Why You Should Be Paying More Attention To The Center Of Your Home

Maybe you had a particularly busy week, just got back from a long trip, or started a new job—there's plenty of reasons we may start feeling overwhelmed. And while there are strategies we can use to help at any moment, sometimes doing a little more can help.

The center of our home is particularly important for feng shui, even if we don't always think about it. Amanda Gibby Peters of Simple Shui told mindbodygreen that the home's center is its "motherboard." She explained: "The middle of a home influences all the energy around it," so no matter how much work you put into managing the energy of your home in other ways, if the center is off, it may not matter.

Peters actually recommends that you start with the center of your home before you start using other remedies in the rest of your space because it's just that integral. And just as the center may be integral to the energy of the rest of the space, the energy of your space echoes into "all areas of your life," according to Peters.

When considering what changes to make to the space, Peters recommends that you "program it to feel positive." While we each may have different views of what that means, simple things like cleaning or organizing the space can do wonders for clearing your feelings too.

Another option? Place something fresh, like a plant or flowers, in the space. This can help manifest the same fresh energy in your life, and sometimes a fresh start is exactly what we need after a few tough days.

If you're still feeling overwhelmed, Peters also gave us a recommendation for establishing a solid foundation to ground you at times of stress (and it looks pretty too).

"A bowl of rocks is a reassuring remedy in moments of overwhelm," she said. But don't just head to a craft or hardware store for a bag of rocks—collect them yourself, and experience the benefits of the grounding energy of the outdoors before you bring it into your home, she recommends.

Once you've got your rocks, place it in—you guessed it—the middle of the home, where it can have the most influence.

"This a practical place for anchoring support," she explained, "The weight of the rocks is a feng shui cue, prompting life to slow down—a welcome reprieve when you're at wits' end."