Have you ever woken up in the morning, feeling on top of the world, only to realize later that you’re feeling slightly sick and heavy? Do you ever feel like the energy has literally been sucked out of you after a heavy conversation with a friend who’s going through troubling times, and suddenly you are feeling as bad as your friend? Or perhaps you were feeling just fine until you walked through an airport, shopping mall or some other place that is filled with lots of people, and you feel not-so-great afterwards?

These are some signs that you have unconsciously taken on other people’s energies, emotions, or problems. You may be naturally sensitive or empathic, but you don’t have to put up with other people’s “stuff.”

Energy hygiene is very much like physical hygiene. Many of us have been taught to take a daily shower or bath to cleanse ourselves. It is equally important to develop habits to clean ourselves energetically as well. When there is dirt on our physical bodies, we wash it away. We should do the same when we take on other peoples’ heavy emotions or energies.

First, ask yourself, “Are these feelings mine?” If you’re not sure, think about how you were feeling earlier in the day, consider any conversations or interactions you may have had with other people that might have contributed to your current state. See if you can pinpoint at which time you started to feel the way you do.

Here are some ways you can keep your own energies clear and pure; you can try them singly or use them in any combination as necessary:

1) Get physically clean. Take a shower, finishing with a cold rinse. During your shower, imagine you are standing underneath a shower of rainbow light that is washing away all energies that are heavy, negative, or simply, not serving you. Visualize that energy being washed permanently down the drain and eventually making its way back into the earth, where it will be neutralized.

2) Say a prayer to your Higher Power. Ask for your energy be purified, cleansed and brought back to the highest vibration possible.

3) Take a smudge stick, light it and wave it around your body, taking care to watch for any embers that may drop onto the floor. A prayer that I have been taught (by Reiki Master Kate Linker) and have used effectively over the years:

I am filled with and surrounded by the Pure White Light of God’s* healing love .
Only good can come to me, only good can go from me.
I give thanks, I give thanks, Thank You, Mother-Father-God.

(*insert your own name for higher power here)

As you say the prayer, imagine a waterfall of light filling you up from the inside out, and imagine a bubble of light surrounding you wherever you go.

4) Get a Reiki treatment, or any other type of energy work, which will help you release whatever it is you have taken on from others. Reiki can help restore balance and fortify you.

5) Spend time in nature. Sit underneath a tree to ground yourself, or watch the sun set. Being surrounded by nature is naturally healing, and can help bring you back into balance.

6) Get physical. Physical activity can help you recalibrate not only your physical energy, but also your emotional and mental energies. Exercise can help you release any pent up anxiety, emotional heaviness, or worry, creating room for higher, finer emotions and energies to flow into you.