Heart by Picasso

Feng shui for Valentine’s Day
Feng shui is a very powerful tool for optimising your home for love, and for helping to boost – as well as harmonise – your relationship. Valentine’s Day is a perfect occasion to boost your relationships. As a result of using feng shui and feng shui remedies, you can improve an existing relationship or marriage or find a new partner.

Valentine’s Day /  Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine is an annual celebration of love, romance and friendship – on 14 February. Originally, it was a Western Christian feast day (not a large meal) established in honour of one or two early saints named Valentinus. The spiritual connotation of Valentine’s Day is a significant factor. Valentine’s Day is an important and popular cultural, religious and commercial celebration of love around the world.

Listen to the podcast about feng shui for Valentine’s day and improving your romance, relationships, love and more…

Top love and Valentine’s Day feng shui tips include:

1) Activate the love/relationship/marriage area of your bedroom or home

Firstly, sort out and energise the love/relationship of your home/apartment/bedroom. The love/relationship area of your bedroom, according to the Bagua model, is the top right-hand corner of the door. Make sure there is no clutter here. Keep this area vibrant, alive and sexy. For example, feng shui remedies for energising your love/relationship corner are: light (lamps, not candles), crystals (add sparkle), plants (help to grow the relationship), meaningful images which represent love (e.g. hearts / a couple kissing / the word ‘LOVE’ / a pair of doves, pairs of things, etc) help to inspire love and harmonious relationships.

How to locate your love/relationship/marriage area in your bedroom according to the Bagua model
It’s in the top right corner of the door. But if you can’t do anything there because you have wardrobes, etc. – don’t worry, as long as you have some energies of love, partnership, marriage, etc. in your bedroom, it will work virtually, symbolically and archetypically. Above all, your intention is the most crucial aspect of this process. Don’t obsess about one area of your bedroom regarding this love corner – you want the vibration of love everywhere!

The love/relationship/ marriage area of your bedroom is the top right corner of the door

2) Bedrooms – places for love and rejuvenation

I’m doing PhD research on feng shui, and specifically on bedrooms and workplaces. Bedrooms are the most important rooms in our homes where we spend 1/3 of our lives.

After sorting out the love/relationship vibration of your bedroom, follow these feng shui tips to optimise the energies of your bedroom:

Wooden beds and foam mattresses
The most important piece of furniture in your home is your bed.  A wooden frame with a solid headboard and a good mattress, without metal springs (ideally an organic foam mattress), should be replaced every few years, especially when moving to a new home. Avoid metal beds and metal spring mattresses, which can amplify electrosmog.

Minimise electrosmog and dirty electricity
Switch off wifi for the night and don’t have too many electrical devices in your bedroom to minimise dirty electricity, which can constantly irradiate spikes of intermediate frequency electric fields, which can have serious health effects, according to research. Minimising environmental stress will help with your sleep, health, and, consequently, your love life. More about how to feng shui your bedroom – the most important room in your home

Sleep in total darkness
If you don’t sleep in total darkness and there is a bit of light in your bedroom, your melatonin production won’t work well, and you won’t sleep, which will affect your health and mood. Wifi affects melatonin production, so make sure you switch it off for the night – every night.

Feng shui for bedrooms for optimum health and love

Check for geopathic stress
Geopathic stress is a distorted vibration of the Earth called Schumann Resonance (7.83Hz). Sleeping on geopathic stress can affect your sleep and your relationship. Consult your feng shui consultant to determine whether your bedroom is free of geopathic stress. You can also install Helios3 – Schumann Resonance generator, geopathic stress harmoniser

Focus + Effort + Luck are three aspects required for a good relationship

Placement – which is the best direction
Place your bed in a power position (in relation to the door and windows – see the chart above), making sure you have a view of the door as you lie in bed so that you can feel secure. If that’s not possible, place some reflective objects or a small mirror opposite the bed so you can see what’s behind you (if the door is behind you).

Mirrors
If you have mirrors in your bedroom, round or oval ones are the best shape (see the tip on flowing lines and shape below). Position the mirrors so that you cannot see yourself when lying in bed. One problem with having a mirror in your bedroom is that, if you’re not sleeping in total darkness, it can reflect light, which can disrupt melatonin production, which is key to healthy sleep.

Materials
Natural materials such as cotton, wool, linen and silk are best. Avoid synthetic materials. Silk is sensual. Hemp has fractal qualities that help maintain good vibrations.

Images and symbols
Have fun, relaxing and meaningful images and symbols around to remind yourselves and prime yourselves about what you want and what is important to you, as well as the good times you’ve both had so far.

Feng shui for love & Valentine’s Day

Side tables
A (matching) table on each side of the bed with lamps, etc., will create a balanced and secure environment for your relationship. If you like variety and difference, have tables that are not the same. Make sure the table on the right side (when looking at the bed) is higher if the table heights differ.

Working in bedrooms
Avoid work or work-related objects, anything that represents work, and too many books. Ideally, bedrooms should be places for rest and love. But if, for whatever reason, your bedroom needs to serve another function, don’t worry. Make sure there is a clear distinction between different modes of living and working. Have a ritual for going to sleep to shift into a sleeping mode. Research suggests that when people pray before going to sleep, they have better sleep and are happier and healthier than those who don’t.

Good, healthy sleep is key to harmonious relationships – sleep in total darkness, avoid electrosmog and geopathic stress

Colours
Romantic pastels and relaxing colours are the best. Avoid blue or cold colours, as they can be overly calming. If you already have blue walls, just add touches of red or pink, for example, a cushion cover, as a symbol of passion and ‘fire’ energy; however, don’t overdo it. The colour of 2026 is Cloud Dancer.

Wardrobes and drawers
Clutter is detrimental to relationships – it clouds your clarity and diminishes and stagnates your energy. Not to mention, it is stressful to look at it. Also, it can create dust and air pollution, which can make you ill. Do a detox on your wardrobes and drawers. Keep it simple, just spend 5-15 minutes per wardrobe and ask yourself: 1) Do I need it, will I use it? 2) Do I love it? You know what to do next. Decluttering, especially during transition times, is cathartic and therapeutic. I do the decluttering ritual regularly around Xmas, New Year, Valentine’s Day, my birthday, and the equinoxes and solstices, or any time I feel stuck and want positive change.

