Have you heard about the mirror neurons in our brains?
About 30 years ago we discovered these mirror neurons, which mirror the actions and moods of other people around us.
Let's say you step forward and hold up a protest sign, and a neuron fires in your brain.
If you watch somebody else take the same action, that same neuron fires in your brain, even though it is not your action, not your emotion.
But when you watch it happen, it affects your brain just the same as if you had taken that action or emotion yourself.
That's how empathetic we humans are.
That's how connected we are.
(And in the above example, that's how mob psychology gathers steam. I'm not saying that we should not protest, only that emotions are "contagious," as it were.)
We also mirror others' emotions in our own facial expressions, although the micro expression might flash across our face for only a fraction of a second.
Can you imagine, in the course of an ordinary day, how many times your brain, your face, your heart are pulled by other people's actions and emotions?
No wonder we get tired, processing all of that.
We are affected by others much more than we realize.
Some estimates say that up to 98% of our feelings are not our own feelings.
They just infiltrate into us.
Sensitive people have more active mirror neurons.
They are able to have compassion easily. They understand what others are feeling.
They also tend to absorb more emotions from others and get more depleted because of that.
Psychopaths may have a faulty mirror neuron system, an ingrained lack of empathy, an inability to feel connected to others.
All day, every day, we are impacted by our circle of friends and family, our workplace, our community, and the bad news around us.
For a sensitive and/or an introvert, the effects are extra difficult. They need to build strong boundaries and guard their quiet time.
What's a girl (or guy) to do?
Here are a few options. Try one that resonates with you.
How to Stay Centered and Drop Contagious Emotions
• Use a grounding method to connect your own self firmly to the Earth each morning, and more often if needed.
• Connect more deeply with yourself through a simple meditation practice, even 5 minutes each day, to get quiet and feel who you really are without interference from anybody. (Sitting outdoors and listening to the birds can be like a meditation, as long as you're not listening to your habitual mind-chatter.)
• The more you become familiar with your true self through meditation or quiet time, the more aware you will be of your own energy vs. other people's energies. You'll be able to recognize them as "other" and let them go.
• Central Channel Breathing from deep in the Earth to high in the Heavens not only gets you grounded and connected to Heaven and Earth, but also strengthens your boundaries and fortifies your aura.
• Envision a brilliant blue-light egg shape encompassing your whole body. It keeps your boundaries firm and repels unwanted energies.
• At the end of the day, stand barefoot and point the flat of your palms toward the Earth. Intentionally exhale all excess energies, blowing them out from your hands and feet into the Earth. (They become compost to be recycled.) Exhale vibes that you picked up, plus your own negative vibes. "I release everything that does not serve me."
• A warm salt bath (e.g. two cups Epsom salt) clears out negative energies. Some people use a salt shower scrub (salt in your hand), although I think soaking in the tub works better.
• Make up a sing-song chant with a simple tune and your choice of words, saying that you release vibrations, moods, and energies that are not yours. Sing this to yourself at any time of day or night, in the car, in the bathroom, wherever you like.
One of the great things about using such a chant is that as you repeat it, it goes deeper into you.
The more you chant it, the more you shed.
It plays on your mind and heart.
The words wash into your cells like a good cleanse.
Be grounded and centered, so that nothing will knock you over, despite difficult people, despite chaos in the news, despite your crazy neighborhood.
Being grounded and centered, we are also less distracted and more open to the gifts of the present moment.
What are some of your favorite ways to release uninvited stress?
Keep Your Good Balance Despite Crazy-Making People - Plus a Free Tuning from Eileen
3 Easy Ways to Lighten Up, Drop Bad Energies
How Bad Energy Gets Stuck, How to Drop It
5 Ways to Cope with Weird Difficult Energies this Month
Protection from Bad Vibes
Diane Stallings RN does distance healing, EFT tapping, and/or Biofield Tuning on the phone, Reiki and energy healing sessions and classes, Chakra Balancing, and health coaching.
(Thanks to Malenka on Pixabay for this mirror image.)
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