Feng Shui for Real Life

When it’s back to school time, or any time you want to improve your child’s study skills, a few strategic Feng Shui changes in your child’s room can create a space that builds self-esteem and encourages good study habits. Practical uses of Feng Shui include setting up the furniture and adding appropriate decoration in a child's room or study area so that he or she is certain to succeed. Many of these Feng Shui changes can also work for dorm dwellers.

Here are my top nine Feng Shui rearrangements that help assure success in school.

1. Create a study area in your child's room. According to Feng Shui principles, it's best to position the desk so your child can see the door to the room. Avoid locating the desk where your child must sit with his or her back to the door, which is considered a vulnerable, insecure position. If there is no room in your child’s room for a desk, create a separate area in the house for studying, rather than scattering papers on the kitchen or dining room table.

2. Position the computer away from the bed and shut it off at night. There is an entire discipline of Feng Shui called baubiology that is devoted to the negative effects of EMFs, or the electromagnetic frequencies that electronic devices generate around a room. You can cut down on the EMFs in your child's room by shutting down the computer and other electronic devices at night. If the room is too small to locate the computer far from the bed, place a living plant near the computer to absorb some of the EMFs.

3. Control Clutter. Clutter represents the inability to move forward in Feng Shui, so include enough storage options, like attractive boxes and baskets, and your child will put things away when it's time to study. Some amount of clutter is normal for any child, but excessive clutter will distract your child from educational pursuits.

4. Display a globe and hang maps and posters of the planets and stars. In Feng Shui, a globe in your child's study area symbolizes curiosity, a map helps to ground your child, and charts of the stars and planets expand horizons.

5. Hang a bulletin board or create a display area near the desk to showcase achievements. This is the ideal place to hang your child's awards and citations, as well as artwork, report cards, and special papers to remind your child how he or she is succeeding and moving forward.

6. Add a fish bowl, aquarium, or collection of shells to the room. Fish and shells are symbols of educational success in Feng Shui, and maintaining the aquarium encourages responsibility for your child.

7. Remove under-bed storage to encourage a good night's sleep. It's especially important to avoid storing shoes under the bed, since this represents "walking away" from peaceful sleep. If you must store things under your child's bed, make sure they are soft items like out of season clothes or linens. Anything else is considered too stimulating and detracts from sleep.

8. Clean the windows regularly. Feng Shui considers windows to represent the eyes, so dirty windows in the room where your child studies represent cloudy vision, an obvious deterrent to success. When you clean windows you symbolically open up your child’s vision of the world.

9. Place family photos in the study area. Photos of parents, grandparents, and happy family gatherings help communicate love and security to a child. With all that family support around the room, your child is sure to succeed.