Deep Breathing
There are many different techniques so explore them and find what you like best and what works for you. Deep breathing helps to get your body out of fight or flight mode and into rest and repair mode by stimulating your parasympathetic nervous system. Deep breathing also helps to ground you and assists in cleansing the body of negative energy. Being an empath can leave you very open to absorbing negative emotions and energies from other people. As a Highly Sensitive Person myself, if I feel I have picked up negative energy from somebody else, I take a deep breath and on the exhale I intone ‘return to sender’. I do this until I feel my energy is clear again. It can also be useful to visualise filling yourself with beautiful healing white light on the inhale and then visualising any negativity leaving your body with the breath on the exhale. Another helpful visualisation is to visualise healing white light entering through the top of your head filling your entire body with positivity and then visualising black negative energy leaving your body into the ground through your feet.
Water, Water aaaand more Water
Drinking plenty of water helps your system to detoxify and also helps your energetic body to clear out negativity. I aim to drink at least 2 litres of water a day. If you don’t drink a lot of water currently then start slowly and work your way up over a couple days. Eating plenty of organic fresh fruits and vegetables and drinking smoothies and herbal tea are also good ways of keeping your body hydrated. It's good to remember that any water is better than no water but that tap water can have a lot of nasties and chemicals in it so try to drink good quality purified water like spring water or filtered water whenever possible.
Showers and Salt Baths
Water is very cleansing not only physically but energetically too. It's nice to visualise any negativity being washed away and leaving down the drain with the water when you have a shower. I also really love to have a nice soak in a salt bath. Salts like epsom salt and dead sea salt absorb toxins and negativity and provide your body with essential trace minerals like magnesium, which is easily absorbed through the skin and is a great mood booster and relaxer. It's really good for clearing your energetic body of negativity. My favourite bath is a dead sea salt bath with a few drops of high quality lavender essential oil, as both the lavender and salt effectively purify your body of negativity and of course assist in relaxation and de-stressing too. Lavender essential oil can also help you to get a better nights sleep. Try to source good quality oils that don't have any nasties or chemicals like artificial fragrances.
Smudging with Sage, Palo Santo Wood and Incense
Sacred smoke created from burning medicinal or sacred plants is an aspect of many cultures and religions the world over. I like to burn Palo Santo wood to clear my body and Sage to clear my home of negativity. To smudge your space, light a Sage bundle,Palo Santo stick or cleansing incense like sweetgrass and blow out the flame after about 30 seconds. Make sure you have a fire proof container for doing this, I like to use an abalone shell. Open all of your windows before lighting the Smudge Stick and set your intention to clear yourself and your space of any dissonant or unwanted, heavy energy and for it to leave out the window with the smoke. Try not to directly inhale the smoke, and ensure to get the smoke in all the corners of each room. A feather is useful for helping to get the smoke into the corners etc. It's important to remember never to leave a smouldering smudge stick unattended when you're finished. The atmosphere in your home will feel a lot lighter once you've done this. It's particularly useful to perfom this ritual after any negative exchanges like arguments or emotional outbursts or if you've had a very negative visitor. If you are sensitive to the smoke you could always try sage essential oil instead in a mist diffuser.
Protective Crystals
Wearing black and wearing certain crystals on your body such as black tourmaline, Shungite, Onyx and Amethyst all help to protect you from negative energies. I like to wear a black tourmaline bracelet, a Shungite necklace and an Amethyst ring. It's also useful to place some of these crystals around your home. Amethyst is a particularly calming crystal and is really nice to hold if you are experiencing discomfort or anxiety. As crystals are so good at absorbing negative energy it is important to care for them properly by cleansing them regularly. Most crystals can be cleansed by holding them under running water. Water can damage certain crystals so be sure to do your research on the best cleansing method for the crystals you decide to use. Crystals can also be cleared by holding them over the smoke from Sage, Palo Santo and Incense or by leaving them in salt overnight. Be sure to dispose of the salt afterwards as you won't want to use it after it has absorbed all that negative energy.
Preserve Your Energy By Avoiding Energy Vampires
Some people have the ability to quite literally suck the life out of you by energetically feeding on your life force energy. These kinds of people are what are known as Energy Vampires, the worst of which in my opinion and experience are Narcissists. Energy Vampires are most attracted to Empaths and Highly Sensitive People as it is in our nature to be caring and our auras are very open. We tend to be helpers, healers and people pleasers which makes us very attractive, easy targets for Energy Vampires. If we're not careful and selective with the company that we keep, we can experience really damaging effects to our health and well-being over time. It's good to bring this awareness to how you feel in certain company. Once you start to bring some awareness to this you will begin to notice that some people raise your vibration and make you feel happy and well and others leave you feeling drained and sometimes even sick. If you notice that a particular person leaves you feeling drained or unwell then it is important for your health to take steps to avoid this person as much as possible. If it is somebody that you cannot cut out of your life completely then do what you can to minimise contact with them. In this situation it can also be useful to learn some shielding techniques. You can start with this one: First centre and ground yourself by taking a few deep breaths, then visualise yourself surrounded by a protective white or pink light. This light protects you from all negativity while still allowing positive loving energy to pass through. Visualise yourself completely safe, happy and well inside of this protective shield. Another useful exercise is to practice cord cutting. There are many ways of doing this for you to explore and decide which method you feel works best for you but first you could try this cord cutting visualisation on soundcloud that I like and use quite frequently.