The Best Ways To Protect Yourself As An Empath

Being an empath is a great gift, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. When you are an empath, you are constantly picking up on other people’s energy as well as the collective energy.

This can be overwhelming at times, and it is important that you take steps to protect yourself against some of the energies your encounter.

While some of this energy can be very blissful and joyous, other energies can bring you down. You may be taking in negative energy that isn’t even yours.

Let’s dive into some ways that you can protect your own energy so that you are in control of how you feel and not absorbing everyone else’s stuff.

What Is an Empath?

Empathy is a type of psychic ability. It is the ability to FEEL things around you. This can include other people’s emotions, other people’s energy, collective energy, and thought forms that exist in certain areas.

So, you can basically feel what other people are feeling. If someone feels good, then you may pick up on it and feel that energy. If someone feels bad, you may also pick up on that and feel that pain.

You may not even be aware that you are picking up on someone else’s energy. You might think that it’s yours but it’s actually not.

For example, if you walk into a room and feel bad, you may think it’s you. You may think that you feel bad because you feel awkward or shy or for some other reason.

I’m here to tell you that it’s not true! You may be picking up on the energy of the individuals in the room and if their energy isn’t meshing with yours then it feels bad.

This is super important to know! If you understand what is happening, then you can find a way to protect yourself and your energy. You don’t have to feel the way everyone else does. You can feel happy and keep that state of being.

Empaths can also feel the collective energy to a certain degree. So, if a natural disaster strikes in the world, you may feel it even if it isn’t anywhere near where you are.

This can be difficult for an empath to deal with. Having all sorts of emotions come at you that aren’t even yours can be quite tiresome. Also, you want to make sure other people’s energy isn’t making you feel bad for no reason.

Gifts of Being an Empath

There are gifts that come along with being an empath that you may not be aware of. You may be thinking this is horrible, I don’t want to feel other people’s emotions!

However, being an empath can help you out in so many different areas of life including:

#1 Empath Gift – Connecting with Others More Easily

As you pick up on the subtle energies of individuals, it makes it easier to connect with them. You can tune into the words that they are not saying.

Many people only tell a part of what they want to say. They run it past the filter in their mind and decide what information they will share with you.

As an empath, you can pick up on the energy of what they are feeling even if they aren’t saying it. This helps you to connect with them much easier.

#2 Empath Gift – Knowing When Someone Is Deceiving You

As an empath, you have an extra layer of protection against anyone who isn’t authentic. Someone may say something but to you as an empath, it doesn’t feel right.

So, you may not completely trust this person, and for good reason. It helps you to be cautious about this person because you know that something isn’t right even if you don’t know exactly what it was.

#3 Empath Gift – Knowing if A New Relationship is a Good Idea

This one piggybacks off of the one above but if you are an empath, you can sense when it’s a good idea or not a good idea to get into a relationship with someone. You can just feel it it’s right.

Personally, I’ve been on first dates and immediately felt this very strong feeling that it wasn’t right and ended the date early. They got a bit upset and then I started to question my own sanity. They seemed like a good person so why was I so quick to dismiss them?

I was told many times that I am too picky with men. Later, I found out that my intuitive empath abilities were spot on and found out why it wasn’t a good idea to pursue a relationship with them.

Always trust your own empathic abilities even if people judge you or say things. You are able to pick up on the energies of them and you have more knowledge because you can tap into that. It truly is a gift.

#4 Empath Gift – Tuning into the Energy of The Manager at a Job or Work Meeting

Let’s say you are in a job interview, and you can sense that something is off with a response you give. You can feel that you are losing the person. You can quickly adjust your strategy and work with the energy of the interviewer.

This can be helpful for any business situation you are in. When you can feel that they may not be happy with something or there is something they aren’t saying then you can dig deeper to find out what they want. This can be super beneficial in work relationships.

How Do You Know If You Are an Empath?

1. If You Are Reading This Article, You Are an Empath

You wouldn’t be drawn to an article like this if you weren’t an empath. So, you definitely are!

2. You Feel Different When You Walk into a Room

If you walk into a room and feel different, you are picking up on other people’s energy and the energy of the room from people who were there previously.

Really tune in to how you feel when you are at home by yourself and how you feel when you walk into a new place.

Do you feel quite a bit different? If so, you are an empath.

We all feel different around people than by ourselves to a certain degree, but empaths feel this much more. They feel it almost as if it is their own emotion and not someone else’s.

