Have you ever feel a deep need to cleanse beyond your body, and clean the soul?

I always tell my friends that we live in a world where people clean their homes more than they clean their spirit! You see them paying big money for someone to come and clean their homes or for products to clean their physical bodies—but how often do we cleanse our spiritual bodies, our minds, our soul?

Reality is: Just as dust accumulates in a house, energetic residue—emotions, stress, and the invisible heaviness we carry from daily life—builds up in our energy field. We walk around with the worse possible energy, but think we are ok, because the house is clean and closets are tidy.

But think again… just like we wouldn’t feel comfortable living in a home full of clutter, our souls also crave space, lightness, and clarity. That’s where the ancient art of spiritual cleansing comes in, and why it holds such a central role during wellness retreats.

🌿 The Ritual of Cleansing: Sage, Palo Santo & Prayer

Spiritual cleansing is a sacred practice designed to reset your energy, release emotional burdens, and reconnect you to your highest self. During our retreats, I like to use time-honored tools like white sage and palo santo—plant medicines known for their potent cleansing properties. These natural elements are burned to create a smoke bath that washes away stagnant energy and brings in renewed clarity, peace, and balance. I have come to learn that in English we call it smudging, but this practice is ancient, it goes back to indigenous practices and the beginning of time.

The cleansing process is gentle but powerful: as the smoke swirls around your body, prayers are whispered—invocations for love, healing, release, and renewal. Each participant is encouraged to set intentions and ask for whatever their soul longs for most. This could be healing, clarity, protection, or the opening of a new chapter in life. The prayers are done using powerful positive affirmation to bring in the light and peace that participants generally crave.

🌊 Cleansing with Nature’s Elements: Honoring Yemaya & Oshun

If you have attended any of my retreats, you know we are Cuban. For this reason, during our retreats we embed Cuban spiritual traditions, particularly those rooted in Afro-Cuban practices, because spiritual cleansings that take place in nature carry a deep ceremonial meaning. When done at the ocean, we believe that our ritual should honor Yemaya, the Orisha (deity) of the sea, the divine mother of all. Participants are invited to enter the water slowly, with reverence, and offer flowers, fruits, or other natural gifts to Yemaya and ask for their 7 wishes. Seven is this Goddess number. These are tokens of love and respect—an energetic exchange to carry our prayers into the vastness of the ocean, where transformation is born.

When the cleansing takes place at a river, it is Oshun, the goddess of love, fertility, and sweetness, who is honored. In both rituals, participants are guided to speak their deepest wishes, releasing them into the flowing waters and trusting that their prayers are heard.

This spiritual offering is more than a beautiful act—it’s a way of restoring balance, activating flow, and reconnecting to forces greater than ourselves. In return, many report feeling profound shifts—from emotional relief and renewed optimism to even serendipitous manifestations of long-held dreams.

✨ Why Spiritual Cleansing Is Essential at Retreats

Wellness retreats are about more than just yoga, smoothies, and rest. They are sacred pauses from the rush of daily life—a chance to step into deeper alignment with who we truly are. Spiritual cleansing rituals are an essential part of this process because they help participants:

• Release emotional and energetic blocks
• Feel lighter and more present
• Reconnect with ancestral wisdom and the power of nature
• Open space for clarity, joy, and creativity
• Activate their intentions with sacred support

These ceremonies allow retreat-goers to move through their journey with greater openness, grounding, and inner peace. It’s no surprise that for many, the spiritual cleansing becomes the most unforgettable part of their retreat experience.

💧 A Return to the Sacred

The truth is, your energy deserves as much care and attention as your physical body. Through the smoke of sage, the ritual of prayer, and the healing embrace of nature, you can realign with your purpose, reignite your light, and remember how sacred you really are.

Next time you step into a wellness retreat—or even your own backyard—take a moment to cleanse your spirit. Offer a prayer. Light a candle. Breathe with intention. Ask for a wish. You are not just releasing what no longer serves—you are inviting your soul home and connecting with source in a meaningful and powerful way.

Spiritual cleansing at the Wellness Retreat in Cuba

One of the most powerful and unforgettable moments during our Wellness Retreat in Cuba was the Spiritual Cleansing Ceremony, a session that deeply moved everyone present and left a lasting imprint on our hearts.

Led with grace and ancestral wisdom by an Afro-Cuban practitioner, this sacred ritual began with the gentle burning of white sage, filling the ocean breeze with its earthy, purifying aroma. One by one, participants were cleansed—physically, emotionally, and energetically—allowing each person to release heavy emotions, mental clutter, and lingering tensions. As the sage smoke rose into the air, it carried our prayers for health, love, protection, clarity, and light.

We stood barefoot on the sand, forming a circle under the Cuban sky, opening our hearts to this timeless tradition. We were invited to whisper our intentions to the wind, guided to call in love, forgiveness, and strength. Our facilitator’s chants and blessings resonated like ancient poetry, calling in the spirits of nature and ancestors to assist in the healing.

Many participants shared afterwards that this session was the highlight of the entire retreat. They expressed feeling lighter, freer, and more connected—not only to themselves, but to the group and to the land. Smiles widened, hearts opened, and something sacred shifted within us all. It was a moment of deep reverence, filled with gratitude for the care and dedication brought forth by the organizers who curated this soul-nourishing experience with such intention and love.

This session was more than a ceremony—it was a spiritual rebirth, a reminder that healing is sacred, community is powerful, and that when we pray together for love and light, transformation becomes inevitable.

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