by Ora North
All of your chakras work in harmony to balance your energy, but since they’re constantly processing energy, it’s easy for them to become unbalanced. Blockages in your chakras will make your experience of energy (and your experience of life) a little harder. For example, if you have a blockage in your throat chakra, you may have a hard time sticking up for yourself. You may find it difficult to use your voice in situations where you need to. By working on your throat chakra, you can clear out that energy blockage and find your strength in your voice.
It’s easy to work with your chakras. You can use guided meditations and color visualization. You can use stones that are the same color as the chakra you’re working on. As a general guideline, your higher chakras (your third-eye chakra and especially your crown chakra) need a much lighter touch than your lower chakras. They don’t need as much interaction and focused work as your lower chakras do. Your higher chakras work primarily with heavenly energies and don’t need the same amount of human intervention. Your lower chakras work primarily with earthly energies, so they are much easier to work with on your own, and can handle a lot more focused work than your higher chakras.
Because of your sensitivity to energy, you may experience physical symptoms in the chakra that the energy or emotion is in. Although it can be annoying, feeling those symptoms can indicate where your blockages are, and where you need to focus your healing efforts.
As always, if you’re overwhelmed by the thought of working with your own energy, turn to a trusted healing practitioner or teacher by talking to your community and doing your research.
Energetic Clearing Tools
When I graduated college, I took a mystical journey out West. I rode the train from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Portland, Oregon. On the train ride there, however, the train got stuck in the middle of the mountains in Montana. We sat on the tracks for hours—miles from civilization, no cell service, in the midst of the wilds of Glacier National Park. I sat in the observation car, the mountains looming over me, a taunting cliffside below me. All I could see were trees and rocks, height and depth, in every direction. The sun was shining through the pines. The sky was bluer than blue. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
And yet, I panicked. This was the first time I had been so disconnected, so out of reach, from the people and places I’d left behind. Knowing I couldn’t reach anyone I knew, even if I wanted to, amplified my panic.
Here I was, facing the wild unknown, the overpowering and overwhelming beauty and terror of nature, and I suddenly felt as though I didn’t exist. How could I exist in the mountains? I was small and alone. And I realized that as emotionally isolated as I’d felt my entire life, I’d never felt that energetically and physically alone. I’d never felt so free from the cords of others. And it scared me because being empty and nonexistent in the trees was so new, so uncharted, so wild. I had grown accustomed to having all those energetic cords with other people, and the idea of being without them was terrifying. I would soon learn that this was the reason that nature is such powerful medicine.
For an empath, nature strips away all the pretenses, all the energetic cords, all the codependency and the obligation, and allows one to simply be nonexistent. To simply be. Without everything else. But even though it is medicine, it’s still scary. Being truly alone forces the empath to question their entire identity and reason for existing. It challenges the inherent belief that an empath exists for others, and begs the question, “Who are you when everyone else is gone?”
The answer to that question is exactly what we’re looking for, and it’s something we can’t answer until we’ve cleared ourselves of everyone else’s energy.
Having a set of energetic clearing practices is a must for any empath. Being able to clear out stagnant or excess energy will make room for the bigger questions the empath must face: Who am I really? What is my purpose?
If you’re constantly bombarded by the energy of everyone else, you won’t get the opportunity to explore your own identity because you’ll be too busy managing their feelings and energies. To prevent that from happening, you need a regular routine of clearing and maintenance. Here are some of the most effective tools for energetic clearing. Try them all and see which you’d like to work into your normal routine.
Give Yourself Some Space
One of the easiest ways to clear energy is to get some space. It’s so much harder to clear out other people’s energies when you’re still actually with them. Creating physical separation from those people starts the untangling process.
Go to your family cabin alone. Check in to a hotel room by yourself. Stay at a friend’s farmhouse. Getting physical space sets the stage for you to sort through your feelings safely. Using nature as a tool will speed up the process of clearing.
If you aren’t able to fully get away, creating a space in your home for your use only will work too. Claim the guest room for yourself for a while. Set up an altar in your bedroom. Tell your family they’re not allowed to bother you when you’re in that space.
