Its been a while since I've written any articles because my focus has been on energy work within my other business. But something told me some of my fellow colleagues may need this too...

I decided it was important to write this article since, 5 Signs You are an Empathic Dental Hygienist, got so much attention. I received messages asking about explaining energy all the way to what is Reiki and how to practice it. So here we go...

We are Dental Professionals and Hygiene is our thang! :)

So why do so many of us not know about energetic hygiene and why and how to practice it daily??

Ok, so we all have science degrees. We took chemistry classes and learned about energy. Everything is made up of energy, including us, and can neither be created nor destroyed.

It can be transmuted though! (and that's the key to this article)

When Einstein said everything is energy, he literally meant EVERYTHING! You, me, your dental chair, your work, your thoughts, your patients, your patients thoughts, your energy space and your patient's energy space, the vibe in your operatory... you see where this is going.

You may or may not be conscious to this in your daily life, but rest assured it is all around us and within us; and this is WHY we need to know about it!

What is Energetic Hygiene?

Everything is energy, and everything has an energy field around it. Most people can not see this, but some of us can feel it. Energetic Hygiene is becoming aware that there is an energy field around you and everyone you come in contact with, and developing a practice of taking care of your energy.

Energetic Hygiene is SELF CARE.

Hygiene is about maintaining health, wellbeing, and cleanliness.  

We are Masters of Oral Hygiene!

Energetic Hygiene is maintaining health and cleanliness of our energy field within and around us!

Why Practice Energetic Hygiene?

As I mentioned in a previous article, 5 Signs You are an Empathic Dental Hygienist,

We INVADE our patients personal space, and they invade ours. Its just part of our job. We can't clean teeth from afar! What this means is that our energy field combines with other energy fields ALL. DAY. LONG.  If we do not set up energetic boundaries, something called energetic entanglement can occur and cause feelings of burnout and exhaustion. If you don't believe in energetic entanglement, then ask yourself if you feel happy in your own body when you arrive to work, during work, and then when you leave.

This image is an image taken of a person's energy field using Kirlian Photography.

(image from sciencephoto.com)

As Dental Healthcare Professionals, our patients are coming to us with some anxiety about being in the dental office, along with other emotions they are dealing with in their personal lives. Some have control issues and unconsciously feel the dental office puts them in a state of no control, which in turn causes them to be extremely controlling during their appointment: they want to hold the suction, take repeated breaks, don't want the chair back enough for you to see what you're doing... and it goes on and on. Then you get frustrated, your back and neck are strained, and you begin to feel your energy being sucked right down the suction tip.

Let me ask you this...

Do you feel overwhelmed, anxious or restless, burned out, or drained after work? That can be energetic entanglement. Your energy field got tangled up with one of your patient's or co-workers energy fields and now you are not grounded within your own being.

By practicing energetic hygiene daily, you are consciously maintaining your own energy, 

while also cleansing what has invaded your own energy. 

How to Practice Energetic Hygiene...

This is where transmutation comes in...

Practicing Energetic Hygiene is a self care practice that involves transmuting the energy from the day that may be entangled within your own energy. So how do we do this?  I'll share my personal practice.

• Air. Get present. Close your eyes and notice your chest rising and falling as you breathe.  Then relax your belly and let your belly move on the breath without constriction of sucking in your abdomen. Perform a body scan. Starting at your toes, moving slowly all the way up to the top of your head, notice any sensations, any tightness, any resistance in your body.  As you exhale, release those feelings, relax the tightness.  Do this until each area you come across in your body feels relaxed. 
• Fire. Visualize a camp fire in front of you.  With every relaxing exhale you take, blow that tightness/resistance into the fire until it is all out of you.
• Earth.  Get your bare feet in the grass, sand, dirt or soil for 20 minutes.  Better yet, lay down on a blanket in your back yard.  Visualize a cord at the tip on your sacrum that extends down through the ground into the center of the earth.  Allow all that tightness in the body to flow into the cord, as if it was a vein, draining into the center of our Mother Earth for transmutation.
• Water. I shower in the evenings and it is a ritual for me to visualize all of the day's "stuff" washing off of me and going down the drain with the water. Let it all go...

Not only am I a RDH, but I am a Reiki Master, and teach my Reiki students and clients about embracing this practice on a daily basis. Over time, you will feel a significant shift in your own energy field and see a shift in the way you experience life!

If you are a dental professional interested in learning more about Reiki, maybe to add to your dental practice or even to create your own business like me, then please sign up for my free Intro to Reiki class for Dental Professionals! Click the box below!