According to Yashoda Devi Ma, an expert in Vedic meditation and Himalayan yogic practices, spiritual cleansing encompasses, “Rituals, practices, and actions performed to create harmony and connection between mind, body, soul and spirit.” She classifies a spiritual cleanse as anything that causes purification or removal of anything toxic.
And in spiritual context, toxicity is a much broader term. “What we observe we become,” says Yashoda Devi Ma. “If our attention is always absorbed in stress, negativity, loss, drama, gossip, lack, comparison, competition, past, future, or ego, then our energy becomes low and weighs us down mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.” From her perspective, if we don’t do our daily spiritual practices, energy can become stuck, stagnate, or absorb whatever our attention dwells in, affecting our entire life.
Naturopathic doctor, nurse practitioner, and Reiki master Erica Matluck sees spiritual cleansing in a similar light: “I define ‘spiritual cleansing’ as an intentional cleansing of the energetic field,” she explains, adding, “Just as the organs of detoxification (such as the liver and the lymphatic system) work around the clock to cleanse the physical body, the spirit is always moving energy.”
And sometimes, when our energy grows old and stagnant or we take on the energy of others, it creates undesirable behaviors and patterns, according to Matluck. That’s where a spiritual cleanse comes in—so how do we do it?