Five ways to make your room not feel like a prison cell
Four blank walls don’t feel very welcoming. Here’s how to make it feel like home from Feng Shui expert Jan Cisek.
Decorating the room on campus is not just a matter of beauty. For the next year, that room will become your room, a safe place to relax and find the right concentration to finish your studies. Somehow, that room will become your home and your world.
But personalising the room has also psychological motivations. A nice and customised place to live has the power to improve your mood, make you feel better and help you focus more on your studies.
See also: Pimp your room
I interviewed Jan Cisek, an international Feng Shui consultant and expert to ask him some tips that will help you to easily personalise your room. Cisek has underlined that the most important thing is to surround yourself with objects that concretely make you happy. “dopamine is the kind of “motivation success hormone”. So, that’s obviously important for focus and concentration on your study. Endorphins are the “happy hormones”. Also, oxytocin is very important because trust is important for learning: if you don’t feel safe in your environment you’ll develop some anxiety and this will lead to stress.
1. Surround yourself with happy memories
Surround yourself with pics of your family, your friends, animals… whatever reminds you of happy thoughts. Looking at these pictures, you couldn’t help but smile!
Places are important too. “People associate happiness with places. If you think about happy places, your body releases endorphins. So, this is something you can definitely utilise to change the mood of the place”, says Cisek.
2. Celebrate achievements
Surround yourself with everything that reminds you of an achieved goal (such as a diploma, your graduation, your football cup). This will activate serotonin and dopamine, the “motivation success hormones”.
3. Bring some keepsakes
Nothing can make you feel better than physically having something that reminds you of home! Sometimes, pics are just not enough: surround yourself with objects you can touch when you need to, such as your soft pillow or favourite mug. This may help you to feel safer in your room, activating the oxytocin. As Cisek said: “If you don’t feel safe in your environment you’ll develop some anxiety and this will lead to stress. Stress and anxiety don’t allow you to build trust, which is very important for learning”.
4. Add some colour
Apple green shade is the perfect colour for your room! It is light enough to make you feel more relaxed and make you concentrate more.
5. Let there be light… and darkness
After partying hard all night, you definitely need a proper rest to be ready and fresh in the morning! Sleeping is the most important thing for a student and, in order to have a relaxing sleep, make sure your windows are well covered — total darkness will help you sleep better.
Find out more about Feng Shui tips and Jan Cisek at http://www.fengshuilondon.net/
