Can you improve your mood by rearranging your home? Feng Shui master Lucinda Bowden believes so...
Have you ever walked into a room and instantly felt a wave of calm or a sudden burst of energy? Or, on the flip side, stepped into a space that made you feel uneasy, tense or even drained, without quite understanding why?
It’s not just your imagination. The energy of a space has a profound impact on how we feel, and there are some easy Feng Shui rules we can all follow to help rebalance our space:
Lucinda Bowen
Mirror, mirror
Mirrors double everything they reflect, so avoid placing them where they’ll reflect mess and clutter. Position them to reflect a beautiful view, painting or plant and to bounce the light through long dark hallways.
Don’t place mirrors directly opposite your front door or window. ‘Qi’ (pronounced ‘chee’ and representing positive or negative life force) enters our home through our doors and windows, so we want to avoid the mirror reflecting it straight out again.
Mirrors should not reflect you in bed when sleeping. They bounce qi around a space, which is too much energy for the bedroom and can disrupt your sleep.
If you have mirrored wardrobes reflecting you in bed, you might want to cover them over at night with a beautiful curtain. Mirrors reflecting your bed can invite third parties into your relationship.
Lucinda Bowen
Rugs and runners
Use runners in long hallways to slow the path of qi so that the good energy entering your home has a chance to circulate in all areas.
In multi-purpose and open plan spaces, place rugs to create zones for living, dining and working areas. Ensure each rug is large enough and in proportion to the size of the space and the furniture.
Lucinda Bowen
Sleeping well
In Feng Shui, we talk about sitting and sleeping in the ‘command’ position for maximum support. This means there is a solid wall behind your headboard when you sleep, and you are in view of the door, but not directly in front of it. Don’t sleep under a window, as this impacts the nervous system – if you can’t see what’s behind you, your subconscious is on high alert.
Lucinda Bowen
Sitting comfortably
In general, you feel calmer if you have a wall or support behind you and you can see what’s coming. If you have a floating seating arrangement, you need to replicate the ‘mountain of support’ that the wall would provide by placing a console table across the back of the sofa or positioning large decorative lamps, heavy ceramic vases or plants.
Lucinda Bowen
Let in the light
If you feel down or low, open your doors and windows to release built-up energy and let in as much natural light as possible. Healthy houseplants and salt lamps are also great positive energy boosters.
Lucinda Bowen
Front door energy
This is the main portal where fresh energy and opportunities enter your life. Open it every day and give your front entrance some love. Clean the door, repaint and repair, oil the hinges.
What colour?
When choosing colours for your home, there are supportive and unsupportive colours.
Lucinda Bowen
In the bathroom
Here, you have an excess of the ‘water’ element, so avoid decorating in water colours such as dark blues and blacks. Add balance by bringing in earth and wood (green) tones. Healthy living plants, ceramic or stone tiles, ceramic containers and soap dispensers are great decorative additions to bathrooms to keep them in balance.
Lucinda Bowen
In the bedroom
When decorating bedrooms, avoid an excess of dark colours, as this can make the space too ‘yin’ and can lead to low mood and depressive tendencies.
A fresh neutral palette in calming and earthly tones is the most supportive. You can add pops of colour with cushions, lampshades, drapes and artwork.
Lucinda Bowen
In the kitchen
Where the ‘fire’ element is strong, you should avoid colours such as red which can can lead to fiery tempers. The best colours for the kitchen are earth tones, greens and blues.
East Sheen’s Feng Shui & Thrive offers personalised consultations. Follow Lucinda on Instagram @feng.shui.and.thrive
