Smudging
Energy Hygiene part 3
How do you cleanse your energy field if you’re not near a shower, bath tub or salt?
You smudge.
Smudging or burning certain plants to cleanse your energy field… has been around forever. About 50,000 years across all cultures.
You’ll see smoke being used everywhere from the ceremonies of the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox churches to the Native Americans, the Zulus, the Maoris and Australian Aboriginals, the Asian religions Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Taoism, all across South America.
Anything that’s been so widely practiced probably works.
While traditionally smudging is used to cleanse the spirit of a person or space, there’s been some interesting discoveries about it in the science world.
Thanks to a remarkable 2007 study titled, “Medicinal smoke reduces airborne bacteria,” published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, we now know that smudging may be one of the most powerful antiseptic technologies ever discovered. You can read more about that here http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/killer-germs-obliterated-medicinal-smoke-smudging-study-reveals
Ready to give it a go?
What you need:
– A smudging plant such as Sage, copal, sweetgrass, or lavender.
My favorite plant to burn is Palo Santo. You can buy it here http://www.shamansmarket.com/palo-santo-incense-sticks.html
Find what you like and use it. You might use different plants for different purposes. Trust what feels right for you.
– a shell or bowl
– matches and/ or a candle
How to smudge
Set your intention to cleanse all heavy energies of the body or place you’re working with.
Place the smudge plant in a shell or bowl and light it. When it it’s burning well, blow out the flame and wave the smoke systematically around your entire body. Use your hand or a feather if you have one. You can start under the soles of your feet and move upwards covering front, back and sides of both legs, arms and head.
Don’t worry, you can’t ‘get it wrong.’ Because it’s been done forever, it’s hard wired into your brain to know how. All you have to do is begin.
If you’re cleansing a space, just go around the entire area waving the smoke into all corners and areas.
When to smudge
Any time you’re feeling stuck, negative, sluggish, or just depressed, it may be due to some heavy energy in your field. That might include your physical body or your environment whether it’s your home, office, or other physical space.
It’s also good to smudge before doing a ceremony http://soniasommer.com/the-despacho-ceremony/ to shift from your every day thoughts and worries into a more spiritual state.
I smudge my office space daily and clear my own field any time it feels clogged.
Some last thoughts about cleansing your energy field
In this 3 part series we’ve looked at how to work with chakras, salt and smudging to cleanse your energy field. I understand that some of these concepts might be completely new and sound weird to you. Trust me, I’ve been there myself.
But if you’re feeling out of sorts and can’t figure out why, it could be your energy field. Cleansing it could be the missing piece you’ve been waiting for.
Until you actually give it a try, you won’t realize the benefits – they can be instant and dramatic. So give them a whirl and see for yourself. What have you got to lose?
Share your experiences in comments in the comments section below.
Happy cleansing,