7 Ways to Protect Your Energy, and Why It Works

What does it mean to protect your energy? It’s more than just the buzz words of boundaries and self care, it’s a deep understanding of how your soul reacts to the world around you and how to protect your joy, comfort, and health, otherwise known as your energy. Protecting your energy involves spending time with your emotions to better understand what brings you energy and what drains you of it. Without actively protecting your energy, you risk impacting so much of your everyday life. Mental health is health, and therefore, your physical, mental, and emotional self can go down the drain with your energy if you’re not mindful of protecting it in a way that works best for you and your wellbeing sustainability.

I’ve been down that tough road before, so I understand first-hand what happens when I don't protect my energy. Everything in life slowly starts to fall along with it. I’ve dedicated my life, and this business, to helping people through tangible tools to find a balance that will put their positive, whole-self energy at the forefront of their lives. I’ve learned the ins and outs of self reflection, boundary protection, energy rejuvenation, and everything in between, and I still practice energy protection daily. Luckily, I’ve figured out how to navigate this world full of light and darkness, and I want to share those things with you. 

Here are 7 ways to protect your energy, and the reasons why they work.

The most commonly searched queries online when people are looking for ways to protect their energy include the energy-draining involvement of other people. Co-workers, family members, partners, friendships - they all include a special and sometimes difficult dance of merging energies. Oftentimes, the energy of others can take away from yours. But what do boundaries look like? It’s more than just learning to say no, although I would argue that might be the hardest and yet most fulfilling boundary-setting action to master. Healthy boundaries are the ultimate healing of most interpersonal relationships. 

There are 6 types of boundaries that are important to be mindful of as you navigate what aspects of your life are deserving of boundaries to protect your energy:

• Physical
• Emotional
• Time
• Sexual
• Intellectual
• Material

Starting with boundary setting will ensure that when you practice protecting your energy, you’re doing so in a safe space.

To lead with joy means to make it the core purpose of your day-to-day life. Make sure that you are spreading joy, positivity, and love, but also keep track of whether or not you are receiving it. We have all been affected by how easy it is to get sucked into negative energy, and it can spiral alongside boundary breaks and difficult days. When you lead with joy, you are focusing on making yourself and others happy. This focus, although difficult in practice, will allow you to start protecting your energy in a way that follows happiness and combats negative energy entering your soul.

I hate to break it to you, but a face mask and a movie night aren’t going to cut it. Self care has become commercialized, and has led many to believe that a night off with the right self-care products will do the trick. Although you’re more than welcome to put your feet up and use fancy skincare to help rest and recharge, I’d suggest that you add some more thinking and practice to the roster. Recharging your energy involves introspection about what benefits you, and how that can drive what recharging looks like. Do you get extra stressed when your energy is drained? Try meditation. If you’re a social butterfly, make time to see your energy-fulfilling friends and family. Does your body feel sore when you realize you’ve spread yourself too thin? Try treatments like Intuitive Registered Massage Therapy. It is important to remember that your mind, body, and soul are all interconnected. If one of these aspects are thrown off, you will struggle to recharge your energy to its fullest. Make sure that you are thinking about and caring for each of these aspects of your overall energy, and be mindful of what truly brings your energy back to where you need it to be. Seek to bring restful and recharging moments into your life as often as you need to in order stay on track.

In order to truly protect your energy, you have to understand it. Get real with yourself about what responsibility you have in the drainage of your energy. Lack of energy preservation and protection can sometimes be from actions that we have control over. It’s a bit nitty gritty to check in with yourself sometimes, and might not feel good when you realize you might have some work to do, but until you recognize the bad, you can’t get rid of it. Checking in with yourself can include daily mantras that help you stay focused on what's important to you, or doing things like reading this blog post and other educational materials to learn more about how to protect your energy and why it is so important. Check in with yourself as often as you can to make sure that you can continue taking the steps towards a more balanced and beautiful life, and if you find yourself feeling a bit “meh” during check in, don’t worry. We all do. Come back to these 7 ways to protect your energy, retry some old tricks or learn some new ones, and keep going. I believe in you.

Sources of energy can vary from person to person, so it’s up to you to decide (after checking in with yourself and knowing what you need). Sources of energy can be people, pleasure, actions, time, or anything in between. This also means getting clear on what drains your energy, and making plans to manage it, or get rid of it entirely if you can. One tried and true way to plan and prioritize good energy moments is to have daily check-ins through means of conversations, gratitude lists, or journaling. 

TRY THIS EXERCISE...

One of my recent favourite ways to do this is through an easy end-of-the-day journaling exercise; write out everything that you’ve done at the end of the day, and assign “up” or “down” arrows beside each item. Up arrows mean that your experience was uplifting and good for your energy, and down arrows mean that it drained your energy or was difficult on your soul. Your mission is to eventually eliminate as many down arrows as possible, and putting the good and bad into a list to reflect on each day will help steer your mind and actions towards more up arrows in your life.

If you think something might be draining your energy, you’re probably right. Throw imposter syndrome out the window and recognize that no matter the circumstances, if you’re feeling it in your soul that your energy is not being protected, it’s true. Trust yourself to continue being mindful of negative energy when it arises, and keep moving away from it when you get the chance. Trust that you know yourself best, even in your worst moments. You’ve done the work, you’ve reflected on your own responsibilities, and now, all that’s left is to let go of inhibitions, lead with that well-deserved joy, and trust yourself to protect your energy.

This one might be a tough one to come to terms with, because sometimes, no matter how hard you try, actions 1-6 won’t be enough to bring your energy back to its truest, happiest form. Once you’ve spent so long in the storm clouds of energy draining work days and people that are hard to avoid, it takes more than just introspection and dedication to get out of it. This is when you need to work on a reset. This could be in the form of therapy, spirituality practice, inner child work, or even something as serious as rewriting who you want to be as a person. This life is yours to live, and if you find yourself often unhappy with the energy that surrounds and becomes you, that’s okay. A joyful, positive, and balanced energy will be in your future if you keep working to protect it.

The human experience is complicated, messy, and full of energy of all kinds. Actively learning how to protect your energy also means acknowledging that it takes time, practice, mistakes, and dedication. Keep putting yourself into spaces that help move you towards the positive energy that working so hard to protect. Most of all, keep doing what you’re doing. You are here reading this blog to better understand how to change your life and shift your energy to a more positive space. This is an incredible step, and I’m cheering you on.

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