Cutting the energy cords with other people in our lives sounds like it might have a negative meaning, like we’re pulling the plug on our relationships. In reality, this therapeutic practice is meant to preserve our spiritual space, so that we can nourish our bonds with our own cleansed, pure and vibrant energy. When we exchange energy with somebody else —which can happen during any ordinary interaction—there is a potential for their energy to stick with us. Most people don’t do this on purpose. Cording is something that happens during certain energy exchanges, and can be especially likely in exchanges with loved ones.

Many of us can remember a time when we supported a friend through a difficult time, and felt emotionally affected by it even after leaving that friend. That is because their energy was still attached to us. While those are the most memorable examples of cording, we often pick up and carry other people’s energy without even noticing. Cutting the cord helps us to cleanse ourselves of the energy we pick up, before it causes us to feel emotionally drained or tired. We aren’t cutting emotional ties, we are releasing energy ties—and there is a big difference between the two.

Those are the most obvious instances when you need to cleanse your energy, but it’s just as important to cut the energy cord with negative recurring thoughts or addictive behaviors. In the same way as energy attachments with people, energy attachments with certain behaviors or thought cycles can leave us feeling drained and not like our true selves.

Crystal Cord Cutters: Techniques for Cutting Energy Cords

The first thing that you want to do to cleanse your energy is sage yourself and your environment. Another technique is to use sound to break up the energy surrounding you. A Tibetan bell is an absolute must to have in your energy toolkit. Any kind of bell will work, but we especially enjoy using a bell made with several different metals, as each metal carries a different energy frequency. Try ringing the bell around your own energy field, even if you’ve already smudged yourself. When you are in your own head, with a mess of thoughts buzzing around, the bell will help to break you out of that space and shed the negative energy around you. You can also cut energy cords with a piece of black kyanite or an obsidian cord cutter. Close your eyes and take a moment to get in tune with your body. Do you feel a weight in your stomach? Is there energy attached to your heart? Or, do you feel there’s negative energy in your head/mind? Track down where you feel the unwanted energy cord or attachment.

Then, visualize yourself pulling that energy out of you, as you use your hands to mimic pulling the energy cord out. Using your black kyanite, cut the cord. Bring the kyanite down, and imagine that you are slicing that cord from draining any more of your energy. Then take the energy cord that you have removed, and picture yourself plugging into something positive, like the moon, the sun or Mother Earth. Do this as many times as you need to get rid of residual energy.

Note: sometimes after doing this practice, you start to feel a little nauseous. It’s almost as if you’re detoxing from this energy. That’s when it’s important to fill yourself back up with light. Take a selenite crystal and place it over that area where you cut the energy cord. See it infusing you with love and light.

The next step in this process is to consider how you can forgive, both yourself and others. Forgiveness helps us to lighten the toll that harbored anger or negativity takes on us. As a practice that is meant to help us confront and process lessons, the act of forgiving may be the most crucial step toward progress.

After working with these crystals, be sure to cleanse them. Cord cutting is an effective and easy way to cleanse the spirit whenever necessary, but it’s still some heavy work. Make sure to wash your hands, and purify your crystals. Luckily, selenite is one of the very rare cleansing crystals that doesn’t need to be cleansed, and can actually purify other stones. So you can set your black kyanite on the selenite to let it cleanse and recharge. We always like to place all our crystals out in the sun (if possible) after this practice as well.

Another way to release energy cords, is to journal with crystals. Many times when we get corded with people, it causes us to recognize our own negative energy that we need to work on. To get clear the negativity that is our own, sometimes it’s nice to put pen to paper. Take a few minutes, and jot down what you need to let go of from your own energy field. It could be excessive or overindulgent behaviors, a preoccupation that is stealing all of your attention or even a negative focus on the past. Taking the time to get to know yourself is really what this practice is all about. The more we acknowledge our personal truths, the faster we can get rid of the things that do not serve us. So write on a piece of paper something that you’d like to release, fold the paper up, and place a piece of black tourmaline on it. Black tourmaline is a great stone for release and letting go. Then place a piece of rose quartz on the paper as well to carry the energy of love and forgiveness.

How to Cut Cords with an Overactive Mind

Along with Selenite and Black Kyanite, Amethyst is another cord cutter to keep in your tool chest; one that specifically helps you to cut energy cords attached to your third eye and mind.

Cleanse it. Program it. And then place it over your third eye to bring any chaos to the surface. Begin the motion of physically pulling out cords from your third eye, using your Amethyst point to cut the cords as you pull them out. After you cut them, visualize plugging the cords into something of high frequency (like a mountain or a landscape). Keep cutting all the cords that come up, and over time, you’ll feel the energy getting lighter and lighter.

In the end, the most tenuous relationship in our life is the one we have with ourself. We beat ourselves up. We don’t take the time to recognize everything that we do right. Cutting our energy cords allows us to reconnect with ourselves. In these moments, we can recognize that while some days are great and some are difficult, we need to commit to loving ourselves regardless. These are the tools that we hope can help you with shifting your energy. Release what no longer serves you, give yourself a break, and enjoy yourself on this journey of life.