Feng Shui Solutions for a Staircase
In-line Your Entrance!
by P.K. Odle, The Feng Shui Advantage
Only when stairs are directly in-line with your door does it create a Feng Shui problem for the occupants of the house, because under certain circumstances the staircase placement can prevent the Qi from easily entering your home or office. As you may already know, Feng Shui is Chinese for Wind Water, whose currents both move Qi (chi). One of the most important aspects of Classical Feng Shui is to allow the Qi (life force energy of the Universe) to move freely. 'Blocked Qi' has a negative affect on your finances, health and relationships, where as a 'Direct Hit of Qi' causes health problems and 'Loss of Qi' reduces your energy level as well as your prosperity.
In my 11 years as a Classical Feng Shui consultant and 10 years as an internationally respected instructor for the renowned American Feng Shui Institute, the only thing I'm asked more often than “Where can I hang my mirror?” is “What can be done about the stairs in-line with my entrance?” The answer to these questions and the majority of Feng Shui questions is “It depends.”
That's because there is far more to Feng Shui than just the location of your doors and mirrors. Classical Feng Shui is a sister science to Acupuncture with a similar 5,000 year history of improving peoples lives. Just as in Acupuncture, there are no one-size-fits-all cures in Classical Feng Shui… Nor do you need a strong belief in either ancient Chinese science for their remedies to work.
When it comes to stairs in-line with your entrance… the majority of the times, moving your door is the last choice, not only because it the most expensive solution. Before moving or adding any doors it's important to consider other important Feng Shui aspects in addition to the location of your staircase. Therefore, you'll want the answers to the following critical questions…
- What is the inherent energy combination at the current door location verses the proposed door location? For instance, you wouldn't want to move your door from an energy pattern that is good for health, relationships and finances… to an energy pattern that causes accidents, delays and major illness. You'll find more information about a building's inherent Feng Shui energy blueprint in 'Feng Shui Isn't Something You Do… It's Something You Already Have!'
- From the magnetic center of the house what is the precise location of the current door verses the proposed new door location? If your current door is located in anyone's 'Personal 15° Consuming' direction (according to their date of birth) then it could be worth the expense of moving the door to a new location to stop money from draining away through extravagant spending or uncontrollable expenses. However, what if you accidently move the door to someone's 'Personal 15° Lonely Pillow' direction… that person might not be happy sleeping alone. We all have several other good and bad Personal 15° Feng Shui directions that are triggered by the air currents coming in an entrance or even a window. All of your 15° Personal Feng Shui directions are explained in 'Whether You Realize It or Not… Your Environment Affects Your Finances, Health & Relationships!'
Outside stairs with SOLID walls on BOTH sides block the Qi from easily entering your home/office. Below are a few examples of outside entrances where it is nearly impossible for natural air currents to bring fresh Qi in through the doorway. The best the occupants of these buildings can do is open more windows to allow fresh Qi to enter, because architecturally there isn't a way to unblock the Qi at these doorways.
Ideally, the area outside your entrance is open to allow the air currents to carry fresh Qi in when your door is open. It's also important to keep your doorway clean and avoid plants or other objects from blocking the air currents from easily making their way to your door. These are a few beautiful examples of outside staircases…
Inside stairs that are in-line with an entrance with SOLID walls on BOTH sides of the staircase funnel the Qi from upstairs directly at the door, which prevents fresh Qi from entering. Most often you'll find these types of stairs in condos, townhomes and apartments. As above, if it's impossible to architecturally remedy the stairway, your only option to allow in more fresh air is opening more windows. Here are a few examples of inside stairs that create the funnel effect…
It is physically impossible for a crystal hanging from the ceiling between your doorway and the staircase to stop the funnel affect of the air currents coming down the narrow staircase. To eliminate the funnel affect when stairs are directly in-line with your entrance you'll want to replace the non-load bearing wall with beautiful open railing to allow the Qi from upstairs to fan out through the open railing before reaching the entrance and to allow the fresh air to spread out after it comes through the door. The middle example below shows a staircase with open space between each step, which is only a problem if the steps are so small that you could trip and fall.
When implemented properly all your Feng Shui's remedies must enhance your décor, instead of drawing unwanted attention. For example, when you require a remedy made of Metal, which is used to neutralize the worst unseen energies… you can use a metal piece of furniture, a metal statue or a chiming key-wound clock with hundreds of moving metal gears. Ancient Feng Shui Masters would often tell their clients to hang a mirror where a Metal remedy was necessary, because in those days mirrors were made of thick pieces of highly polished metal. Modern mirrors won't work as a Metal remedy, because they have less metal than a tin can. If you're wondering about the answer to “Where can I hang my mirror?” you'll find it in my article 'Mirror, Mirror on the Wall – Are You a Feng Shui Cure-All?'
In closing, I sincerely want to thank all the wonderful photographers from Yahoo's Flickr for the photos in this article. If you would like to view more of their work hold down your Crtl key and click on any of the photos.
© 2007 P.K. Odle. All rights reserved.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
P.K. Odle is a celebrated classical Yi Jing Feng Shui consultant and the Executive Director of the world-renowned American Feng Shui Institute®, where she has taught since 1998. She created The Feng Shui Advantage's "Lifetime Keys Personal Directions Self-Mastery Toolbox." To learn more about using the ancient Chinese science of Yi Jing Feng Shui to improve your Health, Relationships and Finances... through 16 weeks of FREE TIPS subscribe to her award-winning eNewsletter, The Feng Shui Advantage MONTHLY, at http://www.FengShuiAdvantage.com. The next issue could change your life!
NOTE: You’re welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” information at the end), and you send a copy of your reprint to PK@FengShuiAdvantage.com