometimes you can have a shift in these by changing your environment, and sometimes more help is needed.
The below gives you a starting point to look at.
1. Room Temperature
This is a pretty obvious one really. If your room is too hot or too cold, you won’t sleep well. In summer, try opening your windows, put a quiet fan in your bedroom or put the aircon on if you have one.
In winter, use warm blankets, a hot water bottle or crank up the radiators if you have them. Do what you can to create a temperature in your bedroom that is pleasing to you.
2. Mirrors
Mirrors in the bedroom are not recommended in Feng Shui. I have had several clients telling me that they sleep like babies after doing nothing more than covering up the mirrors in their bedroom.
Why is that? According to ancient Feng Shui your soul leaves the body when you go to sleep and if it sees itself in a mirror can get scared and therefore disturb your sleep.
My more modern take on it is that we have a part of our brain that many like to refer to as the “animal or reptile brain”. This part never sleeps as it is in charge of our survival.
It constantly keeps track of your surroundings and is not “clever” enough to distinguish between live movement from something coming at you, or the movement of you in a mirror while in bed.
Banish mirrors from your bedroom, or cover them up at night so that you cannot see yourself in one while lying in bed.
3. Clutter
Keep your bedroom free of clutter at all costs. Clutter draws on your attention and if you try to sleep in a room filled with stuff, there just is no peace. We have some form of energetic attachment to everything we own.
Even if we’re not consciously aware of all our stuff, we’re connected to it and some part of us is keeping track of it.
Clutter weighs on your mind and it creates stale, stagnant and at the same time stressful energy wherever it is found. Clutter in the bedroom is a big reason that many don’t sleep well. And no, you cannot hide the stuff under the bed or in the closet!
4. “Busy Work”
Don’t keep your work computer or laptop in the bedroom over night. Don’t charge your mobile phone next to your bed. Don’t leave a pile of work related documents on your bedside table.
I even don’t recommend having bookshelves in the bedroom as books have an active energy about them as they all tell a story of some sort. Keep any form of “busy work” out of the bedroom as this type of active energy is not beneficial for a good night’s sleep.
5. Restful Colours
I recommend that you use colours that you find peaceful and restful in the bedroom. Often times different shades of blue and green work well for a bedroom, as well as beiges and browns.
Stay away from bright red as this is a very active colour and most often it has an energy heightening effect on the room it’s in.
6. Bed Placement
Place your bed with the bed head up against a solid wall where you can see the door to the room, if at all possible. If you don’t have a solid wall, a window will do, as long as you have thick curtains or drapes covering the window at night.
Don’t place the bed head against a wall shared with a bathroom as this has a draining effect on your body.
Make sure you are not sleeping on the other side of the wall from your meter box as this radiates a strong electromagnetic field that is very unhealthy for your body.
Don’t lie with your feet in direct alignment with the door to the room. And if you have to put your bed in that position, close the door at night.
7. Atmosphere
Make sure you feel at peace and relaxed when in your bedroom. Make the room all about sleeping and nothing else if you can.
Have only a few ornaments and pictures in here that represent peacefulness, happiness and rest to you. Furnish and decorate the room so that it feels like a sanctuary to you.
These are the most important things that spring to mind. How you feel when entering your bedroom will tell you a lot about the quality of sleep you might get in there.
Take some time, sit on your bed and “listen in” to the room. Does it feel quiet? Peaceful? Maybe even a little dark? In that case, my guess is you will sleep well in this room.
If the room feels noisy, stressful and too light, chances are it’s got a too active type of energy for a good night’s sleep.
Looking at the 7 steps above might help you change that. If I were to recommend you to start with only one thing, it would be to cover up any mirrors you have in your bedroom. That alone has helped many of my clients to get a good night’s sleep.
Please get in touch if you have any questions about your bedroom and how to make the most of it. I’d love to help as I know how important a good night’s sleep really is.
Feel free to share any changes you will make to your bedroom after reading this. You might inspire and help someone else!
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Sara Allard
