Increasing the Positive Vibes in Your Home

by Alejandra Roca
syndicated from redfin.com

Cleansing your house of bad vibes can be an important step in your personal well-being – but how do you know if you have harmful energy in your home, and how do you clear it out?

Signs You Need to Clear the Energy in Your Home

You can tell whether the energy in your home is good or bad – or neutral – based on the way you feel inside. A house filled with good energy feels fresh and vibrant; it’s full of life, and you feel good being there. On the other end of the spectrum, a home drowning in bad vibes will make you feel like you’re being stifled, smothered or even crushed. You can feel the tension in the air, and there are a thousand places you’d rather be.

Negative energy and stress go hand-in-hand, so if you’re constantly frazzled or at the end of your rope, your home could be partly to blame. If you’re not sure whether your home has bad energy of its own, check out these red flags:

• Excessive complaining. If you or your family members catch yourselves complaining, even when things are okay (or worse, when they’re actually pretty good), you may have negative energy in your home. The same is true if you’re struggling to find the positivity in life.

• Negative relationships. When the people around you – spouses, children, family and friends – are negative, it’s worth taking a look at the kind of energy you’re putting out there. Negative energy attracts more negative energy, and it becomes a vicious cycle.

• The blame game. Household members always pointing the finger? Negative energy in the home could be preventing them (and you) from looking inward to place responsibility where it really belongs.

• Criticism. If there’s a lot of criticizing going along with all the blame, your home could be swamped in bad energy. When you (or others in your house) send out negative vibrations, you’re increasing negative energy in your space.

• Clutter. One of the biggest signs of negative energy in a home is clutter. Clutter blocks the way energy flows through a home, so it could be keeping bad energy in and making things worse.

Even if you aren’t picking up on any of these warning signs that you’re dealing with bad energy, it’s a good idea to clear your house when someone has had an argument, been sick or is experiencing stress at work. Negative energy can seep into your space over time, as well, so it’s okay to get attempt to clear it whenever you feel like doing so.

Your home is the one place you should feel safe and secure, but if you open the door and you’re practically swimming in a pool of bad energy, you need to cleanse it – and this checklist will help.

Clearing Negative Energy From Your Home: The Ultimate Checklist 

Fortunately, it’s typically easy to clear bad energy out of your home to make room for positive energy. You’ll have to do an all-over cleansing, but it’s straightforward and simple.

First, clean the house. Get rid of all the clutter by putting things away or disposing of them, and make sure you clean every corner. Open all the blinds, and, weather-permitting, open your windows. Let in as much light and fresh air as you can as you clean. Don’t forget to dust, vacuum and check for cobwebs – you don’t want the negative energy or bad spirits to have any reason to stick around.

As you clean, know that keeping broken items in your house is bad feng shui – and items that don’t bring you joy can only drag you down. If you have an item that’s irreparably broken, it’s time to move on.

When you’ve cleared away the clutter and removed broken items from your home, you can finish sending the bad energy packing.

What you need:

• 5 lemons
• ¼ c. ammonia or white vinegar
• Sage, frankincense or copal (or all three)
• A fireproof dish for catching embers and ash (Native Americans used abalone shells)
• Sea salt
• A bell
• Selenite

Doors and Windows 

The doors and windows are where outside energy enters your home. Keep them purified by mixing a bucket of water with the juice from five lemons, 1 cup of sea salt and ¼ cup of ammonia or white vinegar. Clean the doorknobs, doors and frames, and windows in your home with the solution to keep them purified.

Throughout Your Home

The ancient Native American technique of smudging can help remove bad energy in your home. The Native Americans used it for millennia because they knew it worked – and fortunately, the same materials they used are readily available in health food stores and online.

Burning sage – particularly white sage – is a simple and fast way to clear out bad spirits and negative energy. Add frankincense (which you can use alone, too, if you don’t like sage) and copal incense to chase out all the negative vibes so there’s plenty of room for good ones. You can also use patchouli or other herbs recommended by healers.

Follow this step-by-step guide to smudge your home with sage (or other herbs):

1. Stand in the center or at the front door of the room you want to cleanse. Most people begin in the kitchen, as it’s the heart of the home.
2. Light the sage bundle like you’d light incense, and let the flames die out (they will, very quickly).
3. Fan the sage carefully to encourage a steady stream of smoke. Envision the smoke absorbing bad energy and carrying it away.
4. Cleanse yourself first by lightly fanning the smoke around your body, beginning at your feet and working up toward your head.
5. Walk clockwise around the room, swirling the sage bundle in circular motions. Pay special attention to the walls, corners and floor, and don’t forget the ceiling.

Some people choose to recite incantations or make positive affirmations as they’re smudging. If you’re comfortable, saying a prayer or appealing to a higher power for positive energy can help.

After you’ve smudged each room, pour salt into each corner and let it sit for 48 hours. The salt can absorb negative energy. Ring a bell three times in each corner to break up any stagnant energy, which the salt can then absorb. In two days, vacuum the salt away. Many people choose to use salt lamps to keep cleaning negative energy, as well.

You can further protect your home by putting selenite on your windowsills. Selenite can cleanse energy and raise the vibration in your home to a higher level. Many healers recommend using other healing crystals, as well, so if you have a favorite that works for you, place it in rooms where the bad energy seems to collect.