Feng Shui Bedroom Tips to Improve Your Sex Life

The ancient Chinese art and science of feng shui helps us understand our environment and live in harmony with it. For thousands of years, people have observed patterns in nature and how these patterns affect us. Now, in time for Valentine's Day, use these traditional feng shui principles to make your bedroom a haven of rest, intimacy, and connection for you and your partner.

Energy flows through a room like water in a stream — swiftly through the deepest channels, more slowly along the bank, and not at all in that pile of junk in the corner. Plan your room's layout with the eye of a feng shui practitioner: eliminate stagnant areas like half-completed projects or piles of unfolded laundry, make sure closets aren't overcrowded, and keep the passageways around your room easy to navigate and free from clutter to let the chi flow.

Your bedroom is your shelter from the storm. Delight the five senses by filling it with anything soft, sensuous, or soothing: soft rugs for your cold feet, a luxurious faux fur throw, fluffy down pillows and duvets, scents from essential oils, a luxe velvet robe, the softest silk negligee, a cluster of candles or a low wattage lamp, and a record player with an old record collection waiting nearby.

Sha Chi is anything unpleasant that brings negative energy: a smelly pile of dirty laundry, harsh overhead lighting, clutter, dirt, or unclean bed linens. Charge your phone or tablet elsewhere to eliminate unwanted magnetic radiation, and wake up to a soundless (no tick tock!) clock with a gradual alarm like this one. Rid your room of anything dangerous, such as a rickety ceiling fan or a shelf with heavy objects mounted over your head.

Make sure the yin and the yang are represented in equal measure. This doesn't mean that your room has to look like a sterile hotel room; the goal is to make it welcoming to both genders. Balance a floral quilt with a leather trunk at the foot of the bed, or pair a pile of embroidered pillows with a Pendleton wool throw across the bottom of the bed.

Where you place your bed is very important in feng shui. Choose the wrong wall and you risk a long string of restless nights. The path from your bedroom door to the window has the strongest flow of energy; keep your bed out of this path if possible. Positioning your bed in front of a window is a big feng shui no-no. Ideally you should have a solid headboard or wall behind your bed (no diagonal placement either), a small table or chair on either side for support, and a low bench or a trunk at the foot of the bed.

If you share a house with roommates or little ones, a lock on the door is critical for making your room a love nest! Your bedroom is the place where you want to feel most secure and relaxed. The last thing you want is to be constantly worried about a surprise visit. Sound dampening creates a more intimate space as well; items such as an upholstered headboard, curtains, and rugs all contribute to a feeling of privacy and seclusion.

Rather than prescribe a set color palette for the bedroom, traditional feng shui emphasizes the pursuit of balance. If your bedroom is a sunny beachside retreat, then crisp starched linens and light blue accents will feel cool and refreshing in contrast. If, on the other hand, your bedroom is in a snowy mountaintop lodge, accents of warm reds, dark woods, and golden lamplight will provide much needed warmth.

A bedroom is no place for an office. A creative corner, maybe, but a technology-filled, deadline-driven, endless to-do list office? A constant reminder of your unread inbox does not cultivate rest or intimacy. Consider a mobile office that partners a laptop with your dining room table (and attractive storage for all your supplies) before you resort to a bedroom office.