Sick Building Syndrome (SBS)
SBS includes geopathic stress (GS), electromagnetic fields (EMF) and dirty electricity (DE) – all of which can create a lot of electro-pollution in your bedroom. Keep electrical gadgets to a minimum and switch them off for the night if possible, as they will all create electromagnetic radiation, which can affect how well you sleep. Geopathic stress can disrupt a harmonious relationship. If you suspect that you might have GS, get Helios3 device.

Beams, sloping ceilings, light fittings and cupboards above the bed
All of these will create an uneasy feeling because, subconsciously, we feel unsafe when things are hanging over our heads. Position your bed away from these, where possible. Or hang a lightweight material, such as muslin, to conceal the beams. You can also hang lightweight objects, such as balloons, feathers, and paper mobiles, to counter the oppressive energy of the beams.

Vision board for your love life
A very effective way to visualise what you want and your values is to use vision boards. Vision boards work by priming your non-conscious mind to perceive, notice and grasp opportunities and what you want in life. Make a list of your top relationship values and find images that represent them. If you can’t find images, words are enough to start with. Place your vision board near your bed, so you can see it before you go to sleep to prime your subconscious mind. Review it from time to time – we change and so our values. It’s good to start fresh, on important transition dates, i.e. the New Year, birthdays, equinoxes and solstices, to write them down again. The act of writing it down primes your brain and your soul for what you want.

Which side of the bed do women need to sleep on?
Traditionally, most women sleep on the side farthest from the door, so the husband/partner acts as a protective barrier. Women with kids tend to sleep near the door for obvious practical reasons. There is also another consideration, i.e. a preference for how one likes to lie in bed, on which side of the body. Research suggests that lying on one’s left side is better for the detoxification process, which happens during sleep, since the liver won’t be squashed. More on which side of the bed to get out in the morning

Energise your bedroom
• Get a PIMAT – energy regenerator for your bed to boost your energy levels.
• Helios3 – geopathic stress and electro-smog harmoniser will balance the energies of your bedroom further.

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt

3) Love and harmonious relationship images and symbolism (and for Valentine’s Day)

Symbols of love
Choose symbols that will enhance love, peaceful and fun relationships.  Avoid solitary pictures, images, objects and stark landscapes as well as anything that potentially might be unfriendly, such as cactuses, especially near the front door. Choose images of happy people, couples, animals, soft and romantic, uplifting scenes, as well as round objects which symbolise wholeness and unity. Everything in your love zone carries semiotic connotations. Learn how to read them. Make sure everything works in your love/relationship area and that there is no clutter there. In short, clarity and focus are essential for a harmonious relationship.

Red colour
The colour red (fire element) symbolises passion and love. Add small accents of red to your bedroom. For centuries, red flowers and red underwear have been used to ignite passion and love. However, candles are not recommended since they produce air pollution. 

Flowing lines and shapes
Flowing, curvaceous lines and oval, round shapes – which encourage more harmony, romance and love – are preferred by most people (see my Environmental Psychology research into how shapes affect us). Square and angular/sharp shapes and edges create uneasy feelings and, in feng shui, are referred to as cutting energy or shar chi/energy. To add extra harmony to your relationship, have some photos of you both together in oval or round frames with a single unbroken line, like a wedding ring.

Soft materials
Soft, delicate materials and furnishings are more relaxing than hard, shiny ones, and use natural materials. Likewise, have many soft (e.g., silk) colourful cushions.

Traditionally, in feng shui mandarin ducks are used as symbols of love

4) Connect with the archetypal energy of love and St. Valentine’s Day

Prime yourself with images and words – place them in the love/relationship corner
The best way to keep the focus on what you want is to prime your brain for success with words and images. Represent your key values with words and even better pictures. There are hundreds of studies on the benefits of priming. Feng shui’s main function is to prime you for success with physical symbols and images. For added anchoring, place relevant images and symbols in the love/relationship areas of your bedroom, home, and even your desk.

Use a favourite image or photo that represents love to you; if you’re in a relationship, both of you will do
Use meaningful images or photos as your mobile wallpaper. Images are one of the best ways to prime your mind for success.

Celebrate Valentine’s Day in your special way – big or small
Even if you’re not in a relationship, use that day to contemplate what kind of relationship you’d like to have. Research (speed dating studies) suggests that people don’t know what kind of partner they want. Shared values are important, and so is commitment. Also, attachment theory suggests that being with somebody secure will make you feel secure, and your relationship is more likely to be successful. But start with yourself – work on feeling secure (read below about oxytocin). Otherwise, you will have doubts about your relationship and the other person.

Writing a wish/checklist list of the qualities you want in your ideal partner/relationship is always the first step, as well as your values for your relationships, personal and professional
Write down what you want and what you don’t want, so when you meet that person, you’ll recognise them easily, and you won’t miss ‘the boats and helicopters‘. Keep your checklist near your bed so you can update it when you’re inspired. Going to sleep is also a good time to prime yourself. You can use images or pictures instead of words – sometimes they can work even better than just words because they go directly to your right/emotional brain. A tip for finding an ideal partner: “Become the person you want to attract.” Love is a frequency and resonance. Read Rumi’s poem at the end of this blog.

Or if you don’t want a relationship, think about the love you have for yourself. All love starts with loving yourself first.

Valentine’s Day Love

Valentine’s Day gifts
The most popular purchases for Valentine’s Day are still chocolates and flowers (red roses are classic). More and more people are opting for other gifts, such as jewellery, an evening out, holidays, and clothing. Cards are one of the least popular gifts. More women want to go on a holiday, have a new car or a spa treatment.

