Monday, June 30, 2014

How to Stop Absorbing Other People’s Emotions

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How to Stop Absorbing Other People’s Emotions

The Mind Unleashed ~ 24 June 2014

 By Judith Orloff MD





Emotions such as fear, anger, frustration, and immobility are energies. And you can potentially ‘catch’ these energies from people without realizing it. If you tend to be an emotional sponge, it’s vital to know how to avoid taking on an individual’s negative emotions, or even how to deflect the free-floating negativities in crowds.

Another twist is that chronic anxiety, depression, or stress can turn you into an emotional sponge by wearing down your defenses. Suddenly, you become hyper-attuned to others, especially suffering with similar pain. That’s how empathy works; we zero in on hot-button issues that are unresolved in ourselves.

From an energetic standpoint, negative emotions can originate from several sources: what you’re feeling may be your own; it may be someone else’s; or it may be a combination. Here is how to tell the difference and strategically bolster your positive emotions so you don’t shoulder negativity that doesn’t belong to you.
Stop Absorbing Other People’s Emotions

  1. Identify whether you’re susceptible. The person most likely to be overwhelmed by negative energies surrounding you is an “empath”, someone who acts as an “emotional sponge”. Signs that you might be an empath include:


  • People call you “hyper-sensitive”, “overly sensitive”, etc., and they don’t mean it as a compliment!
  • You sense fear, anxiety, and stress from other people and draw this into your body, resolving them as your own physical pain and symptoms. It doesn’t have to be people you don’t know or don’t like; you’re also impacted by friends, family, and colleagues.
  • You quickly feel exhausted, drained, and unhappy in the presence of crowds.
  • Noise, smells, and excessive talking can set off your nerves and anxiety.
  • You need to be alone to recharge your energy.
  • You’re less likely to intellectualize what you’re feeling. Your feelings are easily hurt.
  • You’re naturally giving, generous, spiritually inclined, and a good listener.
  • You tend to ensure that you’ve got an escape plan, so that you can get away fast, such as bringing your own car to events, etc.
  • The intimacy of close relationships can feel like suffocation or loss of your own self.


  1. Seek the source. First, ask yourself whether the feeling is your own or someone else’s. It could be both. If the emotion such as fear or anger is yours, gently confront what’s causing it on your own or with professional help. If not, try to pinpoint the obvious generator.


  • For instance, if you’ve just watched a comedy, yet you came home from the movie theater feeling blue, you may have incorporated the depression of the people sitting beside you; in close proximity, energy fields overlap.
  • The same is true with going to a mall or a packed concert. If crowded places upset or overwhelm you, it may well be because you’re absorbing all the negative energy around you.


3. Distance yourself from the suspected source, where possible. Move at least twenty feet away; see if you feel relief. Don’t err on the side of not wanting to offend strangers. In a public place, don’t hesitate to change seats if you feel a sense of depression imposing on you.

4. Center yourself by concentrating on your breath. Doing this connects you to your essence. For a few minutes, keep exhaling negativity, inhaling calm. This helps to ground yourself and purify fear or other difficult emotions. Visualize negativity as gray fog lifting from your body, and hope as golden light entering. This can yield quick results.

5. Flush out the harm. Negative emotions such as fear frequently lodge in your emotional center at the solar plexus (celiac plexus).

  • Place your palm on your solar plexus as you keep sending loving-kindness to that area to flush stress out.
  • For longstanding depression or anxiety, use this method daily to strengthen this center. It’s comforting and it builds a sense of safety and optimism as it becomes a ritual.




6. Shield yourself. A handy form of protection many people use, including healers with trying patients, involves visualizing an envelope of white light (or any color you feel imparts power) around your entire body. Think of it as a shield that blocks out negativity or physical discomfort but allows what’s positive to filter in.

7. Manage the emotional overload. You don’t need to be beholden to your ability to absorb other’s emotions; turn the curse into a gift by practicing strategies that can free you:


  • Learn to recognize people who can bring you down. People who are particularly difficult for emotional empaths include criticizer, the victim, the narcissist, and the controller. Judith Orloff terms these people “emotional vampires”. When you know how to spot these behaviors, you can protect yourself against them, including removing yourself from their presence, and telling yourself that “I respect the person you are within even though I don’t like what you’re doing.”
  • Eat a high protein meal before entering stressful situations such as being part of a crowd. When in a crowd, find places of refuge, such as sitting on the edges, or standing apart.
  • Ensure that you don’t have to rely on other people to get you out of difficult situations. Bring your own car or know how to get home easily when needed. Have sufficient funds to be able to make alternate arrangements if you start feeling overwhelmed.
  • Set time limits. Knowing how much you can stand and obeying that limit is vital to ensure your mental well-being. Also set kind but meaningful boundaries with others who overwhelm you; don’t stand around listening to them talking for two hours when you can only cope with half an hour.
  • Have your own private place in a home shared with others. Ask others to respect your downtime during which you can rejuvenate. This is especially important to prevent you from taking on your partner’s feelings too much. A study, man cave, sewing room, reading nook, etc., all offer your own space.
  • Practice meditation and mindfulness.


8. Look for positive people and situations. Call a friend who sees the good in others. Spend time with a colleague who affirms the bright side of things. Listen to hopeful people. Hear the faith they have in themselves and others. Also relish hopeful words, songs, and art forms. Hope is contagious and it will lift your mood.


