What is smudging and why, when and how would you do it?
First of all, smudging is an ancient spiritual ritual for purification that has been used for thousands of years by indigenous peoples and cultures in Asia and India to drive away and clear negative energy and restore balance.
It generally involves using intention while safely burning herbs like sage or sweetgrass and allowing the smoke to
Times when you might benefit from a good smudge and clearing negativity from your life:
- Right before you meditate or journal
- After returning from a trip
- Before welcoming guests in your home
- After guests have left your home
- During or after an illness
- When beginning something new
- At the end of something like a relationship, job, or death
- After an argument or conflict
- Before setting yearly or monthly intentions
- When you move into a new space
- Anytime you want to clear negative energy and restore balance in your life
Simple steps to smudging:
- Gather your materials like a smudge stick, palo santo, incense, matches, fireproof dish or bowl
- Set your intention: what negative aspects or energy do you want to release and why?
- Light your sage, etc and allow the flame to burn for 20-30 seconds
- Gently blow out the flame and allow the smoke to rise
- Set it on your dish to burn for another 1-5 minutes or walk it around your space, holding your intention in your mind or speaking it out loud
- After the smoke has gone out, set a new intention for the positive energy and whatever you want to draw into your space/life at this time
- Invoke gratitude: express thanks to whomever you feel is appropriate: your ancestors, indigenous people, angels, guides and masters
Done!
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