Feng Shui is a Chinese system for managing "chi". Chi is basically life energy. When you’re awake, you want lots of positive energy to keep you feeling invigorated. In the bedrooms, you need to calm the life energy to achieve a blissful, deep sleep.

The first thing I read about Feng Shui was that you should never have mirrors on opposite walls. I had a mirrored wardrobe on one wall, and a decorative mirror on the opposite wall. I knew nothing about Feng Shui and was very sceptical, but I was willing to try anything to improve my sleep. So I removed the decorative mirror. Imagine my surprise when I slept much more soundly that night!

In fact, Feng Shui frowns on all mirrors in bedrooms. Chi loves to bounce around on reflective surfaces, making it more lively and disrupting your sleep. Ideally, if you have a mirrored wardrobe, you should install a net or voile curtain which you can draw over it at night. A TV screen is also reflective. If you must have one in the bedroom, cover it before you try to sleep.

Now let's look at the location of your bed in the room. Assuming there are no mirrors to bend and disrupt the flow, chi generally flows from the door to the window of the room. If your bed is positioned between the two, the life force will flow straight across your body - which would be a good thing if you wanted to feel awake and lively, but no good if you want to sleep!

If you can't position your bed to avoid that flow, you can place something to block the chi and make it go around. Perhaps a room divider or screen would work – or get one of those tropical mosquito nets to hang around your bed. Some Feng Shui practitioners feel that a rug between the bed and the door is enough (though in my view, this is more symbolic than practical).

In fact, that's one reason why Feng Shui disapproves of en suite bathrooms - because it means you have two doors in your bedroom, making the flow more complex so it's difficult to avoid having chi flowing across the bed. Always keep your ensuite door closed at night. By the way, also keep the seat down, gentlemen - Feng Shui believes that if you don't, your wealth will drain down the toilet!

Another Feng Shui rule is to position your bed so that the foot of the bed is not directly facing the doorway. This is called the "coffin position" and is considered unlucky. Note it's OK for the foot of the bed to be facing the wall that the door is on. So long as you can't see the bed when you're standing outside the bedroom door, it's fine.

Another common sense recommendation is that your bedroom should be free of distractions (I'm sure you've heard sleep specialists advise that your bedroom should be kept for sleeping and sex only). This especially applies to anything connected to work, such as paperwork, computers, etc. The television is a huge source of chi (think of all the activity that happens on the screen, not to mention its electrical energy). If you really must have it, cover it completely before you go to bed – and on no account watch it before bedtime, because that will guarantee you don’t sleep!

In fact, Feng Shui frowns on clutter of any kind. “A cluttered room makes a cluttered mind”. Don’t use your bedroom as a dumping ground for “stuff”! When you’re ready to go to bed, make sure the room is tidy and all the cupboards are closed.

Finally, the points of the compass are important in Feng Shui. Once again, there was originally logic behind these recommendations.

For instance, traditional Feng Shui says that your living areas should be on the South side of the house and your bedrooms on the north. That makes sense in the Northern Hemisphere (where Feng Shui originated), because it means the living rooms are filled with light, while the bedrooms are protected from the daytime heat. However in the Southern Hemisphere, it would mean gloomy living rooms and hot, sunny bedrooms. So some modern practitioners reverse the original rules for sites in the Southern Hemisphere - whereas others disagree.

I would strongly recommend you follow the modern trend when choosing the best room for your bedroom. A cool temperature is very important for good sleep: many of us sleep with too many blankets or quilts anyway, and a warm, stuffy room won't help. And the last thing you want is to be awakened at the crack of dawn by the sun streaming in your window, if you didn’t get to sleep till late.

The same disputes apply when considering which compass point your bed should face. If you have a choice (often the layout of the room makes the decision for you), I suggest you try placing your bed in different positions and see what works best for you. You may find that you sleep better with your head pointing in one direction than another. Don't base your decision on one night - try each position for a few nights

Of course, there are those who say Feng Shui is nothing more than a heap of superstition. However, trying some of these ideas costs nothing, and won't hurt. So why not give it a try?

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All text copyright Marisa Wright.

Chinese carving photo courtesy of Kainet on Flickr