It’s a day to wear our hearts on our sleeves.
There are three theories where and when this idiom originates from 1) In the Middle ages, during Roman festivals men (solders) drew names to decide who would be their lady friend for the year and then man would wear her name on his sleeve for the rest of the festival. 2) Similarly, in old days, when a knight performed in a jousting match in the king’s court, he would dedicate his match to a woman of the court, symbolically wearing a handkerchief around his arm. 3) Finally, let’s credit Shakespeare, who must have been the first one to put it in writing in Othello:

Iago:
It is as sure as you are Roderigo,
Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago.
In following him, I follow but myself;
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so, for my peculiar end;
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In complement extern, ’tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at. I am not what I am.
– Othello, Act 1, Scene 1, 56–65

Contemplate your existing relationship/s

Novelty
Studies suggest that doing new and exciting activities with your partner can rekindle the relationship you have. Unfortunately, research also suggests that the more you encounter something, such as your partner, the less exciting you find it, so you do have to put effort into making your relationship work – work on your skill of loving, hence novelty is the spice of love life. Novelty and new, different things help to release dopamine, which is the motivation and success hormone.

82/20 rule
What makes your relationship work, and what is missing? Remember the 80/20 rule (Pareto principle), which states that 20% of effort creates 80% of results. In relationships, if you follow that rule, you’ll have a fantastic rapport. If you focus on the 80% of what is working in your relationship (and put what is not working into the 20% category), you’ll have a balanced, harmonious connection.

Effort
Any relationship requires work, understanding, commitment, tolerance, willpower, compassion, kindness and empathy. Most relationship problems can be resolved quickly with the right communication skills. Learn nonviolent communication to more effectively convey your observations, feelings, needs, and requests. A must-read for a harmonious relationship: Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships, or have a quick look at the NVC model

Hug somebody – (and if it’s not appropriate – hug yourself or a tree)
Physical contact such as hugging helps to release oxytocin – the love, safety and bonding hormone which is beneficial for stress levels, heart health, and more facts about the benefits of hugging.  A 20-second hug reduces the harmful physical effects of stress, including its impact on your blood pressure and heart rate, as well as mood. A 10-second hug a day may fight infections, boost your immune system, ease depression and minimise fatigue. A hugger receives just as much benefit as the huggee, but studies suggest the healthiest hugs come from a person you trust (as opposed to a stranger). The neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart says, “We need a hug at least daily, if not several times a day, and generally speaking, the longer the hug the better.” Always ask for permission before hugging. “We need four hugs a day for survival. We need eight hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” says neuroeconomist Paul Zak, also known as ‘Dr. Love’.
Self-hugging is good too, when you cross your arms and rub your arms up and down – try the Havening technique.
Hugging a tree also works and helps with grounding/earthing.

Le Baiser de l’hôtel de Ville (The Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville) by Robert Doisneau

If you’re looking for new love and relationship…

To attract love, a new relationship and marriage, there are several essential steps. Follow the most important feng shui tips and remedies, and you will be surprised how quickly you can manifest the relationship you want (as well as harmonise the existing ones).

1. Know what you want

Write it down. I’m still surprised that most people have very vague ideas about their relationships. “A good relationship” is not good enough. Be specific: what you want and what you don’t want in a new relationship, so you don’t end up in an old relationship but with just a new/different body. Start with your top five values for a new relationship – what’s important for you. People connect because their values are compatible. Create a vision board for your new relationship (see above for details). Check your Chinese animal zodiac sign – it might be a good conversation starter. Read 2020 – the year of the rat analysis

2. De-clutter your bedroom and your bagua love corners

De-cluttering your bedroom will help you gain new clarity about your relationships, especially your love area, according to the bagua model (top right corner in your bedroom – see above bagua model). Remove any images that represent you being single, e.g. single images or symbols of women/men. Add ‘couple energy’, i.e. pairs of ornaments, lights, but not candles (they pollute the air!). Ask yourself, “Do I need it/will I use it? Do I love it?”Do space clearing to cleanse your home and open it to new opportunities. Your home is a reflection of and a metaphor for your life, and it should support your emotional and spiritual well-being. Feng shui is an interior design practice, so you also need to work on your inner self, not just your physical environment. Declutter your mind and heart from the previous relationship or past unconscious patterns. Do tapping (EFT – emotional freedom technique) to let go of any negative or limiting patterns. Or just let go. Live in the present moment.

3. Focus + Effort + Luck

Focus, action, and luck are the three most important factors for attracting and manifesting a new relationship.
First, focus and write down your new relationship checklist to give you focus and clear intention (see tip 1).
Secondly, act, do something, anything – meet gods/providence halfway – put some effort and energy to shift your state. Feng shui = intention + grace/energy + ritual. Go out. Get a new dress or outfit, or a new love symbol for your bedroom or home. Join a club or an evening class, or go for a talk or workshop where you meet like-minded people. Change the wallpaper on your mobile phone on Valentine’s Day – download this fractal heart image below and use it as a wallpaper on your mobile phone.
And thirdly, you need luck or grace. If you want to boost your love luck factor, get this book today: The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman. The scientifically proven principles of luck will change your life for the better. Guaranteed. To sum up, know what you want, act and boost your luck factor.

4.  Remove partner-repelling decor

It has been observed that how some people decorate their homes can repel future partners. Winston Churchill summarised it well by saying, “We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us.” Check for an excessive number of images of single women. Also, any sharp objects (cutting chi), which might include cactuses near the door, make the entrance and your home unwelcoming. Include the archetypal energy of couples, such as two similar objects. Some ‘interiors therapists’ wrongly suggest removing books from the bedroom as if these could ‘squash’ him, which is plain nonsense. If unsure, ask a friend for feedback or consult your feng shui consultant.

Remember the tablecloth for Valentine’s Day – good feng shui and romance

5. The first date to impress – or Valentine’s dinner –  go to a restaurant that has tablecloths

Cooking for someone special this Valentine’s Day? Don’t forget your tablecloth! Your secret ingredient is the right choice of the tablecloth for the occasion or any dinner. Researchers at the University of Hohenheim in Germany discovered that the right tablecloth can enhance the experience of a special dinner and that ambient environmental factors can influence food intake and taste perception. The key findings concern the influence of lighting on soup intake and taste perception: participants ate more and rated the soup as better in dim light with a tablecloth.  To be “with the person you love” reminds Ströbele-Benschop, one of the researchers behind the study, is still the most important factor on Valentine’s Day. Still, a nice tablecloth can help. “Valentine’s is a day when it’s all about ambience.” Another research on the perception of the tablecloth and eating experience suggested the same findings.

