Feng Shui Monsters Under Your Bed
Good feng shui often requires making wise decisions based on
your specific circumstances, rather than blinding following an
ideal rule. The feng shui rule for storing things under your bed
is "don't do it." But for those who live in small homes every
inch of possible storage space is precious. If you are faced
with cluttering up some other area of your home with stuff that
otherwise might be put under the bed, how do you decide what to
do?
My preference as a feng shui professional is to keep the more
visible, frequently used areas of the home uncluttered. If that
means storing some things under the bed, so be it, as long as it
is done thoughtfully and appropriately.
There are two reasons why your bed is so important in feng shui.
The first is the principle of proximity, which states that the
closer something is to you the stronger its effect will be. The
second is the principle of duration, which means that the longer
you are exposed to a particular influence the stronger its
effect will be.
If we were getting our eight full hours of sleep every night,
we'd be spending a third of our lives in bed. Even with long
days and not enough sleep, the average person probably spends
25% or more of his or her time in bed. Keeping the factors of
proximity and duration in mind, this means that anything that is
close to you while you sleep will have a strong effect on you,
either physically or symbolically.
Since you are probably well protected from below by a nice thick
mattress, whatever you've got stashed beneath your bed isn't
likely to be directly harmful. However, in feng shui the
symbolic energy of an object or image is just as important as
whatever literal impact it may have. If you are using your
underbed area for storage, take a moment to think about the
implications of whatever is down there, especially if you
haven't been sleeping well lately. If you don't remember what
you've stashed under your bed, it's time to take another look.
Here are some things that you ought to find another place for:
- Shoes under the bed can keep you "running around" all night
even when you are sound asleep. No matter how many hours of
sleep you get, you may never feel well rested.
- Exercise gear, workout clothes, and sports equipment are also
less than relaxing. Unless you want to feel like you're "going
nowhere fast" in life, don't store your treadmill, rowing
machine, aerobic step under the bed. Tennis rackets (or other
gear for competitive sports) can bring a competitive,
adversarial energy to your romantic relationships. It's best not
to have any kind of exercise or sports equipment in the bedroom
at all if you can find another place for it.
- Books and work or school papers can have an intellectually
stimulating effect; if you have trouble turning your
mind-chatter off so you can fall asleep at night, make sure you
are not sleeping on top of a lot of information. Plus, chances
are good that if you're keeping that stuff under the bed it
probably isn't at all current, so all that old information is
also energetically holding you in the past.
- Guns and knives. I really hope you don't feel the need to have
these in your house at all. All that potential violence is not
conducive to a good night's sleep, no matter how "safe" it may
make you feel. A feng shui friend once told me she'd consulted
for a guy who collected knives, and who kept that collection
under his bed. No wonder he complained of a long string of
failed relationships! Regardless of any other qualities he may
or may not have had, that's a lot of cutting chi underlying what
should be a place for romantic connection.
These examples should give you an idea of the sort of
potentially disruptive effect the stuff under your bed can have.
If you must use the under-bed space for storage, reserve it for
soft, cuddly items like extra bedding or your winter sweaters.
You may even find a good use for that space by placing something
with positive symbolic meaning there, so you can take conscious
advantage of the proximity and duration effect. For example,
laying a mirror face up under the bed is a recommended feng shui
sure for insomnia; symbolically the mirror reflects the bed
"downward" thus drawing into a deep, restful sleep. For a child
who is frightened of imaginary monsters under the bed, placing a
super-tough-guy action figure under there could provide some
important protection and security.
A feng shui client recently asked if it was okay to keep her
empty suitcases under the bed. If you enjoy traveling and want
to do more of it, then having the luggage under the bed may help
to encourage that. Inside the suitcases you can put guidebooks,
photos, travel accessories, and other items related to the
places where you'd like to go. For example, if you would love to
take a trip to Paris put a guidebook to the city, a
French-English phrase book, and a photo of the Eiffel Tower in
an empty suitcase under your bed. Add some French currency or
traveler's checks for the future trip. The suitcase and its
contents is now a feng shui activation to help make your travel
dreams come true.
On the other hand, if you've been traveling a lot lately and
would like to stay home for a change, then I definitely
recommend finding some other place to keep your luggage. If you
absolutely, positively have no alternative to keeping suitcases
under the bed -- and you really want a break from travel -- put
a rock in each one and cover them with a blanket, to help them
settle in for a long rest and to keep you grounded at home.
(c) copyright 2004 Stephanie Rogerts