Decorating your dorm room is always a fun adventure that represents the first time living on your own. There are a few feng shui tips that can make this transition easier. Existing dorm dwellers can also follow these suggestions to create a better dorm-living environment.
Determine Facing Direction
The first thing you want to do is determine the facing direction of your dorm building. Just as with an apartment building, you will use the front entrance of your dorm building to take the compass reading. It's important to know this direction so you can determine each compass direction in your dorm room. If you know your kua number, you can then determine if the facing direction of the building or your dorm room (if above the ninth floor) is one of your best directions.
Classical Feng Shui (Form and Compass) relies on compass directions (unlike Black Hat Sect). The facing direction reading is obtained by standing in the dorm building entrance door looking out. You will hold the compass in front of you for an exact compass reading.
Exceptions to this rule include:
- Yang energy: If the dorm building entrance door has very little activity (yang energy) you will use the side of the building that has the highest yang energy (activity).
- Ninth floor: According to feng shui guru, Lillian Too, if an apartment building (dorm in this case) has more than nine floors, those living above the ninth floor won't use the building to ascertain the facing direction. Instead, you'll use the direction that the largest window overlooks. This will be your facing direction. If you have more than one window, choose the one overlooking the most activity (yang energy). However, there are some feng shui practitioners who do their calculations using the sixth floor and above.
Once you are certain of the facing direction for your dorm, you can create a rough layout of your room indicating each compass direction. This will aid you in recognizing each sector as well as your best directions according to your kua number.
Eliminate All Clutter
You want the chi energy to flow freely in your dorm room. The main feng shui principle to address is with clutter. The mere psychological impact of a cluttered environment is immediately recognizable when you step into a messy room and then return when it is clean, neat and organized. There are many things that count as clutter, such as:
- Laundry: Whether it is clean or dirty, stacks and mounds of laundry is clutter. Keep up with washing dirty clothes. Piles of dirty clothes is clutter. Fold and put away all loads of laundry. Keep your dorm room free of clutter.
- Stacks of books and magazines: If all of your textbooks aren't virtual, you might end up with stacks of books, papers and magazines before you know it. These are considered clutter and also create poison arrows. Invest is a bookcase with wood or glass doors.
- Trash: It's easy to accumulate water and soda bottles/cans and food wrappers when studying all hours of the night. Keep trash emptied regularly.
- Housekeeping: Dust and vacuum your room regularly.
- Overcrowding: Living in a small space can quickly become overcrowded. Economize storage and what objects you place in your dorm.
- Closets: Don't overcrowd the closet. If you don't have a closet door due to space, you can use either a curtain rod or spring-loaded shower curtain rod to hold a curtain that can be pulled closed. This will serve as a door (barrier) between you and the items stored in your closet.
Bed Position and Tips
Most dorm rooms are small but must serve as for study, sleep, dining and even an entertainment space. The bed position is vital to an auspicious functional space.
Placement Advice
Look for the ideal position and try to avoid inauspicious ones.
- Coffin position: The bed should never be placed so your feet are pointing toward the door when you sleep on your back. This is called the coffin position since people in China who die at home are carried out the door feet first.
- Best bed placement: The best placement for your bed is diagonally across from the door so you can easily see from your bed anyone entering the dorm room. If you can't see the door from the bed, place a mirror so you can see the reflection of the door.
- Tien Yi: This is the health direction and one of the four auspicious directions. Take advantage of health luck by placing your bed so your head is pointing towards your health direction. This direction can be ascertained by calculating your kua number.
- Under bed storage: It might seem like an ideal economy of space, but storing anything underneath your bed is inauspicious. It prevents the chi energy from moving freely about your room. This is especially true of designs featuring drawers underneath the bed.
- Mattress on floor: Never sleep on a mattress placed directly on the floor instead of a bed frame. This creates a block in the natural flow of chi energy and all that chi energy will slam into you while you try to sleep.
- Headboard: It's best to have a headboard attached to the bed frame. This will give you support and improve your rest.
Loft and Bunk Beds
Avoid both loft and bunk beds if at all possible. The top bunk or loft bed is in the air. There is no wall or floor support. The effect isn't beneficial to feeling confident or secure in the support you need while in college. However, if you must use a loft or bunk bed, you can remedy with a headboard and secure the beds against a wall. Make sure the bed(s) aren't wobbly, but sturdy.
