If you're one of the many adopting a "new year, new me" approach to 2018, you've probably considered your exercise regime, your healthy detox plan and your New Year's resolutions. But have you thought about whether the energy in your home could be thwarting your best efforts?
Reiki master Leanne Dawson, of Newlife Reiki Solutions, has been helping people cleanse various spaces, from homes to offices, for more than 20 years. She was even asked to cleanse Zoe Foster Blake's new home.
Dawson says there are a multitude of reasons why someone may pursue energy cleansing for their home.
"Usually when people first move in [to a home] they seek a cleansing to get rid of anybody else's energy, especially if they're attuned to it," she says. "Because people leave residual energy. If there's been a marriage breakdown there can be a lot of nasty energy."
This can result in clients complaining that their homes feel haunted.
"People will ring and say, 'Look, I don't believe in any of this but someone sat on my bed last night. Can you come down and do something?' Some people are very sensitive and feel chills up their spines."
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One client called Dawson because she couldn't unpack the boxes in her new house without feeling anxious. It turned out that the house had previously belonged to a hoarder, whose energy was lingering.
Dawson's approach involves working with energy lines (or as she describes them, "black streams") that represent energy trapped in the earth and run through the world like a grid. Dawson started noticing these lines after learning to practise Reiki, and then she found references in Feng Shui literature that confirmed what she was seeing.
"We can have manmade black streams," she says. "Where we put buildings creates black streams, where we put houses. We build on that stream by living on it, having houses there, car accidents, arguments. We build up on that energy until it becomes heavy. It gets stuck in those streams."
To help clear this energy, Dawson first walks the perimeter of a home or building and performs "earth acupuncture" by inserting sticks into the ground (the same way an acupuncturist inserts needles into the body's meridians).
She then walks around with dowsing rods (the kind used in water divining) to gauge the strength of the energy running through the streams. Dawson says that if the rods cross to form an "X" this indicates a particularly toxic spot, which is often evidenced by things like smashed windows or dying house plants.
Once inside, Dawson can instantly feel if the energy in the space is positive or negative, as well as what kinds of activities have taken place there over the years (for example, it may have been a factory or a stable).
Dawson starts by sprinkling drops of a natural Australian bush flower essence on the floor to help draw some of the negative energy away. She then uses a combination of the dowsing rods and Reiki techniques with her hands to cleanse the space, beginning with the entrance to the home.
"The entrance is the first place you walk into and the first place you dump everything," she says.
When the process is over, a change in energy can often be felt immediately, and Dawson says that it's not uncommon to see significant changes in a person's life.
If you're not quite ready to commit to a professional energy cleansing, there are some things you can do to give your home an energetic lift.
Using a smudge stick to burn sage is the most common DIY cleansing method, which Dawson says should be done with all doors and windows closed and drains blocked so the place can be totally smoked out.
Alternatively, blue gum leaves (available from most florists) can be placed in a baking dish and burnt, or bushflower essences can be sprayed around the place.
Dawson says we can start to notice negative energy lines ourselves and shift energy by rearranging objects and furniture.
"You can track where your black streams are by where your clutter is," she says.