Make this space sacred by creating a little altar for yourself. Put things you treasure and find special on this altar. It could be your favorite stones, a picture of your grandmother, leaves you gathered from the woods, animal figurines, your favorite gemstone jewelry or oracle deck, or other things that are important to you. Altars are made even more powerful if you can represent each element on them. For earth, you can use a stone or a stick. For air, a feather, or burning incense. For water, a seashell or an actual vial of water from your favorite place. (I have a bottle of water from Lake Superior on my altar.) For fire, a lit candle.
Claiming space just for yourself, and treating this space as sacred, will naturally set you up for processing and cleansing.
Turn to Nature
Nature is the easiest tool you can use that will bring you directly into the true reality of being an empath: the wild emptiness of creation, the void. Nature cuts your energetic cords. It doesn’t ask you to manage its energy, it doesn’t ask you to take on its emotions. Because the energy of nature is mostly neutral, it doesn’t push and pull your energy the way that other people do. Its neutrality is healing. Getting away from others and into nature will quickly encourage you to examine your own energy instead of burying it in the feelings of others. Nature will see and nurture you and all your feelings in a way that other humans can’t. Turning to nature may sometimes feel like running away, but it’s not. It’s giving your soul a chance to hit the refresh button, and giving you a chance to connect to yourself without risking the interference of others.
Smoke Cleansing
Smoke cleansing is the act of purifying energy by burning certain plant materials. The most commonly used material for smoke cleansing is white sage. Burning bundles or leaves of white sage creates a strong herbal odor and cleanses the area of heavy and dense energies.
Another common option is palo santo wood, which comes from fallen trees in South America and gives off a sweet and smoky scent, like resin and campfire. Palo santo works wonderfully in conjunction with white sage, as the sage is best at purifying, while the palo santo is best at bringing down additional positive energies.
There are many other options, like cedar, frankincense, sweetgrass, lavender, mugwort, and pine. Nag Champa incense is also good for transmuting energy. You’ll discover your own favorites. Using herbs from sustainable and respectful sources is always good, both for the respect of the process and also the respect of the earth.
Use smoke cleansing as often as you like. Smoke cleansing can help shift the energy after an argument or a bad experience. If you’ve just had a fight with your partner, cleanse. If you just hosted a family dinner that was like pulling teeth, cleanse. If you woke up from a bad dream, cleanse. If you’re feeling like a bitch for no reason, cleanse. Clearing out those excess energies will help you feel calmer and clearer, and it will help you be able to identify what is your energy by no
ticing what sticks around afterward.
Rituals
Using rituals and prayers is another way to clear out the energy of others and release your own blockages. There are many options for doing this, but I’m going to give you a few of my favorites that will be easy to work into your routine.
Archangel Michael Clearing
(Recite this clearing out loud.)
I invoke Archangel Michael with the fifth dimensional tube of light.
Michael, please place this tube of light around me
in this lifetime and all lifetimes,
all planetary systems and all solar systems,
all alternate realities and all parallel realities,
all alternate universes and all parallel universes,
as well as all source systems,
in this time and in all times.
Michael, use your sword of light to clear me of all foreign energies,
all thought forms and beings, and when I am clear,
escort these energies into the tube of light,
and return them to the fifth dimension
to be transmuted to another form of light.
Close up my aura to the influences of all beings,
except of my higher self, the God consciousness,
my guides and guardians.
So be it, and so it is.
You may notice that you feel physical sensations after you’ve recited this. I always feel a rush of heat around me, as if I can actually feel the tube of light clearing me. You may feel something similar, or you may also feel a slight sense of panic if you’re attached to your cords. The act of clearing out our cords can be scary, since we’re so used to having them.
If you recite this clearing three times and find that you still feel a heavy negative feeling, that means the feeling you’re experiencing is yours. This isn’t a bad thing, though, as it informs you where you need to turn your attention.
Full Moon Releasing
The full moon is the perfect time to release the things that no longer serve you.
On the night of the full moon, write a list of everything you’re ready to purge. Really put your intention into writing this list, and feel each thing as you’re writing it. Offer your list to the moon, reciting each thing out loud and offering a dedication.
