If people can be concerned about Feng Shui for bathrooms, surely an exercise room has to be more important and rivals the bathroom in terms of how much time is spent there. When it comes to the hierarchy of which areas of a house are most important, hardly any other rooms compete with the bedroom or home office, in terms of how many hours a day or night one dwells in those spaces.
Sure, the kitchen can be an important room if one cooks daily. A living room can be important if one sits there (watching TV or any other activity) for a measurable amount of time.
With an exercise room, not only are you dwelling in that space, but you are also moving your body. And you may even be lifting weights or putting your body in strained positions. There is potential for injury, more so in an exercise room, than in a dining room, just as an example.
An exercise room is very important if you are spending time there daily and it could easily account for more time than what is usually spent in a bathroom.
Exercise rooms may have metal work-out equipment. It’s always nice and convenient when the exercise room falls in an area of a floor plan that happens to need the metal element. Voila! You’re done.
Should an exercise room be placed in an area of your house with the best flying stars? Should it be relegated to a more negative zone? These answers depend on how much time you spend there and how many family members use the room also. Certainly, I would favor a home gym in the better of two rooms if one will be designated for the occasional guest bedroom. A house should be set up to cater to the occupants more than for guests.
Special remedies for an Exercise room? Not really. As with any other room in the house, the flying stars can dictate what elemental adjustments should be made. If the room needs metal, then the contents of the room could qualify such as metal weights and equipment. If the room needs the fire element, this can be employed with red work-out mats, towels or red art on the wall.
If the room needs water, a fountain could be set in a corner or on a shelf. Like a home recording studio, water features can sometimes get in the way or make too much noise, but there are always counter-measures which can be used as back-up second choices.
If an exercise room needs the earth element or wood element, there is nothing conspicuous about having a large potted plant in this kind of room. All this to say, that an exercise room is just as easy as any other room in a house to apply the appropriate element, using ordinary décor items.
If the flying stars in the room happen to imply a potential for accidents or injury, then the dosage of the correct element could be increased, since the activity in the room may be risky, increasing the chances for something to go awry.
If the room has a more generic type of agitated energy, one can decorate the room with soothing, pleasing colors or play relaxing music, something like that to counter the non-obvious influences.
In feng shui, we also make recommendations in how a person should sit (at a desk) for highest productivity or which direction to sleep in, in order to have the highest quality or rest. When it comes to exercising, you may be likely moving about in all the directions, unless you are concerned with one particular direction on a stationary bike or treadmill.
I have not conducted professional studies or documentation on whether using one’s personal best directions (while exercising) will make any difference. There is likely a benefit, but too hard to track. Other common sense principles, such as having a nice view and plenty of natural light while working out can come into play with the arrangement of the room’s contents or even which room in the house to use.
A more common question that comes up is whether it is good or bad to have the exercise equipment in a room that is used for other functions, be it a bedroom, home office, dining room or living room. We can always discuss “ideal” situations, where each room is dedicated to a separate function, but that is not possible or practical for many people.
If you have your stationary bike tucked into a corner of your bedroom, don’t despair. There are other feng shui practitioners out there who have written that your love life will be diminished if you have exercise equipment in the room. But there are too many other variables to consider for this kind of statement to even have any validity.
Some people are now opting for the treadmill desk so that they can walk while working on a lap top. As the queen of multi-tasking, I sometimes use hand weights or use my walking pad while binge-watching YouTube videos in my living room! In this day and Age, when people have so little free-time, I think that anywhere and anytime you can squeeze exercise in, the quality of your mental and physical health will improve and that is also categorically a major goal in Feng Shui.
Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®
From the Health and Personal Matters Blog Series