5. Call your feng shui consultant

Still, don’t know what to do – call your feng shui consultant – who will be able to help you further – or call/text/Whatsapp me on +44 7956 288574 or email me to find out what’s in stock for you this year – read the top feng shui tips for 2019 – the year of the earth pig or read more about feng shui for love. romance and marriage

Fractal heart

Read love poems by Rumi or other poets on the Valentine’s Day

“The minute I heard my first love story,
I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was.
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.
They’re in each other all along.”
Rumi

Valentine’s Day Romantic Gestures

1. Thoughtful Valentine’s Tokens

Teddy Bear Valentine: Gift a teddy bear with a love note for your partner to cuddle.
Engraved Keepsake: Personalise a stone, locket, or keychain with a special message.
Charm Bracelet Surprise: Gift a bracelet with charms to be revealed each day leading up to Valentine’s.
Key to My Heart: Present a decorative key in an ornate box with a heartfelt inscription.
Engraved Champagne Glasses: Serve a Valentine’s toast in glasses engraved with your names.
Matching Valentine’s T-Shirts: Design custom shirts that form a heart when worn together.
Personalised Love Website: Create a webpage with a poem and a rose in your partner’s name.
Love Coupons for Valentine’s: Make vouchers for romantic favours to redeem throughout the year.
Custom Valentine’s Magazine Cover: Feature your partner as the cover star of a personalised magazine.

2. Creative Declarations of Love

Glow-in-the-Dark Love Note: Arrange glow stars to spell a romantic message on the ceiling.
Hidden Love Message: Highlight letters in a book to create a surprise love note.
Handwritten Love Letter: Write a heartfelt letter and seal it with a wax stamp for a classic Valentine’s touch.
Valentine’s Comic Strip: Edit a comic strip with inside jokes and romantic themes.
Photo Montage of Memories: Frame your most cherished moments in a Valentine’s-themed display.
Write and Record a Love Song: Dedicate a heartfelt song to your partner and perform it as a Valentine’s surprise.
Shared Story Email: Start a romantic email story together, continuing the tale each day.

3. Grand Romantic Surprises

Valentine’s Treasure Hunt: Send your partner on a love-filled scavenger hunt leading to a meaningful gift.
Mystery Valentine’s Getaway: Surprise your partner with an unannounced romantic trip.
Rose Surprise Delivery: Arrange for multiple people to give roses throughout the day, culminating in your final bouquet.
Valentine’s Balloon Surprise: Fill a room or car with red and pink balloons and a heartfelt love note.
Secret Valentine’s Gesture: Plan a hidden romantic surprise that is revealed in the evening.
Newspaper Love Ad: Place a public declaration of your love in a Valentine’s Day edition newspaper.

4. Quality Valentine’s Experiences

Cloud Gazing Date: Snuggle under a blanket and find romantic shapes in the clouds.
Valentine’s Picnic: Surprise your partner with a gourmet picnic, complete with champagne and chocolates.
Sunrise Love Moment: Wake up early to watch the sunrise with a warm drink and a cosy blanket.
Tandem Bike Valentine’s Ride: Cycle together to a picturesque location for a special Valentine’s lunch.
Sweet Pillow Fight: Have a playful Valentine’s-themed pillow fight with heart-shaped cushions.
Romantic Stargazing: Set up a telescope and spend the night watching the stars together.
Bookstore Date: Pick out books for each other with love messages inside the covers.
Carnival or Festival Adventure: Take your partner to a Valentine’s festival or amusement park.

5. Intimate Valentine’s Moments

Valentine’s Dance Night: Slow dance in your living room to your favourite love songs.
Luxurious Spa Night: Set up a spa at home with scented candles, rose petals, and a warm bubble bath.
Romantic Candlelit Dinner: Cook a gourmet meal together and dine by candlelight.
Swing Ride Nostalgia: Recreate childhood fun with a romantic swing ride at the park.
Heart in the Sand: Draw a heart on the beach and cuddle inside it.
Bedtime Story for Two: Read to each other before bed, sharing favourite romantic passages.
Hot Air Balloon Ride: Take your love to new heights with a scenic Valentine’s balloon ride.

6. Thoughtful Valentine’s Gestures

Workplace Love Surprise: Send flowers or chocolates to your partner’s office.
Suitcase Valentine’s Gift: Hide a small love note or present in your partner’s bag before they leave.
Warm Towel Treat: Heat a towel in the dryer and wrap your partner in warmth after their shower.
Voicemail Love Note: Leave a sweet message for your partner to find unexpectedly.
Rose Note of Appreciation: Leave a single rose with a heartfelt message of gratitude.
Handwritten Thank-You Letter: Express appreciation for all the love and care your partner gives.

7. Playful Valentine’s Adventures

Mission Impossible Valentine’s Date: Send a secret tape with a romantic mission to meet you.
Blindfold Surprise Adventure: Take your partner to an undisclosed Valentine’s location while blindfolded.
Playful Water Fight: Have a spontaneous splash fight for a fun, childlike Valentine’s moment.
Fly a Kite Together: Enjoy the outdoors and write messages on a shared Valentine’s kite.
Drive in a Classic Car: Rent a vintage convertible for a scenic Valentine’s road trip.
Rain Walk Romance: Stroll in the rain and share a warm drink afterwards.

8. Long-Term Valentine’s Memories

Plant a Love Tree: Symbolise your relationship by planting a tree together and nurturing it every year. Name a Star for Your Love: Dedicate a celestial body in your partner’s name.
Valentine’s Video Capsule: Record a message for your future selves to watch on an anniversary.
Create a Couple’s Bucket List: Plan future adventures and dreams together.
Love Letters for the Future: Write letters to each other to be opened in years to come.
Illustrate Your Love Story: Draw or paint a timeline of your relationship milestones.

