In determining whether or not it is harmful to have a TV in a bedroom, we can have a discussion about the subjective aspect compared to the objective aspect to it. Objectively speaking, having a TV or any electronics in the bedroom could be placing a person too close to the continuous electrical fields emitted by electronic devices. Even when a TV is turned off, as long as it is plugged into the electrical outlet, your EMF reader will register some electrical field around it. This holds true for computers also. And this is also why some people have moved the digital alarm clock away from the night stand and across the room. It’s also a good idea to put the cell phone further away than on the night stand.
With the TV, the EMF’s will be stronger on the back of the TV, as least with our old fashioned TV consoles. This is one reason why sleeping on the other side of a wall where the TV is backed up to could be more harmful than having it across the room, more than six feet away from where your body is sleeping.
We are all exposed to high electrical fields and some of us do more damage to ourselves than others, such as those who hold a cell phone close to their head for more than ten minutes a day. Oddly, back in the 1990’s practitioners of the New Age version of Feng Shui would recommend people surround themselves with electronic devices in order to “activate” an area in a supposedly positive way. Nothing could be further from the truth! Some people from this misguided group have since updated their knowledge in integrating science and spirituality.
On a subjective level, we all have to take responsibility for the information and entertainment that is coming to us via the television or the world wide web and ask ourselves how much negativity we are pumping into the conscious and subconscious mind, perhaps just moments before falling asleep? When there is a TV in a bedroom, there is a tendency to watch programs just before going to sleep and this could be counter-productive to having a good night’s sleep. Every TV and computer screen will disrupt our natural circadian rhythms (to sleep well at night when it is dark out), regardless of what we are watching or texting.
So, if there is anything in a bedroom with the capacity to undermine high quality sleep, then perhaps it should be re-located or reconsidered altogether. This could also include piles of work papers or other reminders of wakeful activities. That said, I have seen many articles go completely overboard in criticizing what people have in their bedrooms besides a bed and a clothes dresser. Some articles back in the 1990’s said that people should not have exercise equipment in their bedrooms. The notion was that this could inhibit your love life. Same with books. All not true. Or at least we can say this is a highly subjective interpretation and not based on the real energy field in the space or what these physical objects are made of.
Lots of single women have been put into unwarranted stress thinking that if they don’t have things in pairs (like two night stands) that they will not find their soul mate. Clearly, when Feng Shui first became popular in the Western world, unbeknownst to the public at large, this ancient discipline had been hijacked by New Age mumbo-jumbo. And I can say that, since I am a card-carrying New Ager who likes to distinguish between real mysticism and faux mysticism.
I personally do not have a TV in my bedroom, but I know many Feng Shui masters do. It would be way down the list of our concerns in the big scheme of what constitutes balance or the ability to help a person be healthy, happy and prosperous.
Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions ® since 1992
From the Frequent Client Questions Blog Series
