Nothing recharges you for another day like spending some time at home, the place that should be your sanctuary. Home is where we go to escape the stresses of everyday life. Whether it's by meditating, cooking, or lying in bed all day, a home provides the safe setting for renewing and preparing ourselves to take on the next challenge, whatever it may be: a new job, a relationship, or preparing for an upcoming trip. That's why it's important to make sure that your home is a space full of positive energy. Like they say, good vibes only.
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That means taking a proactive role in getting rid of any negative energy that may have snuck its way in. When bad vibes take over your home, they can affect even the simplest of tasks since negative energy can put a serious damper on your mood. And when you're not feeling your best, that often leads to less productivity and motivation and more stress and anxiety. There are many ways negative energy can creep into your space. Sometimes we go out into the world and bring it home with us, and other times we invite it in by letting toxic people into our home.
Though people often create negative energy themselves, it can often create itself, depending on the harmony of your space. Mess, poorly arranged furniture, and even a lack of natural light can often create a sense of heaviness that can quickly overwhelm even the happiest person. But shifting energy towards positivity doesn't have to be a hard process.
There are so many simple ways you can revitalize the energy in your home for the better. From using healing crystals to spraying your place down with essential oils, here are 30 foolproof ways you can rid your home of toxic energy.
Ring a bell or wind chimes inside your home to break up trapped negative energy.
Bells and wind chimes are a common tool used to achieve feng shui, a practice in Chinese thought that aims to create a positive flow of energy throughout your home in order to promote peace and prosperity. The ringing noise diffuses stuck, old negative energy. Each wind chime or bell has its own personality, but this Windic Coconut Shell String Wind Chime (Amazon, $26) has a pleasant sea-breeze sounding noise that would make a great addition to any home.
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Create a path for positive energy to come in and bad energy to exit by opening a few windows.
The fresh air from an open window will let energy flow freely, allowing for positivity to make its way in. To make sure bad energy doesn’t linger around, you can also shake pillows, rugs, and other furnishings. An open window offering natural light will also work as an instant mood booster.
Use the cleansing energies of sage to clear your home of anything toxic lingering around.
Smudging, a practice where you fill a space with the smoke of special herbs, is thought to be extremely effective at clearing out negative energy. It’s a common Native American practice used to purify energy, the body and even ritual spaces. You can purchase these White Sage Smudge Sticks (Amazon, $8) to fill your home with its smoke, beginning at the doors and continuing in a clockwise direction.
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If you prefer the scent of wood, you can smudge your home with palo santo.
Palo santo is believed to have similar cleansing properties as sage. It’s part of the citrus family so it’ll fill your home with a sweet smell of lemon and mint, while freeing it of bad spirits and vibes. This Palo Santo Cleansing Set (Uncommon Goods, $38) comes with a beautiful ceramic dish to lay your smoky wood on.
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Burn candles to bring in a sense of calm.
Part of making your home a positive environment is remembering to practice self-care, in whatever way suits you–whether that’s a long bath or meditation. The flickering light of a candle will instantly put you at ease while providing the perfect ambiance for relaxation and healing. This White Sage candle from Yankee Candle (Amazon, $26) will fill your space with the cleansing scent of sage.
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Rearranging furniture can create a path for the flow of positive energy.
It’s all about the feng shui. The way things are placed in your life, even your furniture will affect the kind of energy you’re surrounded with. The good placement of furniture brings good fortune. Some common ways to achieve feng shui in a room are painting with warm colors, adding art, and ensuring your furniture comes in pairs, like having two identical nightstands next to the bed.
You might feel funny doing it, but clapping will help break up negative energy.
Clap loudly and rigorously in the corners of your house, which is where energy tends to get stuck. You can also clap in the rooms that make you tired or where you tend to feel the most stress, perhaps a home office. This will break up any stagnant, bad energy.
Use an essential oil diffuser to target the kind of negative energy you’re trying to get rid of.
