How to get rid of emotional hangovers?
An empath absorbs the emotions of other people into their own bodies.
As an empath and psychiatrist, I know that feeling well.
Even though empath may set excellent limits with energy vampires, itโs common for us to experience โemotional hangovers,โ an energetic residue left over from the interaction. Toxic emotions can linger long afterward which makes you feel exhausted, beset with brain-fog, or ill. When dealing with drainers at work or at home, empaths often need time to recuperate later. In addition, try the following suggestions from my book โThe Empathโs Survival Guideโ to remove any hangover symptoms from an energy vampire encounter.
Protection Strategies: How to Cure Emotional Hangovers
1. Enjoy the Shower Meditation.
In a shower, stand under the stream of water and inwardly or aloud practice this affirmation: โLet this water wash all the negative energy from my mind, body, and spirit.โ Feel the shower cleansing you, making you fresh, positive, and rejuvenated.
Related: 7 Informal Meditation Practices: How To Meditate Without Meditating
2. Use gemstones.
Carry or wear a crystal, a black tourmaline, amethyst, or black obsidian to ground yourself and remove emotional hangovers. Shamans feel that if you carry or wear black, which doesnโt absorb light, you will be more protected. I wear a jade pendant of Quan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion. I love how jade changes according to your body chemistry over the years and protects you by responding to your emotional shifts.
Related: Your Lucky Charm Based on Your Zodiac Sign
3. Burn sweetgrass and other purifiers.
This plant in Native American culture is used to purify a space. Its beautiful smell wafting through the air feels nurturing to my feminine energy. Sage is effective too. I also pick cypress sprigs, eucalyptus, and juniper to burn. Experiment with which plant aroma you respond to so that you can easily cut off emotional hangovers.
4. Use negative ion generators or salt lamps.
These devices produce negative ions which clear the air of dust, mold spores, pollen, odors, cigarette smoke, bacteria, and viruses. They are also thought to remove leftover negativity in a home, office, or other locations. (Your own shower, with its stream of moving water, also produces negative ions.)
Related: Ways to Banish Negative Energy from your Body
5. Light a white candle.
This sets a meditative mood and quickly removes unpleasant energy from any surrounding. White contains all colors of the spectrum and creates comfort and calm making it easier to overcome emotional hangovers.
Related: 5 Ways To Strengthen Your Aura and Ward Off Any Negative Energy
6. Spray rosewater or utilize other types of aromatherapy.
The delicate scent of rosewater is lovely. I find it effective in removing an emotional hangover. Or, inhale lavender or peppermint oil. You can also put essential oil in a diffuser which spreads the scent in the air. (Stay away from synthetic oils with toxic ingredients.) You can try lavender, peppermint, juniper, sage, or frankincense and myrrh. Experience the sublime scent purifying your energy and the room
7. Get out in nature. Hug a tree.
Do some earthing to connect your bare feet with the ground. Rejoice in the flowers. Hold a rock in your hand. Breathe in fresh air to cure emotional hangovers. (Inhaling oxygen is a treatment for alcohol hangovers.) The purity of nature can restore your clarity and mood.
Related: 10 Signs That Tell If You Are Being Struck By Negative Energy
8. Create a sacred space for meditation.
Place candles, incense, flowers, and/or a statue of Quan Yin, on a simple table in a quiet corner. Meditating in this sacred space protects you and builds positive energy, which is a balm for emotional hangovers.
Related: Sufi Whirling Meditation: What Is This Mystical Practice & How You Can Do It
9. Seek emotional support.
If you feel negative energy lingering from a toxic interaction, say from a narcissistic boss or a critical spouse, you may need some extra help to remove it. Talking out the situation with a friend or therapist allows you to voice and dispel any remaining negativity.
Whenever you suspect youโve absorbed emotions from someone else and feel an emotional hangover coming on, practice these strategies. They are a way of clearing unwanted energy and emotions from your body.
Are you ready to overcome your emotional hangovers?
Adapted from The Empathโs Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People by Judith Orloff MD
Judith Orloff, MD is the author of The Empathโs Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People, upon which this article is adapted. In the book, she educates readers about empaths, highly sensitive people, and offers strategies for anyone who wants to avoid narcissists and transform difficult emotions into positive ones. Dr. Orloff is a psychiatrist and an empath who combines the pearls of traditional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition, energy, and spirituality. Dr. Orloff is on the UCLA Psychiatric Clinical Faculty also specializes in treating empaths and highly sensitive people in her private practice. To learn more about Dr. Orloffโs book tour schedule, and to sign up for her Empath Support Newsletter visit www.drjudithorloff.com.
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