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Energetic hygiene refers to the practice of maintaining a healthy, balanced energy field surrounding a person. This practice can be challenging on any given day with kids, work, family, chores and errands, social obligations and <insert activity your child(ren) participates in> practices and events. On top of that, it’s also amplified by the chaotic world we all find ourselves in at this time and all the things that just keep happening.
Nevertheless, you still need to take care of yourself in a messy world with messy energy. How are empaths to maintain a healthy and balanced energy system? I’ll get to that in a minute, but first let me tell you a story.
Empathic Tell
Years ago I organized a monthly empath support group. After a few meetings, a core group emerged who attended every meeting and shared their techniques for handling unwanted energetic connections.
Additionally, every meeting we always had new people. Since empaths come in a hundred different varieties, we would excitedly tune into the new people trying to reveal which empathic filter they were using, if they had an empathic specialty, and on which clair this info was coming to us. It was our own little experiment lab.
It pretty much worked like this:
I would have a topic to discuss, like energetic hygiene, and either in the current meeting or the next time we met, someone new would come in with terrible energetic hygiene. Invariably, we’d study and discuss a topic, and then the Universe would send us the test subject to challenge our abilities. Like clockwork. Over and over this is the way things unfolded.
I’m Telling You All That to Tell You Two Things
Thing One
The more we explored empathic topics together, the more those topics started showing up in our lives. An empath would say, “Oh, I’m not clairgustant at all.” (In case you don’t remember the anatomy of an empath, that’s the ability to pick up energy with your sense of taste.) Only, the next time I see that person they say, “And, I noticed I was picking that up through clairgustance.”
I suspect these empathic abilities were there all along, but now that we knew what they were and how they worked, they started showing up all the time. Being more conscious of empathic abilities helped us to notice when they kicked in.
Thing Two
We each had a tell. When someone was challenging our newly learned skills or just our energetic boundary, we had something we did to compensate and redirect or block that energy. And, we all knew each other’s tell. As a result, if we saw one of us using their tell, the rest of us would eavesdrop and watch how they handled the situation.
We found these situations riveting entertainment.
For instance, the shaman would extend his right arm straight out and point to the ground. Almost like a sword pointing towards the Earth. Always his right arm extended, fingers straight and pointed down. Hence, if we saw someone talking to him and his right arm extended to the ground, we knew the person talking to him was vomiting their drama.
Being a super kind and patient person, he would rarely cut you off. Instead, what he did was focus all that drama energy being slathered on him directly down his right arm and into the ground for transmutation. A very effective way to let the Earth handle that energy.
If our core group noticed anyone’s tell being used, we dropped whatever we were doing and move, almost like a coordinated group, over to that person to watch them deal with it.
It was fun.
Like the circus.
Inevitably, the more the empaths became aware of the energetic hygiene of others, the more carefully they selected their seat at our big boardroom table. Also, they considered the company sitting next to them and across the table. Nobody wanted to get stuck for a 2 hour meeting next to the person with questionable energetic hygiene.
What is Energetic Hygiene?
Energetic hygiene refers to the practices that help us maintain a healthy and balanced energy system, as well as, a healthy energetic boundary. Our bodies and minds are not just physical, but also energetic. As empaths, we intensely and constantly interact with the energy surrounding us, and this energy can have an impact on our physical, mental, and emotional health if we don’t know how to deal with it.
Energetic hygiene also refers to how your energy presents to others. Have you ever met someone and thought, “Wow, their energy is dark, cloudy, low, negative, conflicted, bossy, sticky, or some other adjective that makes you want to move away?” That’s their energetic hygiene in action.
A person who is aware of their energetic hygiene minds their energy. They are conscious and considerate of the energy they bring in the door and share with everyone they meet.
Why is Energetic Hygiene Important?
Just like we take care of our physical health by resting, moving, eating and drinking well and having fun, we need to take care of our energetic health as well. Neglecting our energetic hygiene can lead to feelings of fatigue, stress, anxiety, and I’m convinced, even physical illness. (Although again, not any kind of medical professional or therapist.) But I believe, by taking care of our energy system, you can improve our overall well-being and increase our resilience to life’s challenges.
Techniques to Maintain Good Energy Hygiene
This is a whole thing. There are books devoted to this one subject, because it’s so complex. My goal isn’t to tell you everything you need to know to be an expert. First of all, I’m not an expert. I’m just an empath like you experimenting and sharing my results. Secondly, I want you to find what works for you. My goal is to suggest and share plenty of examples for you to think about.
