Feng shui to Make Your Car a Happy Place
How you care for your car can translate into how you feel when you’re in it. Try these New Age therapies and see if they work for you.
By Holly Reich
My bagua for travel is my home office. Located in a large closet in our apartment, the space is decorated with pictures of people and places that I love, writing crystals and models of cars, from pinkie sized VW Beetles to a 6” bright silver Mercedes-Benz GL-class.
What exactly is a bagua? It is one of the tools used to balance the Feng shui of a space. The northwest corner of your home, where my office is located, is deemed the place to focus on travel and helpful friends.
Marise Hamm, a Feng shui designer and founder of Living Energy Designs www.livingenergydesigns.com, explains, “The words Feng shui mean wind and water. The essence of the five life-giving elements (water, wood, earth, metal, fire) is chi; which means life force. Wind and water are direct carriers of chi, since their flowing quality reflects the essential nature of all living organisms.”
The designer maintains that you can bless an area by lighting a candle or bringing in a quartz crystal. “Activate the space with the intention that you will buy the car of your dreams and it will take you to places that you have dreamed of and will open up new areas for your life.”
Case in point. Since I moved my office to its northwest corner a couple of years ago, I have been riding high in phenomenal cars. But I don’t own them. I just test them.
However, Hamm has some great ideas for people buying a car, renting or simply taking a ride or trip.
“Our car reflects who we are to the outside world,” she notes. “It is your mini home so it’s important to keep the interior and exterior of your car clean so that you keep the chi energy flowing.”
Hamm suggests using a splash of geranium or lemon aromatherapy spray to help keep the interior calm and cleansed. Another way is to hang a talisman, like a small Chinese luck charm for travel, from the rearview mirror. If you live in a city with a Chinatown, you’ll find one there, or go online and search for “talisman.”
Where your car lives is just as important as how you keep it. If it’s a garage, keep that organized and clean; if you park your wheels on the street, put them in a safe spot.
And just as importantly, when you consider picking a color for your car, Hamm recommends that you go to www.stress-relief-teacher.com/car-feng-shui.html to find a formula based on your birthdate.
Barbara Biziou, teacher of practical spirituality and global rituals and author of The Joy of Ritual, www.joyofritual.com says, “You have a relationship with your car and it should reflect your energy.”
“Since your car is a place where you spend a lot of time, you want the energy to be as positive and pure as possible. You want to clear your car…just like you would wash or wax the outside, you need to take care of the inside.”
Biziou, a New Yorker who often rents cars, uses aromatherapy sprays such as Space, Boost or Manifest (available on her web site) to release negative energy in the cabin. To make your own, combine a few drops of sage or lemon oil with water in a spritzer and spray away.
The author also recommends assembling a talisman– a little bag of seeds, stones and crystals. “Put your intention—thoughts like focus, energy, safety, happiness—into your charm,” she says. “It doesn’t have to be religious. Almost every cab driver in New York City has sacred objects on their dash.”
Plus, she says that when you put your “personal stamp” on your car, people will feel the good energy when they get in.
However, this spiritual stuff isn’t the be all and end all. “It’s not that you bless your car and drive with your eyes closed. You still have to drive safely and take care of your car,” notes Biziou.
Her parting words of wisdom: “Think of these rituals as christening a ship on its maiden voyage.”
