How are you doing this week? We’ve all been on some kind of lockdown for a couple weeks or more by now. We are grieving too many things to mention including the way of life we have always known. Did anyone think R.E.M.’s song It’s the end of the World as We Know It would ever resonate with such truth? (Except perhaps the subtitle of the song – and I feel fine…) It feels disorienting like we have lost our compass back to normal because what was normal just last month no longer exists. At this point the energy in homes can really start to stagnate, especially if you are in a house full of people. It’s time to clear it – NOW!

Our homes are meant to be a place of safety from the outside world. And while technology has made it possible to connect and continue to work and attend school from a distance, the residual energy from meetings, classes, group chats, and so on, starts to seep in. Add that to already cramped quarters and overlapping into one another’s space and collective feelings of anxiety, uncertainty, and fear. Then there are the leftover odors from meals, the devastating messages being broadcast on the news, and even the disturbances from violent and sinister movies and television programs can permeate into our personal space. Anyone feeling like the air is feeling heavy and tense?

“To clear the air” is an expression that means to remove bad feelings between people, usually by talking about it. In this case, it’s important that we attend to the air, the space that we inhabit, as often as possible to be free and fresh from the past. Emotional contagion is real and when sharing space we need to engage practices of clearing the air so as not to absorb lingering negative energy from others nor to allow any negative energy to fester. It is true that some of us are more sensitive to that than others, and for those of us who are highly sensitive, it’s so important and necessary to recognize it and to take care of ourselves. Some of us may have been accommodating other family members and realize that we need to consciously make space for ourselves to be during this unusual time. Ultimately, we must do whatever is necessary to support our sense of comfort, calm, and safety for ourselves and for our families.

None of us are accustomed to living in such close proximity with others around the clock for days on end and it may become evident that some people tend to consume more energy than others; and some are more susceptible to picking up on or even to attaching to someone else’s energy. None of this is to be judged as good or bad, but rather as something to be aware of.

There are a variety of ways to clean the energy in a space and each one of them could be a deep dive into the history and warrant its own post. In the spirit of relevance and importance, I want to share this information promptly so we can begin to explore on our own. These practices have origins in feng shui, Chinese medicine, a variety of spiritual traditions, and there is much scientific research as well. I’m simply going to list everything that I have am familiar with (I’m sure there are even more). As you read the list, I encourage you to connect with your own intuition and past experiences into what resonates for you and start experimenting. It is highly likely that you have already been inclined to do many of the things already. If you are unfamiliar with something and feel drawn to it, do an online search and learn more about it or leave a question in the comments and I will do my best to supply some resources. Here we go:

• Basic cleaning. Scrub everything down; dust, sweep, vacuum, mop, all of it.
• Clear out the physical clutter. Get rid of old things and junk.
• Rearrange the furniture.
• Open the windows.
• Open the front door and back door.
• Boil a pot of half white vinegar and half water. Let it boil down until empty. The vapor cleans and disinfects the air.
• Turn on Himalayan salt lamps.
• Leave small bowls of salt in the corners of rooms. Empty daily.
• Make a salt water spray to mist through the air.
• Soak in an Epsom salt bath.
• Burn candles.
• Light incense.
• Strike a match.
• Diffuse essential oils – lavender, peppermint, and citrus scents are especially calm and refreshing.
• Smudge the room with sage or palo santo.
• Add plants and flower bouquets to the space.
• Meditate and pray.
• Bless the space.
• Cast out dark energy and invite positive energy in.
• Put out crystals to absorb negative energy.
• Play uplifting and energetic music.
• Laugh.
• Dance.
• Sing.
• Have gratitude.

The best and only way to get through this pandemic is going to be one day at a time. It will be easier, lighter, and less burdensome when we give our space the attention that it requires and allow for each day to be a new day with a full reset.