You met someone new and they were on their best behavior; still, the interaction left you feeling agitated or exhausted – sounds familiar? You might be absorbing other people’s energy!

Is it possible to feel other people’s emotions and carry them inadvertently? Yes, both science and spiritual beliefs claim that those of us who are more sensitive than others pick up on other people’s energy and absorb them without even realizing.

If you are someone with codependent tendencies, an abundance of empathy, HSP (Highly Sensitive Personality) traits, or grew up in a household where your safety depended on reading other people’s changing moods, tone of voice, or behavior, you can be prone to sensory processing sensitivity or SPS.

To put it simply, an empath or a highly sensitive person has an inherent trait that makes them quite proficient in reading the subtleties in their environment.

They can read between the lines and sense even the smallest shift in a person’s mood, voice, or attitude, that other people won’t even notice.

While this can be a great tool to understand others and form profound relationships in both personal and professional spheres, it can also leave you feeling overwhelmed, depleted, and rummaging through unnecessary thoughts in your head.

Empathy truly is a double edged sword – it can be  your biggest blessing and also a cross to carry for your entire life – absorbing emotions of others – bearing things that are not yours to begin with.

Feeling things so deeply leaves the door open to absorbing negative energy from others, that can:

• compromise your quality of life

• affect your mental and emotional health by making you anxious, sad, or irritable, even when nothing bad happened to you personally  

• make you stay in unhealthy relationships (to win validation or heal an emotionally unavailable, dismissive, or even abusive partner)

• compel you to avoid social interactions

• question your self-worth 
  

Whether it’s from your workplace, personal relationships, or even strangers – taking on emotional baggage of low vibrational energies like animosity, jealousy, and so on, from others can weigh you down, mentally, emotionally, as well as physically.

So, how to stop absorbing other people’s energy and reclaim your sanity? We’ll get into that, but first, let’s understand the signs that clearly suggest you’re absorbing energy from others, and “it’s just not in your head”.

Read: 10 Signs Of Childhood Trauma: You Had An Unhappy Childhood And The Realization Is Setting In Now!

5 Signs You’re Absorbing Other People’s Energy Without Knowing

If you relate to the following signs, then it’s most likely that you absorb energy from others and feel other’s emotions as your own:

1. You Feel Drained After Social Interactions

Everything’s great – you have a good life and nothing’s happening that may cause you worry or get you stressed out. Still after talking to someone you cannot help but feel exhausted and depleted.

This is a tell-tale sign that you’re absorbing energy from others. The people around you are not in the highest of vibrations or may not have your best interest at heart and their negative energy is rubbing off on you.

Some energy vampires can really suck out your positive energy and you end up feeling all worn out.

2. Mood Swings That Make No Sense

You woke up feeling great, thanking the Universe for allowing you to experience another beautiful day, then bam! After a couple of business meetings or casual conversations, you suddenly feel heavy.

Even though nothing bad has happened to you, you feel sad, gloomy, irritable, anxious, or angry – these random mood swings are not actually random.

If your mood changes without explanation, you may be connecting with other people’s emotional states.

These unexplained shifts in your emotions can indicate that you’re absorbing emotions of others and this negative feeling can cling to you, clouding your mind’s sky.

3. Overthinking about Other People or Their Problems

It’s natural to think or even worry about the pain of a loved one, but if you often find yourself:

• ruminating about random people

• worrying about their problems

• trying to fix things

• feeling responsible for their mood

• or replaying a situation over and over in your head,

you may be holding on to emotional baggage that isn’t yours to carry.

4. Unexplained Physical Symptoms

Your body can feel energetic shifts even before your conscious mind. If you’re experiencing frequent headaches, stomach discomfort, heaviness in your chest, or a sudden tension in your body, when around certain individuals, this can be a sign that your energy field is negatively reacting to theirs.

Sometimes when being around people who are tense or highly strung, as a sensitive person, you react to their stress and hold on to it. But, remember that you’re carrying energetic weight that does not belong to you.

5. Mind Fog or Feeling Scattered

Absorbing other people’s energy can make you feel disconnected from your own thoughts, feelings, decisions, creativity, purpose, or sense of self. Fueling your ego, It can over shadow your intuition and cloud your judgment.

When your emotional space is overcrowded, you may feel confused and out of your elements. You struggle to focus or live in the present moment. This happens because the external energies of others interfere with your own.

How To Stop Absorbing Other People’s Energy

To stop absorbing other people’s energy, you can follow some gentle practices:

• Set Energetic Boundaries: this can mean limiting socializing time or saying “no” to invitations or conversations that make you uncomfortable.

• Visualization Technique: see in your mind, a protective bubble around you before engaging in emotionally heavy conversations.

• Ground Yourself: Spend time in nature, watch sunsets, sit at the beach and watch the waves, touch the earth, or do grounding meditations.

• Cleanse your Energy Field: After experiencing taxing interactions, take cleansing salt baths, light incense, listen to some healing frequencies, or practice breathwork to release stuck energies.

• Disconnect with Intention: Avoid avoid triggering content or conversations that can have lingering effects in your mind.

• Journaling Regularly: Writing down your complex thoughts helps differentiate what’s truly yours from what you might be carrying.

• Pause and Reflect: Get in the habit of attuning with your own energy baseline, so when a shift occurs you can detect what or who caused it. Process your own emotions and let go of what belongs to others.
  

Read: 6 Most Empathic Zodiac Signs: Are You One of Them?

Make Sensitivity Your Superpower, Not Weakness

If you absorb energy from others without knowing then it is a sign that you are sensitive and have a deep seated need to heal others. This is a great power and virtue. However, you need to protect this reservoir of energy by strengthening your boundaries.

Letting go of energy that doesn’t belong to you isn’t about not feeling, being unkind, or uncaring—it’s about protecting your peace so you can show up authentically, fully, and compassionately, for others and for yourself.

Please let us know your thoughts on absorbing other people’s energy by commenting below. If you find yourself absorbing negative energy from others, do consider practicing the mentioned exercises and share your experiences with us!

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