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Simple Feng Shui Inspired Environmental Considerations for
Children’s Health in the Home. By: Sherry Burton Ways
Feng Shui is a powerful tool to create a healthy, loving
safe environment for children no matter what room they are in your home. Emotional and physical support using Feng
Shui can enhance all the stages in a child’s development.
So what is Feng Shui?
Feng Shui is pronounced ‘Fung Shvee’ and literally translated means
‘wind and water.’ It embodies the 7,000
year old ancient Chinese art of placement which balances and enhances the
environment.
I invite you to be a Feng Shui detective and analyze using
your intuition and senses things about your home to ensure it is healthy and
vibrant for continued growth and production for your child.
First, think about or observe whether or not your child is
having trouble breathing or has asthma or other concerns. If he or she does, ask:
What is the air quality like in your child’s room or the
entire home as a whole? Have you checked
your home’s ventilation system? Do your
air ducts need to be cleaned out or replaced?
I was working with a client who informed me that her daughter was having
a lot of allergies. This concerned
me. As we began a total redesign of her
home, we learned that the air ducts were never cleaned in her home and was in
serious need for replacement. In
addition, one of the air ventilation system was located just outside her
bedroom door!
Ways to combat indoor air pollution to protect your
family:
Do not smoke or allow smokers in your home
Get your chimney cleaned regularly and your
appliances serviced
Open windows at different sides of the home to
create cross ventilation
Seal cracks in floor edges, pipes and walls
especially basement
Buy an air-filter.
Use safe non toxic cleaning materials
We all live with electrical appliances. However, do we really understand what the
effects are of these appliances in our home and to our children? The entire earth is permeated by magnetic
lines of energy that criss-cross over its surface. These lines are similar to our nervous system
along which travels natural radiation or the electro-magnetic field otherwise
known as EMFs. Millions of adults and
children may face an increased risk of cancer and other diseases because they
are exposed to electro-magnetic radiation from power lines and household
electrical appliances. Even electrical
disturbances from electronic equipment in your child’s bedroom can increase the
risk of disease as well as sleep deprivation.
These include things like computers, televisions, radios, alarm clocks,
CD players, bedside lights, etc. You
want to keep these items at a minimum or at least in a closed armoire or
cabinet so these do not affect the health of your child.
There are several ways you can reduce the positive ions in
your home that may be harmful to your child:
Keep electrical equipment away from your child’s bed
Get an ioniser
Keep a comfortable indoor humidity by ventilating to the
outside.
Use less electrical equipment
Burn cleansing and purifying aromatherapy oils.
Next assess
the clutter level of your home and your childs room. It is generally a rule that children watch
and emmulate adult behavior. So let’s
examine whether or not you are living a clutter free lifestyle. You see, in the world of Feng Shui, clutter
does not allow for the free circulation of good energy in the home. When energy circulates, responses and moves
about a space it will clog up or become depleted when too much clutter is in
place. This does not create a good
situation for anyone including your child in the home.
Some things to do to create a clutter free
environment for your child:
- Create a clear system of organization to clear
out your child’s clutter. Toy boxes,
shelving and other systems are great to implement and are not very expensive-
check out resources and products at stores like Target or IKEA.
- Teach your child a clear and simple organization
system in a way that will help them to stick to it.
- Allow for patience and time to use whatever
system you come up with so that your child get’s acclimated to it. Reward your child in some healthy way when
the system is used successfully.
The main feng shui goal in transforming living spaces
into healthy ones for children is to create a healthy, loving and safe
environment for all who enter.
Sherry Burton
Ways is the Principal Designer of Kreative Ways & Solutions, LLC a
Washington, DC décor firm focused on creating spaces that inspire you through
feng shui, color therapy and interior environment coaching. She is the author of the forthcoming book,
Feel Good Spaces: Decorating Your Home for the Body, Mind and Spirit. Wealth
Sistas Publishing.
