This is part three of a four part series on living comfortably as a Highly Sensitive Empath. You will find the first two entries below this one.
Years ago before I had a conscious awareness that I could communicate with animals, before I knew I was sensitive, before I knew I was an empath I would have experiences that I didn’t understand. I remember walking into a barn at a stable where I boarded my horse and feeling overwhelming sadness. It would happen whenever I walked into the barn. What I came to understand was that I was feeling the sadness of the horses. They were show horses and spent the majority of their lives locked in 12×12 stalls. Except for an hour or so of training, that was their life and they were miserable. (My horse wasn’t in the barn. He spent his days and nights outside with another horse in a pasture.)
It used to be that going to the Humane Society or a shelter brought on so much anxiety for me that I avoided them even though I wanted to volunteer. I didn’t understand that I was feeling the animal’s energy. I felt their grief, their panic and their anxiety. I was limited by my sensitivity.
Now, I can volunteer at a shelter and provide communication and energy healing services. I can go into a shelter without taking on all the emotions and energy of the animals in transition. I can be with friends or family that are emotional without absorbing their emotions and energy. I can do this because I have learned to manage my sensitivities and you can too.
5 Simple Steps to Manage your Energy Body and Control Your Sensitivity.
1. Recognize and be familiar with your own energy body. Do you know where your energy ends? Are you familiar with what your energy feels like? When you take time to learn how your energy feels you will be more aware of when another’s energy has intruded upon you. Quietly sit with yourself and notice what your energy feels like. Close your eyes. Can you see colors? Can you tell how far out it is reaching? What do you notice?
2. Be in the Present. If you are not living in the present moment, you will not notice when you are being affected by another’s energy. When we walk through the world in the future or the past, we miss what’s right in front of us. Multitasking takes us out of the present. Really notice right where you are, the smells, the feel of the air on your skin, the sounds. It’s all right there in front of you when you come into the present.
3. Stay in your body. People that are sensitive and empathic often tend to live just outside their body. Your consciousness is hanging around but not grounded in your body. This makes you feel less safe in the world and makes you more susceptible to taking on other’s energy. One way to “come into your body” is to take a minute to notice how you feel in every part of your body. Start with your feet and work your way to your head. Really pay attention to the sensations in your body.
4. Consciously separate your energy from another’s. Remember that part about using visualization to control your energy? Here’s where it comes in handy. When you realize you are being affected by another’s energy, visualize yourself separated from them. In this blog, I explained about our energy cords and how to detach. Another technique is to visualize a clear Plexiglas tube surrounding you. The tube is open above and below you. You are able to see everything around you, but other energy cannot penetrate your tube. You can use any visual that works for you, you’re only limited by your imagination.
5. Revitalize your energy. Take time every day to keep your energy vibrant by using the Energy Mastery meditation or a similar process. You will find after you have done the meditation several times you will be able to quickly go through the process any time you are feeling a lull in your energy.
Yes, as simple as these techniques seem, they really do work. If they don’t work, something deeper is at play and I’ll share more about that with you next week.
Is this helping you? Questions? Provide your comments or questions here and I will happily answer them.
Now, more than ever I need to control my energy and sensitivity. A lot of my employees at work have negative energy right now. A couple are also wanna be witches/wiccans, who are experimenting with negative things. I am expected to keep everyone positive and also be in control. All this is happening when I have several major projects going on, two that, if done incorrectly will force us to close. This does not even include my daughters upcoming wedding. my partner who has cancer, all of his projects that I need to help with, the animals I need to take care of and the “me” time that I desperately need, but cannot not have. Any tips for a very much overextended person, who likes to be in control and who feels very much out of control at the moment?
Hi Beth, You speak of a trap many of us fall into. When we don’t take time to care for ourselves, it becomes that much more difficult to manage the rest of it. Taking 10-20 minutes for meditation time, specifically the Energy Mastery Meditation will go a long way in helping you manage all of what you are dealing with. You need to make it a priority. As you shift your energy in a positive way, the circumstances around you will also shift. I experienced this clearly some 22 years ago when I had a very abusive boss. I spent time every morning in meditation which shifted my energy before I went to work and in the end he was fired and I was given the position.
It’s also true that when we feel we have no choice our energy is depleted by the feeling of powerlessness. The truth is we always have choice but when we are in the midst of crisis and overwhelm it can be difficult to see that. If you want to be in control (and control is an illusion…but that’s another blog), put yourself first. It’s the best thing you can do for yourself AND everyone around you.
As for the Witches/Wiccans, the only power they have is the power you give them. You are very powerful; don’t forget that.