As practitioners of pranic healing, how you cleanse your energy is something we are asked often. In this article, we’ll go into aura clearing methods you can practice at home, when to do it and why it’s important to make it a regular routine. By the end of this article you’ll have the knowledge in hand to restore your mind, body and spirit back to full energetic vibrancy.
Why do we cleanse our energy?
Have you ever experienced sensing a certain lightness or heaviness in the air when you walk into a room? Or perhaps you have the same type of feeling when you meet someone new: you either feel instant attraction or a complete lack of connection. What you are experiencing can be explained as energetic frequency. Quantum physics proved long ago that everything is in fact made up of energy. Everything from humans, plants, rocks, to the air you breathe. Even emotions and the thoughts that we have carry a palpable energetic charge.
We are all susceptible to the energies that exist around us, and this is especially true for those who are highly sensitive or empathetic. Everyday, we absorb energy from the places and people we encounter. When we spend time with positive, happy people we feel lifted, whereas negative or difficult personalities can leave us feeling depleted or emotionally drained.
Making a habit of cleansing our personal aura and the energy in our used spaces releases negative energetic attachments and restores harmonic balance for overall wellbeing.
How often should you cleanse your energy?
The best guide for knowing when to cleanse is your intuition. Tune in and recognise if you feel unbalanced emotionally, anxious, unusually lethargic, or if anything doesn’t feel ‘quite right’. Wherever these feelings have come from, a cleansing ritual will help to release whatever is not serving you.
It’s also recommended to cleanse during times when you are:
Performing a spiritual ritual (cleanse the space, your personal aura and any tools you are using before and after)
Moving into a new home or office space
Processing an emotional confrontation or breakup
Experiencing a change of season (Spring equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox, winter solstice)
After you’ve had a group of friends over
Returning from a funeral, cemetery or hospital
An ideal time for performing a cleansing routine is every month during a new and full moon (the lunar energy facilitates releasing and letting go). If you need help keeping track of lunar dates, this handy astrological planner has all the important energetic dates for your calendar. It’s good to note that ‘over-cleansing’ will do you no harm so it’s a great habit to do as regularly as possible.
How do I cleanse my energy?
There are many practices of aura cleansing that vary across cultures and date back centuries. Here, we’ve narrowed down eight that you can integrate into your lifestyle and perform at home. When trying out different methods, feel what resonates with you. Tune into your innate capacity for energetic reading and conduct rituals with your own personal intention and authenticity.
Energy Healing
The most well known healing modalities out there are reiki, pranic healing and acupuncture. While it’s possible to practice on yourself, these forms of energy healing come with much time and experience so it’s advised to visit an experienced practitioner. When looking for a spiritual healer, speak to friends for trusted recommendations and always reach out first – it’s important that you feel a connection. A healer should be there as guide and not push any ideas or agendas onto you. Many healers offer sessions over phone or video call, so you can benefit from the comfort of your own home.
Crystals
Crystals are nature’s wonder healers. Charged with a high vibrating frequency, they are able to neutralise energetic fields and even raise energy to a higher level. Certain crystals are particularly effective cleansers such as selenite, clear quartz, tourmaline and kyanite. These protective stones work to actively absorb interfering energies and transmute negativity into positivity. Stones can be used in chakra cleansing rituals, placed around key areas of your home and even used as ‘wands’ to comb away bad energy from your personal aura. Wearing jewellery made of crystals is also a great way to carry healing energy around with you for support throughout the day. Crystals help us absorb and shift energies so remember to cleanse them regularly after use.
Smudging
Smudging is an age-old ritual that uses the smoke of a sacred herb to shift negative and lingering energies. Common herbs are sage, palo santo, cedar and yerba santa, which all carry a rich aromatic smell. Light your smudge stick at one end and blow it out until you see embers. Direct and fan the smoke towards areas you wish to cleanse while visualising any negative emotions evaporating into the air. Or you can try repeating an energy transmutation mantra such as: “I safely release all negative energies from myself and my space now, with unconditional love for the highest good of all.” When you have finished, make sure to put the burning embers out in a dish, shell or sand. With all clearing rituals make sure to close by filling up the space with a new energy, such as calling in energies of love, compassion and empowerment.
Essential Oils
80% of what we smell directly affects our mood, which is why aromatherapy works instantaneously. Aromatherapy uses sensory and botanical plant knowledge as remedies for physical and emotional processing. Different plants and natural ingredients have the power to release tension and lift energies. Such as bergamot which balances emotions and chamomile which has excellent antidepressant properties. Certified aromatherapists will blend the right oils unique to you, and you can also treat yourself at home with pre-blended oils (make sure to use those with only natural ingredients). Lather oils onto your body intuitively or fill your diffuser to infuse your space with botanical healing goodness.
Sound Healing
Music is a universal healer. Reverberations of sound can help to break up stuck or stagnant energy. Instruments that make a singular sound at a constant pitch will clear unwanted energy and restore harmony. You can try singing bowls, gongs or even your own voice in the form of chanting.
Salt Bath
Salt’s antibacterial and healing properties can sooth skin as well as energetic ailments. If you’re feeling drained or low, run a bath and pour in a salt-based bath soak. You can also try adding relaxing essential oils to help soak away any negativity. If you are close to the ocean you can try going for a swim, as natural bodies of salt water will clear away bad juju and restore your aura to its full vitality.
Visualization
With concentration and focus, our mind is a powerful tool that can be used to shift energy. It’s mind over matter after all. There are many different types of energy clearing visualizations you can do. Here is one you can try anywhere, anytime. Find a comfortable seat, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Imagine a magnet entering through the top of your head. As it travels down the length of your spine, it pulls residual black negative energy along with it, exiting through the tailbone and carrying everything collected deep into the ground. Continue this cycle of moving energy for 10 minutes, or until you feel lighter and cleansed. End your visualization by allowing your body to permeate with golden white healing light.
8. Earthing
Reconnecting with nature has the magical effect of raising our internal vibration and letting go of any bad feelings or worries. Whenever you feel low or lethargic, go outside and take a walk. If you’re able to, take off your shoes and feel the earth underneath your feet. Now visualize that you are giving the unwanted energy back to the Earth; in return mama Earth allows a beautiful loving energy to flow back into your body. Notice the longer you spend in natural surroundings the lighter and clearer headed you feel.
Our energetic makeup is as varied as our personalities, so try out these different practices and see which works best for you! Remembering always to let your intuition guide you to where it knows best.