Feng Shui Your Covid Compound

It was one year ago that Covid hit and spun a pandemic world into a full blown sideways skid. After 12 months, what we know is that we’re not out of the woods yet, although the vaccine and a greater scientific understanding provide some hope that the light in the tunnel is not an oncoming train. 

Given that we have a little while to go before life returns to its new normal, we may still have to work and live and teach our kids all from home for a just few more months. And even though this may be getting old at this point, and everyone is SO OVER THIS, that’s actually the reason for this post.

What Is Feng Shui Anyway?

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese philosophy and practice of arranging one’s living area to help create a more peaceful space. During the COVID quarantine it may seem that your home has turned into a compound, and for your mental and emotional health that bunker mentality is not helping at all. It’s exhausting.

This effect produces even more mental health concerns, and can lead to anxiety and depression as well. This tumble of awful outcomes needs a solution, or at least a handrail we can hold on to to break our fall down these stairs. Since we are more likely to be stuck in our homes, how do we help create some positivity around it? Again, that’s the point of the post. 

While the advice below isn’t Feng Shui to the nth degree, it is the best advice for arranging your home to create a better sense of peace in your life. And as you read through, you’ll note that so much of this coaching has to do with setting a structure where one activity does not encroach on the other. This regularity and order can help reduce the unconscious frustrations that build up inside, which increases mental clarity and calm.

1. Create Your Own Space: Set aside areas in your home that are just for certain things: to work, for alone time, and for group time. That doesn’t mean that sometimes there will be overlap — this is a home after all, lol — but setting boundaries creates a physical structure that can help lead to mental calm.
2.  Create Your Own Time: The note above is about setting physical boundaries. But just as important are temporal boundaries as well. Set times for the activities of your day; also schedule times for hobbies, lunch, and physical activity. As much as you are able, stick to those times as your new routine. Again, let there be some overlap, because we live crazy busy dynamic lives and those temporal boundaries you set should be guidelines, not walls.
3. Clear Clutter: Visual clutter can be a real stressor. So resolve yourself, and work with your family or housemates to de-clutter your space. As you cook or play or make your coffee etc, put away and clear up behind yourself. Each act to declutter your space takes literally seconds, but if all commit to do these truly tiny tasks, the overall effect is to create a calming, clean home space. Finally, everyone has their own clutter tolerance, so just know that your acceptable level of messy will not be another’s. Among those living with you, find the balance that makes the most sense for you.