By embracing these Valentine’s Day-inspired romantic gestures, you can make this special occasion unforgettable for your partner and deepen your connection.

The post Feng shui for Valentine’s Day. Top feng shui tips for love and romance. appeared first on Feng Shui London UK • The Capital Feng Shui Consultant.

The most important feng shui furniture is your bed and your mattress

The most important interior design feature in feng shui is your bed. Sleep is the key to health, wealth and success. In feng shui, energy is the primary concept and the best way to ensure that you have good energy during sleep and then, as a result, during the day is to sleep in a safe place without geopathic stress and with low electro-smog. Metal spring mattresses can amplify electro-smog and geopathic stress, so the ideal mattress is latex or foam. After years of research and testing different mattresses, as a feng shui consultant and environmental psychologist, I can recommend Abaca mattresses as the best mattresses for feng shui purposes.

Abaca organic mattresses

Top key considerations when choosing a mattress

1. No metal. Any metal or metal steel springs can amplify electro-smog and geopathic stress. And it will change the polarity of the compass directions (you can check that by dragging a compass alongside a mattress with metal springs – you’ll see that the compass needle changes the direction significantly).
2. Organic. Any chemicals can affect your health.
3. Proper support. Some latex or foam mattress won’t give your body proper support, which can affect the quality of your sleep.
4. No reflective heat. Some foam mattresses reflect heat, making sleep very uncomfortable, especially during hot weather. A cool environment is essential for good quality sleep.
5. Firm. The mattress shouldn’t mould into your body too much. Research suggests that mattresses that mould or shape around the body too much restrict natural body micro-movements that release stress and tension during sleep.

Why Abaca latex mattresses are the best mattresses for feng shui purposes and healthy

Abaca organic mattress

Abaca latex mattresses fulfil the above five-point health and feng shui criteria.

History of Abaca mattresses
As early as 500 BC, Mayans and Aztecs used latex for waterproofing purposes and also heated it to make toy balls. So why is this material such a great component in a mattress? Derived from the rubber tree, latex is the most naturally durable cushioning material available. It is made from a milky substance that drips from the rubber tree when the bark is slashed. The process does no harm to the tree and latex is an entirely sustainable product. During the production process, which converts the latex from a liquid, the resin is whipped and baked. The finished product is naturally biodegradable.

The main ingredient in the manufacture of a natural latex pad is simply natural rubber, at 90 to 95%. Some other ingredients are necessary for the vulcanisation, foaming and curing process, but these are largely ‘cooked out’, leaving a final product which is 99% natural rubber. To ensure that the product is as clean as possible, it is washed a minimum of three times before the manufacturing process is complete.

Natural latex may cost more but is non-toxic. When buying a latex mattress, it is wise to follow the principle of ‘ buyer beware ’as there are so-called ‘organic’ latex mattresses being sold which are actually made from styrene-butadiene, which is an entirely man-made material. The foam in these mattresses is grey as opposed to the cream of natural latex. If you are in any doubt, ask for a sample!

Natural latex is anti-microbial, dust-mite resistant, and hypo-allergenic. It dynamically conforms to you, providing excellent support. By gently conforming to your every contour, latex provides superior back support and outstanding pressure relief. Relieving pressure reduces the tossing and turning that interrupts sleep.

Abaca latex mattresses are certified as organic by the Soil Association.

“Why Abaca organic mattresses are tufted and not quilted? What is the difference between tufted and quilted mattresses?”
Mattresses are made in layers, like sandwiches, and there are only two ways of keeping those internal layers in place. The first is with adhesives … glue is sprayed on each layer to attach it to the next. All mattresses made with flat tops or quilted tops are made in this way. The more traditional way is to tuft. Tufts do two things, they hold the layers securely together and they act as bulkheads within the mattress, which strengthens its construction. As an organic company, Abaca doesn’t use glues of any type and has made mattresses for customers who want a flatter top to their mattress by using a longer tuft than normal and using fewer of them. There are some foam mattresses that are made just with the piece of foam and a zip-on cover, but that’s about the only exception to the rule.

Abaca organic mattresses with a 10% discount

Abaca organic mattresses

To purchase your organic mattress, visit Abaca organic mattresses website. If you quote my name JAN CISEK when ordering a mattress you’ll receive a 10% discount.

Abaca Mattress Selector

Sleep like royalty – to the tune of £100k
Hastens, a Swedish company which supplies to the Swedish royal family, breeds horses to fill its mattresses with horsehair (as horsehair is hollow, unlike human hair), which acts as a tiny tube to wick moisture from the body naturally. The 2000T king-size mattress has 38 layers. Its trademark blue-and-white check mattresses are quilted in a diamond pattern to cushion the body’s movements in bed. Hastens’ built-to-order Vividus bed, with a slow-grown pine frame, box spring base and steel springs (NOT recommended! – read above about steel springs and the electro-smog) — will cost you £100,000.

What’s the best way to sleep on your organic mattress?
Feng shui can inform you about the best placement of your bed and position in your bedroom, but how you position your body for sleep on your organic mattress can make a huge difference.
Watch this short video for the best body position for sleeping.

The post Feng Shui Bed. Feng Shui Mattress. Top Tips on How to Feng Shui Your Bed. Get the Right Mattress. appeared first on Feng Shui London UK • The Capital Feng Shui Consultant.

On average, a person sleeps for about 8 hours a day, which means that one sleeps for one-third of one’s life. Sleep is very important. Sleep research suggests that with bad sleep (especially the lack of deep sleep), your blood pressure rises, you eat more calories, your immune system suffers, your mood deteriorates and even you become less attractive to the opposite sex. There are tons of research on the importance of sleep for our health, wellness, relationships, learning and memory, as well as performance and success at work. If sleep was a drug, doctors would prescribe it for virtually every ailment.

