Disengaging from Negative Energy
by Stephanie Brail
printed with permission
We're constantly bombarded with negative energy from people and places around us. If we're not careful, we can take that energy in and make it our own. Additionally, the negative energy can hook itself into a vulnerable spot in your psyche - say, that spot in your heart that feels unlovable - and by pushing your buttons, suck you into a negative downward spiral.
The more we work on ourselves and heal our psychic wounds, the less likely we are to be affected by surrounding negative energy. Until we're strong and healed, we need to be very aware and careful of the energies surrounding us.
Negative Places
People and places carry their own energies that can adversely affect us. A place can hold the energies of fights, depression, and even murders and suicides. (This is why people often sage a home when they move in. Burning sage clears away the bad residual energy.)
A negative place holds the combined psychic energy of the people who inhabit it. The leadership who runs the place (if there is a leader) will often set the tone, creating a space that is either warm and nurturing or energetically draining.
For example, churches and other places of worship will often be filled with positive energy due to the prayers and intention of the audience. (Some churches, however, may have bad energy if the leadership is insincere. Yet if the congregation is sincere enough, their combined positive energy can overcome even the worst leaders.)
Yoga centers often have positive energy, especially if chanting is used. Golden Bridge Yoga in Hollywood has a palpable positive energy due to the persistent and continual chanting and Kundalini Yoga practices.
Negative spaces also have a palpable energy. Haunted locations, prisons, and soulless organizations can have bad energy. Sometimes these energies are very dark in nature. There is a vortex on the haunted ship the Queen Mary that is so negative, just standing near it can make you feel fearful and anxious.
Many healers will also cite bars and nightclubs as harbors for negative energy. The drinking and drug use will sometimes attract lower energies. So it's a good idea to shield yourself when entering such environments.
Psychic Attacks
Negative people can be even more dangerous if we let them in too close without protecting ourselves energetically. A psychic attack is when a person sends negative energy to another person.
We are all guilty of psychic attacks at times. If you are swearing and wishing harm on the driver who just cut you off, you are guilty of a psychic attack. These aren't too potent, however. It's the persistent, ongoing attacks that are the problem.
For example, energy vampires are people who literally tap into our energy systems and suck vital life force away from us. Manipulators consciously and quite often unconsciously tap into our past wounds to gain power and favors. Others just go on the attack by sending the negative energies of jealousy and ill will.
Unfortunately, it's often the ones we love the most that have the potential to bring us down the most. Family is an obvious culprit, but friends and lovers are often sources of negativity and we don't even realize it. We're often aware and even blaming when it comes to family, but we do the opposite with friends and lovers: We excuse, ignore, and gloss over.
I had a friend who was an energy vampire. She was an active alcoholic (a big red flag) and would literally call me up three times per day crying her eyes out over some perceived drama in her life. I begged her to see a shrink or go to AA, and she would promise to go and then come up with an excuse.
Tied into this friend was another friend who would go from being my best buddy to stabbing me in the back at random opportunities. She would find some petty thing to get mad at me about, ignore me, and then go bad-mouth me to the first friend, never talking to me privately or giving me the opportunity to clear things up with her.
These are obvious examples, but the less obvious examples are the friends who are nice to you to your face but inside they are harboring resentments and ill will. Women in particular have to be aware of this, since women are still raised to unconsciously see each other as competitors (for male attention).
Men have to be aware that women will often hook into them for security and validation. This is not to say women are the sole perpetrators of psychic attacks, but when men attack women, it is more likely to be overt and physical.
Co-workers are also sources of psychic attacks. When going to a job, you are often mixed up with people you might not otherwise have anything in common with. Greed, jealousy, and pride will often create a lethal work environment.
Signs of Psychic Attack
While everyone is different and responds differently to energy, here are a few signs you are under psychic attack:
1. You feel drained and irritable around the person.
2. You have a hard time letting go (of them, of their problems) even though you know you should.
3. You find yourself over-reacting emotionally in ways that you wouldn't otherwise. You feel out of control.
4. You are obsessing and negative.
5. Things in your life are going haywire and the usual flow has stopped, i.e., money is hard to come by. (This is with an extreme psychic attack.)
6. You continue to engage (fight, respond, defend yourself) even though you know you shouldn't.
7. You get physically sick when you spend a lot of time with the person. (I had a boyfriend who constantly gave me colds.)
8. You doubt yourself and your own intuition based on the twisted logic presented by the person; you blame yourself in a one-sided fashion. (This is all my fault: I'm bad, I'm unlovable, I'm the horrible person.)
