FENG SHUI makes itself at home with Hélène Weber

Feng Shui is in vogue!
More and more entrepreneurs have chosen to seek experts in Feng Shui to adapt their house or business to the rules of this ancient Chinese philosophy due to the prosperity, harmony in relationships, and good health that it provides!

“Feng Shui, wind and water in Chinese, is an art which focuses on the interaction of the energies of the cosmos and the earth. It is more pertinent in modern times because it is founded upon the theory that the harmonization of the energies of the environment could enhance our quality of life”

says Hélène Weber, a Feng Shui master.

Helene Weber studied authentic Feng Shui under the tutelage of Joey Yap, founder of the prestigious “YCH Center of Excellence” in Malaysia.
She then furthered her studies of classic Feng Shui with the “Mastery Academy of Chinese Metaphysics” where she learned Ba Zi, the Chinese analysis of the four pillars of destiny, which is an indispensible complement to the study of Feng Shui.
She became a master in Feng Shui in 2005 – becoming a master requires at least seven years of study, much like the study of medicine!
Advising her clients in London, Paris, and Geneva, she has become a veritable “doctor of the home”.

She disclosed to me the secrets to a Feng Shui bedroom for the benefit of you, the reader!

ADVICE FOR MAKING YOUR ROOM A PLACE OF REST

1-  THE LOCATION OF THE ROOM IN THE HOUSE

First, a bedroom would ideally be located the furthest possible from the entryway. In fact, the more one advances into a home, the more the energy of the exterior and entryway (the YANG) calms, and the rooms become YIN.
We understand of course that a bedroom requires a sense of calm. The room must remain the location the most YIN of all of the rooms in the house.
In a house with multiple stories you should select an upstairs room.

If your room looks into a dark area where the sun cannot penetrate you must counterbalance this excess of Yin, which stalls the transmission of beneficial energies that can bring luck. It would be necessary to decorate in a clever and uplifting fashion, using warm and luminous colors

INSERT: YIN AND YANG
The yang (rising energy: light sources, the sun, even numbers, the sky, man, heat, mountains, life, summer)
The yin (descending energy: shadow, the moon, odd numbers, the earth, woman, cold, water, death, winter)

Avoid rooms in close proximity to loud streets, as an excess of Yang will trouble you.
If you have large windows consider installing shutters or heavy curtains for nighttime. In the summer, protect this room from sunlight and too much yang.

One must find a good balance with neither too much Yin nor Yang; for example, it is not recommended to place a bedroom in an underground room due to stagnant energies. If your room looks into a dark area where the sun cannot penetrate (contrary to the room described as upstairs with large west-facing windows) you must counterbalance this excess of Yin, which stalls the transmission of beneficial energies that can bring luck. It would be necessary to decorate in a clever and uplifting fashion, using warm and luminous colors such as yellow or ochre. In these cases, it could also help to keep a light on during the day in these darkened corridors and rooms.

One must avoid placing the bedroom at the end of a long corridor (like in a hospital or hotel) since according to Feng Shui, the flow of energies inside a corridor advances powerfully, like a swift current, which penetrates violently into the room at the end.  If you are unable to use any other room other than the one located at the end of a corridor, consider installing sconces, chandeliers, or mobiles to slow this very powerful energy.

Avoid at all costs having a bathroom and toilets against the wall where the head of your bed is facing. If you cannot change the placement of your bed, take a bed headboard made of thick wood to protect you from this humidity. In the same manner, avoid having rooms with running water above your bedroom.

The bedroom must also not be located above the oven of the kitchen, as the energy of fire is too important to allow you to find rest.

If your garage is located in the underground of the house and your bedroom is above it, you will be disturbed by these masses of metal (cars) which come and go directly beneath your place of rest.

Never sleep with a window or an opening behind your head. You will lose some sense of security and you risk sleeping badly.

2- THE ORIENTATION OF THE BED

One must never sleep with feet facing the door. In China, this is the placement of a coffin! This will cause powerful stagnations in energy. If you are unable to change the orientation of your bed, you can place a screen at the foot of the bed to obstruct this energy flow.

Never sleep with a window or an opening behind your head. You will lose some sense of security and you risk sleeping badly.
In Feng Shui, the “black turtle” protects our back. This is translated into having a solid wall behind one’s head in order to sleep well. An interesting anecdote is that this sense of comfort from a solid wall behind the bed may be a legacy from prehistoric times: the man who rested imprudently with his back to the cavern entrance was the first carried off by nocturnal predators or the first killed by enemy arrows. This fear has remained programmed into our primitive brain functions, which would explain why we feel the need of this sense of protection in order to sleep soundly! To reinforce this sense of safety, consider installing a headboard.

