Keeping Your Spirit Clean

IT’S CLEANING TIME!

Self care is an important part of any journey. One of the most important things is keeping your spirit clean. Now, this post may make some “seasoned” Christians clutch their pearls, but I am not the “average Christian”. I believe in exploring all avenues to cleanse your spirit— no I do not condone worshipping any kinds of gems, stones, herbs, statues, etc. But I do believe in finding what works best for you to purify your spirit of any toxic elements.

Here are some ways that I keep my spirit clean:

1. CANDLES + MUSIC

   If you follow my photography Instagram stories then you know exactly what I mean. I like to listen to my curated playlist while burning my favorite Bamboo essential oil candle. I have a routine in the morning. I wake my husband up for work (a few times), then he wakes my son up and depending on my daughter’s mood I may be up with them to feed her. Once they leave and my daughter is officially awake, I make up everyone’s beds and create a play area for my daughter to roll around in. I light my candle and turn my music on and I open the blinds. This wakes my senses, gets my creative spirit going and allows me to be calm. The first thing i do before I wake everyone up is: read 2-4 inspirational quotes, my daily scripture, possibly a devotional (depends on if I slept and am awake enough to comprehend my readings), then I read my dictionary word for the day, check my emails and social media. This is my typical day.

2. INCENSE

   So I am on this organic, hippie path these days. I have been wanting to explore my nature loving side for many years but never found myself confident in my fashion style due to my weight (I got over it). I burn about three incense a day to add a little earthy reminder to my day. It reminds me to appreciate the earth that God has created and allows me to take in nature.

3. SAGE BURNING

   Now before you go all Biblical on me, I have never burned sage in my life. I do have a sage bundle (and plan to sell them in my shop) but I haven’t yet gotten to experience the benefits of burning sage. I will say that I have done my research and it is not demonic or satanic, as some people like to paint it to be. SMUDGING is a ceremonial cleanse that Native Americans did back in the day to cleanse their home of negative entities. There is a Smudging “prayer” that you say during the ceremony and a “path” that you have to walk / move the sage as you move through your home. I am not advising you to do that because the spiritual realm is no joke. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s best that you don’t try it— MULTIPLE sites that I have seen gave that warning.

4. MEDITATION

   I despise this word because people tend to think meditation involves “Om” (a yoga term) and that is not the case. You don’t have to sit Indian style and your fingers together and eyes closed to meditate. Meditation is prayer. I like to pray in the mornings when everyone is sleeping just to let God know that I appreciate the big and small things that He has done for me. I also pray for protection and I sit and try to listen to His responses. Sometimes I just go in my bathroom (my Mommy zone) and I just close my eyes and think about God. I do this to try to tap into Him and create an open dialog to communicate with Him. I’ve never heard the voice of God (at least I don’t think I have) and I like to try and create that open communication platform with God.

5. REMOVE TOXICITY

   Remove family, distractions, friends, jobs, and anything or any person that disrupts, challenges or aggravates your peace. I am quick and I mean quick to remove someone out of my peaceful zone. For the last year, I have been really trying to chase peace and happiness. I have been trying to be the best me I could be and that involves me being alone away from distractions from others who don’t mean me any good. Toxic people are people who don’t add value to your journey. They can either cause your spirit to be aggravated when they come around, cause you to be uneasy, or make you uncomfortable. There is no room for that energy in your life especially during your journey.

6. JOURNALING

   Don’t shoot me shoot the messenger! Journals are the TRUTH! I have several journals that play different roles in my journey. I have an idea journal where I jot down ideas, I have a venting journal where I just right any and every word or feeling that comes to my head, I have a prayer journal that I write my prayers in, I have a notes journal where I write notes from webinars I watch and a scratch journal that I use for photography (organize galleries and edits). Journaling helps you get out whatever you have bottled up inside you. It allows you to release the baggage that can’t travel with you on your journey.
   
   
   
   
   
   These are some of the basic ways I keep myself in good spirits. If you have any cool ways that you practice self care and a clean spirit, drop them in the comments below!