How Spiritual Hygiene Supports Trauma Recovery

Trauma doesn’t just live in the mind - it leaves imprints in the body, the nervous system, and even the energetic and spiritual self. While traditional therapy is essential for healing complex trauma, spiritual hygiene is a powerful and often overlooked practice that can support and sustain trauma recovery.

For those healing from CPTSD, attachment trauma, mother hunger, or the wounds of being an adult child of emotionally immature parents, integrating spiritual hygiene into your routine can help restore a sense of clarity, safety, and inner peace.

Let’s explore what spiritual hygiene is, why it matters in trauma recovery, and how to begin practicing it—especially when engaging in Denver therapy, EMDR, IFS, or Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy.

What Is Spiritual Hygiene?

Spiritual hygiene is the practice of clearing, protecting, and grounding your energetic field—much like you would care for your physical body or emotional boundaries. Just as we brush our teeth daily, spiritual hygiene involves regular rituals to remove energetic residue, emotional clutter, or psychic overwhelm.

These practices are especially important for trauma survivors who:

• Are highly sensitive or empathic

• Feel drained after social interactions

• Experience lingering emotional heaviness

• Have difficulty distinguishing their energy from others’

• Engage in deep inner work like EMDR, IFS, or psychedelic-assisted therapy

  
  

Why Spiritual Hygiene Matters in Trauma Recovery

1. Reinforces a Sense of Safety

Trauma often disrupts your sense of internal safety. Spiritual hygiene rituals can ground you in the present moment, helping you reconnect with your body and inner wisdom—essential steps in trauma healing.

2. Supports Nervous System Regulation

Healing from trauma requires nervous system balance. When combined with somatic therapies, spiritual hygiene helps discharge stuck energy and reset your baseline—especially after triggering experiences or therapy sessions.

3. Clears Residual Emotional Energy

After doing trauma work—especially with modalities like Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy or EMDR—you may feel emotionally or energetically raw. Spiritual cleansing rituals (like salt baths, breathwork, or energy clearing) help release what’s no longer yours to carry.

4. Protects Against Energetic Overwhelm

Many trauma survivors are highly attuned to others’ emotions—a learned survival skill. Without energetic boundaries, you may absorb other people’s pain or projections. Spiritual hygiene strengthens your energetic container, helping you stay grounded in your own experience.

5. Encourages Integration

Spiritual hygiene supports integration—the process of making meaning of your healing journey. Practices like journaling, breathwork, or meditative prayer help you digest your experiences and stay aligned with your deeper self.

Spiritual Hygiene Practices for Trauma Survivors

You don’t need to be “spiritual” in a religious sense to benefit from these

practices. Choose what resonates and leave the rest.

1. Grounding Rituals

• Barefoot walks on earth or grass

• Visualizations that anchor you in your body

• Holding grounding stones (like hematite or obsidian)

2. Energetic Clearing

• Salt baths with lavender or eucalyptus

• Smudging with sage, palo santo, or ethically sourced incense

• Sound cleansing with tuning forks, singing bowls, or chanting

3. Reflective Integration

• Journaling after therapy sessions

• Drawing or creative expression to process emotions

• Reading spiritual texts that resonate with your healing journey

4. Breath + Body Awareness

• Breathwork practices (like box breathing or pranayama)

• Somatic meditations that focus on felt sensation

• Gentle movement like yoga or intuitive stretching

5. Ritual and Intention Setting

• Lighting a candle before therapy or journaling

• Setting intentions for protection, healing, or clarity

• Creating an altar or sacred space in your home

  
  

Spiritual Hygiene + Trauma Therapy in Denver

Many trauma-informed therapists in Denver are now integrating spiritual tools and somatic practices into their work with clients. Whether you're exploring:

• IFS (Internal Family Systems)

• EMDR

• Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy

• Or spiritual integration therapy

These approaches benefit greatly from the added support of daily energetic care.

Spiritual hygiene isn’t a replacement for trauma therapy - it's a companion. It enhances your resilience, reinforces your healing, and reconnects you with the parts of you that trauma disconnected.

Final Thoughts: Healing Is a Sacred Process

Recovering from trauma is not just psychological - it’s emotional, physical, relational, and spiritual. When you tend to your energetic and spiritual well-being, you’re reclaiming space for wholeness.

Spiritual hygiene helps you:

• Feel more centered and self-connected

• Release what isn't yours

• Create safe space for deeper healing

You deserve support that honors the whole you. Whether you're navigating CPTSD, attachment trauma, or the impact of a painful childhood, working with a therapist trained in both clinical and spiritual integration can help you find lasting healing.

On the journey,

Erika Baum, MA, LPCC

Attachment Trauma Therapist

Buy my new workbook on Amazon!