If you're stuck with a loft bed that features a desk and/or futon underneath, you can feel oppressed by the overhead loft since it will push the chi energy downward. One possible remedy is the destructive cycle. If the loft is made of wood, choose a metal desk or futon. If the loft is metal, go with a wood desk or wood futon. A couple other remedies to consider:
- Paint the bottom of the loft a light color so you won't feel as though the loft is falling or pressing down on you. A light color will give the illusion of a ceiling. If you don't own the bed/loft, check with the proper dorm authority before painting.
- Suspend an overhead light from the underside of the loft and place a desk lamp or table/floor lamp by the futon to keep the chi energy active and prevent it from accumulating or becoming stagnant.
Desk and Study Area
The placement of your desk has a far greater impact on your studies than you realize. There are substantial feng shui rules that guide the most auspicious placement for desks. Follow a few of these for better scholastic results. The best placement of a desk is so you sit with a solid wall behind your back, but most dorms don't have the square footage for this type of placement.
Desk Against the Wall
Placing a desk against the wall so you must face the wall while you study goes against feng shui rules that dictate a command and supportive desk position. The feng shui desk placement looks out over the room with the door in plain view. It also mandates that a solid wall be directly behind you when sitting at the desk. The wall gives you the support you need to accomplish your studies.
However, space is a high premium in a dorm room and setting your desk against a wall is usually the only placement choice. This desk placement leaves you vulnerable to what comes up behind you. In fact, feng shui principles that such a placement means you will often be blindsided and can find yourself the victim of back-stabbing.
You can remedy this inauspicious feng shui placement with two items:
- Mirror: Position a round mirror on the desk or wall in front of you so you have a good line of sight behind you. You'll quickly feel the calming effect with a new sense of being in control.
- Desk chair: Compensate for the lack of a solid wall to support you with a high-backed desk chair to simulate that support.
Four Best Positions
There are four auspicious directions that you can use for various dorm living to enhance these areas of your life. You find these through your kua number. These include:
- Tien Yi (health): Best sleeping position with head pointed in this direction. Also sit facing this direction when eating to ensure best nutritional assimulation of food.
- Sheng Chi (wealth): If you wish to activate your wealth luck, sit facing this best direction. Place coins, gold ingots or a three leg toad in this sector.
- Nien Yen (love): Take advantage of love luck with this direction with a heart-shaped rose quartz and photos of your special someone. You can also sleep, study and eat facing this direction.
- Fu Wei (personal growth): This is an excellent direction to face while studying and especially when taking exams. If you have the opportunity to face this direction during these and other related activities, such as lectures and labs, then take advantage of the positive energies found in this direction.
Mentor Sector
One of the most overlooked areas in feng shui is often the mentor sector. This is the area you want to activate to attract a mentor. Some ways to do this include:
- The mentor sector is located in the northwest.
- Northwest is governed by the metal element. Place one or two metal objects in this sector. Don't overdo.
- You can use metal colors as mentor symbols in this sector, such as silver and gold and also white.
- Place a photo of a desired mentor or someone you highly respect in this sector. You could select someone prominent in your field of study, alive or dead, to help activate your mentor luck.
- If you admire one or more people in your chosen career field who authored a book, place those books in this sector to reinforce your mentor luck.
- Hang a banner on the wall that you feel best depicts your idea of success.
Symbols for Success in College
You can display a few success symbols in the fame and recognition sector (south) of your dorm room. If placing an object on your desk, choose the south, northeast (education luck) or northwest (mentor luck) direction.
- Pen of Victory Baton: While this symbol is used primarily for literary success, it's also used by anyone seeking magnifying personal power and achieving goals. Place in south sector.
- Guru Rinpoche decal: This 8th century guru dubbed the "second Buddha" is a symbol that brings karmic rewards and also protection of prosperity and health, and can be used to assist in scholarly pursuits. Place in northeast or northwest sector.
- Success Amulet: One for educational achievements includes a pair of carp jumping over the Dragon Gate along with the four scholar arts. Place in northeast or south sector.
- Wen Chang Education Amulet: This amulet depicts Confucius the great Chinese thinker and social philosopher (551 BC - 479 BC). Place in the northeast or northwest sector.
Creating a Feng Shui Dorm Room
With a little effort and discipline, you can use feng shui principles to create and maintain your dorm room decor. The benefits of applying feng shui principles to this space will soon become self-evident as your education, fame/recognition, and mentor lucks are activated.
