Feng Shui Monsters Under Your Bed

The Importance of Your Bed in Feng Shui

Proximity and Duration

There are two reasons why your bed is so important in feng shui. The first is the principle of proximity, which states that the closer something is to you, the stronger its effect will be. The second is the principle of duration, which means that the longer you are exposed to a particular influence, the stronger its effect will be.

If we were getting our eight full hours of sleep every night, we'd be spending a third of our lives in bed. Even with long days and not enough sleep, the average person probably spends 25% or more of their time in bed. Keeping the factors of proximity and duration in mind, this means that anything that is close to you while you sleep will have a strong effect on you, either physically or symbolically.

Symbolic Energy

Since you are probably well protected from below by a nice thick mattress, whatever you've got stashed beneath your bed isn't likely to be directly harmful. However, in feng shui, the symbolic energy of an object or image is just as important as whatever literal impact it may have. If you are using your under-bed area for storage, take a moment to think about the implications of whatever is down there, especially if you haven't been sleeping well lately. If you don't remember what you've stashed under your bed, it's time to take another look.

Items to Avoid Storing Under Your Bed

Here are some things that you ought to find another place for:

• Shoes: Shoes under the bed can keep you "running around" all night even when you are sound asleep. No matter how many hours of sleep you get, you may never feel well-rested.
• Exercise Gear: Exercise gear, workout clothes, and sports equipment are also less than relaxing. Unless you want to feel like you're "going nowhere fast" in life, don't store your treadmill, rowing machine, or aerobic step under the bed. Tennis rackets (or other gear for competitive sports) can bring a competitive, adversarial energy to your romantic relationships. It's best not to have any kind of exercise or sports equipment in the bedroom at all if you can find another place for it.
• Books and Work Papers: Books and work or school papers can have an intellectually stimulating effect; if you have trouble turning your mind-chatter off so you can fall asleep at night, make sure you are not sleeping on top of a lot of information. Plus, chances are good that if you're keeping that stuff under the bed it probably isn't at all current, so all that old information is also energetically holding you in the past.
• Weapons: Guns and knives. I really hope you don't feel the need to have these in your house at all. All that potential violence is not conducive to a good night's sleep, no matter how "safe" it may make you feel. A feng shui friend once told me she'd consulted for a guy who collected knives, and who kept that collection under his bed. No wonder he complained of a long string of failed relationships! Regardless of any other qualities he may or may not have had, that's a lot of cutting chi underlying what should be a place for romantic connection.

Positive Uses for Under-Bed Storage

If you must use the under-bed space for storage, reserve it for soft, cuddly items like extra bedding or your winter sweaters. You may even find a good use for that space by placing something with positive symbolic meaning there, so you can take conscious advantage of the proximity and duration effect.

Examples of Positive Uses

• Mirror: Laying a mirror face up under the bed is a recommended feng shui cure for insomnia; symbolically, the mirror reflects the bed "downward" thus drawing into a deep, restful sleep.
• Action Figures: For a child who is frightened of imaginary monsters under the bed, placing a super-tough-guy action figure under there could provide some important protection and security.
• Travel Items: A feng shui client recently asked if it was okay to keep her empty suitcases under the bed. If you enjoy traveling and want to do more of it, then having the luggage under the bed may help to encourage that. Inside the suitcases, you can put guidebooks, photos, travel accessories, and other items related to the places where you'd like to go. For example, if you would love to take a trip to Paris, put a guidebook to the city, a French-English phrase book, and a photo of the Eiffel Tower in an empty suitcase under your bed. Add some French currency or traveler's checks for the future trip. The suitcase and its contents are now a feng shui activation to help make your travel dreams come true.

On the other hand, if you've been traveling a lot lately and would like to stay home for a change, then I definitely recommend finding some other place to keep your luggage. If you absolutely, positively have no alternative to keeping suitcases under the bed—and you really want a break from travel—put a rock in each one and cover them with a blanket, to help them settle in for a long rest and to keep you grounded at home.

Conclusion

In conclusion, while the ideal feng shui rule is to avoid storing items under your bed, practical considerations sometimes necessitate it. By being mindful of what you store there and understanding the symbolic energy of those items, you can make more informed decisions that support your well-being and life goals.

For more information on feng shui principles, you can refer to The Spruce and Feng Shui Nexus.

(c) copyright 2004 Stephanie Roberts