One of my clients noted ‘I am extremely sensitive to the energy around me. I often feel other people’s energy in my physical body, and get overwhelmed, anxious and drained in noisy or busy environments’
She asked how to protect herself from this energy but also shared that guilt tended to make her sensitive to people’s negative energy, and releasing that guilt was helpful.
So, in some ways, I kind of divide this into two situations, the general clamour and noise of city living, and when you are either around people who are negative or they actually aim that energy towards you.
I think there are a number of different approaches that you can take.
1.
When you know you will be, or if you are in those busy and noisy environments, close your eyes momentarily and envision a bubble of healing energy around you, a positive bubble, and imagine that noise and negative vibrations cannot or have a harder time getting through that bubble.
The mind is a powerful thing.
However, this might strike some people as mumbo jumbo and certainly won’t work if you think it’s silly. In that case, what about some detachment
2
One thing that can help when faced with negative energy is to be objective and distant. It helped me a lot in both my working life and my personal life when instead of reacting to co-workers’ bad energy, I thought, at a distance, I wonder why they’re acting that way. Maybe they had a bad morning or didn’t get enough sleep. Maybe they’re worried about someone close to them.
It’s important to try not to take it personally when someone is in a bad mood, and you certainly shouldn’t think it might be your fault. Even if someone might be projecting their anger onto you, this might not be right or justified or anything you can do about. Adopt the slogan, ‘Your crisis is not my problem’.
It can be challenging to try to create distance and objectivity, especially since negative people can sometimes enjoy trying to get a reaction or invading the space of someone who is sensitive or kind… but it is a useful thing to work towards.
Does all of this sound too complicated? A final suggestion is the most practical…
3.
Get earplugs or headphones. I HATE the contemporary arrangements of open plan offices. Way too noisy.
Whenever possible, play your favourite relaxing music and use it try to block out noisy work or other environments!