How I Decreased My Anxiety by Protecting My Energy

In the past few years, I realized how much my anxiety had increased. I’d never really had issues with it or issues that I noticed. But after a while, the problems became pretty visible. I noticed that it was really difficult for me to relax. My mind would race often and I had more trouble sleeping. I even began to notice that I also held a lot of tension in my body, especially in my back. To the point that I would get stress knots in my back that were impossible to rub out. However, anxiety looks different for everyone. It could also look like poor concentration, an inability to be productive, overworking, insomnia or avoidance.

One way that I’ve learned to manage my anxiety has been with managing the energy around me. If the energy around me was negative, tense or just overall uneasy—I was worse off. Whether or not the energy was created or contributed to by me or not didn’t matter. So I began practicing the art of protecting my energy, especially when I was pregnant. I didn’t want any bad emotions or energy to be passed to my baby. Here are a few ways that I learned to protect my energy.

Only Worry About What Affects Me

Many of us are that friend. That friend that people call to vent to and share their most frustrating situations with. They don’t only call you to vent, they also often may want your advice or just for you to be upset with them. I had to stop being that friend as much as I had been. It was extremely draining. I found myself being upset for the rest of the evening after a conversation such as this. I couldn’t shake it and often needed to recharge alone. Ultimately none of these situations affected me, but they did affect my friends. So of course I would care but I couldn’t become involved.

Limited Interactions with Negative People

For some people, this could be difficult. Maybe a negative person in your life is your spouse, parent or even a supervisor at work. So cutting them out completely may not be possible. However, you can limit your interactions with them. Only speak to them when needed or speak to them most when they are in a good mood. Practicing this reminds you that you have power and say in who you engage with and how. Often times when dealing with negative energies, people and situations that can be easily forgotten.

Create Positive Rituals

I started to realize certain actions, practices and rituals that created positive energy around me. These were often things I did to kick off my morning or weekend. They are things that bring me joy and happiness in the simplest way. For me, they’re things like brewing coffee first thing in the morning and just smelling the fresh grounds; lighting incenses or candles; working out consistently and sitting outside on a breezy day near water. We all have things that instantly boost our moods, you can identify them for yourself. To keep positive energy around, implement them in your day and you’ll notice how less likely you’re impacted by negative energy.

Doing these three simple things helped me decrease the impact of my anxiety and know how to get centered when I was energetically imbalanced. I try not to let myself get too overwhelmed to the point where these things don’t matter. I set time aside for me and regroup because it’s likely that I’ve taken on too many other people’s energy and it has altered mine. Which one of these tips could you benefit from implementing more?