Thanks for your reply re having my computer and desk in my bedroom. I still have two problems :
1. how can I balance the ying and yang of the bedroom/study?
2. the desk forms a poison arrow pointing straight at my bed (a futon). I can't put the desk or the bed in another position - how do I deal with the poison arrow?

Thanks for bring up this interesting subject.

Let me elaborate about Yin. Yin refers to softer materials e.g. "soft" wood, light colours. "Soft" wood are e.g. pine even teak but not laminated wood decor. For colours, the use of light colours. Flooring made of wood pieces will enhance the yin in a room. This is why you notice that most bedrooms use parquet (wooden flooring) to enhance yin . state of rest.

Yang refers to `hard' materials e.g. glass table, metallic objects/table and even plastic and laminates on wood. Colours are vibrant e.g. bright colors. Flooring made of cold slabs of e.g. marble, homogenous tiles and other ceramic materials especially if they are bright coloured enhance yang in a room.

Do note that white, or simply off-white and light pale white mixed with other colours are `neutral' to either yin or yang.

Here you can `play' with Yin and Yang by `controlling' the use of:-

1. Furniture
2. Colours in the room ie. walls, ceiling and appropriate floor tiles.
3. Lighting.

For example in a business environment, e.g. a restaurant, where you want the customers to be cosy, the furniture usually are made of wood, plus the seats are either fabric + wood . to allow the customers to `stay longer' for their meals.

Contrast this to a cafe, where they want high turnover. let you eat and `encourage' you to move on. You will notice that usually the tables are either laminate e.g. Fast Food restaurants like MacDonnels, have plastic chairs. and bright lights . this will make it more of a Yang environment and. the ultimate aim is `fast' pace.

The above is a good example of how furniture and colours are used in food outlets. We already `touched' roughly on furniture and colours. For lighting, e.g. in a room, if you want more Yang, then have a bit more of light or use a table lamp.

As there are so much to share in this area, I will continue.. with it later on.

Question: The desk forms a poison arrow pointing straight at my bed (a futon). I can't put the desk or the bed in another position - how do I deal with the poison arrow?

Ideally, you should use a table with a rounded corner. One alternative is to go to Toy-R-Us or e.g. Ikea or any shops that sell child protectors. What I mean is that you can buy those `rounded plastic edges' where it sticked on to a table. So that if a child bumps into the corner, it is rounded and will not hurt anyone. This is the `cheapest' solution than changing your `sharp' corned table or (taking the trouble to saw it! *Joke*)

For me, I went to Ikea (furniture shop) and purchased quite a lot of these ` rounded plastic edges ' and place them in my rooms. Some friends wondered. if I had so many small kids in my home. Phew! I don't know what to tell them.

Cecil Lee
Center for Feng Shui Research
February 1999