What is Palo Santo?
Palo Santo, which means “holy wood” or “wood of the saints”, is a mystical tree that grows on the coast of South America and is related to Frankincense, Myrrh, and Copal.
Burning Palo Santo sticks is a sacred practice used by Indigenous communities of the Andes to cleanse their space and ward off evil spirits.
This practice is called smudging – a spiritual practice where you clear your energy fields using a piece of burning Palo Santo or a herb bundle, such as white sage.
The holy wood is part of the citrus family and has very pleasant sweet notes of pine, mint, and lemon. Perfect for the holiday season.
Benefits of Palo Santo:
Healing:
Palo Santo is traditionally used as a natural remedy for colds and flu, as well as symptoms of stress. It is also known to relieve asthma, headaches, anxiety, depression, and reduce inflammation.
As an essential oil, palo santo is great for aromatherapy and can also be used during therapeutic massages. Palo Santo essential oil can also be added to candles, soaps, scrubs, and body lotions to cleanse and moisturize the skin.
Known for its calming effect, it also supports the immune and nervous systems which helps with faster recovery from illness.
Palo Santo tea supposedly acts as a natural digestive aid.
The holy wood also contains a high concentration of a compound called d-limonene. A compound that is thought to aid in the prevention of a variety of cancers.
Cleansing:
Similar to Sage and Cedar, Palo Santo is most widely used for spiritual purification and energy (house) cleansings. Once the wood sticks are burned, the smoke is believed to clear negative energy and restore tranquility and calm emotions.
Burning Palo Santo wood creates an uplifting, pleasant, fresh smoke that works miracles in keeping away mosquitoes and other insects. It is said that the smell of Palo Santo enhances creativity.
Relaxation:
We enjoy burning a stick of Palo Santo before meditating as it really helps us get relaxed and connected to ourselves. The lovely earthy, sweet and citrusy smell literally changes the energy inside any room.
Nothing better to shake off pre-Christmas stress than burning a stick of palo santo or light a Palo Santo-scented candle followed by out 5 Minute Mini Meditation for Holiday
Stress:
Feel like a hot bath? Add 2 drops of Palo Santo essential oil, 2 drops of Lavender, and 1 drop of Mandarin to 1 tablespoon of bubble bath or body wash. Mix this into your bath water to help relax and renew.
How to Use Palo Santo:
I recommend you use a candle to ignite your stick of Palo Santo. Hold it at about a 45-degree angle and point the tip down toward the flame of your candle. If the sticks were a little wet, you might have some problems lighting them so make sure to store them dry.
Home / Mindfulness / All About Palo Santo – Benefits and How to Use it…
Nothing better to shake off pre-Christmas stress than burning a stick of palo santo or light a Palo Santo-scented candle followed by out 5 Minute Mini Meditation for Holiday Stress.
Feel like a hot bath? Add 2 drops of Palo Santo essential oil, 2 drops of Lavender, and 1 drop of Mandarin to 1 tablespoon of bubble bath or body wash. Mix this into your bath water to help relax and renew.
Allow the stick to burn for about 30 secs, then blow it out. A stream of smoke will rise from the embers and spread into the environment. You can hold it in your hand or place the stick on an incense holder.
Smudging can be performed at home, starting at the front door, and moving around the house from there. With a specific intention in mind (often to clear your home from negative energy), focus on every room’s corners where energy tends to be stagnant.
You can gently blow on the embers if you want to revive it. When the embers go out, you can simply repeat the ignition process.
DO NOT under any circumstances leave the flame burning under the stick for more than a few seconds! Make sure to check the product description. When finished with your house cleansing, place the stick in a fireproof bowl.
Which is Better: Sage or Palo Santo?
Sage and Palo Santo are two of the more popular tools used for smoke cleansing.
I recommend Palo Santo for smaller spaces as it will not burn as long and will need to be re-lit multiple times which can be a bit annoying for clearing larger spaces.
Sage, on the other hand, produces a lot of smoke and will make cleansing a larger space easier.
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