Image: Riccardo Melosu

“All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.”

Tahereh Mafi

This is a completely spur of the moment blog—haven’t had one of these in a long time…

Recently I have been keeping a memo pad on my phone, so when ideas strike (usually sentences, topics, or paragraphs at a time) I jot them down, and will reflect on them later; right now however, I am being pulled and forced to write this.

I have said that the page is therapeutic for me, and so is my writing. Often I will sit down with one idea, and not only do about a million other ideas form in the process but I find that perspective is gained, anxiety is lessened, and clarity received.

I am big into politics, and social issues; I don’t talk about them too, too much because I am an extremely passionate person and that passion can be interpreted as anger.

I have found that I meet 3 types of people: those who have similar trains of thought as mine, those who are so ignorant it hurts my bones, and those who are full of fear; sometimes if I am really lucky I find someone who is a mixture of two.

An opinion based from fear is the most dangerous.

When people are scared they not only react, as any animal would, but they are easily manipulated in many cases, and this is when the herd mentality forms.

As if the herd mentality wasn’t bad enough before 2016 began.

I must say that this year is most certainly going to be a year that humanity will never forget, and it is yet to be determined if that is a good or bad thing. The irony of this is that 2016=9, a number of completion; a number that haunted me steadily for 18 months before this year even began, and many of you, and my close friends can attest to this because I mentioned it in many posts. The number haunted me to the point where I thought I was going mad.

As the clock strikes 8:30 am here in New York I am drinking my coffee while relaxing in bed and catching up on the news I missed overnight. It’s funny because I can go months and months without watching the News, and in fact I did just that until all the craziness of this year started to happen; I now find myself back in the cycle of constant thought, anxiety and worry but also seeking, searching.

I have this insatiable thirst for the truth because what we see on TV and what we are given in media reports is but a fraction of a fraction of what really went down.

I sit here and I look out at the world, as I often do, and I think, what an orchestrated shit show.

I have been extremely introverted and heavy with emotion (easily the last 4 weeks, probably more) and I can’t seem to shake the feeling entirely. I have my methods of lessening the “symptoms” but even those seem to have minimal effect of dulling this intense, aching pain.

I feel so much pain for humanity, and this world. I feel so much pain for what we have become, and how blind we are to the human condition we all share; if only we could see our similarities and how we are all pawns in a bigger game.

I feel so much pain…

So, how DOES an Empath cope in times like this? How do we stop the absorption of all the bad juju going around?

As I mentioned above, I am struggling, too, but I do have some tips that seem to calm my pain, if only for a short time.

I don’t know if it’s as simple as distraction of the mind or if the activities suggested here truly work on some spiritual and physical level; maybe it’s a little of both.

Nonetheless, here are my tips for getting through these next few months (things will calm a bit after the election, in theory at least.)

1. GROUND! GROUND! GROUND! – We have to make sure that our Root and Sacral Chakras are firmly planted into the Earth’s energy. If we are not grounded we will get caught up in the emotional whirlwind from the collective, and total breakdown will surely follow. We have to make sure that we are shielded from outside influence, and this can be attained by wearing or carrying some of the crystals suggested below; I would also suggest reinforcing your shielding in times of great collective stress because Empaths are the first to be pummeled by the waves of mass emotion.

Tips: Walk outside barefoot, take a salt bath/shower, wear or work with crystals such as Black Tourmaline, Obsidian, Jet, Smoky Quartz, Hematite, Garnet, Ruby, Red Tigers Eye. Malachite is also an amazing grounding stone; good for healing, too. Yoga, hiking, and swimming (water cleanses Empaths of emotional stress) are good ideas as well.

 2.POSITIVE SELF TALK! – I think that Mantras are powerful, and they don’t have to be ornate, or in a foreign language to have significant effects. Our bodies react to our thoughts, so when we are overwhelmed or bombarded with negative thoughts, images and energy it begins to manifest in sometimes ugly ways. If we tell ourselves positive things such as, “I am strong, grounded, and balanced. Today will be a good day, and I will be better than I was yesterday. I will not allow another to disturb my inner peace.” As corny as you think you may look doing this in front of the mirror, it works. You are not only opening yourself up to the manifestation of positive energy, but you have taken control of your racing thoughts and gave them a goal of “having a good day”. You can create your own Mantra or you can find one online; regardless of where the Mantra comes from, I can guarantee almost instant results. This exercise of standing in front of the mirror and proclaiming master over Self is extremely important, and very powerful. It can also be repeated numerous times throughout the day, and altered to fit the situation. (Ex. You are about to give a presentation at school or work, and you need a little extra courage. Give it to yourself with POSITIVE Self Talk!!!)

Tips: Have a few Mantras handy for different situations, meditate daily or at least every other day to allow your inner voice to be heard, surround yourself with people who build you up not bring you down, give yourself a pat on the back when you have done a good job and always give yourself positive reinforcement when you have acted out (I know when I act out, or disappoint myself I can be really hard on myself afterwards. Learning to be gentle, however long a process it may be, has proven to pay off big time.)

We are at a pivotal point in human history and just like the rest of the world I am watching, listening, observing, calculating, forming my plan, and preparing for battle. As a collective unit we are in for some hard times ahead and anyone who tries to tell you differently is filling your head with lies. We must be prepared for the dark times ahead because as Shiva has taught me many times over the years—destruction leads way to change; change leads way to growth.

Take care of yourself and your loved ones, too, because soon enough the time will come where a passive, calm demeanor will not do; eventually the warrior will breakthrough.

Blessings and Love.