Whenever you open up your spiritual energy, whether it’s through meditation, being highly sensitive or your work in the world, it’s so important to protect yourself. Everything is energy and your energy is precious, just like you. If you don’t treasure and tend to that subtle part of you, you’ll quickly become depleted. In this episode, I’m sharing 5 simple ways to protect your energy, get grounded and clear your auric field.
All day long, we have energetic cords plugging into our bodies and leading away from them, plugging into something else. In some places, we’re giving our energy away, and in others, people are hooked into us, siphoning our energy. Without protection, we’re constantly leaking and diffusing energy into the world.
That’s how you end up struggling with the weight of something that was never yours to carry.
People can unknowingly steal your energy or leave their energetic imprint on you and if you've ever felt anxious, upset, frustrated or tired, but weren’t sure why, chances are, this has happened to you. Sometimes, we can even mirror other people’s emotions.
If you can, I want you to close your eyes for a moment and just observe the flow of your breath, in and out. Feel your energy, coming and going. Visualise those pathways like electrical cords or wires. Now see yourself unplugging these cords, so they fall away, dissolve and disappear. Take a deep breath in, calling all of the missing pieces of you home. And exhale completely, cultivating peace in your body, before you open your eyes to the room.
I learnt this lesson the hard way as a yoga teacher, especially because I’m so sensitive to other people’s energy and I didn’t know the extent I needed to protect myself. I used to walk around wide open, energetically porous and soaking up other people’s stuff like a sponge! I felt drained on a daily basis, irritable, anxious and overwhelmed. Eventually, my nervous system couldn’t take anymore and I burnt out which took a long time to heal.
Now I know how to nurture my sensitivity, I can keep myself safe and my energy is so much lighter. I want that for you too.
These 5 simple tools are particularly helpful if you’re a sensitive soul, a natural empath, a healer or an introvert because they’ll make such a difference in how you manage your energy and stress levels.
And the best part is, you don’t have to do it alone. This is a devotional practice and when you call on divine source energy, you can stop feeling drained and allow yourself to be lifted.
It’s a lot easier to shield your energy than it is to retrieve it, so we’ll start there.
1. Close Your Cloak or Zip Up
Wrap your arms around yourself as though you were putting on a thick, heavy cloak (or giving yourself a hug!) This will protect you and keep you safe as it sends a message to the Universe that your field is shut down. In the same way, you can zip yourself up. Imagine a zipper from your root to your throat chakra. Literally zip it up to seal in your energy. This covers your most tender, sensitive and emotional areas so your energy field isn’t left wide open.
2. Set An Intention
The simplest way to protect your energy is to set an intention (which is like a prayer to the Universe) to close down your energy field. You can say anything that makes sense to you. Or this is a simple prayer I often use to protect my energy:
Thank you Universe for protecting and honouring my energy.
Or, when my energy needs to be restored:
Thank you Universe for restoring any positive energy I’ve lost and removing any negative energy I’ve picked up.
Then, since you don’t just want to leave your spiritual rubbish out on the street, you can ask for it to be recycled and transmuted into white light.
The “thank you” part of the prayer signifies that it’s already done.
3. Meditate to Release and Retrieve Your Energy
Whenever you need to retrieve your energy, meditation is a powerful place to start.
A Cord-Cutting Meditation will help you release any invisible energetic attachments with anyone that’s lowering your vibration. Often, these connections hook into our energy field and can negatively affect us. You can cut the cord with anyone you feel energetically entangled with.
I recorded a whole episode on this last week, with a guided practice which you can at the link in the show notes.
Another favourite of mine is a Light Bath Meditation to fill yourself up and restore your own light. If you’d like to follow my guidance, check out this episode here.
4. Take a Salt Bath
Salt baths are such a powerful way to clear your energy field. I have one a few times a week! The high dose of magnesium softens tension in your body, soothes your adrenals and helps you slow down. If you’re feeling energetically vulnerable, this will clear away any negative energy around you. Fill up your tub with a cup of Epsom Salts, a few drops of essential oil (like lavender) and soak for 20 minutes or more. If you don’t have a bath, you can always use a salt scrub in the shower. Massage it into your skin and as you wash it off, imagine any negative energy swirling away down the drain.
5. Let Nature Nourish You
Being out in nature fills me up like nothing else. I live in a city (though probably not for much longer) and the fresh air, even if it’s just a walk in the park or being in the British countryside really lifts my spirit. Go for a walk, or go barefoot on the grass and plug down through your feet, allowing the energy of the Earth to recharge you. You can also lie down and feel the back of your heart beating with the pulsation of the planet. This is a great way to get grounded and infuse yourself with the positive, healing energy of nature.
You can also:
Rest or sleep;
Stamp your feet;
Gather your crystals;
Eat something or drink a cup of tea to ground you; or
Practise restorative yoga to rebalance your nervous system.
This is probably the most important lesson I've learnt as a spiritual student and teacher so if there's one thing you take from this, it's that your energy is your most treasured resource - tend to it well!
Thanks so much for listening! If you’re ready to go deeper, I have a free mini yoga retreat waiting for you over at pranapatchouli.com/retreat. It’ll help you find emotional ease, fill up your cup and follow the whispers of your soul.
All you have to do is head over there now and enter your name and email for instant access.
I’ll be back next week with a brand new episode, so until then, from my heart to yours, Namaste.