Sleep is recognised as THE most important aspect of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health

As a feng shui consultant, I believe that our bedrooms are the most important rooms for feng shui for our health, wealth and success. After feng shui-ing over 10 000 bedrooms in my 28+ years career as a feng shui consultant, I can testify that most problems in life start in our bedrooms, with inefficient and bad sleep. Feng shui your bedroom and optimise your sleep and you’ll be in a better position to sort out any issue in your personal and professional life. As a feng shui consultant, I look at bedrooms from a classical feng shui perspective and modern feng shui by checking for geopathic stress, electromagnetic pollution and dirty electricity, among other things.

How to feng shui your bedroom – top expert tips

1. Sleep in the power position ie as far as possible from the door with the view of the door to feel safe.
2. Sleep in total darkness – or get an eye mask from Amazon.  Ban the blue light from mobile phones and devices because it mimics daylight and inhibits the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Most people sleep but not well because they confuse the body with lights which don’t produce the optimal levels of melatonin and they don’t go into deep sleep, which is the sweet spot for rejuvenation, detox and rest. Melatonin is your body’s sleep onset hormone and it’s sensitive to light and wifi radiation.
3. Switch off the wifi internet broadband for the night to minimise the electro-smog.
4. Check for geopathic stress.
5. A foam mattress is ideal because it doesn’t contain any metal which can amplify electro-smog.
6. Install a demand switch for your bedroom – which will cut off unnecessary electricity/electro-smog during sleep – if possible.

Watch these six short videos below about the importance of sleep for health, wealth, learning, decision-making and success.

Sleeping in total darkness and fostering a feeling of safety and security are the two most important factors for good feng shui in your bedroom. Human night vision is not great, so we need a safe environment for sleep; otherwise, the brain is forced to be vigilant in case there is a danger which is most pronounced when we’re travelling and sleeping in a new environment. It’s called ‘the first night effect’ when we’re adjusting to new surroundings and new sounds associated with sleeping in a new place.

Call your feng shui consultant to feng shui your bedroom now

Other top tips for a great night’s sleep

Sleep deprivation is detrimental to our physical, emotional and mental health. In the evening, mentally put the day to rest.

Position your bedroom at the back 
Researcher Stephen Stansfield, professor of psychiatry at Queen Merry University in London,  suggests that moving the bedroom to the back of the house so it’s not disturbed by noise and traffic is beneficial to health.

The bedtime routine is key. When we’re born, we don’t know how to sleep, but soon we learn. The obvious cues and anchors that help to sleep are milk bottles and baths. As adults, we should continue to use similar cues so our ‘body knows what’s coming next.

16m of British adults suffer from sleepless nights

A bath is an excellent way to relax and reduce stress. Researchers from the University of Freiburg in Germany suggest that hot baths seem to have a therapeutic effect on depression. “I’m sure there are things that can’t be cured by a good bath, but I can’t think of one,” wrote Sylvia Plath in The Bell Jar, who struggled with depression, would have felt vindicated by the findings. One reason why warm bath reduces depression is simply by improving one’s sleep. When organising your bath, pick a time when you’re unlikely to be disturbed. Add some Epsom salts or magnesium (magnesium is depleted from our bodies when we get stressed) or some essential oils such as lavender to promote relaxation.  Magnesium is believed to help induce sleep and magnesium has an impact on insomnia by maintaining healthy levels of GABA, a brain chemical that promotes sleep, which is backed up by some studies. People with electrosensitivity reported that having regular baths grounded them and helped them to release electro-smog. Your bathwater should be just a little hotter than your body temperature, which is about 37C, i.e. between 40C and 45C. Consider the temperature of the room, as well as a Japanese study showed that bathing in 41C water in a 25C room increased body temperature more than taking a bath in a 14C room. Large and sudden increases in temperature can put a strain on the heart, so if you suffer from heart problems, avoid hot baths, especially on cold days.

“Sleeping on a problem really can help the human brain find new solutions.”
Russell Foster, professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford University

Journalling or writing down anything concerning you will help because it’s a therapeutic way of externalising and telling your brain that you have acknowledged your worries and now they’re on a piece of paper, out of your mind.

Sleep disorder – alarm bells for teens and kids
In the UK, 9429 children aged 16 or under were diagnosed with a sleep disorder in 2017 and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, researchers suggest. In a survey in September 2018, experts in the UK noted a sharp rise in the number of admissions to hospitals for young people and children with sleep disorders. Sleeplessness is a modern epidemic. There is a difference in how melatonin works in adults and young people. For adults, 10 pm is the time when melatonin starts working and for teens, it’s about 1 am! Mandy Gurney, the founder of Millpond Children’s Sleep Clinic, says, “Knowledge of your teen’s specific sleep personality is key to defining bedtime.” Awareness and education on the role of sleep in teens’ growth, development, concentration at school, positive outlook, etc, are very important. Light, especially blue light, inhibits melatonin production, so no screen time at night is critical for developing good sleep habits. The good news is that if teens accrue a ‘sleep debt’ during the week, they can pay it off at weekends by sleeping more.

Sleep helps toddlers to learn
When toddlers are learning to speak, they need naptime. A study shows that a short sleep of about 90 minutes (which is the full sleep cycle) helps young children remember words better.  Dr Goffredina Spanò, lead author of the study from the University of Arizona, said: ‘We were very careful not to sleep-deprive the children, so the wake condition was done during a time when they wouldn’t usually nap.’ Professor Edgin added: ‘Clinical trials often don’t consider sleep as an important factor in the trial design. ‘If we can show that children learn differently when they nap, it shows how important healthy sleep really is.’

Deep sleep
Research suggests that the deep sleep part of sleep is the most important for health. During deep sleep, our bodies rejuvenation, build cells and muscles and detox.

Sleep on your left side
Sleeping on your left side helps the brain to flush out the toxins more efficiently (because your liver is not squashed).

Prayer
Research suggests that people who pray before going to sleep – sleep better and are healthier and happier. If you’re not into prayer, just think about three to five good things that happen to you that day or you’re grateful for and what good things do you expect tomorrow to happen and this will have a similar effect. If you had a bad day, think of ways of seeing some positivity in those ‘bad’ experiences – research suggests that lucky people know how to turn bad luck into good luck.

