How to: Cleanse your home

We are all energetic beings and so is everything around us.

Events that occur in your home, even events that have occured before you lived there, as well as all of the people that enter your home bring and leave behind an energetic residue. Living amongst these energetic residues can affect your energy, your emotions, and your wellbeing. As we are energetic beings we can absorb the energies around us if we are not aware of them or have the skills and awareness to protect ourselves.

You may have noticed at times when you've entered someone's home, a store, or some other space like a gym, or yoga room, that each space feels different when you enter. This is due to the energy of that room. Maybe you've noticed when something feels off in someone's home, or there's a haviness, eeriness, and vice versa, walking into a yoga room might feel fresh, light, open, spacious.

If you're feeling down, heavy, stuck, have low energy, or lacking motivation, perhaps cleansing your home will help. By cleansing your home you say Goodbye to any old, stagnant energy, and you welcome in the new which may very well help you journey on a new and enlightened path.

So let's get started...

Below are some different energy cleansing rituals you can try. Give them a go and let me know by commenting if any of them work for you.

Burning Incense

Sage Smudging

Burning sage is a ritual that has been used for many, many years in various cultures as a way to clear negative energy, decrease stress and anxiety, improve health by purifying the air, killing bacteria, it is also used as a form of protection, and can help improve wisdom.

Be mindful that the burning of sage will create smoke which can be harmful if you suffer from asthma or other respiratory conditions.

How-to:

You can purchase a sage smudge stick online or you can find at a variety of stores, crystal shops are likely to have them. There are a few varieties to choose from, I myself prefer white sage.

Using a lighter, if you don't have a lighter, alternatively you could use a match stick to light a candle and hold the sage stick over the candles flame, hold the sage over the flame for about 20-30 seconds. I find tightly wound smudge sticks need a bit longer to get the smoke going. Once you've got the smudge stick smoking, move around your home, through each room, reaching high and low, and under furniture, allowing the smoke to cleanse each space. Hold the intention in your mind of clearing negative energy, you can also set a personal intention if you have one in mind. If the smudge stick goes out and there's little or no smoke, you can give a gentle blow on the stick to increase the smoke, or you may need to relight. Once you have cleansed each room, find a safe spot to either leave your smudge stick to go out on its own or you can put it out yourself. I have a paua shell in which I use, where I can either leave it to continue smoking like incense until it eventually stops on its own, or I can dab the smudge stick on the paua shell to stop the burning.

Cedar Smudging

Cedar is another ancient ritual that helps to clear negative energies as well as old energy. It's said to help unwanted spirits move on and leave the space you are cleansing, and is also thought to help reach higher spiritual realms.

Cedar smudging is similar to sage smudging, follow the instructions above.

Some people have a disliking to the smell of burning sage, cedar is a great alternative.

Rosemary Smudging or Incense sticks

Another magical herb that can be used to cleanse and purify your space, and is a great herb to set the intention of a fresh start. It provides protection, can bring you strength, and enhance your memory. It is thought to assist with fertility, as well as loyalty and faithfulness in intimate relationships.

You can use a smudge stick, incense sticks, or even grow your own at home.

Frankincense

Cleansing and purifying, and is said to help with protection and healing. Another herb that can help spirits to pass over into the afterlife. Frankincense is also connected to the third eye chakra which is related to our intuition, meaning that it can help open this chakra and deepen your connection to your intuition, wisdom, and inner knowing. It is also associated with good fortune.

You can use incense sticks or frankincense essential oil is also a good option, try adding a few drops to a diffuser.

Palo Santo

Palo santo means "holy wood", great for clearing negative energy, as well as resetting and neutralizing energy, bringing harmony and positive healing energies. Great for stress relief and is also believed to attract love and prosperity.

Try incense sticks or palo santo essential oil.

Sandalwood

Burning sandalwood incense releases natural antiseptics and clear the air. Sandalwood helps relieve anxiety and will help you to sleep better. It's also a very grounding aroma, bringing feelings of safety, security, and support, enhancing your connection to Mother Earth. It's also considered to be an aphrodisiac, helping to set a romantic mood. Helps to release feeling of aggression, whilst enhancing feelings of openness and compassion.

Try incense sticks or sandalwood essential oil.

Lavender

Another natural antiseptic and antibacterial. Lavender is very balancing, calming, and cleansing. Not only will it cleanse the negativity within your home, it will also help to cleanse any negativity you are holding within, cleansing your mind, body, and soul. Lavender is also known as an antidepressant, helping to relieve stress and anxiety. Lavender is very calming and will increase your quality of sleep, great for young children as well as during pregnancy.

Try incense sticks or lavender essential oil.

Crystals

Selenite

The ultimate cleansing crystal, selenite is unaffected by other energies and does not require cleansing. Will help to clear negative energies, and keep them away by working as a constant filter. Will also help to cleanse any other crystals you have in your home. Will help to purify the self, keeping you pure and true, as well as giving you clarity and focus. It can also help to calm nightmares.