Now, let’s dive into some simple techniques that you can use to maintain good energetic hygiene.
Finding Your True Frequency
As already mentioned, I think it’s helpful to rest, eat and drink well, move, and have some fun. Would you agree? All those things are super important for anyone, but especially the empath, so I’ll keep repeating it.
Why? These things help to reveal your true frequency. Not the frequencies you absorb from your environment or from dealing with other people, but the one you generate in your pure energetic state. That place where you sit in energetic neutral without anyone’s influence. The vibration of you existing at the very core of your existence. The clean, focused energy of you.
Not unexpectedly, this pure energy of your true frequency can be difficult to locate in a loud and crazy world. If you have trouble finding your true frequency, trying focusing while in the shower. It’s a place where you’re usually alone with your own energies, and water is a powerful clear of unwanted attachments.
All the other techniques I’ll mention are just ways to come back to this place of your true frequency and use its power. Again, I find rest, eating and drinking well, moving, and fun are the basic needs of an empath.
Grounding
The next technique is grounding. Blah, blah, blah. Doesn’t everyone talk about grounding, but what is that exactly and why is it important?
Grounding involves connecting with the earth’s energy and allowing it to flow through us. This can be done by standing barefoot on the ground, laying on the ground, or just standing there and focusing.
It’s not a mystical, hidden kind of thing. It’s pretty easy and straight forward. Most people feel renewed after spending time outside doing something they find fun and/or relaxing. Even non-empaths. Just find a place outside that feels safe and easy. Find the flow of energy from this place and pull it up through your body and through your auric field. Have that energy sweep away anything weighing you down and carry it back into the earth.
Grounding, right? Hug a tree. However, for me, I’m an outlier.
I am allergic to outside. It’s not an easy fit for me.
I have an anaphylactic reactions to ants, wasps, yellowjackets, and stuff like that. I was actually allergic to the sun when I was in 4th grade and couldn’t have any contact with it.
Last year, I had 3 hornet bites that nearly killed me. Literally.
I was TRYING to relax on the back porch recently on a beautiful spring day when I noticed a TICK crawling up my arm, and I wanted to burn the entire house down to get rid of any more.
So, no.
That earth-grounding, tree-hugging in a tick-infested forest stuff isn’t my jam.
However, night time is a completely different story. Star gazing is my zen. I love looking at the moon, planets, star clusters, nebulas or any nighttime, skyward event. The elliptical orbit of the moon and planets lines up with my driveway year round. The night and I are connected. The night sky feels like home for me.
All that to say, yes, grounding is important, but be open and pay attention to find what works for you. What’s important is the feeling you get, not the method of grounding. Is star gazing grounding? For me, it has the same effect. Don’t let anyone tell you what will recharge your energy. Instead, take the suggestions and experiment to find the grounding that works for you.
Clearing
Another technique is clearing. Clearing involves releasing any negative or low energy that may be attached to your personal energetic field. I suggest you collect several cleansing processes to keep in your energetic repair toolbox, because some tools won’t work in all situations. As a result, having a variety to choose from is helpful.
Things like sage, crystals, essential oils, sound, movement, breathing, meditation, or whatever works for you are great tools for your toolbox. Googling this topic will get you 144 billion replies. However, don’t be afraid to try something that seems less conventional. I have totally sat alone in my car in the garage and screamed until I got all the bad mojo out. Of course, then I felt bad for my car, so I drove it around the block with the windows down. Then, we all felt better.
Maybe you need to sweat or sing or scream to shift out of old energy. Find the things that work for you and keep them close in your self-care toolbox.
Additionally, I want to make one other point. The energy right now is crazy. You see human reactions which are violent, divisive, and fearful. The weather is all weird and out of whack. Feet of snow, torrential downpours, flooding, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes in places that don’t usual have them. Also, we’ve had an increase in unusual CMEs (coronal mass ejections) and solar storms. Energy from the sun disrupting satellites, power, cell phones, and Hamm radios.
In addition, the energy of the Earth is changing. You can look at the Schumann Resonance (the record of the Earth’s vibration) and see that. There are many scientific outpost which monitor the Schumann Resonance that recently turned off their equipment for fear that the energy being generated by the Earth would fry their instruments. Consequently, days go by with no readings.