The benefits of deep sleep and how to get more of it

There’s nothing quite like a good night’s sleep. What if technology could help us get more out of it? Dan Gartenberg is working on tech that stimulates deep sleep, the most regenerative stage, which (among other wonderful things) might help us consolidate our memories and form our personalities. Find out more about how playing sounds that mirror brain waves during this stage might lead to deeper sleep — and its potential benefits on our health, memory and ability to learn.

During sleep, your immune system produces cytokines which are proteins that regulate your sleep patterns and they also defend the body from infections. “Research shows just one late night can more than triple your risk of catching a cold the next day.” says Dr Neil Stanley, a sleep expert and author of How to Sleep Well. Research suggests a correlation between Alzheimer’s and dementia and the lack of deep sleep when waste products are removed from the brain.

The benefits of deep sleep and how to get more of it
There’s nothing quite like a good night’s sleep. What if technology could help us get more out of it? Dan Gartenberg is working on tech that stimulates deep sleep, the most regenerative stage, which (among other wonderful things) might help us consolidate our memories and form our personalities. Find out more about how playing sounds that mirror brain waves during this stage might lead to deeper sleep — and its potential benefits on our health, memory and ability to learn.

How to succeed? Get more sleep
In this short talk, Arianna Huffington shares a small idea that can awaken much bigger ones: the power of a good night’s sleep. Instead of bragging about our sleep deficits, she urges us to shut our eyes and see the big picture: We can sleep our way to increased productivity and happiness — and smarter decision-making.

Why school should start later for teens
Teens don’t get enough sleep, and it’s not because of Snapchat, social lives or hormones — it’s because of public policy, says Wendy Troxel. Drawing from her experience as a sleep researcher, clinician and mother of a teenager, Troxel discusses how early school start times deprive adolescents of sleep during the time of their lives when they need it most.

One more reason to get a good night’s sleep
The brain uses a quarter of the body’s entire energy supply yet only accounts for about two per cent of the body’s mass. So how does this unique organ receive and, perhaps more importantly, rid itself of vital nutrients? New research suggests it has to do with sleep.

Why do we sleep?
Russell Foster is a circadian neuroscientist: He studies the sleep cycles of the brain. And he asks: What do we know about sleep? Not a lot, it turns out, for something we do with one-third of our lives. In this talk, Foster shares three popular theories about why we sleep, busts some myths about how much sleep we need at different ages — and hints at some bold new uses of sleep as a predictor of mental health.

Our natural sleep cycle is nothing like what we do now
In today’s world, balancing school, work, kids and more, most of us can only hope for the recommended eight hours of sleep. Examining the science behind our body’s internal clock, Jessa Gamble reveals the surprising and substantial program of rest we should be observing.

Sleep deprivation
Sleep deprivation is a well-known factor in depression and even suicidal ideation and apparently has been used in torturing people. But, recently, sleep deprivation has been revived as a serious treatment for depression. Scientists at King’s College London started Britain’s first trial in ‘triple chronotherapy’, where patients are kept awake at night and then sent home to reset their body clocks over the next four days. Although the process is not fully understood, it is believed that triple chronotherapy helps to solve the problem of ‘social jet lag’, which could be behind some types of depression, where circadian rhythms have been desynchronised from daily routines.

A nap is the secret to happiness
The secret of happiness is as simple as having a quick nap in the daytime, Hertfordshire University researchers have suggested. They found that taking short 30-minute naps (20-45min is ideal but longer and you’ll be moving into a deep sleep and you’ll wake up groggy) improves our sense of well-being and boosts performance and suggested a new word to define the contented feeling after a brief nap: ‘nappiness’. If you’re a lark, get a nap around 1pm, and if you’re an owl, aim for 2:30pm. Research suggests that napping on a slowly swinging hammock helps you fall asleep quickly and improves the quality of your sleep. Drinking a cup of coffee before you nap will help to kick in the caffeine for the time you wake up ie after about 20 minutes.

How lack of sleep makes the pain worse
Researchers at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa found that an interrupted night’s sleep can make you more likely to feel pain the next day because a lack of sleep impairs the function of the body’s pain-inhibitory system controlled by nerves in the spinal cord. “Sleep loss increases our perception of pain, but a good night’s rest increases our pain threshold”, says sleep expert Dr Neil Stanley (published in the Journal Of Pain last year).

What chronotype are you?

Are you a lark or an owl, or in between?
Definitely morning: wake up at 5 am and go to sleep at 9 am.
Morning: wake up at 7 am and sleep at 11 pm.
In between: wake up at 8 am and sleep at midnight.
Definitely evening: wake up at 10 am and sleep at 2 am.

According to Body Clocks by Paul Kelly with Sian Griffiths, beginning work at 10am would allow most staff to follow their natural sleep rhythm and reduce illness. The book claims that it is not only teenagers who have different body clocks and backs it up with a body of evidence that inadequate sleep is linked to cancer, obesity, mental illness and early death. Dr Paul Kelly, the former headmaster of Monkseaton community school, was the first headteacher in England to move start times for lessons to 10am so teens could have more sleep to perform better at school. In sum, delaying clocking-in-times for the workforce to have more happy, healthy, productive employees, Dr Kelly says, “would have an immediate positive impact on current levels of adults sleep deprivation caused by early workday start times. It would reduce sleep deprivation by 70%, to 36 minutes on an average day.”

What’s the best way to sleep on your organic mattress?
Feng shui can inform you about the best bed placement and position in your bedroom, but how you position your body for sleep on your organic mattress can make a huge difference.
Watch this short video for the best body position for sleeping.

The post How to feng shui your bedroom? Why are bedrooms the most important rooms to feng shui first? appeared first on Feng Shui London UK • The Capital Feng Shui Consultant.

In which direction to sleep?

Which way to sleep for the best night sleep?
Folklor from many countries suggests that the best way to sleep is with your head pointing to the North because you align your body’s polarity (the head having the north pole) with the Earth’s polarity. The article below suggests that other animals intuitively align themselves with the North.