Empaths can even feel this physically. They may well up with tears or they may all of a sudden get a headache. They may also smile or laugh if they are picking up on high vibrational energy.

3. You Feel Feelings Out of the Blue 

If you feel fine and suddenly feel something different out of the blue, chances are you are picking up on someone else’s energy.

For example, if you are home and feel good and then all of a sudden you feel angry, completely out of the blue, then you are picking up on something. You may be picking up on a person’s energy who is close to you.

Or you may be picking up on some collective energy. It could be many things. It may also be a prediction that something will happen soon that will be connected to that feeling.

4. You Notice That You Feel Different Around Different People 

If you suddenly feel different as you come into someone else’s energy, you are an empath picking up on their energy. When you are near someone you can feel their emotions a lot stronger than when you are at a distance.

You can tap into it either way, but it is more powerful when you are right by their aura.

How Do You Know If You Are Taking On Someone Else’s Energy?

As mentioned above, those are all signs that you are taking on someone else’s energy. The most important way to know is if the emotion comes out of the blue.

Usually, your own emotions have a sort of buildup and a process to them. When you are sensing someone else’s energy, it usually comes out of the blue, when you tune into their energy or when you enter their aura field.

If you suddenly walk into a room and it feels heavy, that is you picking up on someone else’s energy. The same goes if you walk into a room and suddenly feel joyful, you are picking up on the energy of the people who are there or have been there before.

How to Protect Yourself & Set Boundaries as An Empath

1. Ground Yourself

One way to protect your energy as an empath is to ground yourself. When you ground yourself, you are stabilizing your energy to the earth with your root chakra and are more solid. You aren’t floating high (where you can pick up more psychic energy and other people’s energy).

You can ground yourself by going out in nature and walking barefoot on the ground and connecting to the earth.

Or you can imagine roots coming out of the base of your spine or your feet, connecting you to the center of the earth.

You can also imagine the color red as it is the same color as the root chakra.

2. Put a Protective Bubble Around You

After you ground yourself, it is a good idea to put a protective bubble around your energy field (your aura). You can do this by imagining a clear bubble that surrounds you and protects you. Only your own energy is allowed in. If someone else tries to bring their energy in, then it will bounce back to them, off the outside of the bubble.

You can put whatever protective shield you want around you. I choose a bubble because I feel like it is nice and light and protective. Personally, putting armor on myself feels heavy and feels like I will repel people. But choose whatever feels right for you at the time.

3. Cut Cords

We all have cords attached to people in our life. Some cords are stronger than others, depending on your relationship with the person. But cords can keep you stuck, and you can take on that person’s energy more if you do have strong cords attached.

It is a good idea to cut cords with everyone you feel you need to as a way of releasing their energy. It is especially beneficial to do this with people who are no longer in your life (exes, old friends, etc.) or anyone with who you have a complicated relationship. This will ensure you can move forward and so can they.

Cutting cords isn’t bad and it doesn’t mean you don’t like the person. It simply means, “I’m giving you your energy back and I’m taking my energy back.” It is a way of setting healthy boundaries.

The way I do it is I imagine cords being cut off the person and myself. Then, I imagine them floating away and the space being filled with white light. I always say, “please release cords for both our highest good and allow us to follow our highest path.”

This process may need to be done more than once. You may feel a shift after doing this and the other person may also feel a shift. Cutting cords is basically setting your boundaries in order for you to have a healthy relationship with that person (whether or not they are in your life).

4. Ask Your Spiritual Team for Help

You can ask your spiritual guides and team for help in protecting you from other people’s energy and clearing yourself of the energy you have taken on.

With the cord-cutting exercise above, you can ask Archangel Michael to assist you with the process. I always bring in the angels when I feel as though it is a tough thing to let go of and I need their assistance.

If doing it on your own doesn’t seem to be working, ask for help. Angels and spirit guides work on free will, so they can only help if you ask. They are multidimensional beings and can be in many places at once, so don’t worry about taking them away from something more important.

You can ask your spiritual team to help cleanse your energy and protect you. You can ask for help with anything. If you feel that you are taking on a lot of heavy energy and want a good clearing, you can ask that they work on you while you sleep.

5. Meditate, Clear & Balance

Protecting and clearing your energy can be as simple as sitting in a relaxed state and imagining all your chakras balanced and clear. Imagine a white light cleansing your chakras and aura and clearing away all that isn’t yours.

