Whenever the energy in your home starts to feel heavy or uncomfortable, it’s time to give your space a good cleansing.
That’s not the only time that cleansing can helpful, though. Other times to cleanse your space include:
- Whenever you move into a new space, whether it’s a new house or office
- Someone moves in or out of the space
- After an illness
- After you buy an antique or secondhand item
- After cleaning up or decluttering
Cleansing dissipates the residual energy left behind by other people, and can even release your own emotional static.
Your cleansing tools
Cleansing isn’t difficult or complicated. And you only need a few tools to do it. You can use a sage smudge stick, palo santo or sweetgrass. You can also use Tibetan chimes, a singing bowl or a recording of high vibration music.
Cleansing with sage, sweetgrass or palo santo
Light the end of the sage smudge stick, sweet grass braid or stick of palo santo and allow it to burn just long enough to get it lit. Then blow it out and allow it to smoke. Hold a dish or plate (or abalone shell) underneath it as you walk around your space, allowing smoke to go into each corner of each room. I also open up closets, go behind the shower curtain and allow the cleansing smoke to go in every nook and cranny.
I say a prayer or blessing for the space as I do this, asking for the highest and best good for the space and its occupants.
I also like to go around the windows and doors, with the intent of creating protection for the space, knowing that only those who are of good intent can enter.
If there are areas of the space where the energy feels stuck or especially heavy, you may notice the smudge stick, braid or palo santo begin to sputter or even go out entirely. If that happens, relight it, blow on it (watch for sparks!) and ask for the energy to release. You can also send love energy out as well to help dissipate anything that’s stuck or hanging on, or visualize white light filling the space.
Cleansing with sound
I also like to use Tibetan chimes as a way of raising and clearing the vibration. These high frequency sounds also dissipate negative or stuck energy.
Walk around the space, ringing the chimes and allowing the sound waves to penetrate all the corners of each room. Open up the closet and cupboard doors, get in all the areas of your home or office.
If you don’t have chimes, you can play a singing bowl or even play high vibration music or beat a drum.
Setting your intent
The action of the smudge stick or sound is an important part of the cleansing process. So is your intent. Know that, when you ask Spirit for your highest good, that’s exactly what you get, and only that.
You can begin by smudging yourself with sage, sweetgrass or palo santo smoke. You can either do this yourself or ask a friend to cleanse you. Allow the smoke to go in front of you, behind you, to the right and left of you, above and below you. You may also want to repeat this prayer:
A Smudging Prayer
May my hands be cleansed, that they create beautiful things.
May my feet be cleansed, that they might take you where you most need to be.
May my heart be cleansed, that I might hear its messages clearly.
May my throat be cleansed, that I might speak rightly when words are needed.
May my eyes be cleansed, that I might see the signs and wonders of the world.
May I and this space be washed clean by the smoke of these fragrant plants.
And may that same smoke carry our prayers, spiraling, to the heavens.
Then you’ll be ready to go around your space. As you ask for your home or office to be cleared of heavy or negative energy, know that is what is happening.
I find cleansing rituals to be calm and energizing. You’ll feel better afterward and the space in which you live and work will feel better, quieter and more vibrant as well.