Your dedication will sound something like this (though you can create your own however you wish):
Lady Luna, Glorious Moon,
I offer up my grievances,
and all of the things that don’t serve me anymore.
I ask for your assistance in taking these things
and transmuting them with your power
for my highest good.
So be it [or Amen].
Burn your list, whether it’s over a bonfire, in a candle flame, or in a burning bowl. If you use a burning bowl, sprinkle the ashes on the ground outside (or bury them, if you prefer), and thank the earth for taking these things.
Crystals and Stones
Crystals and stones are a fun way to employ more energetic tools in your life. Each crystal has its own specific spiritual energy, and using those energies in your meditations, your healings, and as decorations throughout your home, will bring in some additional transformation energy.
There’s a wealth of knowledge online about each crystal and its properties, and most new age shops or gem shops have little cards that give you information as well. Picking a crystal that you’re drawn to, even before knowing what that crystal does, is a fun form of divination as well.
I couldn’t even begin to list all the crystals and their properties, but I’ll list a few of the most commonly used ones.
Amethyst: A purple stone used for psychic work and intuition development. Works with the third-eye chakra and the crown chakra.
Citrine: An orange stone used for emotional work and willpower. Works with the sacral chakra and solar plexus.
Lapis Lazuli: A blue stone used for work with self-expression and truth. Works with the throat chakra.
Quartz: A white/clear stone that’s used for amplifying and purifying energy. Works with all the chakras.
Rose Quartz: A pink stone used for self-love and romantic love. Works with the heart chakra.
Tourmaline: A black stone used for protection and grounding. Works with the root chakra, but also all of them.
Try putting your favorite stone on its corresponding chakra while you meditate! Look for a stone that’s good for whatever aspect you want to work on. Have fun with it, because crystals are a beautiful thing to have around your sacred space.
Reminders
Any physical reminder of the emotional work you do will strengthen that work. Inner work is very heavy, and most of it goes completely unseen by the outside world. Having little physical reminders of the work you’re doing will keep you connected and validate your work.
If you recently had a powerful meditation featuring a deer, find a little deer figurine to set out on your altar. Write down your favorite pain alchemy affirmation and tape it on your mirror. If your inner child wants to color, have your coloring books out on your coffee table as a reminder. These practices will help keep your energy clear.
Play Around
To know which tools work the best for you, you have to play around with your options. Your intuition may lead you to your favorite one right away, or you may find that the one you least expected is actually the most effective for you. You may also find or create your own tools for cleansing your energy. Start small and take the pieces you’re ready for while leaving the rest.
Acknowledgments
A huge thank you to Katzi, Kathleen, and Kim for journeying down this path with me. Your experiences and insights were invaluable to the writing process, and I have been constantly in awe of your honesty, your courage, and your raw power. You each have taught me so much. I will forever have a place in my heart for my divine “K” women.
To Dr. Angela Lauria, thank you for being the badass coach that you are and for demanding the clearest and purest messages from my book and my practice. You saw me in a place I didn’t yet see myself, and what I’ve learned from you has created a powerful foundation I will continue to build upon for the rest of my life.
Thank you, Erin Schroeder, for the endless hours of girl talk on discernment, shadow work, messed up industries, social justice, sisterhood, and how to really grow and evolve as a lightworker and friend. You’re a daily inspiration for me, and I’m proud to be your friend.
I’m also grateful for all of the teachers, healers, and peers I’ve worked with in my decade of spiritual exploration and healing. I’ve learned so much about both the light and the shadows, and, since they’ve brought me to this point, I wouldn’t change my experiences one bit.
Thank you to the team at New Harbinger Publications for shaping my book into something incredible and bringing it into the world in a big way!
Ora North is an empath and healer who grew tired of the “love and light” scene. She felt a lack of authenticity in the new age movement and turned to emotional shadow work instead. In her shadow, North discovered a more authentic, integrative way to be a spiritual being. Now she works with other empaths, guiding them to explore their own shadows on the path to wholeness.
Foreword writer Danielle Dulsky is author of The Holy Wild and Woman Most Wild.
