Party Animal: 8 Ways Spiritual Workers Can Protect And Cleanse Their Energy
This feels a little like a hangover. Just like in college when you learned the hard way that combining beer, tequila, and an empty stomach is no bueno, I have learned from doing one of my first tarot parties last night the importance of grounding, energy work, and pacing.
Early on in doing tarot for others, a dear friend who frequents mediums and readers warned me that I needed to proactively focus on grounding and protecting my energy. I remember smiling and nodding and assuring her that, of course, I was on it. I had my crystals, I was calling in positive energy, and I felt like I had it covered. I read about grounding, protection, and cleansing, but I didn’t really practice it. I smudged here and there. I put my crystals out for full and new moons, but that’s about it. Rookie move.
People who are sensitive (empaths) tend to absorb the emotions and energies of others. At some of the events I’ve done, readings are scattered throughout an 8 or 9 hour period. There may be a few readings back-to-back, but for the most part they are evenly spaced out. Parties, however, are a little different since they aren’t typically that long and that doesn’t allow for spacing out readings. Which isn’t a big deal at all, but it does mean (apparently) that I need to be more conscious about what that means for the energy I’m putting in and what it takes out of me.
The tarot party last night was a lot of fun and all the women there were very sweet and open to the tarot, which was awesome. Doing back-to-back readings in that setting helped me think through and put together a list of 8 ways that spiritual workers can manage and protect their energy. I arrogantly did NONE of these things until after the party when I was already feeling exhausted and heavily affected energetically. Preparation and being more proactive about these things would have gone a long way in helping me not work myself into an energy hangover!
1. Boundaries - Go into situations with clear delineations about what you need or don’t need in order to feel like your center is intact. For some people that might mean limiting physical contact, for others it’s as easy as not letting other people touch your deck. I have all clients cut the deck if we’re in-person, but I definitely could be better about setting an intention for boundaries on how emotionally invested I get during the course of a reading. That could be as simple as building in time for decompression between readings. Find a restroom or quiet space and literally create space for yourself.
2. Visualize - Many people recommend a visualization technique that resonates with you and helps to reinforce those boundaries. Some say to imagine a white warm light surrounding you, or imagine yourself on the other side of the room. Personally, I’d prefer imagining I’m on a warm beach somewhere and that any overwhelming energy is floating far out in the ocean over the horizon. Now if I could just make myself take a break and do that...
3. Movement - At some of the events I’ve done I’ve noticed other readers, mediums, and spiritual workers kind of pacing around the room. I figured they were in between sessions or bored, but now I know the real reason why. Just like with anxiety, sometimes moving around and physically changing your surroundings can help to literally get away from the energy. Maybe you can’t walk a mile down the road, but even just pacing around can help dissipate any heavy stuff around you.
4. Meditation and Being Alone - Can’t stress this enough, although I am so bad at doing it. If you’ve been absorbing the energy of the people around you, then it can really revitalize you to get yourself alone. I’d say this is a pretty important one because if you’re doing any of the other things on the list, but you’re still surrounded by people and frenetic energies then your efforts might not be as effective.
5. Cleansing - I love smudging with sage or palo santo, but you can’t very well do that in someone else’s home, an event space, or in public. That being said, you can use essential oils to help cleanse and that won’t have a huge impact on the people around you. I love Enchanted Botanicals Clearing Essential Oil Spray (www.enchanted-botanicals.com). It contains rose, lavender, cedar, black tourmaline, rose quartz, and clear quartz. It smells amazing AND helps lift oppressive energy. Don’t have any oils or sprays? Lighting a candle can help change the energy and focus on that as part of your visualization. I also know a lot of people who swear by cleansing bath rituals. I’m not a huge fan of baths (I know, I’m a freak), but even using essential oils in a steamy shower can have the same effect (or at least I think so).
6. Ground Yourself - An anti-anxiety tip my therapist has shared with me is if you’re REALLY getting in your head and anxious to get outside and literally get your bare feet on the ground to try to bring yourself back down to earth. I bring this up because, to me at least, getting severely affected by energies feels similar to an anxiety attack. If it helps during high anxiety times, then maybe it can work when feeling overwhelmed by heavy energies.
7. Mantras - Thinking about this made me go back to that saying from elementary school, ‘I’m rubber and you’re glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you.” Couldn’t hurt to imagine that, right? A prayer, intention, or affirmation that you can use routinely can help you to re-center and focus your mind on something positive and familiar.
8. Healthy Body, Health Mind - The week leading up to the tarot party I hadn’t gotten much sleep. I wasn’t really taking care of myself just because I was busy. When I got home I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep, but my brain was buzzing from all the mental gymnastics that go along with doing readings for hours. It took me a long time to fall asleep and even then I had CRAZY dreams. When I woke up I seriously felt physically hungover: tired, nauseous, and a little slow in the head. Taking care of myself the days leading up to the party would have gone a long way. There’s definitely something to be said for how much of an impact it can make by getting your sleep, doing yoga and mindfulness practices, and keeping yourself fed and hydrated.
If you are interested in tarot readings for a party or event (girls night in, bachelorette parties, trade events, etc), please contact me through this site.
I hope this is helpful. I would love to hear your ideas and what works for you.
xo
