What to Do in Sawan to Cleanse Not Just the Body, But the Soul

Manika | Jul 10, 2025, 14:00 IST

( Image credit : Pixabay )

Highlight of the story: Last year, during Sawan, I wasn’t looking for religious merit. I just needed a break from my own chaos. What started as a simple fast turned into a deeper journey of silence, surrender, and self-reflection. I realized Sawan isn’t about strict rituals it’s about stillness, emotional cleansing, and reconnecting with yourself. In a world that demands more, Sawan gently asks you to pause, release, and return home to who you truly are. This article explores what to actually do in Sawan—not just for Shiva, but for your inner peace.

Sawan (or Shravan Maas) falls right in the middle of monsoon season in India. It’s not just a religious month; it’s an energetic pause. The air is dense, the skies dramatic, and something about the rhythm of the rain makes you want to sit with yourself. From an Ayurvedic point of view, monsoon is a time when the Vata dosha (air + space) increases—making us more anxious, tired, or ungrounded. Which is why every ancient system Vedas, Yoga, Ayurveda, prescribed rituals of purification during this time. And that’s the wisdom Sawan holds: It is the month of emotional, mental, physical and spiritual cleaning.

1. Fast Not Just From Food; Fast From Noise

Yes, you can do a Monday fast (Somvar vrat). But what about fasting from:
Social media arguments?
Over-consumption of news?
Gossip in the office group chat?
Every fast is a conscious “pause.” It tells your body and mind: You don’t need everything, all the time.
Try this: Pick one day each week to unplug from screens for half a day. Instead of scrolling, listen to Shiva chants or sit in complete silence. Let your nervous system reset.

2. Clean Your Plate: Eat Like You Actually Love Your Body

The Sawan diet avoids tamasic (heavy, dulling) foods like:

Onion and garlic
Excess salt
Fried and fermented foods
Non-veg
But why?Because food carries vibrational energy. What you eat affects not just your digestion but your thoughts. Shiva is the deity of deep meditation and detachment. Eating sattvic (light, nourishing) food supports the same inner stillness.

3. Do Jalabhishek Outside and Inside

Pouring water over the shivling is symbolic of cooling the inner fire.
But what about the emotional heat you carry?
Unsaid resentments
Self-criticism
Comparisons
Overworking
This Sawan, pour water not just over the shivling but over your own anger. Cool your inner chatter. Ask yourself: What am I holding onto that I need to release?

4. Walk Barefoot on Wet Earth (It’s More Sacred Than You Think)

During Sawan, try waking up early and walking barefoot on grass or soil after rain. The negative ions in wet earth literally discharge stress from the body.
Our ancestors worshipped nature because they understood its ability to cleanse without language.

5. Journal Like You’re Writing to Shiva

Instead of over-praying, over-asking, or over-explaining to the universe, try this: pick a notebook and start journaling every morning or night.
Start with:
“Today, I felt heavy because…”
“What I’m finding hard to let go of is…”
“Shiva, if you’re listening…”
Sawan is not about performing devotion. It’s about returning to your most unfiltered self—the version you usually bury under duties and deadlines.
Truth: You don’t need a temple to talk to Shiva. Just a page and your raw honesty.

6. Chant, Even If You Don’t Understand Sanskrit

Mantras are more than sound they’re vibrational patterns that clean the mind.
The most powerful chant for Sawan is:
Even 108 chants a day can shift your energy. Don’t worry if your voice cracks, your mind wanders or your accent stumbles. Chant anyway. This is not for performance. It’s your private energetic cleanse.
Tip: Chant while folding clothes, cooking, walking. Make it your background track.

7. Offer Milk to the Deity, But Offer Compassion to Yourself

Pooja fruit for sawan

( Image credit : Pixabay )

We often follow rituals so religiously that we forget to be kind to ourselves. During Sawan, Shiva accepts:
Milk, bel patra, datura, bael fruit
But he also accepts:
Rest
Tears
Sincerity
Silence
If you’re fasting and still yelling at your house help, the vrat has lost its meaning. If you’re avoiding garlic but indulging in jealousy, the essence is lost.
Sawan isn’t about denying yourself; it’s about rediscovering yourself.

8. Replace Reaction With Reflection

Shiva is called Bholenath not because he’s naïve—but because he chooses peace over reaction. In moments of conflict this Sawan, pause and ask:
“Is my ego talking or my soul?”
“What would silence do now?” Challenge: One full day of no reacting. Just noticing. Journaling your triggers. That’s emotional tapasya.

9. Do Seva (Service) Without Needing Validation

Shravan is a time when many donate milk or water to temples. But you can also:
Feed strays
Call someone who’s grieving
Water trees
Offer your listening without interrupting
Serving without selfie, without social proof, is how Shiva serves the world in silence.

10. Sleep Early, Wake Before Sunrise

In yogic tradition, Brahmamuhurta (4–6 AM) is when divine energy is most accessible. Use this hour to:
Sit in stillness
Chant
Read a shloka
Write
Even 15 minutes can realign your nervous system. Instead of phone alarms, let your breath be the first thing you meet each morning.

You Don’t Need to Do Everything. You Just Need to Do One Thing; With Your Whole Soul.

Sawan doesn’t demand perfection. It asks for presence. It doesn’t care how many rituals you follow. It cares whether your mind was there when you followed them. Let this month be a mirror.
Let it show you who you’ve been carrying, and what you’ve been avoiding. Clean your plate. Clean your habits. Clean your thoughts. Not out of guilt; but out of love. Because cleansing the body is hygiene. But cleansing the soul; that’s freedom.

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