Spiritual hygiene is incredibly important, especially when it comes to our environment or our own aura field. It's something that I personally believe should be known to everybody in order to improve quality of life. We can all benefit from it collectively. There is no need for any extravagant items nor does this need to be expensive. It's the mindful way we set our intentions & how we choose to take care of ourselves.
Our aura field is consistently affected by external factors like other people's emotions & intentions towards us. Any kind of social interaction requires an energy exchange between people which can leave us feeling drained by the end of the day without us even realising the true cause of this excessive tiredness. Humans are all different & our energies are diverse & we all have difficult periods in our lives that could make us more draining to others. There's a pretty intimidating term called "energy vampires" but rarely is it evil or intentional.
☽ Energy vampires ☾
When we live busy lives & we don't properly nurture ourselves physically & emotionally ,we can in turn become void of energy that should be created by ourselves in a healthy way, by giving ourselves time & space to recharge. People are incredibly instinctive & we tap into our intuition & other people's energy & when someone's energy seems very happy, light & attractive, we tend to want to be around that more. We feel nurtured by it because on some level we are absorbing that energy. When the roles are reversed, the same can be done to us. This is incredibly normal & only human but this is exactly why we need to make sure we're always energetically clean & balanced within ourselves.
People who are more negative, passive aggressive or highly reactive to people around them & if they're looking for conflict for no apparent reason, it usually means that they themselves are drained & don't know how to be healthy & balanced. These types of people tend to fall under the "energy vampire" category. We've all been an energy vampire at least once in our lives, no one is always good or always bad. It only means that these types of people can make us feel much more tired when compared to others we interact with. Luckily there are multiple ways to cleanse & protect ourselves from energy vampires.
☽ Cleansing rituals ☾
When it comes to our environment, like our homes or our bedrooms, a simple option is to routinely clean & open windows to help remove stagnant energy. There are multiple different ways to cleanse both ourselves & our surroundings. I recommend doing this cleansing whenever you feel more tired than usual or if you need to be more social than normal. The most simple way to incorporate this into your routine is to do the cleansing ritual at the end of your regular weekly cleaning routine. Like a little cutesy cherry on top of a self care cake.
Sound- Play meditation music that is focused on clearing negative energy. You can do this whilst you do your regular routines or even if you're working or studying. The sound vibrations are not usually intrusive so they can be playing in the background. Bells & Tibetan bowls can be used as well. The impact of sounds & vibrations is absolutely incredible on both ourselves & our surroundings.
Smoke- White sage belongs to indigenous cultures & their practices & I'm personally against using it out of respect. Incense sticks or dried rosemary/thyme/lavender work really well for smudging both yourself & your home. Rosemary is very cheap in grocery stores & can be dried on a windowsill of your own home to use for smudging(keep it away from pets). Only 2-3 pieces are needed to smudge a whole room. Keep your pets out of the room you're trying to cleanse or if you want to do it on yourself. Open your windows, light your incense of choice & walk around the room, smudging all corners & nooks with smoke. Guide the smoke towards the open window. This movement helps to remove stagnant energy & drive away anything negative. You're creating an energy motion with your hand movements & smoke. You can then circle the incense smoke around your body, hands, head & legs. It's always good to finish a room cleanse with an aura cleanse done on yourself. It helps to reset both you & your home environment. Leave the windows open for a while to purify the air & take a moment to yourself to be mindful of this energy reset. Let yourself feel refreshed.
Water - Taking showers or baths can easily be turned into a mindful cleansing ritual. Imagine yourself washing off all the bad energy from the day, releasing all attachments of other people. When you've had an abnormally stressful day or if you've had to do a lot of mental work, I highly advise you to wash your hair with the intention of removing all the stressful energy from your crown chakra (it's at the top of our heads) We tend to compost excessive thoughts & noise in our heads, so it's an important little step. Epsom salt baths or sea salt body wash can only aid in this ritual(you can get it cheap in Aldi). It helps to remove any energetic attachments of other people. Salt is the most powerful yet the most simple ingredient in a lot of protection spells.
☽ Recharging ☾
Spiritual hygiene involves energy cleansing but it's also incredibly important to recharge our aura field after we've cleansed in order to balance ourselves. There are different ways to go about this but the most impactful way of changing your own energy levels is to give yourself time & space alone & honour the importance of doing this in a mindful way. Humans are not robots & in today's world we're much busier than ever which in turn can be very overwhelming both mentally & physically. This in turn will affect our energy field as well.
Time by yourself - This should not be underestimated, we need time to be alone to rest from the noise of society, our responsibilities, social media & people we interact with. If you tend to be very caring towards others, trying to help them or if you converse a lot with people, I highly recommend spending time by yourself in silence. Respect your own time as much as you respect others. Social media helps us communicate with more people than ever before but this is the first time in history we've done this as humans. There's a reason it feels so incredibly overwhelming at times, we're not mentally capable for constantly speaking to large audiences like that. Taking time away to recharge is a must & don't feel guilty for doing so. You can do whatever feels peaceful to you & do it as often as you need.
Crystals - Crystals are a wonderful way to recharge our aura field, protect & raise our energetic vibrations. I recommend investing in them once you know what suits your needs & you know your personal reason for using them. It's not a necessity to start your energy cleansing/recharging with crystals, unless you feel called to do so, or if you can afford it. I'm planning to write an in depth blog post all about crystals, their purpose & how to properly care for them.
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I sincerely hope this has been helpful. There are no rules in spirituality (as long as we respect other cultures & people) so feel free to try different things & see what works best for you. I've never thought that living a mindful & healthy life needs to be done in an expensive way. The simplest solution is always the right one, everything else is simply a luxury. Feel free to message me with any questions & I shall meet you in the next blog post.
