5 Benefits of Sage, Uses & Precautions

Sage, is a new hype among Hong Kong people who use it for spiritual rituals to purify space and dispel negative energy. It is believed that it was widely used medicinally in both East and West since ancient times. There’s an ancient French idiom “qui a de la sauge dans son jardin, n'a pas besoin de médecin” as they reckoned that sage growing in their garden served up various holistic healing and emotion soothing purposes, even extending your lifespan. 

Sage has so many varieties such as Common Sage, White Sage and Clary Sage etc, in which they are slightly different, so pay more attention to their differences before using them to enhance their benefits.

Sage purification

 

Burning sage, also known as  “smudging” is an ancient spiritual practice. Spiritually, it serves up purification, helping to clear out the negative energy and dirty souls. Biologically, it helps to repel harmful bugs and so cleanse your space. 

You can first light the tip of leaves when you burn sage. When white smoke is released, you can walk along with the smoke or waft it with ∞ motion until it’s fully burnt. 

Sage Benefit #1: Purify space and clean out negative energy

 

Since the old times, the American indigenous communities believed that white sage was a divine plant, so they burnt it to cleanse a space as a ritual. Today, many crystals-, yoga- and meditation-followers like smudging white sage to purify crystals and improve their spiritual condition. The American health website Healthline has pointed out that burning white sage might bring positive impacts to humans both physically and mentally, and encouraged people to do more smudging. 

Some girls would extinguish the white sage with water but this would make it moist and so difficult to be lit up again next time, given that sage is a dry plant. Thus, my tip is to leave it alone without extinguishment as it will stop burning after it finishes the purification process.

Sage Benefit #2: Appease period pain and menstrual disorders

Do you still use chocolate or hot water bags to treat your period cramps? The medical research has already suggested that sex toys and lavender are great period pain killers, not to mention the Clary sage. Clary sage works to balance the hormone level and so alleviate the unbearable pain.

Aromatherapy recipe for easing period pain: Clary Sage Oil 15 droplets, Rosemary Oil 10 droplets and Base Oil 30ml

You can choose any base oil you like, while Sweet Almond Oil, Olive Oil, Evening Primrose Oil, Rosehip Oil and Shea Butter are nice picks too! Add both the Clary Sage Oil and Rosemary Oil into base oil, wring the lid and shake it vigorously until they are well mixed. 

Since Clary Sage induces menstruation, you can use it in the first half of the menstrual period, or it may increase your bleeding if used in the second half of the period.

 

Sage Benefit #3: Ease insomnia and act as pain killer

Common Sage is also known as a medicinal sage as it helps to reduce inflammation, ease pain and relax your muscles. Thus, if you are a workout addict or required to stand for a long time, you can relieve your muscle fatigue by using sage-infused body wash.

Besides, its scent helps to improve insomnia and to help you get an A-grade sleep easily. I get used to burning a bit of sage at night time to help me fall asleep and improve my sleeping quality. 

Sage Benefit #4: Boost immune system and cure eczema 

 

Sage generally has antimicrobial properties and helps to boost the immune system, so to improve holistic skin health. Therefore, if you suffer from eczema, rosacea or other skin problems, you can apply an emollient balm with sage for antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects on the skin, whilst relieving your itchiness and discomfort.

Sage Benefit #5: Relieve gum inflammation

Sage serves up oral and teeth cleaning, treatment gum bleeding and inflammation, as well as promoting the tissue recovery. That’s why the people from India and Central Asia love to use the sage leaves and branches as toothbrush while the West would extract sage for toothpaste. Even the dentists highly recommend sage and praise it as “teeth guardian”. 

Though I have not seen any toothpastes infused with sage in Hong Kong, we can make its mouthwash on our own. Add 2 spoons of fresh sage or 1 spoon of dried sage in boiling water for 10 minutes. Sift it and set aside until it’s cool. Ta-da! Sage mouthwash is done!

Precautions of using sage

Since ancient times, sage has been treated as a powerful medicinal herb but actually, some people are not suitable to use it, such as pregnant women or breastfeeding moms. As sage can induce menstruation, it may lead to abortion or reduce the milk production, so it is not recommended to these moms.

Besides, people with epilepsy should not use sage either as it may cause convulsions or spasms, increasing the chances to worsen the illness.

Since sage can relax the nerves, so if you burn sage when you are slightly drunk, you may be relaxed and even have hallucinations, so it is not recommended to use it after drinking.

From spiritual view, sage should not be smudged in night time as it belongs to yang, burning sage in night time or midnight when it is yin may cause a disturbance of magnetic field. Plus, you can do the smudging according to your religious practice.

It is always recommended to consult a doctor or aromatherapist before using sage.

Where to buy sage?

 

Generally speaking, you can purchase sage in some spiritual shops. But now online shopping is so common that you can just get it right at your door with just a click on fingertip! letzshop.hk is a good place to shop sage product, so to purify your body and soul anytime.