Smudging is a powerful way to clear out negative energy and bring in peace, clarity and positivity.
Also known as saging, it is an ancient spiritual practice used by indigenous cultures for centuries. It involves burning dried sage, a sacred herb, to cleanse and purify the energy in a space.
While deeply rooted in Native American traditions, it’s been embraced worldwide for its calming and restorative benefits.
By performing this simple ritual with intention, you can create a sanctuary that not only feels good, but also supports your mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
If you’re looking to reset the energy of your home and cultivate a space of tranquillity, learning how to sage your home properly is key.
So, I spoke to an expert on how to perform the practice and gave it a go myself.
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Why should you sage your home?
The idea behind smudging is simple: the smoke from the burning sage helps to cleanse negative energy, create a sense of peace and enhance mental clarity.
Expert Inbaal Honigman says: “The main reason for smudging is to cleanse the home.
“Removing any leftover energies from toxic people who have visited, lifting any negative emotions such as disappointment or resentment and readying the space to accept lighter, happier times.”
How to smudge your home properly
1 Gather your supplies
To smudge your home, you’ll need the following:
- Sage bundle: dried white sage is the most commonly used, but you can also find sage mixed with other herbs like lavender or cedar for added benefits. You can buy sage bundles online, including from Beauty Bay for £7.50, which should be enough for multiple sagings.
- Fireproof bowl or abalone shell to catch any falling ash as you move through your space.
- Matches or a lighter to light the sage.
- Feather (optional): some use feathers to waft the smoke throughout the space.
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2 Set an intention
Before lighting the sage, it’s important to set an intention.
What do you want to release from your space? Negative energy, stress or old emotional baggage?
Be clear in your mind and focus on this as you sage. Your intention will guide the cleansing process.
3 Start in the right place
Begin at your home’s front door.
Inbaal, psychic at Inbaal.com, says you should move in a clockwise direction through your space, as this follows the path of the sun.
4 Light the sage
Light the sage bundle at one end until it begins to smoke.
Allow the flames to go out naturally. Gently blow on the embers if needed to keep the smoke flowing, like burning incense.
Be cautious not to produce too much smoke — smudging should be a gentle cleansing, not an overwhelming cloud.
5. Move mindfully through your home
With your sage bundle in hand (or resting in your fireproof bowl), walk slowly through each room.
Inbaal says: “Move the smudge bundle around so that the smoke reaches high to the ceilings and low to the floor.
“Take great care wafting a good amount of smoke around corners, which tend to retain stagnant energies, and around and under furniture, banishing the shadows — so that you’re smudging the entire room.”
She explains that once a room is done, move to the next room in a clockwise direction until you’ve done the whole house.
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6 Pay attention to key areas
Don’t forget to sage around windows, mirrors and doorways, as these can be areas where energy enters and exits your home.
If you’re saging your entire home, be sure to sage around any electronics, since these can hold a lot of energy.
Inbaal adds: “Smudging is an intuitive practice and your soul knows best, so if you’re moved to smudging differently, don’t overthink it, just do it in whatever way feels right at that moment.”
7 Close with gratitude
Once you’ve saged every room, extinguish the sage by pressing it into your fireproof bowl until the embers die out.
It’s important to express gratitude for the cleansing and the fresh energy you’ve invited into your space.
You might also want to visualise your home filled with light and positivity.
Smudging mantras to chant
Although smudging in silence is absolutely fine, many people find it easier to hold onto their intentions by speaking them aloud.
Inbaal recommends a number of mantras, including a bible verse, psalm or Hindu chant.
She said a practical punchy line is: “I cleanse and purify this space, may all negativity be gone, may only good enter herein.”
Inbaal also suggests humming, as the energy is similar to drumming.
She says: “Humming can wordlessly move the chi along the perimeter of your home so that any stagnant vibes are swept up and moved along.”
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How often should you smudge?
How often you sage your home depends on your personal preference and the energy of your space.
Inbaal explains: “There are no rules as to how often one should smudge, but if you deep clean your home once a week, for example, add it as a final step of the cleaning day — lifting away any stagnant energies and ensuring that the home feels as fresh energetically as it does materially.”
Trust your intuition; you’ll know when your space needs a refresh.
I tried smudging my home for the first time — this is how it went
The bad weather left me feeling gloomy, so I thought trying my hand at smudging may be the perfect thing to reset my surroundings and clear out any lingering bad vibes.
Following Inbaal’s instructions, I started saging my home (aka, one-bed flat). Much to my boyfriend’s annoyance, I made him join me.
To keep my intentions in the front of my mind, we continuously chanted aloud things like: “I banish negativity and invite positivity.”
I’d heard from a spiritual friend that the far back left corner of your house is the ‘money corner’, so you should focus your attention on wealth when saging this particular area. The back left corner of my flat is where the bookcase is; could this mean I’ll find wealth in writing? Here’s hoping.
Trying to do a thorough job, it took around 15 minutes to smudge my entire tiny flat. People with larger homes, therefore, should ensure they set aside enough time to do a deep spiritual cleanse.
I recommend you open as many doors and windows as possible to allow the smoke to escape — I learnt this the hard way when my fire alarm went off.
While the bundle was still burning, I also gave myself, my partner and even my cat a good smudging, as I didn’t want any lingering negative energy in our newly charged home.
After the practice, I felt uplifted. I’m not sure if it was due to the spiritual cleansing, or the fact that I’d purposefully put time aside to focus on feeling good and speaking aloud my intentions, but I certainly finished the session feeling like I’d want to do it again.
I think setting aside time to focus on what you want to release from your life, and what you want to invite — whether you’re spiritual or not — can only have a positive effect on your mental wellbeing and your space.
