One of the first things you learned about Feng Shui was to position your bed to see the door of your bedroom. Why? So you could see if someone was trying to invade your bedroom and attack you.
Does this reasoning apply to your home in today’s world?
Positioning your bed with the head against a window looks dramatic, but feels ungrounded and exposed.
You also learned what Feng Shui discovered two thousand years ago, and modern social psychology discovered fifty years ago: People do not feel comfortable when their back is exposed. You are hardwired to be hyper-vigilant when you back is to a door or open space, because you cannot see if a saber-tooth tiger, or other danger, is approaching from behind. This is a protective, survival response that reasoning cannot turn off.
What happens when these two ideas clash?
What do you do when the wall opposite your bedroom door, where you would put your bed, is filled with windows? Do you position your bed against/under winders so you can see any potential intruders in your doorway, even though you feel sub-consciously vigilant and have difficulty sleeping? Or do you position your bed against another wall and lose your direct view of the door?
I discovered two interesting facts about Chinese history and culture that contribute to Feng Shui:
- Until the twentieth century there were no banks in China. If your family had wealth (cash) they hid it in their home – maybe under the mattress.
- When poor farmers where thrown off their land because they couldn’t pay the oppressive taxes, they would band together and steal from the rich to feed their families – like Robin Hood.
Therefore, in old China, having a bandit break into your home to steal your family’s wealth was a real danger. But is this your reality today? You feel secure in your home. Your money is in a bank. There are no marauding bandits roaming your neighborhood.
When I am working with a client and the wall opposite the door is ungrounded and exposed by windows, I recommend they position the head of their bed against a solid wall. This will help to ground them when they sleep and will support more restful sleep (the hyper-vigilance response is not triggered).
If there is more than one spacious, grounded position for their bed then I use their Lo Shu number (lucky directions) as a tie-breaker in deciding where to position their bed.
How do you position your bed? How does it affect your ability to sleep? Do you have a challenging bedroom set-up? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments below. I love to hear from you.
I have an acquaintance who claims that her sleep was improved mightily when she oriented the head of her bed to magnetic north. Were houses in old China not oriented to the directions, and could the sleeping places recommended fit with the idea of magnetic north?
Thanks for your question. This is one that comes up often.
Orienting the head of the bed to magnetic north is based on Yogic tradition. Some people find it very helpful for improved sleep.
In traditional northern China houses would be oriented with the door facing South. This was to take advantage of the light and heat of the southern Sun. The head of the bed would never be oriented to the north in this situation.
The Compass School of Feng Shui makes recommendations for the best directional orientation of bed, desk, stove or rice cooker and main door based on calculations using birth dates. These can be any one of 8 or more compass directions.
So, from a Compass School Feng Shui point of view, you have a one in eight chance of north being the recommended direction to orient the head of your bed.
With other Schools of Feng Shui the orientation of the head of the bed is based on “form and flow” – the optimal position of the bed determined by an assessment of several factors in the room.
This may be more of an answer than you where thinking of, but here it is. 😉
Hello,
I have a huge problem regarding best placement for my bed position. If I put my head of my bed on the north wall my bed is in the NE section of my bedroom which is my total loss area. If I put my head of my bed on the east wall my head is facing a window with a busy street outside the window. The last wall I can place my head of my bed is on the south wall but my entry door to the bed is on the far side of that wall. The only wall left does not work since it is a wall with closet and walk through to the washroom. I am stuck since out of the above options I am not sure which would be best for me. What is your suggestion? I would very much appreciate your help.
Thank you and best of regards Tamara
Tamara-
Thanks for your question. There are two ways to position a bed in a bedroom: one is to use the compass school, the second is to find the space that feels most comfortable for you.
Think of the center of the Ba-Gua. It shows the Yin-Yang symbol. The complimentary opposites of the universe. Yin represents logic, while Yang represents intuition. According to ancient Daoists everything in the universe is made up of BOTH Yin and Yang. It sounds like the logic of the compass school does not work for your situation. Even devout compass school practitioners believe that “form and flow” are more important than the directions.
I encourage you to take a step back from a literal application of compass school to your bed and your bedroom and tune-into the energy of the room, the chi. What is the chi energy like? Is it restful? Does it move easily? How is your bed positioned in relation to the chi flow in your room?
The ideal bed position has a solid wall behind the headboard for protection and a sense of being anchored. It is also protected from chi flow from the door to the window. If it is exposed to that kind of flow, then use a simple cure like a crystal or a plant to buffer and re-direct the chi.
I hope this helps you.
Linda