Diffusing essential oils throughout your home is one way to take advantage of their healing properties. To get rid of feelings of negativity, you can use a lemon, grapefruit, or spruce essential oil. Likewise, to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, you can throw a few drops of soothing lavender or tangerine essential oil into a diffuser, like the PureMist Ultrasonic Essential Oil Diffuser (Target, $20).
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Instead of diffusing, you can spray your home down with an essential oil spray.
Pick one that’s used for clearing out negative energy or boosting your mood, like this RareESSENCE Aromatherapy Room Mist Spray (Amazon, $17) infused with the scents of sweet orange, grapefruit and black pepper. Other kinds of essential oils you can use are those including lemon, rose and sage.
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Sprinkle some sea salt in the corners of each room.
The sea salt will absorb and neutralize negative energy. Let the salt sit in each corner and then clean it up by sweeping up the salt and flushing it down the toilet. You can use an inexpensive brand of sea salt like Morton’s or get fancy and buy another kind, like this Pink Himalayan Sea Salt from The Spice Lab (Amazon, $8).
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Bang pots and pans to chase negative energy and unwanted spirits out.
Similar to clapping or ringing bells, banging pots and pans will break up stagnant energy and the noise will clear out anything that’s unwanted and lingering. For many, this is a New Year’s tradition that is said to chase away bad spirits from the previous year. But, you can use this method whenever your space is feeling a little heavy.
Achieve a clear and positive mindset with meditation.
Many times our thoughts and feelings can take over, leading us to emit bad vibes into our homes ourselves. A guided meditation program will clear the mind of negative thoughts and emotions that result in anger, anxiety or depression. Freeing your body of anything toxic it may be harboring will free your home of it, too.
A Himalayan salt lamp will add a touch of decor to your home while purifying the air.
The warm salt of this Ionic Natural Salt Crystal Lamp (Bed Bath & Beyond, $25) emits negative ions that are meant to neutralize and clean the air to provide a sense of relaxation. The negative ions may also increase energy levels and give you a sense of rejuvenation when dealing with overwhelming stress.
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Activate the healing powers of crystals to invoke positive vibes.
You can absorb the benefits of healing crystals in many ways, from holding them during meditation or yoga to using them as home decor. These crystals will dispel any bad vibes in the room. Each kind has its own healing power. Citrine will soothe stress, rose quartz can promote peace and tranquility, and obsidian can bring safety. It might be hard choosing the right crystals from so many, but the Goop Medicine Bag (Goop, $85) contains a good mix to get you started.
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A crystal lamp will purify your home while adding a soothing glow of calmness.
This Selenite Crystal Lamp (Urban Outfitters, $49) is made of Moroccan selenite and its glow can be adjusted to your mood. Selenite is used to clear the mind of bad ideas and thoughts that can start to affect how your environment feels. Eliminating negativity from your mind allows for serenity to take over at home.
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Amethyst makes a great stone for beautiful jewelry, but strategically placed in your home it can also eliminate negative energy.
Amethyst has many uses, including neutralizing arguments by bringing forth compassion and understanding and chasing away ill wishes, negative emotions, and depression. Place it in the part of your home where you feel the most uneasy or near all the entryways. This Amethyst Crystal Cluster (Urban Outfitters, $12) is still on the piece of stone it formed on.
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Create an altar of objects all designed to bring forth positivity.
You can create a powerhouse of positivity by decorating a small table or shelf with items that make you happy and represent the good things in your life. These can include family photos, items that bring forth good luck, like a money tree or an elephant statue and other tokens that are sacred to you.
Soak yourself in a bath filled with sea salt.
Similar to placing salt around your home, soaking yourself in a sea salt bath will purify your body from all the negative vibes you may have come into contact with or mentally produced yourself. The salt water will also physically draw out toxins from your body, give back some of the minerals it needs and soothe physical pain, like muscular aches and sore joints. The Dr. Teals Pink Himalayan Mineral Soak (Target, $5) is infused with essential oils to add extra healing properties.
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Add photos of good times to the decor in your home.