Like compass needles, cows point north-south

ACCORDING to popular folklore, many animals are smarter than they appear. Dogs bark before earthquakes; chimpanzees know the right herbs to deal with intestinal worms; cattle predict rainfall by sitting on the ground. But cows, in particular, may have a hidden talent that far outweighs any meteorological skills. It appears they know which way is north.

Sabine Begall of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany and her colleagues became interested in animal magnetism when they were working on mole rats—blind animals that live underground and use magnetism to navigate. In a paper published in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they looked at whether larger mammals also have the ability to perceive magnetic fields. They did so by studying images of thousands of cattle captured on Google Earth, a website that stitches together high-resolution satellite photographs to produce a simulacrum of the Earth’s surface.

It was not merely a matter of looking for a few fuzzy blobs in fields and recording which way they were pointing. Grazing animals are known to orient themselves in a way that minimises wind chill and maximises the warmth of the sun when they are cold. Dr Begall and her colleagues therefore had to study a lot of cows grazing in lots of different places at different times of day, in order to average out these other factors and see whether there was a residual tendency for cattle to act like compass needles. They were also able to use data collected by colleagues in the Czech Republic on the grazing behaviour of roe and red deer.

The researchers concluded that cattle do generally align themselves in a north-south direction. Moreover, at high latitudes—where the geographical and magnetic poles are perceptibly separate from one another—it was to the magnetic pole that the animals pointed. Unfortunately, even the high resolution of Google Earth is not good enough to tell routinely which end of a cow is its head, and which its tail. Dr Begall was therefore unable to answer the vexed questions of whether cows prefer to look north or south, and whether that differs in the northern and southern hemispheres. With the Czech deer, however, the answer is a definitive “north”.

These results, though curious, are not as unexpected as you might think. Several animals besides mole rats are known to be magnetosensitive. Some birds use magnetic fields to navigate. And north-south preferences like those Dr Begall thinks she has found in cattle have also been noted in flies, termites and honeybees. But the true extent of any magnetic “sixth sense” in animals remains unknown. Nor is it clear how this extra sense works. In birds, Dr Begall says, there is probably a receptor in the eyes. In mole rats there are hints of particles of magnetite (a naturally magnetic form of iron oxide) in the cornea. But how such crystals send signals to the nervous system remains a mystery.

As for people, there have been studies which suggest that magnetic fields influence biological processes such as rapid eye movement in sleep. Also, electroencephalograms seem to vary according to the direction in which people are facing when they are recorded. It is not quite GPS, but humans are clever enough to use a variety of phenomena to navigate when lost. Not least, of course, looking at which way the cows are pointing.

Source: Magnetism and behaviour
Animal attraction
Aug 28th 2008
From The Economist print edition

Top tips for good sleep

Vastu 

In Vastu (an Indian feng shui system) there is a belief that sleeping with your head towards the south is better because if your head is a kind of north part of a magnet then sleeping towards north will repel each other ie your head and the North Pole. This kind of thinking is completely wrong since you’re trying to align yourself with the magnetic field of the earth and not positioning yourself in opposite direction as Vastu states. If the Vastu thinking was accurate, then two people sleeping together with their heads near each other would repel each other. Also, above research suggests that animals are much clever that some people who spread such nonsense.

In holistic feng shui, other factors, such as geopathic stress are more important than the direction of your bed’s position.

READ:  Feng shui for your bedroom. Which side of bed to get out in the morning?

How to feng shui your bedroom – the most important room in your home

The post Which way to sleep for the best night sleep? appeared first on Feng Shui London UK • The Capital Feng Shui Consultant.

Which side of the bed to get out in the morning?

What’s your sacred space?
The bedroom 66%, the bathroom 16%, the garden 8%, the office 6%, the kitchen 5% according to Psychologies Magazine. But which side of the bed is the best side to get out in the morning?

Left side is right side to get out of bed-survey. Reuters – USA Left is best, they decreed in a study undertaken by the hotel chain Premier Inn. Feng shui expert Jan Cisek (London) said getting out of the bed on the left is…

When left is always right! Gulf Daily News – Manama, Bahrain Left is best, they decreed in a study undertaken by the hotel chain Premier Inn. Feng shui expert Jan Cisek (London) said getting out of the bed on the left is…

Left is right side to get out of bed. NEWS.com.au – Australia Sleep scientists, feng shui experts (Jan Cisek, feng shui expert from London) and psychologists put their heads together to analyse the best way to get up in the morning. Left is best, they decreed …

Left side the right side to get out of bed. TV3 News – Auckland, New Zealand Getting out of bed on the left side is the right side, according to sleep scientists, feng shui experts (Jan Cisek, feng shui expert from London) and psychologists. They were hired by UK hotel chain Premier Inn (PremierInn.com)…

It’s official: Right is wrong when it comes to which side to get out of bed. Anyone who has gotten up in a less than positive frame of mind in the morning may well have been asked, “What’s up with you this morning? Get out of the wrong side of the bed?” Premier Inn Reports on findings from Jan Cisek, Feng Shui Expert – London, Dr Chris Alford, Sleep Expert and Pete Cohen, Life Coach.

Left is the right side to get out of bed – 14 Jan 2008 – NZ Herald Feng shui expert Jan Cisek (London) said getting out of the bed on the left is … Psychology and motivation expert Pete Cohen said the left side helps us all to …

Left is right to get out of bed! According to a recent study, getting out of bed on the left side is the right side. Sleep scientists, feng shui experts (Jan Cisek, London) and psychologists analysed the best …

Getting out of bed on the right side is the wrong side – The Mercury (subscription) – Durban, South Africa Left is best, they decree in a study commissioned by the hotel chain Premier Inn. Feng shui expert Jan Cisek (London) said getting out of the bed on the left was …

And one more anceriviera.blogspot.com/2008/02/its-official-right-is-wrong-when-it.html

READ: Which way to sleep for the best night sleep?

How to feng shui your bedroom?

The post Feng shui for your bedroom. Which side of bed to get out in the morning? appeared first on Feng Shui London UK • The Capital Feng Shui Consultant.