Avoid putting objects or files under your bed, allow the energy to circulate beneath your bed. If you are lacking in storage space one alternative is to install drawers beneath the bed.

Your bed should not be placed between two doors, nor between a door and a window, as you will be placed within the current of an energy that is too strong for good health.
The solution: place a screen in front of one of the two doors or in front of the window, if you are unable to adjust the placement of the bed.
It is also not recommended to have the entry of the bathroom (energies too yin for a bedroom) directly within the room.
If possible, install the door to the bathroom in the hallway, or create a dressing room between the two.

Avoid putting objects or files under your bed, allow the energy to circulate beneath your bed. If you are lacking in storage space one alternative is to install drawers beneath the bed.

For the energy to circulate well, consider not having a bed that is too low to the ground (futon style) compared to the rest of the furniture in your room. Try to equalize the heights of the furniture by placing a frame beneath the futon.

For harmony between couples that sleep on a double bed, consider not using two separate mattresses, as this median carries with it the possibility of separation.

The orientation of the bed remains the most important point.  In the West, we tend to sleep with our heads pointing north. Feng Shui has a system for determining which direction is best suited for one to orient their bed, depending on their birth year. (For this, one should consult an expert in Feng Shui or read Hélène Weber’s book “Feng Shui, questions and answers” edited by Guy Tredanial”)

If you are in the midst of a divorce, throw the past away by changing your entire bedding.
If possible, you should even change your bed.

INSERT: The cases where one must change bedding!

If you are moving, you will be changing the energy of the room. Consider then changing your mattress and bed frame.
If you do not wish to make these expenditures, invest at least in new curtains.
When you are in your new home, be sure to beat your bed vigorously to disperse its Yin energies.

If you are in the midst of a divorce, throw the past away by changing your entire bedding.
If possible, you should even change your bed!

If someone has been very sick, or died in the bed the yin energies will accumulate.
It is imperative in these cases to change the bedding and linens.

No shiny shelving or furniture above the bed as they can provoke headaches and insomnia.

3- THE ERRORS TO AVOID IN YOUR BEDROOM

Remove the mirrors from your room!
In fact, mirrors, or even anything that could reflect your bed (a TV screen or a computer, a lacquered and shiny piece of furniture…) renders the environment yang which can disturb rest.
Think of covering your TV or computer before going to sleep.

An aquarium, a fountain, or water in all of its forms (even a marine painting) do not have a place in your bedroom, as it is a strong accelerator of energy. Be mindful that the water heater is not placed above your bed.

Avoid placing plants or flowers in the bedroom, as there are too yang for a place of rest.
One exception to this rule is flowers or plants that one receives when ill, and are intended to provide renewed vigor.
For the night, if you are in a guest room and flowers have been placed in the room, place them upon the windowsill when the time comes to go to sleep.

No shiny shelving or furniture above the bed as they can provoke headaches and insomnia.

Reduce the amount of furniture in the bedroom, and you will ease your mind at the same time.
Throw away all that is superfluous or not useful and accumulates in the room. In order to find harmony and rest allow the energies to circulate freely in your room.

All pastel colors: salmon, pale pink, ivory, sea foam, bright blue, and pale yellow are recommended.
Red or vibrant colors do not belong in a bedroom as they are too yang.

Be aware that Feng Shui is not the same as decoration and a very ugly room can still be very Feng Shui!

Do not use this room as an office, where you or your significant other make a habit of working all day long. For those who love working in their bed, you can still do this from time to time and bring your work documents to the bedroom, but make sure this remains an occasional activity.

4- A BEDROOM MUST NOT BECOME AN OFFICE, A HOME GYM, OR A LAUNDRY ROOM

It is important that the bedroom remains a singular destination: for sleeping or making love.
According to the principles of Feng Shui, it is important to remove exercise equipment (exercise bikes or the rowing machine you never use) which are abandoned in a corner and accumulate yin energy.
If you use them, it is better to place them in the bathroom.

Do not use this room as an office, where you or your significant other make a habit of working all day long. For those who love working in their bed, you can still do this from time to time and bring your work documents to the bedroom, but make sure this remains an occasional activity and that your real office is established elsewhere in the home.

Though it takes a great deal of effort to establish, is the bedroom not the place where we spend the most of our time?
It deserves a special attention in order for our nights to be as beautiful as our days.