Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Energy, Empathy, and Apathy

A family member recently asked me if I knew what empathy meant.  Inside, I was thinking, "are you kidding me!...being empathic is at the heart of my work."  But, I simply answered, "Yes, it means to feel another's feelings".  The next question came, "Well, do you know what apathy means?".  Again, I was chuckling inside, thinking, "Oh my goodness, this is crazy!  If he only knew!".  But, then I answered with "Yes, it means to be indifferent.  Sort of the opposite of empathy", I said.   What he didn't realize, and I couldn't get into at the time, was that it was apathy that helped me come to fully understand the meaning of empathy.

When I first got into energy healing, I had a reading with a well-respected and trusted "guide to the spirits"---a person who acts as liaison between the physical and the spirit world. One of the things she told me was that eighty percent of my pain was not mine.  She explained what it meant to be empathic and how I was soaking up bad energy.  She said my suffering was due to not clearing the bad energy. I wasn't clearing because I didn't know! 
The awareness of what it truly meant to be empathic changed how I spent my time and with whom.  I was like a big porous sponge soaking up the slop after a food fight!  I was absorbing other people's "stuff"---their toxic energy and negativity---because I was unaware and in a state of apathy.  I was beaten down, numb, and simply didn't care. 
I immediately understood, and could pinpoint where a particular ailment must have come from.  It was unbelievable ...but not really.  This discovery was frightening but also an awakening. Chills went through me as I thought of what must on me, in me, around me ...needing to be cleared.  Then my fear was replaced with excitement.  The prospect of taking this new knowledge and clearing up some health issues, putting some vital life-force energy back into my veins---some joy---and getting my life back in balance, sent a thrill through me.  I had answers.  I had something to work with.  All I needed now was to learn how to shield myself and clear unwanted energy.  And so I did!  Below are a few things I do to help keep the bad stuff out of my energy field.
1) The first thing I do every day is an energy sweep and, as much as I can remember, throughout the day.  It works like this: Run your hands along your body and, like sweeping with a broom, imagine sweeping any crud off your body.  Crud is tension, negative thinking, and feeling other people's "stuff", for example. After the sweep, imagine a shield of protection around your body.  Imagine a sphere of golden light.  You might htink of the light representing love.  For me, nothing is stronger than love; meaning nothing can penetrate my layer of protection.  Use whatever image makes you feel safe and protected.
2) Work to not allow any negative thoughts into your mind.  This means when tempted to gossip or judge , practice inner dialogue with your higher self. Try to be the observer.  Listen to your thoughts, words, and watch your actions, your behavior.  If you see yourself gossiping, for example, gently say, oops!  And start over with a kind and understanding point of view.  Gossip is really harmful to the fifth chakra.  For me, since I have a pre-disposition to hypothyroidism it would be suicidal for me to engage in talking badly about someone else.  Knowing the consequences is a good reminder too! 
3) Avoid people and places that pull you down.  Sure, you could put up your psychic shield, but it's a bit taxing and takes away from the freedom of just letting loose sometimes.  It's really about balance.  We can't possibly avoid negative energy but when we can, we should.  When we can't, we need to remember to engage our psychic shield.  Surround yourself with upbeat, happy, enthusiastic, positive, healthy people!
I now fully embrace my ability to feel what's going on around me without absorbing or being numb to my environment. On one hand, I actually am a bit indifferent (apathy) but not in that numbing sort of way.  Using all my senses (empathy) I experience everything without being influenced by it (at least most of the time!).  I now know that the other stuff (what people do, don't do, say, or don't say) isn't about me.  Instead of absorbing the bad stuff, I simply see it as "what is" ...a much more interesting, and sometimes entertaining, perspective.   
It's pretty easy to protect yourself once you know you need to.  You need to!  The minute you begin to "feel" a shift---in the way of negative or thick energy---bring in your golden shield.  It's not that you are closing yourself off, but instead the shield acts as a ricochet of sorts.  See yourself as a radiant being. Every pore is like a bright star shining light into the world around you.  The negative energy will bounce off and over time, convert all that surrounds you into light.  Try it for just a few days and see what happens.