Smudging is the ancient practice of burning medicinal, sacred herbs with the intention of cleansing the energy of your home, office, an object or yourself. It corrects and balances energies immediately. It cleanses away negativity and It’s even antimicrobial, killing germs and nasties in the air.
We can absorb the energies around us like a sponge and can find ourselves holding onto energy that doesn’t belong to us, resulting in unwanted pain and anxieties.
I use white Californian sage, and when wrapped in bundles it is often called a smudge stick.
Smudging can be done by either burning the smudge stick or loose leaves.
I also like to use use Palo Santo. Palo Santo is a traditional remedy for pain, inflammation, and stress. Just like sage, it is a great way to clear negative energies.
How to perform a smudging ritual
Below I will guide you through how I like to perform my own cleansing ritual in order to protect my energy field. It’s super quick and super effective. It helps me stay grounded in-between clients, classes, workshops and when I am spending time around large groups of people. I cleanse my studio space at the beginning of everyday and my home space when I come to relax.
- First I like to take time to set an intention to raise my vibration. Sometimes I will call upon my spirit guides to help me cleanse my space.
- Make sure a window is open. This is an important one, as it allows the negative and unwanted energy to be released.
- Carefully light the end of your chosen smudge (Sage / Palo Santo), giving it time to smoulder and build up a good amount of smoke.
- With my free hand I will direct the smoke towards my heart space, as I always feel this is where I feel other people’s energy the most. You can choose to direct the smoke where you feel it best for yourself.
- Starting with my Crown chakra (Sahasrara) I start to make small circles of smoke (you can go side to side or jus hold still if you prefer). From there I move down to my Third Eye (Ajna), then to my Throat (Visuddha), to my Heart (Anahata), my Solar Plexus (Manipura), then to my Sacral chakra (Svadhisthana) and to my Root (Muladhara). To finish, I like to make a ‘circle of protection’ around my whole body.
You can do the same for rooms, objects, anything really, by just holding the smudge over and around them with the intention of clearing away anything attached to them that is not serving you positively.
This cleansing ritual is a personal experience so have fun with it and make it your own!
Always make sure you have a fireproof dish to safely keep your sage in and to catch any ash.
Why is clearing energy important?
Clearing energies is particularly important for the highly sensitive, as you will absorb the energies of everyone and everything around you. Especially if you are an empath, you’ll not only feel others emotions, but you can sense their pain, both emotionally and physically – this can be a good thing if you are around positive, shiny people all day, but if you spend a lot of time with or work alongside toxic, unhappy or unhealthy people this can have an extremely negative effect on your own health.
Reasons why you may want to smudge
– When you have had a bad day
– After an argument
– As part of your meditation practice
– When you feel sad
– When your mind feels scattered
– During any self care ritual
– When you energetically feel off
– You’re feeling overwhelmed
– When you feel darkness sitting in your heart
– When you feel like you’ve been around toxic energy
– When the mood just feels a little ‘off’
What are your favourite herbs to sage your space with?
What rituals do you perform to keep your vibration high?
Is this ritual new to you? Do you feel inspired?