Daoism, also known as Taoism, originated in China around 2,400 years ago. Daoism, which incorporates much older teachings and beliefs of the Chinese people, is the fundamental philosophy in the world’s most populous country. Anyone who takes a closer look at Daoism and Feng Shui in the bedroom may feel overwhelmed at some point, as it is a philosophy with countless influences and side issues, but basically there is one central concept around which everything revolves: HARMONY.
The best and simplest way to imagine Daoism is as a large circle with many smaller circles or rings inside it, similar to the annual rings of a tree. Each of these circles has a name and specific meanings. The most well-known rings of Daoism in the Western world are Yin and Yang and Feng Shui.
In Daoism, the teachings of Feng Shui provide practical guidance on how to arrange one’s personal environment in order to achieve harmony between body and mind. In fact, this is taken very seriously in China, Japan, Korea and other Asian countries. It goes so far that even the location of a house and its orientation in a certain wind direction determines whether it will find a buyer. Nobody wants bad Feng Shui. Even office spaces are designed according to Feng Shui during the construction phase and later in terms of furnishings. In our Western world, on the other hand, pragmatism largely prevails, an adaptation to the circumstances. However, it is debatable whether it is really wiser to view everything in terms of cost-benefit ratio or perhaps to think about why harmony is so enormously undervalued in our everyday lives. It does not even take the teachings of feng shui to recognise that harmony is good for us. It is not uncommon for us to carry the constant disharmony of our everyday lives into the area that should be harmonious per se, our bedrooms. This is exactly where the rules of feng shui come into play effectively, combining with a recent buzzword, so-called sleep hygiene.
Feng Shui is sometimes marketed in all sorts of ways, but Feng Shui cannot be bought. For example, bed linen with a large Yin and Yang symbol printed on it is not necessarily Feng Shui bed linen, but rather the opposite. In our consumer world, we are trained to respond to stimuli. The term Feng Shui has long been part of marketing strategies that have only one purpose: to sell.
While we are usually unable to design our entire environment harmoniously according to the principles of Feng Shui for obvious reasons, we can at least do so partially in our bedrooms. Easy-to-implement Feng Shui rules include rounded corners on furniture and keeping the number of pieces to a minimum. The ceiling-high mirror cabinet with three sliding doors is a good and, unfortunately, common example of poor Feng Shui. Just as we sleep horizontally, the furniture surrounding us in the bedroom should also be arranged horizontally rather than vertically. Incidentally, this is not only justified in the philosophy of Feng Shui, but also in the field of sleep hygiene. When falling asleep, tall furniture is disruptive, forcing the eyes to make unnecessary effort to find a resting point on the same level. Sharp corners and edges are also disruptive, and here too, feng shui and sleep hygiene agree. There are further similarities when it comes to the light from the bedside lamp, which is best dimmed and shines in warm, yellowish tones.
In Feng Shui, water plays a very special role, which is complemented in the here and now by electrical currents. If possible, the proximity of electrical cables and water pipes running through the wall should be avoided when positioning the bed. Ideally, the distance should be at least one metre. This also applies to similarities in the modern world. The VDI recommends a minimum distance of one metre from the nearest electrical socket for small children’s beds in order to reduce the effects of electromagnetic radiation. This leads to the next point, which could not have played a role in the ancient teachings of feng shui, but would certainly have found its way into it: the presence of a multitude of electronic devices in the bedroom. The occasional beeping, glowing and flashing of smartphones, televisions, chargers, etc. disturbing sleep is not a matter of ideology, it is a fact that has now been proven by several studies.
The point about how a bedroom should be designed in terms of colour according to Feng Shui teachings is missing from the list, as is the bed linen that promises the greatest harmony during sleep. Both can be combined well. Feng Shui favours calm, muted colours, pastel shades as well as earthy or natural floral colours, but no colours that are too bright or too strong, and no colour combinations that clash.
Designing walls and furniture in such ‘soft’ soothing colours is no problem, and there is no shortage of bed linen in matching colours or designs. However, bed linen is precisely what comes into closest contact with the sleeper in a bedroom. It is not only the colour that is relevant here, but also the fabric and its texture. Ideally, bed linen fulfils several functions: it reacts to night-time temperature fluctuations, harmonises the body’s functions during sleep with the environment and feels great against the skin. The ideal fabric for Feng Shui bed linen has been around longer than the teaching itself. Pure linen bed linen gives the body and mind the harmony they need during sleep to wake up feeling refreshed in the morning. However, as every person is an individual with their own character and Feng Shui allows plenty of scope for designing your personal environment, bed linen can also be made of a linen-cotton blend or cotton satin and, of course, silk. In Feng Shui, what is ideal is what you really like and what ultimately leads to harmony. The ancient Chinese agreed that the concept of harmony and its meaning are strongly dependent on the age of the observer. Modern people have the advantage of having a wide range of choices available for their personal Feng Shui, whether
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