By applying these Feng Shui techniques for children you should be well on your way to creating healthy, harmonious surroundings for your family.
Feng Shui (pronounced Fung Shway) is the ancient Chinese art and science of placement. Basically, the intent is to harness the earth’s natural energies to create harmonious living conditions and balance. Balance is always the key to healthy living.
Chi is the energy that animates; it is our life force. The flow of chi needs to be balanced. Too slow promotes stagnation (just think of a blocked off pond) and too fast promotes hyperactivity and discord. The simplest way to start to obtain this balance is to be mindful of the yin and yang concept. Each colour, texture, shape, scent and sound is either yin or yang. There are many books available to help you choose which are which.
If a child is behaving yang-like by being too hyper, loud or dominant then amplify the yin in his/her surroundings. Likewise if the child is being too passive, tired or slow moving, add yang to their life.
Here are a few tips to get started.
Food
If yang dominates eat more yin foods, which are cool-cold in temperature and essence.
Ø Chicken
Ø Cold wet fruits & veggies like cucumber, watermelon. Also keep in mind the colour.
Ø Ice cream, frozen yogurt
If yin dominates eat more yang foods, which are warm-hot in temperature and essence.
Ø Red meat
Ø Butter
Ø Walnuts
Ø Hot Spice
Ø Cinnamon
Colour
Colour is perhaps the easiest tool to work with. We can choose foods of certain colour, wear clothes or accessories or decorate to utilize the unique vibration of each shade.
Uplifting colours include red, yellow, orange.
Avoid bright primary colours if energy is too high, using pastels and muted tones instead.
Green is the colour of healing and growth, while blue is for security and calming.
Try to avoid black in excess for teenager’s rooms or children prone to depression.
If motivation is required, use sound and movement to achieve this. The forms of music, plants or curtains swaying in the breeze or a view of a birdbath or feeder outside the window would be beneficial. The room needs to be brighter and have plenty of open space.
If stillness is needed, then use large objects to ground and wind chimes or mobiles are needed to slow the energy down. The room should be kept slightly on the darker side.
Clutter
Clearing the clutter from the rooms is imperative for everyone. Clutter stagnates the chi leaving you feeling disorganized, chaotic, drained and bound to the past.
Examples of clutter you may find in a child’s space are:
Ø Unneeded books
Ø Old clothes that they have outgrown
Ø Toys not appropriate to child’s age/ability
Ø Overgrown or dead plants
Ø Unwanted items (negative emotional attachment)
Ø Broken items.
Ø Too much stuff
Use storage bins with lids, baskets, shelving units and the great closet organizers available today. It’s amazing what just a little neatness can do to change the mood of the room.
Make a game of sorting through items and give them away to charity or sell them in your next garage sale. Giving items to others who need them more helps foster self-esteem and a sense of community. I find it easier to give away hoarded items when a natural disaster occurs or a local family loses their possessions to fire.
Your child may be motivated to part with old belongings when tempted with the lure of being able to keep some or all of the money made at a garage sale.
Your child’s bed should be placed so that he/she can see the door but is not directly opposite the door. Furniture size should not be either overwhelming or too small for the child. They need to feel secure and cocooned not like they’ve stepped through the door to Alice in Wonderland.
Scent
Using scent has become easier with the wide variety of essential oils being readily available. Pure essential oils are preferable to synthetic scents to reduce the risk of allergy. A drop of oil can be put on a facecloth and placed near the child’s bed at night. Diffusers are available in many forms. Do be careful with any heat source in a child’s room. Some oils should not be heated, so please check with a qualified aromatherapist or do some research first.
Ø Cedar and sage are grounding and purifying. Lavender is calming.
Ø Pine and lemon are stimulating and strengthening. Lemon also has cleansing properties.
Being close to nature enjoying walks, playing in the park or having fresh air in the room are all excellent ways to access the Earth’s energy and bring a sense of connection. Digging in the dirt is very grounding.
By applying these Feng Shui techniques you should be well on your way to creating healthy, harmonious surroundings for your family.
Remember that ‘less is best’. Change no matter how positive should be introduced slowly.
Enjoy!
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