  • Cultivate positive emotions that boost your inner strength. If you’re surrounded by peace and love, you’ll flourish as strongly as negative emotions cause you to wilt. Respecting your own needs through healthy self love will increase your ability to respect others.
  • Learn to use compassion as a way to defend yourself against overwhelming emotions. Compassion allows you to be empathetic to the plight of other people but also requires that you are compassionate toward yourself. This means that you don’t need to feel guilty about seeking respite from being overwhelmed; doing so ensures that you can be more engaged with others in the long run, rather than less so. It also means that you keep yourself whole by not immersing yourself in the world of negative people.


9. Create and maintain a haven for disengagement. Leave many paths open that lead to communing with the resonance of nature. Returning to your rightful home as a creature of nature switches off your victim mentality and recharges you energetically and spiritually.


  • Keep a picture of a waterfall or a lush forest with you and look at it when overwhelmed.
  • Step onto the quiet of a forest path or absorb the coolness of a gently babbling brook from beneath a weeping willow.
  • Maintain a your personal space of cozy retreat where you hook into your own personal power and energy.
  • Practice Yoga and breathing techniques. These draw upon emotional centering and provide safe harbor in times of storm.


About the Author

Judith Orloff MD is the author of many self-help books including, The Ecstasy of Surrender: 12 Surprising Ways Letting Go Can Empower Your Life, Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself from Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life, and Positive Energy: 10 Extraordinary Prescriptions for Transforming Fatigue, Stress, and Fear into Vibrance, Strength, and Love.



Sunday, June 29, 2014

Hope and Power

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Hope and Power


When There Is No Hope In The Future,
There Is Absolutely No Power In The Now!

The Power Needed Throughout Our Physical Sojourn
Resides Deep Within The Very Core of Our Eternal Spirit.

Our Power Should Be Consciously Accessed Every Day,
Without Access To That Power We Function In A State of Lack.

The Awesome Power I Am Speaking of Is Eternal In Nature,
It Contains The Full Spectrum of Energy Necessary For Our Success In Life.

Hope In The Future Allows Pure Unconditional Love To Flow Freely To Us In The Now.

I Possess Eminent Hope In The Future; Nevertheless I Live Fully In The Present Moment!

Baba-Kundi Ma`at-Shambhala
(SpiritWalker)
06.30.13



Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Divine Forgiveness

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Divine Forgiveness
Divine Oneness, Great Spirit, Mama-Baba Goddess-God, please forgive us the human race, for through our ignorance we have distorted the Peace and Harmony of Your Wonder-Full Creation in the way that we have, and many continue to do so to this very day; most know not what they do because of their overwhelming ignorance of Your Sacred Presence that dwells eternally within all of us. You have Divinely Created and Wonderfully Orchestrated this Magnificent Creation, and humanity has done just about everything that it possibly could to destroy this Magnificent Creation.
My hope and prayer is that the majority of the human race will wake up and see the destruction it is responsible for, and then start to turn things around by way of their thoughts, beliefs, words, and actions. It pains my heart to know how we have and are still hurting the Whole of Creation, and that includes all of humanity. Some of us have the nerve to think that we have dominion over this world and, everything in and on it. It is sad to say but part of our human reality, most people do not even have dominion over their own lives and affairs.
I pray that a New Sacred Wind of Divine Truth and Sacred Insight will sweep across the lands of this physical realm and cause humanity to turn from its wicked ways and begin to restore that which it has distorted and destroyed. There is yet still hope, because You always dwell within our Eternal Essence, which is our Eternal Spirit; we simply must and one day will awaken to that Divine Reality. Keep Hope Alive; Open Your Eyes!

Divine Oneness, Great Spirit, Mama-Baba Goddess-God, Please Forgive Us!

Baba-Kundi Ma`at-Shambhala
(Spiritwalker)
11.26.13
Revised 06.18.14




Sunday, June 1, 2014

Hashtag

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Hashtag

I used to be one who always kept up with all of the technology and had the most up to date computer; and I was always doing that which is current as long as it is honorable. However, over the years that has changed, I am no longer concerned with having the latest technology. What I say, do, and have is adequate to multiply the goodness that is implanted within the core of my being since before the foundation of the earth was laid.

When I first saw hashtag I wondered how it was being used, and what it meant. However, I did not feel any urgency to find out about it and start using it. Nevertheless, today I decided to put this together and post something about it on my blog.

The many changes that humanity adopts, those things we want and need in our lives must be evaluated seriously before making them a part of our lives. I am not saying that the using of hashtag is something to beware of and something that is very serious. Becoming aware of it merely stimulated my thought on how quickly humanity jumps on all of the band wagons that are paraded before it.

Today humanity is so quick to do things, especially if there are a multitude of others doing it; today humanity is so easily programmed. We must get back to being critical thinkers, and not be so easily persuaded to do things. Any time we feel an uneasiness about anything that is presented to us we should hesitate in following the masses down that path. That does not mean that what we feel uneasy about is not a good thing, it just might be as simple as it is not for us at that present moment.

For those of you who do not know what the use of hashtag is all about, I am posting the following.


Hashtag

Definition: The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages.

Using hashtags to categorize Tweets by keyword:

People use the hashtag symbol # before a relevant keyword or phrase (no spaces) in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets and help them show more easily in Twitter Search.

Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets marked with that keyword.

Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet – at the beginning, middle, or end.

Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics.

Example: In the Tweet below, @eddie included the hashtag #FF. Users created this as shorthand for "Follow Friday," a weekly tradition where users recommend people that others should follow on Twitter. You'll see this on Fridays.