So what happens if you decide to choose a space that HAS been used in the past as something that had a lot of conversation or busy thought? Can you still turn it into a meditation or sacred space? Of course! But you have a little work to do before it’s ready. Below are several ways that are known by many to work great for clearing the air.
Clearing the Air.
Sage – It is said that dried sage burned in a fire-safe brazier can remove all negative energies from a room or space. But be aware that it can also remove all positive energies because those with sensitive understanding say that sage pacifies all energy leaving it neutral. White sage is the one most commonly packaged in special stores that sell what’s most often called a ‘smudge stick’, also available online. It’s good to open all windows when your doing this to help clear and circulate the air. The sage has a medicine smell that isn’t unpleasant, but those allergic to air borne particles might have a slight response to it, so open windows for you is really important. I recommend you purchase your sage from a trusted source, organic is best if you can find it. Move around the rooms slowly carrying the lit smudge stick allowing the smoke to gently enter the room. There shouldn’t be any fire, just smoke like an incense has. If it catches fire just wait a few minutes for it to go out, and the smoke should continue as you smudge. If it stops simply light it once more. After you’ve finished leave it in a fire safe container so it can go out safely, even if it looks like it’s stopped smoking.
You can visit Mark Pasley, Rocketeer and Energy Therapist’s website red-spirit-energy-healing.com. He helps in clearing serious energies in your home and has some really excellent tips on his site. He recommends you don’t buy any extra ‘goodies’ with your sage. Just a simple dish to catch the ash.
Incense – Burning incense, especially Tibetan Medicine incense, really helps. Choosing the right incense is very important, especially for those with allergies or sensitivities. All natural incense is really excellent. Some commercial incense adds chemicals to increase the burn rate so you by more incense. While other incense manufacturers use artificial scents because things like Frankincense is expensive compared to the real natural scent.
Images – Any meditation space needing the removal of negative energies or energies non-conducive to meditation can benefit from images of beings that you know to be blessed and positive such as the Buddha, a loved and respected teacher, statues, or other images such as temples, our even some beautiful and inspiring outdoor scenery such as a vista that gives you a feeling of space. For me, it’s different statues of the Buddha that bring virtuous and positive energies. These statues have been enlivened by a skilled and trained ordained, and then blessed by a qualified Lama. The have been placed on my altar and bring a great blessing and feeling of peace to the space.
Cleaning A Space – Also cleaning the space can help remove negative energy. Opening windows to improve the ion count and the air quality in a room is good. Sea salt has been found to be a good element to neutralize energy (especially when cleaning crystals), so mopping the floor and washing the walls with a mild spring water and a few spoonful’s of sea salt can be beneficial. Removing any pollutants such as trashcans, dirty pet beds, or smelly shoes is important.
Fresh Air – When talking about fresh air it’s important that you understand that clean air has a higher count of negative ions (not negative energy) and pollution such as cigarettes or chemicals, replaces the negative ions with positive. So opening windows and allowing fresh air the pass through a room helps to raise the negative ions count and remove negative energy from the room.
Essential Oils – Place a few drops of an essential oil in spring water in a spray bottle. It can be a scent of your choice, but lavender and peppermint are two good scents found to help remove negative energies. Use this spray to clean, or to just freshen the air. Be very careful not to over spray or it will be distracting. Also, when choosing an essential oil, make sure it’s all natural and safe. Some are highly concentrated and can actually cause burns to the skin in full strength. Purchase it from a trusted all-natural store if possible and talk to the employees; they often know which are best for what purposes. You can also go online and order oils, but you won’t know if you like the scent until it arrives so just be careful.
Sound – One of the ways to help purify the air in a space is to place a CD player in a discrete corner and play mantra or positive, peaceful music. Chanting and mantra has a very virtuous vibration that can bring up the energy in any space. I often just hit ‘repeat’ and let it play for 24 hours. In the temple I attend, they have a beautiful mantra chanted by the Lama that is playing 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can really feel the blessing as soon as you enter the room.
Blessings – Another way to clear the air, or give your meditation space a real jump-start is to visit with your local Tibetan Buddhist temple, or find a Hindu Priest and ask for a house blessing. The monks and nuns blessed my house several times, whenever I moved into a new space, and it was such a blessing to have that kind of compassion and love in your home. I highly recommend it. It’s considered very meritorious to make an offering to the ordained for their blessing, but please don’t let that stop you from asking. Please know that they don’t do it for the money, they do it out of compassion and wanting to help with peace in the world.
Meditation – Also if you have a space that is dedicated just to meditation, that means the quiet, peaceful and calm energy that comes from your sessions will always be the only thing that is in the space. You’ll feel the difference once you begin to meditate each day. It holds that energy left from your meditation and will help you in your future sessions.
Thanks for the information. I didn’t realize you had to do something to a space to make it ready for meditation. It makes sense, though, that you would need to change the energy to make it more conducive to meditation. You mentioned burning incense as a way to help cleanse the space. Do you have a scent you recommend? http://www.a1aromaticincense.com/#!aromatic-energizers/c1oq12
That’s a great question, and the answer is your personal preference. However, I prefer the Tibetan incense because it has very little perfume and gives off a natural scent. Potala Incense (named after the Dali Lama’s main temple) is good. http://www.tibetanincense.com/products/potala-incense. Potala incense is purely hand prepared according to fundamental principles of ancient Tibetan traditional system of medicine that originated from some 2500 years ago. This incense is totally absent of camphor smell and is also non-toxic and non-habit forming. This incense is made with a blend of Earthy scents, with Sandalwood as the base. Generally, Tibetan incense is used for puja offering and purification but is is also used as air-freshener which keeps one’s surrounding fresh.