6. Notice If It’s Your Energy Or Someone Else’s

Pay attention to the thoughts and feelings you are picking up on. Do they feel like yours? When did they show up? These are clues as to if they are yours or someone else’s.

If they aren’t yours, then set the intention to disconnect from them. Imagine they are no longer able to get it and give it back to the universe because they aren’t even yours.

You should feel better after doing this and you should feel a lighter energy within you.

7. Give the Energy Back to the Owner

This is similar to cutting cords, but basically, imagine giving everyone back their own energy. You don’t have to know whose energy you are taking on, that isn’t important.

All you need to do is imagine handing back that which isn’t yours to whoever it belongs to.

As you do this, certain people may pop into your head and different thoughts. Just let them flow through you as you complete this process.

8. Nature

Nature is really important for empaths to reset and recharge. Nature is organic and it helps to bring you back to your natural state.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by emotions, get out into nature and observe it. Become present with everything that surrounds you. This will help you to disconnect from everything you are taking in.

9. Set Healthy Boundaries

It can be hard for empaths to set boundaries as they don’t want to offend anyone. But it is even more important for you to do it.

If you let people cross your boundaries, it can be extremely draining. So, if you are exhausted and someone seems to keep taking from you, set a boundary and let them know in a gentle yet firm way where you stand.

You don’t want to get to the point of being completely drained and feeling resentful for doing things you don’t want to do.

10. Leave a Toxic Environment (Step Away from the Energy)

As an empath, you pick on the energy of an environment more so than other people. If it isn’t a positive environment, it can really affect you. You may be affected mentally and physically. As physical illness shows up in toxic situations.

If you are in a toxic environment, it’s time to think about leaving that. I realize that some environments are much easier to leave than others.

Leaving a party is much easier than leaving your job. However, you can begin to look for a new job.

Or if it’s a toxic relationship, you can do things such as separating or counseling to shift it from toxic to a more positive environment.

If your roommate is always complaining and you feel horrible whenever she’s home, it’s time to think about getting a new one.

Be very aware of your environment and take the necessary steps to shift it if you can.

11. Limit Physical Touch

If you are feeling overwhelmed limit physical touch as that can transfer energies quickly.

Pay attention to how you feel after touching certain people. If you feel great, then that person is not someone that you need to limit your exposure to.

But, if you hug someone every day and then feel ill afterward, it might be a good idea to limit physical touch with that individual. You don’t have to do it forever, but until you get your energy right it is something to consider.

Or if you have a job where you are always touching people such as a massage therapist, it might be worth it to take a few days off. If you can’t then doing the other protection techniques will help you out.

12. Take Social Media & New Breaks

Social media is literally feeding your soul with whatever it wants. The same goes for the news. The news is especially bad for feeding you with fearful information.

The most important thing once again is to notice how you feel before and after.

If you feel great, go into social media and see everyone living amazing lives and it leaves you feeling down and depressed that you don’t have that, it might be a good idea to take a break.

Or if you are always watching the news to keep up with the latest updates and you feel horrible after, turn it off. In my opinion, the news is just fear-mongering 24/7 and most of it is fake. Personally, I don’t watch any of it.

You being an empath likely pick up on the nuances of what is coming through. You are seeing one thing on the news, yet you are feeling that something is off. That is a signal to you to turn it off because it’s not for you right now.

13. Spend Time Alone to Recharge

One of the best things you can do as an empath is to spend alone time to recharge. This is how you get your energy back, by being alone.

It can be draining to constantly be around people when you are an empath because you aren’t only having your own thoughts and emotions but also picking up on everyone else’s!

Make some time every day to spend some time alone and recharge. If you can get outside and do this, even better. If you can’t, a bath is great for washing away and clearing stuff. The water literally washes away negativity. Mediation is also another important thing that will help you to re-balance.

Final Thoughts: How to Protect Your Energy as An Empath

It is important to understand how to protect yourself as an empath because it affects your own energy and therefore how you are creating your reality.

Once you understand that certain emotions aren’t your own, then you don’t have to try to find a way to fix them. They aren’t yours, so you can simply give them back to the owner.

This is powerful information to have. Once you get in the habit of grounding and protecting your energy, then you will have control over what types of energy enter your aura field. You won’t feel emotions different from yours out of the blue and you won’t feel bad for no reason.

You can still use your gift of empathy and choose when you want to tap into it. Being an empath is a gift and if you understand it and know how to work with it, it can be such a beautiful tool to have.

~Meghan

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