And, in all that energetic chaos there is you, my sensitive friend. A delicately balanced, energetically precarious Intuitive trying to maintain their energetic hygiene. Of course, it affects you. Yes, it’s tough. That’s why it’s so important for you to understand yourself and what’s happening so you can take care.
Energetic Boundary
Finally, Let’s talk boundaries. I’m not talking about setting boundaries. I’m referring to your energetic boundary. The one that surrounds you on any given day. The edge of the energetic field that you generate.
You can probably feel where one of your energetic layers ends by stand with your feet together, eyes closed, deep breath in and then on the out breath draw your hand up into a “V” shape. Then, still with your eyes closed, breath in and delicately bring your fingers in, your arms curving into an open “O” shape, until you feel a resistance or a subtle change in the way the air around you feels.
If you can’t feel it, no worries. Try doing this outside. Sometimes, I have to do it several times before I can feel the slightly thicker layer of the energetic field that surrounds me.
You can use this energetic boundary as just that. A boundary. Like an energetic fence to keep the energy of others at a distance. The clearer your energy and the closer to your true frequency that you are, the more powerful your energetic boundary.
You can use this boundary to push out any vibes that aren’t as high as yours.
In fact, I work with my energetic boundary like a filter to energetically repel that which I don’t want to attract in the first place. I choose this strategy because your energetic boundary is powerful, but it will take some practice. But, oh wow, when you see it work for the first time, you will amaze yourself at just how ripped and shredded you really are, energetically speaking.
Another Story
Once I went to this 3-day retreat and at the end of it, I met with this shaman. He took me to a meditation garden on Mount Shasta in California. But, before we left he measured my auric boundary. That’s the outside edge of the energy field that surrounds my body. He set me in front of him and sent me walking in a straight line. He had these dousing rod looking things, and when my auric field fell out of range they moved. This was 12 feet later.
I was utterly exhausted from being around so many highly charged people over the long weekend, plus we had done all kinds of energetic exercises and experiments, plus I was sleeping in a weird bed in a foreign place. Even so, my energy boundary still pushed out to 12 feet.
Next, we went up on the mountain. Hiked a little. Meditated a lot. I may not always respond to outside, but I do respond to quiet. And, while we were in the meditation garden on Mount Shasta, it was almost completely quiet. No wifi noise, no traffic, no voices, no birds, no wind, no nothing. Just peace. Plus, the view is gorgeous.
Then, about 4 hours later when we got back to town, he measured my auric field again. I stood in front of him and started walking to see when his device moved. I went out 33 feet.
It wasn’t 12 any more. It was 33. You would think I felt all charged up and ready to spark, but I didn’t. I wasn’t tired any more. Instead, I felt balanced. My energy felt neutral, collected and focused. This was my true frequency. Completely cleared and centered.
Keeping your energy high and neutral means non-reactive and calm. This state will act as a deterrent to those with lower energies. In my 33-foot state, nothing is coming for me. You will either have to match my vibration, and good luck with that because I’ve been charged in a magical place, or leave my presence.
Having a strong, clear energetic boundary completes an empath. It is our most powerful energetic place, and for empaths, energy is everything. Without a doubt, with our energy boundaries focused and fully charged, with our true frequency beaming, with grounded and clear energy, we are unstoppable.
My Tell
So, do you want to know what my tell is? That thing that if you saw me doing it, you would know I was actively blocking someone’s energy.
Indeed, there are times I want an immediate block to something. Optimally, I just expand my energetic field out if in an optimal state.
Still, sometimes I’m not in my optimal state. I’m tired or sick or irritated or something else that’s not truly me. If someone standing directly in front of me projects energy I don’t want mixing with mine, I block it. If I sense their negativity attempting to connect or challenge something within me, and I’m just not up for the confrontation, I engage an immediate block. I do this by putting my right hand over my heart to stop the connection.
I find it’s the easiest, quickest way to sever the energetic link. Also, it’s fairly subtle and doesn’t draw any attention to the movement or offend the other person. Most people aren’t aware of their energetic hygiene. I don’t want their energy on me, so I block it with my hand. It’s easy, quick, subtle, and for me, effective.
Do you have a favorite move or technique to maintain your energetic hygiene? If so, I would love for you to share. You can reach me at lori@empathery.com.
Thanks so much for reading this far. I can’t wait for you to experiment with your own energetic boundary and see what happens. You are a powerful being, my empathic friend. The world is your petri dish.