If you've never cleansed your home before or you're moving into a new home, I recommend you start with a cleansing ritual, choosing your choice of incense from above, smudge each room to clear negative energy, including yourself and any other persons in your home. Then find a comfortable seated position, hold your selenite crystal in the palm of your hand and visualise the energy of the crystal cleansing yourself from head to know, releasing anything that no longer serves you out of the bottom of your feet into the earth where it can be dissolved into the brightest of lights. See in your mind's eye the power of this crystal clearing all negative energies from your home. Sit in this meditative state for as long as feels right for you. Place a selenite crystal in the 4 corners of your home to act as a filter for clearing negative energies that may enter your home in the future.

You can also purchase selenite crystal lamps which is a great alternative for lamps with the additional cleansing, purifying, and healing powers they bring.

Black obsidian

Known for its strong protective powers, black obsidian will absorb unwanted low vibrational, negative energies. Best for protection against aggression, anger and violence. Will help you to dissolve negative energies and traumas within yourself, enhance clarity and help you to stay true to you.

Where on your person, around your neck, for protection. You can keep a crystal in your car. Also great to keep in your home, perhaps by the front door, as well as anywhere else that feels right for you.

Amethyst

Amethyst is very cleansing and has a soothing, healing energy. It's very relaxing and can help to calm energies, creating harmony in your space. Other benefits are enhancing spiritual awareness and helping to open your third eye, related to your intuition, by keeping an open and balanced third eye chakra you can increase your level of intuition and gain greater spiritual awareness.

Keep a crystal in your living space where the household and guests tend to reside regularly. You can also keep a crystal on your person to help keep you calm, relaxed and intuitively alert throughout the day. A great crystal to use during meditation.

Essential Oils

Rosemary, frankincense, palo santo, sandalwood, and lavender are all great essential oils for cleansing your home. See above for their other benefits. Putting a few drops into a diffuser will help to purify your home and clear any negative energies.

Some other great options are

Doterra's Purify cleansing blend which has a combination of lemon, lime, siberian fir, citronella, melaleuca, and cilantro. This blend can be used in the diffuser to purify the air, it can also help remove mildew, and is a great alternative for cleaning surfaces in your home.

Doterra's On Guard protection blend, a combination of orange, clove bud, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary. Use to cleanse and purify your home, as well as relieve stress, and protect you from harmful bacteria and viruses.

Declutter & Clean

Declutter

Over the years you'll find you tend to accumulate quite a bit of stuff. As I've said before we are all energy, including our surroundings and our stuff. Objects hold an energy, some remind you of positive and joyous times, others remind you of challenging times that helped you to grow and prosper, and others hold on to old, stagnant, negative energy that may very well be keeping you down without you even knowing.

A really interesting story I read in the book Radical Forgiveness by Colin Tipping, was a story of a woman who was in a relationship with a man for man years, only to find out that he was married with kids. She was holding onto the pain of this situation which led to physical illness. She kept a box of memories in the attic, and never really dealt with or released this emotional pain, by keeping these objects in her attic it kept the energy of that heartbreak in her home and in her body and mind.

It's really important to dedicate time maybe once or twice a year where you go through your entire home and say goodbye to anything that no longer serves you, anything that you haven't used in the last year is a good indicator that you're probably never going to use it and it's taking up space. By freeing up space in your home, you free up space in your mind, you let go of the past and make space to create a bright new future. If you hold onto everything your whole life, you will find yourself walking around with a heaviness, a feeling of carrying around baggage everywhere you go. As you declutter your home, you will feel the energetic clearing in your being as well, you will feel lighter and have a new sense of freedom. Say goodbye to the old and hello to the new.

Clean

We all have different standards of cleanliness. I believe it's good practice to dedicate time at least once a fortnight to do a deep clean of your home, if this is too much due to your busy schedule with work, kids, or other, then make it monthly or perhaps you can afford a cleaner to come in on occasion for a deep clean. Some cleaning like washing the dishes, wiping down surfaces, the toilet, etc, go without saying but what about the stuff we don't really see because we're too busy or just not aware...

Dust builds up EVERYWHERE! You may be unaware of harmful bacteria building as it can be hard to see or in places where not really looking. A deep clean means getting into the drains, the corners, under the bed, behind the refrigerator, inside the refrigerator. Getting into all those nooks and crannies.

Another thing to take into consideration is the products you're using. Using chemicals can be detrimental to your health, touching and inhaling sends those chemicals into our physical being which can cause negative symptoms and side effects. By choosing healthier alternatives you will cleanse your home of chemicals, and you will keep you and your family safe. Essential oils are a great alternative for cleaning.

Once you've decluttered and given your home a deep clean you will literally feel the difference, the energy of your home will feel clean, cleansed, clear, and you will feel more at ease, calm, and cleansed. Nothing like the freshness of a decluttered, spacious, clean home.

Other options

Himalayan salt lamps are known for cleansing the air and reducing allergies, they can help protect you from radiation, all electronic devices emit radiation, it is good practice to have protective measures in place to maintain good health and well-being.

Get some indoor plants to place around your home, plants and trees hold valuable life force energy within them, bringing that energy into your home can instill new positive energy, they also provide fresh oxygen helping to cleanse and purify your home.

Open your windows and allow the fresh air and sunlight to cleanse your home, and bring fresh new energy.

I'd love to here what you do to cleanse the energy of your home and yourself. Comment below and share any tips and tricks you have up your sleeve.