For the longest time I’ve understood that mess around me = anxiety and stress. It makes sense, if your environment is a pigsty, your head is going to be a reflection of that. It was only recently that I came across the ancient Chinese philosophy of Feng Shui which can be boiled down to the idea of a positive energy flow based on your environment. This can relate to the way you arrange your furniture, the colour scheme you use in a room and how you arrange your things so they aren’t in your way. It makes sense that Feng Shui can have a positive impact on your mental health.
Having rubbish all over the place, leaving clothes over chairs and leaving the dishes dirty on the side is going to stress you out, even if you now accept these things as normal. I always think back to the famous speech by Admiral William H Mcraven when he essentially said that you should make your bed in the morning no matter what. This is because not only does it build discipline but it gives you a little win to start your day off. It sets the tone for the rest of your day. It may seem less than important in the grand scheme of things but even if you have a rough day, you’ve still completed a task.
I believe Feng Shui gives you this same type of ‘win’. If there’s an endless amount of things that you can’t control that affect your mental health, you can at very least gain a sense of control by organising your environment around you. It’s important to control the things you can actually control, otherwise you can open yourself up to an endless spiral of stress where so much is out of your control.
Feng Shui your rooms
The last thing you want to do is come back to a sh*thole after a hard day. Not only does it mean you have a big job of clearing up after a long day but the sight of it just manifests anxiety. As well as tidying up, you can change the layout of your room by moving furniture around to let more light in or to have a more open space to move around in. You can also chuck away old and bulky furniture and get new ones if you can afford to. Changing the colour scheme in a room can also change your perception and feeling when you walk into it.
It makes sense that dark shades = meh, and light shades of paint = clarity.
Being the place where you want to feel the most relaxed, keeping your home clutter-free and airy is essential. The smallest bit of dirt or food could attract pests so you may need to search for exterminators in Utah or similar near you to contact a professional company to treat your home. There’s a reason why you feel energised when you walk into a professionally designed show room and that’s thanks to the Feng Shui or ‘positive energy’ where the arrangement of the furnishings and colour combine to create a positive aura. Whilst most of us can’t afford a professional designer, you can make small changes to a room that’s stayed the same for years to make you feel more comfortable like;
- using a different paint colour
- moving the chairs so your back is not towards the door
- buy a new rug
- buy new new shelving unit
- include plants
- get rid of anything that you’ve ‘been meaning to get rid of for ages’
- let more light in your room
- declutter your room for potentially better sleep
The ‘Feng Shui Rug’
Living in rented accommodation, there’s not much you’re allowed to do especially when you think you might move soon anyway. This is the situation I find myself in right now. We hadn’t changed much at all since we moved in five years ago and I really wanted to freshen things up. The old and dirty carpet was one thing you noticed as soon as you walked in the front door. Because it wasn’t ours, we weren’t allowed to rip it up. However, I had the idea to buy a nice new rug to try and cover it up. Even a small change like this made the room a completely different place and brightened up the energy. Sometimes the smallest changes to your environment make the biggest difference.
Feng Shui for mental health
Overall the biggest reason you should try and incorporate Feng Shui into stagnant environment is because it has the ability to de-stress your immediate surroundings, at least, this is what I have found. Some people can live amongst mess and not care but that’s definitely not me. There’s always been a reason why I can’t relax until things are tidied up and it’s because I get so stressed and anxious over mess everywhere.
The best thing about Feng Shui for your mental health is that it’s so easy to implement. Of course there may be some limitations if you have small environment to work with but you can always start with binning the things that are cluttering your space. You can feel the results of Feng Shui in minutes and it could have a drastic effect on your mental wellbeing.