Feng Shui for Digital Wellbeing: Rest, Romance, and Recalibrating Rituals
Nourishing Habits™ Digital Wellness Coaching and Lifestyle is excited to feature Tracy McDowell as a guest writer. McDowell is the founder of Nested Feng Shui and specializes in transforming spaces to ignite positive change and momentum in her clients' lives.
Feng Shui for Digital Wellbeing: Rest, Romance, and Recalibrating Rituals
Have you ever wondered, why am I having trouble falling asleep? Is my phone killing my sex life? Where is the best place to store my phone at night? These are all questions that can addressed through the framework of Feng Shui.
Hi, my name is Tracy McDowell. I am a Feng Shui Consultant with Nested Feng Shui. Feng Shui a powerful practice that integrates interior design and eastern philosophies to bring balance, abundance, health, love and harmony to a home.
As the number of screens around us increases it is crucial to consider how they might be affecting our mood and wellness. Screen time is becoming more commonplace in homes; as are feelings agitation and overstimulation. You are not alone in feeling scattered, in fact you are not scattered, your habits are scattered. Lucky, there is a way to bring all your scattered energies back to a balanced focused point, Feng Shui for technological wellbeing. You have the power to change your physical environment to support your health and digital wellbeing. With a few simple Feng Shui inspired changes you can drastically improve your day to day sense of ease and inner peace.
The Importance of Creating a Space for Deep Rest
Often in our busy twenty first century lives we become detached from ourselves and the patterns that keep us healthy and happy. Do you find yourself telling everyone "sorry I'm booked" or lamenting how you wish you could relax but "you're just so busy." Busy is not always a badge of honor. "Busy" is sometimes a sign of imbalance within a lifestyle and an indication that rest is needed. Our minds and bodies require supportive spaces for both productivity and rest as we carry out our work and familial obligations.
Being in flow is not rocket science, it can be simple, it is magic, and anyone can tap into it. Consider implementing one or two of these suggestions. As you settle into the shift you might begin to notice yourself decompressing and exhaling into your space and self.
Nested Feng Shui is a practice about actively building the environment around oneself. "Settle into your heart by settling into your home." There is no one size fits all answer for Feng Shui and there is no one size fits all approach for the best place to put technology in the home. Nested Feng Shui was founded with the intention of meeting clients where they are at, AKA tailoring their space to fit and support their personal needs, wants, and goals, thus a personal consultation is always advised for the best results. That said, there are some logical rules of thumb that I end up telling every client. These rules of thumb are intuitive, approachable, and you can implement them in your home today.
The bedroom is for rest and romance.
Say it with me, "the bedroom is for rest and romance." And again, "the bedroom is for rest and romance." Rest. Romance. At Nested Feng Shui we like to be specific about the intention of a space, that way the energy knows where to go and what to do as it flows around the home. Intention is a powerful tool.
Bedrooms are safe spaces to cultivate love and intimacy; on both the personal and partner levels. Like the name implies, a bed room is a room for a bed. (If you are in a position where your bedroom is your entire space, like a studio or dorm situation, imagine your bed and sleep being separate from everything else as you read on). A bedroom is a space set aside specifically for something comfy (a bed) to support your rest and romance. A bedroom with positive Feng Shui is free of technology. In Feng Shui technology is linked to office spaces or entertaining spaces, not bedrooms. Ideally, the bedroom feels like a safe and secure island where you can drift into dreams or get your freak on uninterrupted. Picture your bedroom right now. Does it bring a sense of ease? Does your bedroom make you feel safe? Is your bedroom like an oasis amidst all the hustle and bustle of your life? You have the ability to create a space specifically designed to help you fall asleep faster, wake up more easily, and be able to completely surrender while making love.
Step 1: Remove screens that emit blue light
Step 2: Remove devices that emit EMF (electromagnetic frequencies).
Easy, remove your phone, laptop, iPad, and television from the bedroom.
Eliminating blue light will help restore your circadian rhythms and melatonin production. From natural sources, blue light is great because it boosts alertness and mood. From unnatural sources, like screen related technologies, blue light begins to trick your body out of its circadian rhythm and deplete your bodies natural melatonin production.
EMF (electromagnetic frequencies) can lead to all sorts of alarming conditions that you can google and worry about, or you can avoid that worrying step and simply start to decrease the risks of surrounding yourself with EMF while you sleep by removing your teach from our room. That includes your phone and phone charging station.
In short, keeping your phone, computer or tv of out the bedroom will improve your health and wellbeing by encouraging deeper rest and intimacy. Both sleep and sex are activities that open our hearts and minds to help us reach deep relaxation. It's is much easier to enjoy and sink into those two bliss states without distractions.
Would you put a baby to bed with an iPad to play with? No, when you put a baby to bed you do everything in your power to make that room and space remind the baby, it's is bed time. You place them in a quiet room, you close all the blinds, maybe put on a white noise machine, dim the lights, and close the door.
Consider treating yourself with the same level of care. As adults we are great at signaling to children that it is time to decompress, but not as good with ourselves. It is up to us to model healthy behavior. You would never leave a baby alone to and iPad or phone and say, "ok go to sleep." You know that the screen time is stimulating and that sleep time is about removing all stimulus to allow the the parasympathetic (rest and digest) to kick in. Phones, laptops, and televisions ideally are not part of the rest and romance equation. Keep them out of the bedroom. Protect two of the most valuable and vulnerable actions, sleep and sex, by removing technology from the bedroom.
Landing Station
A highly overlooked part of a healthy home that ingrates technology is a set space for placing and charging your electronics. My clients often benefit greatly from establishing a space upon entering the house that's their “landing pad.” By creating a location with a phone charger and space for papers, mail, and/or a bag you are signaling to yourself and others that you're leaving the outside outside and switching into home mode. By all means, use your phone and technologies in your house, but also consider how freeing it will feel to have one location where all the outside/online world can be left towards the end of the day. You will have more space for you, so you can begin to create a night time routine [link to routine blog] for you to enjoy and decompress without the huddle and bustle of outside/online life.
Begin Today
As a Feng Shui Consultant with Nested Feng Shui I am often guiding my clients to make tiny tweaks to their spaces that ripple out into positive changes for their entire life. An easy first step to experiment with the power of Feng Shui is examining where your keep your tech in your home and than seeing what happens when you remove it from your sleep space and find anew home for it that allows you to unplug when needed.
-Tracy McDowell
Tracy McDowell is a California-based Feng Shui Consultant trained by Alina Cruz of the International Feng Shui School. Tracy is known for her ability to transform spaces without spending a dime and helping her clients create supportive spaces to ignite positive change and momentum in their lives. Read more at:www.nestedfengshui.com.
Nourishing Habits™
Nourishing Habits™ are practices that support your physical and emotional well-being in the digital age. Sometimes, we need a physical reminder to help us sustain a healthy habit. Try hanging your phone outside of your bedroom every night with Bagby! Bagby is a family owned, small business working to foster authentic human connection and intimacy through digital wellness. Get your bagby today!
