Tag Archives: glass

Glass Floor Answer

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In our past blog, I mentioned that a transparent glass floor is never a good idea.  Even if one understands that it is structurally sound and therefore not a safety issue, many people would still avoid walking on a glass floor.  The question I asked was; why is this so?

Several people have tried to interpret it from a yin-yang prospective.  However, this is actually an energy issue.  We project our energy through our eyes.  When we look at an object, our energy stops right there.  So keeping this in mind, let’s see how it relates to a glass floor.  When we walk on wood floor, as it is within our peripheral vision, we are subconsciously aware of the solid floor and at the same time our body, energy and mind all stop there.  On the other hand, when we walk on a glass floor, our energy and mind move beyond the glass floor, and naturally our body has the desire to move there too.  However, the body is not able to move there and stops at the floor.  At which point, the body, energy and mind are all not in unison, creating an unsettled feeling.

This brings up another question.  So, what happens when we look at something and does it affect our energy?  Firstly, many are often unaware that we are naturally projecting energy when we see something.  This is why we feel uncomfortable when someone is staring at us.  It feels like we are being pushed by a force.  Secondly, when we anchor our mind on something in our line of vision, we create a mental and physical stability.  There is an easy test to see how this works.   Try to stand on one foot.  Most people will be able to keep their balance for a while.  Now, this time try to stand on one foot with your eyes closed.   You will find that it is very difficult to maintain the same physical balance.  Why is this so? It’s not that your foot has less strength.  It’s because when your eyes are closed there is only one point ,your standing foot, to hold your balance. On the other hand, with your eyes open, you are able to project energy and anchor your vision, creating an additional point of reference to keep your body stable.  Two points of energy are easier to hold a balance than one point.

Now with this information be aware on how we use and waste our energy.

Glass Floors

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The Latvian feng shui group has a monthly discussion meeting that I join via Skype.  This month, thank goodness, they have changed the meeting from the regular 1pm to 11am Latvian time.  This makes it easier for me when connecting via Skype, as it is1:00 am in Seattle, which is still within my waking hours!

During our last meeting, one graduate mentioned a concern in a  friend’s house.  The staircase that connects the first floor to the second floor was made of glass. Friends that have gone upstairs once will not re-visit the house again.  She wondered if by covering the stairs with carpet was sufficient to take care of the problem.

I have seen glass floors in some restaurants and hotels in both the East and West. But used in a staircase? That’s new to me.  Some designers may find it sleek to use glass material for flooring.  I often wonder what has run through the designer’s mind.  Some say it is to allow for more light or have they just simply exhausted their imagination and creativity?  To argue if it is good design or not, all we need to do is watch how people respond to it.

Last week I was in Suzhou, China doing feng shui consultations.  One consultation was with a Furniture Mall called Xinyue.  It is the store front for many brand name furniture manufacturers in China.  The mall has four floors with good design.  However, on the top floor, the center portion of the wide walk space, which was half of the total width, was made of glass.  With curiosity, I stopped at a corner to watch the pedestrians. During the ten minutes or so period, I did not see a single visitor walk on the glass floor. Everyone avoided stepping on top of the glass and instead walked on the carpet covered sides.

Why do people avoid it? The obvious reason is that most people do not feel it is safe to walk on a glass surface because of how we interpret the qualities of glass.  We understand that it is breakable, not particularly strong enough to walk on and for women wearing a skirt over a glass surface, this could be an issue! That is the natural psychological response.  There are also those who understand that the designers and engineers must have thoroughly considered the safety issues already, and thus it should be safe.  However, even they are still uncomfortable to walk on glass.  So there must be an additional reason other than the psychological factor.  What is the other reason?  Remember, everything has two reasons, one yin and the other yang.  I am going to hold back my answer to for a while and challenge our feng shui friends, students and readers to ponder this question.

By the way, the answer to the original question of our Latvian feng shui practitioner is, “yes, the easy way to take care of the glass step issue is to cover it with carpet.”