7 Feng Shui Fundamentals for Children's Bedrooms

Feng shui is a very popular and intriguing concept in home design today. In addition to the life benefits it provides, it also offers a roadmap, so to speak, of not just how to decorate... but why. In short, it offers you, the homeowner, design with purpose. For a child's room this purposeful design is especially important.

Feng shui gives parents a guide for decorating your children's bedrooms, and perhaps more importantly, a reason for adding particular elements -- something standard decorating practices don't always offer. What does that mean exactly? Well, when it comes to a child's bedroom, feng shui dictates everything from correct bed alignment, proper bedroom choice, essential decorating and design elements, i.e., do's and don'ts (no vicious animals, etc.) for a child's room, even how to influence the child to be studious and well-behaved -- all things most parents would appreciate knowing.

The purpose of feng shui in a childs bedroom is the same as every parents objective in decorating their childrens rooms: to create a healthy, happy environment that fosters education, good health, happy relationships with parents and siblings, and respect for parents. Children and parents can enjoy success and healthy relationships if the environment supports them.

Naturally, children must feel safe, secure, and cared for to thrive. By putting interest and effort into your childs room, you are showing your child that you believe the childs space, and therefore, your child, is important. The tips presented here are some of the fundamentals of feng shui for children.

1.Place a happy picture of the parents in the childrens rooms.

This subtly exerts the authority and prominence of the parents as heads of the household. It is also one of the quickest and most effective ways to bring a problem child into line.

2.Align the childs bed to the widest part of the room.

Make sure your child can see the door from his or her bed easily, but is not in direct line of the door. Your child should also not share a wall with a toilet or see a toilet or bathroom from the bed as this can cause health problems.

Bunk beds are not advised. If possible, try to have a separate bedroom for each child. If this isnt possible, there are lots of decorative ways to create division and privacy within a room.

3.Create a space for study and accomplishments.

Having a dedicated space, including a desk and lamp where your child can study, demonstrates to your child the importance you place on education and your childs educational achievement. If this has been a source of problems, make the study position in the NE corner of the bedroom. Also make a place on a south wall, if possible, of your childs accomplishments. Doing so reinforces that you are proud of your childs efforts. Display drawings, crafts, awards, trophies, ribbons, or other special items, such as tests with good scores or letters from teachers. Place items here that have brought special recognition.

4.Make the childs room a healthy place. Water pictures, aquariums, or sounds of water that can be heard from the bedroom can create an unhealthy environment and may even lead to respiratory ailments. This is especially important if the child has any health problems, particularly asthma.

5.Clear the space so your child can rest and be creative.

Jammed closets and drawers, beds with boxes, shoes and other items underneath must be cleaned out. Creating space and visual openness helps your child to feel less pressured, and more likely to be imaginative and creative. More is definitely not more when it comes to kids. Give them a visual rest and clear out all the stuff they havent played with in a month or more.

6.Use light, color, and artwork in the room to make a happy environment.

A childs room should stimulate, not dampen, the childs spirit. Make sure there is adequate lighting for the desk, for a bedside table, and that windows can be closed off for privacy.

Rooms that are painted blue (unless its a bright or light-colored shade) or other dark colors can be depressing and create too much oppressive energy. Bright colors, such as yellows, light greens, purples and pinks are good choices, with yellow being the optimal choice.

Monitor the images your child sees being certain to eliminate images of ferocious or dangerous animals or violence. These are poor symbols for making a child feel safe in the bedroom. Select items for the room that inspire and intrigue a child to learn and that foster his or her sense of security.

7.Position children in the correct bedroom locations.

If possible, boys should be placed in the east or north bedrooms and girls should be placed in the south or southeast or west bedrooms.

Kathryn Weber is a certified master practitioner in feng shui and the publisher of The Red Lotus Letter, a FREE weekly feng shui ezine. Subscribe by logging on to www.redlotusletter.com. Her articles have been featured in Seventeen Magazine, Indy Star newspaper, and SelfGrowth.com, among others.

The History of Feng Shui

Feng Shui is an element of the Mysteries of China, but ultimately, it?s transcendent; its inspirational sources are the archetypes of the noumenal realm and its medium is the Tao ? the Way of Heaven: the principle of wholeness, and rhythmic balance through cyclic change. Feng Shui acts as the interface between the invisible noumenal realm ? ?Kan? (Heaven),, and the phenomenal realm ? ?Yu? (Earth). Previously, Feng Shui was called 'KanYu' ? ?between Heaven and Earth?.