Surrounding yourself with memories of happy moments will promote positive thoughts and add extra protection against bad energy. This Williams Sonoma Rose Quartz Frame (Williams Sonoma, $125) will also invoke the healing properties of the rose quartz crystal, which frees your mind of anger and resentment and opens it up for unconditional love.
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Repair or remove broken things, especially if they’re irreparable.
Having broken items at home can completely throw off the feng shui, since they can hold on to negative energy. If it can’t be fixed, throw it out. If it can, make a plan to repair it, as how you tend to broken items can become a reflection of how you’ll deal with other events in your life.
Buy a plant to add a touch of greenery and positivity to your home.
Plants naturally filter out any negative energy plaguing your space. Choose a plant that’s right for you, since they each have specific care needs and their own healing properties. Chinese money trees don’t do well in sunlight but bring good fortune, peace lilies flourish in shaded areas with high humidity and promote positive energy by purifying the air, while lucky bamboo plants boost the feng shui.
Remember to close toilet lids after bathroom use.
In Chinese thought, it’s believed that keeping the toilet lid open will carry away chi from the house. Chi is the universal energy found in everything, sometimes called life force. Keeping the toilet lid down and the bathroom door closed is said to reduce the loss of chi. Adding a money plant to the bathroom will aid in the flow of positive energy.
Playing music high in vibrations can help convert negative energy into positive.
Listening to a good song instantly puts you in a better mood. Music has the ability to alleviate stress, evoke feelings of happiness and joy, and break up the chemical imbalances in the air. Soothing music can also help clear the mind when it is used during meditation or other moments of self-reflection.
Decorate your home with items that are designed to create positive energy.
Browse the web to find an item that’s right for you, from a photo frame to coffee table decor. A Rainbow Quartz Crystal (Amazon, $15) will add a pop of sophisticated color to any nightstand or living room shelf. It’s made of natural quartz mined in Brazil that is said to activate positive energy.
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Combine the healing properties of a money tree and rose quartz with this gem tree.
This Crystal Bonsai Money Tree (Amazon, $15) makes an interesting accent to any living room coffee table, shelf or any other spot that needs something extra. This crystal tree brings about positive energy by promoting mental clarity, guidance and a sense of warmth. It’s also available in other crystals like black tourmaline, jade, and clear quartz.
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Be conscious of what colors your walls are painted.
Certain colors help to lift the feng shui of your home, resulting in positive energy that can really make your home feel like a haven. The use of blue can create a sense of calm and serenity, yellow is welcoming and neutralizes bad vibes, and green can soothe stress. Each color has its own personality that you can transfer to your home.
The resonating sound of Tibetan singing bowls can clear out negative energy.
Like the ringing of bells, the peaceful sound of a Tibetan singing bowl will disperse negative energy that’s trapped inside your house and allow new chi to enter. The sound can also purify the body, especially when combined with other practices like burning incense and meditation. This Tibetan Singing Bowl Set (The Ohm Store, $35) is perfect for meditating since it can comfortably sit in the palm of your hand.
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Clutter can physically and mentally block your path towards positivity.
Walking into a messy room can instantly bring on feelings of stress and anxiety, while a clean, organized space makes you feel at ease. There’s a reason for that. Objects can hold onto energy, especially the older ones. Because of this, it’s not a bad thing to get rid of things you can do without. You’ll be making space for the new.
Because mirrors reflect light, they can bring good energy to a dark space.
Mirrors are commonly used in feng shui to reflect and activate the energies of different objects and scenes around your house. A properly placed mirror will attract good fortune, positive energy from sunlight, and can serve as a corrector in places where good luck may escape, like the bathroom. These decorative Peruvian Starburst Mirrors (West Elm, $49-$59) make a great accent to any room of the house.
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Elevate energy levels and create a sense of serenity by carefully burning incense.
Incense will not only cleanse your home of bad vibes, but it’ll also fill it with fragrant notes of what you choose to burn. Choose incense that promotes purification like sage, sandalwood, and frankincense. Remember to practice safe burning methods, such as placing your incense in a proper holder, like this Camille Incense Holder (Urban Outfitters, $8).
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