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The
Bedroom: Claiming Your Oasis of Serenity and Sensuality
By
Terah Kathryn Collins
 The
following excerpt is taken from Chapter 9 of the new book, The
Western Guide to Feng Shui For Romance: The Dance of Heart and Home,
by Terah Kathryn Collins. (Hay House, February 2004)
Serenity and sensuality - two key characteristics of a happy existence
- are currently endangered in our Western culture. Their main habitat:
the bedroom. This is primarily Madam Yin’s domain, a room meant
for sleeping, dreaming, romancing, and recharging your batteries - the
perfect antidotes to a busy day. However, with an all-consuming interest
in activity, many bedrooms have become just as busy as the rest of the
house. All too often, for children and adults alike, they function more
as home offices, media rooms, or exercise studios with a bed thrown
in somewhere. This kind of arrangement eliminates the soothing ministrations
of Madam Yin and can cause many imbalances including sleep disorders
and chronic exhaustion. When this last refuge is stripped away, you
have no place to go to really relax and be nurtured in a soothing Yin
atmosphere. The more active and “crazy” your lifestyle, the
more crucial it is to reinstate balance by claiming your bedroom as
an oasis of rest, rejuvenation, and romance. Make the bedroom so sensually
attractive and comfortable that you melt into “her” warm embrace
every night, sleep well, have sweet dreams, and awaken refreshed and
energized.
1. Return the bedroom to its original role, and appoint your
bed as the King or Queen of the room. Chaise longues and overstuffed
chairs add to the restful atmosphere, while desks, computers, televisions,
and exercise equipment drop-kick sensuality and serenity out of the
room. Just when you're ready to call it a night, these “busy-bodies”
proclaim that there are bills, e-mails, news programs, and flabby body
parts that need immediate attention. When they must share the bedroom
with you, maintain serenity by covering them or screening them from
the bed.
 2.
To honor your instinctual need for comfort and safety, place your bed
so that you can easily get to both sides and see the bedroom entrance
without being directly in front of it. When your bed must be located
directly in front of the door, a footboard or trunk can suggest protection
between you and the door. If there's a window directly overhead,
add a headboard and window treatments to shelter you from direct exposure
and promote the feeling of safety.
3. Nightstands and lighting on both sides of the bed symbolize
equality in a relationship and help to hold happiness in place. Choose
nightstand designs that are in scale with your bedroom so that both
partners are accommodated.
4. If you're single and would like to be partnered, act as
if the love of your life has already arrived by moving the bed away
from the wall and giving your “one night stand” a partner.
You don't want to hold your singleness in place by having a bedroom
that comfortably accommodates only one! Clear the bed of delicate “guardians,”
such as lacy pillows and stuffed animals, and update with enhancements
that accurately reflect your current romantic intentions. Remove pictures
of solitary people or things; and arrange decorations in pairs, like
two flowers, candles, or poetry books. Design an approachable, sensuous
bedroom that invites a partner to join you without a “single”
care.
5. For safety's sake, hang only lightweight or solidly anchored
items over the bed. Check for sharp corners or protruding designs on
nightstands, bed frames, and other furniture that may pose danger to
sleepy – or amorous – body parts. If you can't replace
such furniture, wrap, drape, or skirt it as needed to enhance the relaxed
feeling in the room.
6. Seen every morning and night, your view from the bed influences
your view of the world. Make it a fabulous one! Improve a view that
goes directly into a bathroom by curtaining or screening the threshold
between the two rooms. Close closet doors, and create an inspiring view
with sensual art, restful colors, and other special elements. Remove
photos and other items that compromise your sense of privacy by appearing
to watch you in bed. Relocate family photos to more public areas of
the house, or to children's bedrooms where they provide a sense
of security and connection.
7. Mirrors promote the wakeful Yang qualities of any room by
enhancing the size and brightness of the space. In the bedroom, the
bigger a mirror is, and the closer it is to the bed, the more likely
that it will disturb your sleep. Because it's often impractical
or undesirable to remove large mirrors such as mirrored closet doors,
consider curtaining them like a window. This gives you the flexibility
of “opening” the mirror during the day and “closing”
it at night. You can also drape bureau and other smaller mirrors with
beautiful cloths to calm the bedroom's atmosphere at night.
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