In pre-dynastic times, the antecedent of Feng Shui was Xiangdi. This practice helped the Chinese determine the most appropriate site for settlement and the location of shrines, temples, and fertile lands.

The two most seminal elements of Feng Shui, however, are the ?River Chart?, and the ?Lo Writing?. The ?River Chart? (Ho T'u) was a diagram borne from the Yellow River on the back of a dragon-horse during the reign of the legendary Fu Hsi. Of whom it is said:
"He looked up and contemplated the forms exhibited in the sky (the constellations), and he looked down contemplating the processes taking place on the earth. He contemplated the patterns of the various habitats and places."

The ?Lo Writing? (Lo Shu) also emerging from a river - the Lo River, inscribed on the shell of a tortoise. Referred to as the ?Ba Gua? or ?magic square?, it?s an arrangement of numbers reflecting the cosmological order of the seasons, directions, and 8 trigrams.

Integral to this was the Five Element Theory, having its origins in the dynamics of yin, and yang, it depicts their evolution into five fundamental powers, agents, and phases of change: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The exposition of which was outlined in the Nei Ching, a medical compilation c. 400BC.

From the 11th century BC to 246 BC, divination, and astrology were practiced using oracle bones, and also for determining solar and lunar eclipses. Zhan Bu elucidated the mechanics of water movement, and that of underground streams.

From 475 to 221 BC, the I Ching began to exert a significant influence on Feng Shui. The Form (regulating the Qi), or Mountain Top School focused on landscapes, studying topographical features, soil quality, and watercourses. It located the the Feng Shui or power spots, and mapped the dragon pathways or energy lines of the Earth. Contemporaneously, Taoism and Confucianism, especially the concept of the ?superior man? (ch?n-tzu), began to profoundly influence Feng Shui, introducing the concept of decisive intervention in terrestrial events inspired by the archetypes of heaven.

The next phase of Feng Shui evolution was inspired by Guo Pu's the 'Book of Burial (276 -324), and Form School principles of siting became well established in Chinese literature.

Between 960 ? 1279 AD, Feng Shui bifurcated into two major schools -the Form and Compass Schools. The Compass School (Regulating the form of energy), used a form of Ba Gua compass to dowse the Feng Shui of the environment. During the Song Dynasty, the Book of Yin Yang Celestial Poles was written by a Feng Shui master, Wu Jin?Luan, who persuaded Yang Yun-Sung to establish one of the first formal schools of Feng Shui in Take Jingo Province.

These are the major elements in Feng Shui?s development.

Importance of Date Selection in Feng Shui

How important is date selection in Feng Shui? Date selection is in fact one of the most important factor in Feng Shui. Often, date selection can be considered s a single subject when you learn or study Feng Shui. Without a good date selected for the execution of Feng Shui, your Feng Shui setup might seems to have no effect at all, or worst of all, bad effects. Most of these bad effects are caused by Sui Po or San Sha (3 killings) of the date or time used to activate the Feng Shui setup or changes. Hence if the Feng Shui setup or changes are done on inauspicious date or time, it will likely brings misfortune to him/her.

There are however plenty of date selection methods out there each with its strength and weakness. Just to list a few date selection systems here:

• Xuan Kong Da Kua Date Selection
• Great Sun Date Selection
• Five Elements Date Selection
• 4 Pillars Date Selection
• 9 Stars Date Selection
• Dong's Date Selection
• Qi Men Dun Jia Date Selection

So under what situations are is date selection required? Generally, people use date selections for all sorts of events including start of new businesses, property developments, business negotiations, house renovations, shifting of beds, setting up Feng Shui changes, burials, etc.

Some Feng Shui masters tend to suggest to their clients the appropriate changes to their home or working environment without suggesting the date and time to perform these changes. So the next time you engage a Feng Shui master to perform an audit, do remember to ask for an auspicious date to maximise the good effects.

Driven by the strong interest in Metaphysics, Ray is consistently exploring into different fields of Metaphysics. These fields include Feng Shui of different schools, BaZi (also known as 4 Pillars), I-Ching (also known as Book of Changes), Qi Men Dun Jia, etc. Ray is also the webmaster of Feng Shui portal, FengShuiCorner.com (http://www.fengshuicorner.com). Being an IT engineer for a living, he is also committed to create online tools and resources to enhance people's learning and application of these ancient arts.