The Feng Shui Anatomy of Stairs

Oh; there is a lot of confusion and controversial opinions about Feng Shui and stairs. My intention is to clarify some of that confusion and fear.

The truth of the matter is that unless you live in a house with no basement you’re going to have a set or two of stairs in your home. During the era when Feng Shui originated most of the living spaces were single floor dwellings  so stairs did not pose the “challenges” they do in our more modern homes. The challenges Professional Feng Shui Consultants face with stairs is how they affect the structural integrity of the homes which in turn reflects the structural alignment of the residence and how they positively or non-beneficially influence the energetic chi of the space. The effects of stairs in your home and how they if at all “reveal themselves” in your life will depend on the correlation to the bagua and only then if there a predisposition within the genetic make up for each occupant for a specific life challenge.

My Story

For instance we live in a 4 level split home. Not “bad” Feng Shui from my perspective. Others may challenge me on that, but my theory is this. If you know how to remedy a situation it becomes a “no thing”. Our 4 level split has 3 sets of stairs. Each with 7 stairs. One set takes us to the 2nd floor, while the 2nd set takes us down to the family room and the 3rd set takes us to the gym in the basement below ground level.

A few years after moving into this house I developed a work related right side spine injury from my time working in health care. As anyone knows who has or knows someone who has worked in healthcare the job of a care giver is grueling on the physical body, specifically the back. Now before my days in healthcare I did not have a back issue. The back represent the past. I did however, have some deep unhealed subconscious cellular memory emotions to do with my relationship with my father. Don’t judge. Or speculate on what my healing was about. That’s not relevant nor anyone’s business but mine. The reason I am sharing this story is to show you how our subconscious is revealed in the vibrational frequency in our homes and how the structure of our spaces mirrors our physical, mental and emotional make up. We are all human and unless you’ve been brought up in a bubble we all have some subconscious healing to do.

So we’ve established I had some subconscious masculine aka father issues to heal. I was also working in a career that did not align with my belief system nor my personal vibration. I was forcing myself to go to work every day to a place that did not light my fire but burned me out. Even though I was transitioning into my Feng Shui Career I had a 3 year plan. I would work in health care part-time while my business took off. It all sounded good in theory. I had it all figured out in the physical world. It all looked good on paper. What happened however, is that on the eve of me making peace with my “plan” I sustained yet another repetitive back injury that took me out of the employment of the health region “for good”. Now you may be thinking that I wasn’t taking proper lifting precautions, etc which was much of the gossip  from my colleges. When in truth I was and in-spite of my “repetitive work related back injury” acquired after moving into this home I was exceptionally physically fit, strong and flexible. I was a personal trainer and proper body mechanics is imperative so my performance wasn’t the problem. I taught others to perform proper body mechanics. I could control my on physical mobility but I could not control the unpredictability of the patients I was taking care of whom many had explosive aggression issues due to their mental health.

What I had was a pre-existing potential for injury based on my own cellular memory that mirrored the structural integrity of our home. Our home and our Feng Shui provided an opportunity for healing and a way out of a career that was not serving my highest good in a way that propelled me into taking action. Was it comfortable and easy? NO! It was what I needed. Am I better? Yes! I have healed my cellular memory with my father. I have remedied the stair alignment and in doing so have been able to maintain a healthy pain free spine for 4 years. Life is fabulous.

Why am I telling you this and what the hell does all this have to do with Feng Shui and stairs? Let me continue…my injuries had been on the right side of my spine in L5, T7 and C7. Now when you look at the 3 sets of stairs in our home and that each set has 7 stairs I think there is no accident that my injuries are reflected in our home. Being a 4 level split our home is divide down the center with the right hand side of the home being elevated to a story and a-half. From an energetic standpoint the right hand side is considered masculine which reflects the right hand side of the anatomic view of the occupant’s body.  Again this revelation might invoke some opinions but that’s all they are. Opinions. This is my experience …..

So when I breakdown the data we’ve established that the right hand side of the house is masculine/father.

L7 is located in the lumbar spine which correlates the 1st Chakra and that of the Wealth & Prosperity Gua which are associated with all the needs of the physical world such as shelter, lively hood, etc. When viewing the correlation I could see how this area of my life and body was asking for healing. I was unsatisfied in my career in healthcare. Leaving without a successful backup plan was damn scary and threatened our lifestyle and made me look at my feelings of self-worth and my relationship with abundance. My self-worth was all tied-up with my relationship with my father.

T7 is located in the mid thoracic spine directly behind the heart and is aligns with the 4th Chakra that of the Heart Chakra and the Love, Marriage and Relationship Gua which is associated with unconditional love of self and others. Before you can unconditionally love others you must first unconditionally love yourself. For me I had some self-love nurturing to do which would provide a frequency for acceptance within my being.