Dealing With a Negative Person
Not every negative person is actively attacking you personally. Sometimes, they are just negative, period. There's a guy I know who is universally hated by everyone who deals with him. He is condescending, arrogant, and patronizing. Yet because he's taken the reins at this particular organization and gets stuff done, he feels he is the one in the right.
This man is not actively intending to be negative, but his own personal baggage, control issues, and negative energies adversely affect most of the people he interacts with. The organization also suffers, and many people have left, in part due to his negativity. The energy has spread to the space itself, and when you walk in, you can literally feel a dark, heavy energy blanketing the location.
Unfortunately, even though such a negative person is not personally attacking you, you still need to protect yourself from them.
How to Shield Yourself
Many, many techniques are available to shield yourself from negative energies. The most important aspect of these techniques is the intention behind them. Here are a few simple ones to try:
1. Remove yourself from the person or environment.
Ideally, you will remove yourself entirely from the person or environment. I consulted for a company once that bounced so many checks that the bank shut down their account. They were actively perpetrating check fraud. They bounced my checks too. There is no good reason to keep an organization like that in your life. Even if you think you need them, you don't need them. Quit, leave, and get the hell out of dodge. (This goes for certain people too.)
2. Use the white light technique or cross your arms.
If you must be around a person or place that is negative, the simplest thing you can do is imagine yourself surrounded with white light. Do this often! When speaking to someone who has bad energy, cross your arms. It helps to keep their energy from infiltrating yours. (This is very useful at work.)
3. Go to a higher power.
If you believe in such things, God, Jesus, angels, or whatever higher power you trust can be good allies. Pray to God for protection. Ask Archangel Michael to remove negative energies from your personal space.
4. Clear the energies in your home.
Your home environment can be contaminated by negative energy, whether it's from neighbors, friends visiting, and sometimes whoever is living with you. Burn sage, meditate, or chant to clear the energy. (Om is a universal clearing mantra.) Clear out your old clutter and throw it away - often it carries old negative energy with it.
5. Cut cords.
Etheric cords are energetic highways that run between you and other people you have connected with. When used positively, they allow for the exchange of love energy and psychic information. When used negatively, they are used to drain energy and keep a person attached long after it has been good for them. Cords re-appear daily, so you should clear them as much as possible. If you don't know a cord clearing technique of your own, simply ask Archangel Michael to cut them for you at the end of each day.
6. Mentally disengage.
When a person is pushing your buttons and you find yourself getting emotionally overwrought, take a few deep breaths and mentally disengage. Repeat to yourself some sort of statement that feels comforting to you, such as I am letting go or I love myself.
7. Stop trying to fix the other person.
If you find yourself constantly trying to help someone who is going through a lot of personal dramas, and yet they continue to be messed up at best, it's probably time to stop. Only help people who ask you for your help and who appear to be actively trying to improve their lives. Give the others over to God.
8. Trust your own intuition.
One of the biggest problems we have is that we often ignore our own intuition to make excuses for other people. It's hard to believe that someone you love might be psychically attacking you. You want to make excuses for them. It's easier to believe that you are the bad guy. And certainly, while we are not all perfect and we do sometimes do rotten things, if a person is making you crazy, it's probably them and not you. Listen to that little voice in your head that says, Hey, this is not right. Pay attention to that sick feeling you have in your solar plexus. It's telling you something. Trust it.
9. Heal yourself.
The more you heal your inner wounds, the less likely people will be able to push your buttons. But don't kick yourself if a button is pushed - you're human! The next time someone says something to you and you find yourself overreacting, make a note of it. Later, when you've calmed down, you know you've found a little sore spot that needs some healing. A little Reiki or EFT can go a long way.
10. Laugh about it.
My friend and I have a name for people who psychically attack now. We call them "lizard people" (in reference to the controversial David Icke theory that the world is run by evil shape-shifting reptiles). Laughter is a good way to disengage and realize that what seemed threatening really isn't that threatening after all. (Psychic attacks are the most effective when you buy into them on some level.)
These are just a few suggestions to help you when dealing with negative environments and people. As you become more aware, you will find yourself able to respond more pro-actively instead of automatically. As time goes on, you will find yourself naturally being drawn to more positive environments and letting go of the ones that bring you down. Then your life can continue along a positive upward spiral.
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With Love,
Ganesh Baba
http://kriyababa.blogspot.com/
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