Smudging with Sage and Palo Santo

What is smudging?

Smudging is a way to energetically cleanse a space to invite positive energy. When smudging a space, you burn plant material such as sage, lavender, and palo santo. The smoke fills and purifies the environment. The fragrance alone is enough to help create a calm, inviting space, but there are other possible benefits as well.

Sage Benefits

Palo Santo Benefits

Times to smudge your aura or space:

• Before you go to bed after a long day around people

• Before and after you’ve had guests at your home

• When you move into a new home

• When you begin a new job

• When you start your own business

• Before and after a healing session

• Before meditation

• After any illness

• After an argument/conflict

What do you need to start?

• An herbal material such as sage or palo santo

• A lighter, match, or candle

• A heatproof dish and/or a bowl of sand for fire safety

Directions:

1. Light the end of the sage or palo santo stick

2. Let it burn for a few seconds before blowing the flame out

3. To clear the energy in the room, hold the stick and walk in a clockwise direction, letting the smoke touch the areas you feel need attention.

4. To smudge yourself, waft the smoke around your body using your hands, a fan, or a even a feather if you can find one

5. Set the stick into the heatproof dish and allow the incense to linger (do not leave unattended)

6. After the stick is done & the ritual/your meditation is complete, make sure it is extinguished completely using the bowl of sand (if applicable)

For a unique experience, try these tips before you start:

• Open the windows. When you're clearing the negative energies from yourself it kind of makes sense that they need a place to go, right?

• Set the mood. Creating a safe, relaxing space before your ritual adds to the spiritual and meditative experience that smudging can bring. Silence your phone. Put on some calming music. Dim the lights, If you have any crystals now would be a good time to set them out to bring more good vibes in. You can even start a warm bath with ingredients of your choice so that when you're done the bath is ready for you to soak in.

• Set your intentions. This can be done by saying a prayer, reciting positive affirmations, anything you think you need to hear out loud or even anything you want to manifest for yourself. If you need ideas, Google and Pinterest are full of them and if you want to skip this part, that's okay too.