C7 Cervical Spine aligns with the 5th Chakra that of the Throat Chakra and the Children & Creativity Gua. No surprise there for me. The Throat Chakra is associated with speaking ones truth. While neck injuries have to deal with being flexible and bares the question are you seeing the big picture?  I was not speaking my truth about my “feelings” nor although I had glimpses of the “big picture” I had fear of success and therefore did not trust the picture I was being given. Therefore, when in meditation I “neutralized, cleared, balanced and transformed “all my feelings” about my then career the situation was taken from me in a way that was “very clear and concise”.

Sometimes we ignore our “intuitive voice” out of fear and as my good friend Dr. Robert Beckford once said to me 18 years ago. “You have a strong convincer strategy.” Meaning when I asking for personal guidance sometimes I need to be  knocked off my feet to get the messages. Interpreting messages for clients is much easier as I am detached from the outcome. I am only the messenger.

If you can gain insights from my story and how “Feng Shui stairs” may impact your life please understand that by remedying the situation you can avoid such drastic messages. All-be-it sometimes the drastic messages are exactly what you need to propel you forward.

Levels of awareness

Stairs that rise meaning go to an upper level depict a rise in consciousness or awareness of future potential. In my case I needed to be flexible in my way of being to see my opportunities and rise to the occasion of speaking my truth and stepping into my creative flow.

Stairs that descend meaning go to a lower level offer a path to our subconscious and the past. For myself I was shown that it was time to heal my past perceptions and cellular memory around my feeling valued and my purpose for being here.

If my story resonates with you and you find you have personal muscular skeletal challenges that correlate to your home stair location please contact myself or a qualified Feng Shui Professional in your area to assist you.

Stairs in alignment with the Front Door

There is much on the internet about stairs that are built in direct alignment with the front door. If you’ve watched HGTV you’ve seen the episode of International House Hunters where the couple will not purchase the house with the stairs in front of the door.  The reason for this is that energy aka chi flows like water and therefore the energy entering the home has to work extra hard to nurture the entire home when it has to “go against the stream” so to speak, that being the energy flowing down the stairs which in turn exits the home through the front door, not the back as it is meant to.  Although this stair placement is less-than-perfect it is often easy to remedy in a variety of ways.

Possible Challenges

If you live in a home with this type of stair placement you may find that you are seldom home and that you are always on the run. You may be in need of some much needed R&R while the chi of your home may feel stale and neglected.

Spiral Stairs

Spiral stairs energetically feel like a cork screw and will often create a non-beneficial vortex where energy collects and disrupts the natural flow of the space.

Possible Challenges

Folks who live in a home with spiral stairs may have bouts of anxiety and depression while struggling with compressed discs in their spine and central nervous system disorders.

Box Stairs

Box stairs are often built in a long and narrow space without a landing or a window. These stairs often feel closed in and confined resulting in fast moving chi as the narrow space increasing the speed in which the chi travels throughout the stairwell.

Possible Challenges

Residents may feel as though they can’t catch a beak as they continue to slip and fall up and down stairs. There may find that life is full of ups and downs and that they are unable to find balance and stability.

Platform Stairs

Platform stairs offer a resting space and provides opportunity for chi to puddle and slow down before descending the stairs. Platform stairs also provide creative opportunities to balance the chi of the space.

Possible Challenges

Although platform stairs are the best structural stairs they pose some  minor challenges as there are the ones where most people pile their “stuff” making the pathway full of obstacles which result in barriers to attaining ones desires. Folks may also suffer from lumbar and hip issues as the physical obstacles left on stairs may be revealing a fear of moving forward in life.

Suspended Stairs

There’s a growing trend where many new houses are building Suspended stairs. The Feng Shui challenge with these types of stairs is there is not enough structural support to create a feeling of safety while transitioning from one level of a home to the other.

Think of a rope and timber swinging bridge suspended over a cliff. Would you feel safe and secure traveling across it multiple times during a day? No I don’t think so.

Suspended stairs also haven a Sha Chi or Sharp Cutting Edge feel to them as they have no risers, stringers or sold railings to help soften the sharp edges of the treads. In fact many are suspended by a single metal beam down the back side of the tread giving the stairs themselves a feeling of being off balance.

Challenges

Folks in a home with Suspended stairs may feel ungrounded, off balance and suffer from chronic joint and spine issues.

The Ideal Stairs

• The ideal set of stairs are ones that are fully framed with stringers, risers and railings.
• That are wide with a platform landing or transition between floors such as those in a bi-level or 4-level home.
• That have good lighting and handrails.
• That are free of obstacles
• That do not faced the front door

How Feng Shui savvy are your stairs?