The direction of your bed may be blocking 'good energy'

Practitioners of feng shui claim immediately health benefits from moving things around and making small changes.

Eva Walters, left, goes over the feng shui analysis of her home with Shivani Adalja.

ABU DHABI // Eva Walters asked Shivani Adalja to make a feng shui assessment of her apartment after her daughter suffered a series of health problems and her husband had trouble sleeping. Ms Adalja initially suggested a few small changes to the apartment so that Mrs Walters could decide whether that approach could help her family.

Feng shui, the ancient Chinese practice, is intended to determine the suitability and layout of homes, businesses, burial grounds and temples so that qi, or energy, is not disrupted. Mrs Walters's daughter, Alarna, 17, had been experiencing health problems, including a persistent headache, which Ms Adalja suggested could be treated by placing a bowl of salt in Alarna's bedroom to absorb "bad energy".

Alarna also had to place a mirror on her bedroom door to deflect the "bad energy" coming from the front door, which was close to her bedroom. "Alarna started to feel so much better really quickly, and it didn't require big, expensive changes," said Mrs Walters, who has used feng shui in her home in Australia. During her hour-long consultation, Ms Adalja suggested changes such as placing a red mat at the front door; red, the colour of fire, is believed to help burn negative energy entering the apartment.

In the living room, she suggested adding bright colours, which she claimed would stimulate the energy flow in that room and stop energy from flowing into Alarna's bedroom, thus reducing her headaches. Ms Adalja believes that Alarna's headaches stemmed from too much energy in her place of rest. At Ms Adalja's suggestion, Alarna's bed was moved away from the "energies" of the bathroom and the hallway that were disturbing her sleep. In addition, her bed was realigned, away from a "loss direction".

To reduce visual distractions, Ms Adalja suggested that the numerous photographs on Alarna's bedroom walls be removed. Good energy entering the bedroom had been mischannelled by the clutter, Ms Adalja said. Alarna said that within days of the changes, she was sleeping better, focusing on school work much better and feeling more driven. [e-mail]