Stop carrying others’ baggage — practice energy hygiene
Last updated date: 03/26/2024
Have you ever been around someone with a headache, and while they began feeling better, you later had a headache? You acquire energy from the foods you eat, the medications you take, the air you breathe, and the people you’re around. So, what do you do with all that extra energy you don’t need or want?
What is energy hygiene?
Just as you regularly wash your body or brush your teeth, it’s important to cleanse any energy that might be weighing you down. This is called “energy hygiene.”
Energy hygiene can be as simple as washing your hands and saying, “Gone!” Or maybe you step outside and visualize the sun melting away stress or tension from a difficult interaction. Whatever method of energy hygiene you choose, it should be fun, uplifting, and frequent! The more you clear, the greater space you create for the things you do want in your life.
How do you acquire energy?
Energy is everywhere and in everything. Our bodies are amazing receivers and amplifiers of the energetic messages we pick up and send out.
Adding a regular clearing practice into your self-care program allows you to release the heaviness of acquired energy and replace it with peacefulness. You get to let go of what no longer serves you and fill that space with your interests.
3 ways to practice energy hygiene
Energy sweeping
After a stressful day, you can sweep away acquired energy, and it only takes a couple of minutes to feel the benefits. Simply combine your breath and your intention with sweeping movements.
- Use soft hands and open palms to sweep across your forehead.
- Set your intention, like “Any energy that does not serve me — return it to its source.” You can imagine the energy falling off your body into the earth to be recycled.
- Repeat your intention as you sweep and soothe your entire body, like you’re gently petting your favorite animal.
- Continue to sweep your face, neck, chest, arms, hands, belly, low back, legs, and feet.
- When you finish, be aware of any body sensations, and notice how you feel.
Smudging
Smudging is an energy-clearing tradition that goes back thousands of years. Traditionally, it involves burning herbs like white sage or palo santo. The smoke is considered a cleansing agent with healing properties. It also restores feelings of balance to an individual, a group, a space, or all three.
How to smudge
- Gather your supplies:
- A bowl, ashtray, or shell
- An herb bundle or stick
- A match or lighter
- A fanning tool
- Set your intention, such as, “I let go and release what no longer serves me.”
- Light the herbs and let them burn for about 20 seconds. Gently blow out the flame to produce a smoking ember.
- Fan the smoke around your whole body while repeating your intention.
- Continue to repeat your intention until you feel a shift in your body, mind, and heart.
- Imagine the smoke lifting away any thoughts, emotions, or energies that are bogging you down.
Cleansing with salt crystals
Salt crystals like Himalayan, Dead Sea, or Epsom salts have been used throughout history to absorb unwanted energy and banish negativity. Salt crystals can protect, cleanse, and recharge our energy. Epsom salts contains a compound of magnesium and sulfate, which works to ease aches, pains, and skin troubles.
Create an Epsom salt bath
- Put 1 cup of Epsom salt into a bathtub
- Fill tub with hot water
- Soak for at least 15–20 minutes to wash away worries, tensions, and accumulated energies
Sources:
Teketa Shine, “A Beginner’s Guide to Clearing, Cleansing, and Charging Crystals,” Healthline, https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-cleanse-crystals#salt-water, accessed March 2022
Heath and Nicole Reed, Massage & bodywork, “Clearing Acquired Energy,” November/December 2021
Karen Prestwood, “Energy Medicine: What Is It, How Does It Work, and What Place Does It Have in Orthopedics?,” Techniques in Orthopaedics 18, no. 1 (March 2003): 46–53, https://doi.org/10.1097/00013611-200303000-00009
Heath and Nicole Reed, Massage & bodywork, “Clearing Acquired Energy,” November/December 2021
Chandra Shekhar Nautiyal, Puneet Singh Chauhan, and Yeshwant Laxman Nene, “Medicinal Smoke Reduces Airborne Bacteria,” Journal of Ethnopharmacology 114, no. 3 (January 2008): 446–51, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2007.08.038
Kristen Hickey, “Smudging 101: Burning Sage to Cleanse Your Space and Self of Negativity,” MBG Mindfulness, July 15, 2020, www.mindbodygreen.com/0-17875/a-sage-smudging-ritual-to- cleanse-your-aura-clear-your-space.html
