Feng Shui to Beat the Winter Blues

Create warm and uplifiting energy even during the darkest time of year

   Simone Sanders on the topics of winter, insight, feng shui

Winter’s cold temperatures and long evenings bring the blues to many Sun worshippers. Fortunately, Feng Shui can mitigate the more chilling effects of the season.

Even better, Feng Shui can also accentuate the many positive aspects of winter. Remember, winter symbolizes a time of turning inward. Instead of catering to everybody else’s desires, it gives you the chance to attend to your personal needs.

Shed a little light on the subject

Installing full-spectrum bulbs throughout your home can counterbalance the effect of Seasonal Affective Disorder. These bulbs provide natural light similar to the sun, helping you to feel more energetic, focused and alert during the winter months. Varying your light sources can also lift your spirits. Have a mixture of overhead fixtures, task lighting, floor lamps and up lights throughout your home and office.

Create a cozy corner

Winter is the season of self-nurturing. With that in mind, what better way to honor the season than to position a comfortable reading chair in a corner? Add a snuggly blanket, a footstool, a small table and a reading lamp. The mere sight of your cozy corner will remind you to slow down, relax and enjoy some precious quiet time.

Fire things up

Cooking can generate much needed warmth during the winter months. Having a simmering pot of soup or stew on the back burner of your stove will fill your home with mouth-watering aromas, and fill your stomach with healthy nourishment.

Keep a journal

Writing is a perfect wintertime activity, because it invites you to go inward and explore your emotional landscape. Jotting down your thoughts, worries and dreams in a journal each day will provide a welcome outlet for your feelings.

Reach for the sky

Tall plants, chairs with straight backs, and narrow bookcases lend uplifting energy to any space. Patterns with vertical stripes have a similar effect. Integrate these furnishings and design elements into any room where you are prone to succumb to depression.

Don’t forget to warm up

Warm colors can combat the hazy shade of winter. Add touches of garnet, pumpkin, goldenrod and spring green wherever you need a lift. Keep grays, blues, blacks and purples to a minimum.

Make a comfort drawer

The natural abundance of autumn is over, so now you have to provide creature comforts for yourself. Fill a drawer in your night table or desk (or both!) with little luxuries. A box of after-dinner mints, a vial of lavender essential oil, bags of your favorite tea, a tube of scented hand lotion, a juicy pocket paperback, a packet of ginger biscuits … whatever brings you comfort, put it in the drawer. Keep it well-stocked through the winter months.

Clutter bust

There’s a good chance you’ll be spending lots more time indoors now that it’s winter. Giving yourself more room to roam will help you beat the winter blues. Create spacious pathways throughout your home, take stacks of reading material off the floor, clear the countertops, and stow the kids’ toys in cupboards when they’re not being used.

Keep it moving

Things that have lots of movement — a pendulum clock, a ceiling fan, a mobile or a crackling fire — can stir up the stagnant energy associated with winter. If you have certain rooms that don’t get a lot of activity, aim an oscillating fan at a plant so that its leaves rustle occasionally. Alternately, you can suspend a piece of lightweight fabric over a heating duct so it flutters gently, generating uplifting energy.

Love the night life

Since night falls early in winter, you might as well embrace the darkness. Eat dinner by candlelight. Enjoy a movie marathon. Play board games in front of the fire with the kids. Go to bed early with your lover, but not necessarily to sleep.