Ways to Protect Your Energy & Maintain Healthy Boundaries During These Trying Times
It has undoubtedly been a rough couple of years.
From the coronavirus pandemic, social-injustice movements, and heightened emotional politics to now war, rising gas prices, and healthcare. It’s been hard to not feel helpless or overwhelmed with everything going on in the world.
There are ways to protect your energy and maintain healthy boundaries during these trying times. They certainly can be beneficial when you discover your inner peace is being compromised.
To protect your energy, you must first~
Know Your Energy:
How’s your energy been lately? Getting to know your own energy is the key to understanding what makes you, you.
It’s not just composed of physical energy. It’s your emotional, mental, and spiritual energies that get you through, day by day.
It’s essential to tune in to how you’re feeling throughout your daily endeavors and understand how different social situations or environments change your energy.
Once you know it, you can learn to protect your energy and set healthy boundaries in your life.
Understand Your Core Values:
Another vital component to protect your energy is understanding your core values. Core values are a person’s root beliefs that guide all decisions and behaviors in life.
They are your highest priorities and deeply held convictions that drive you. Your energy can change depending on if you are acting for or against your core values.
Stop and think for a moment. What are some of your core values? Is it integrity? Honesty? Loyalty?
Living by my core values every day protects my energy
After a few years of reading, online quizzes, and self-reflection, I’ve determined my core values in life. I have four core values that drive my daily endeavors, goals, and life choices:
Kindness/Benevolence:
One of my core values emphasizes kindness and general concern for others’ welfare. With my daily actions, I am constantly asking myself, is this kind?
Often, I feel uncomfortable in social situations if people talk negatively or gossip about others.
While this is a good trait to have, it can also land me into trouble when I need to protect my energy and set boundaries with people who may take advantage of my kindness.
Another term for this is being an empath, where it’s easy to absorb others’ negative energies. Because of my past experiences as an empath, I’ve learned to protect my energy and set healthy boundaries.
Freedom:
Free will and thought are extremely important to me. I value living according to my own principles, flexibility, and schedule. I make decisions deliberately.
For example, I decided to go into travel nursing because I valued the freedom of picking when and where I wanted to work. While working as a staff nurse in a hospital, I was limited to managers picking my work schedule, and only getting two weeks of vacation time per year. Because of this, I felt I had no freedom.
My energy was constantly drained, and I had to consciously decide to leave it. I chose my core value of freedom over the financial stability of always having a job.
Health:
Health and well-being are extremely important to me. I constantly take conscious actions to maintain physical and mental well-being.
I’m fully aware of the consequences of insufficient health care and strive to maintain a healthy diet and exercise plan.
When I fall off the wagon, I notice my energy shift in a negative direction.
Inner Harmony:
Internal harmony and balance are essential because it allows me to find relief in the hustle and bustle of the ever-changing world around me.
I will choose inner harmony and peace over confrontation and displaying extreme emotions. I’ve learned to enjoy the small things in life and find self-awareness more critical than avoiding uncomfortable conversations within myself.
If you’re interested in figuring out your core values, there’s an online personal values assessment you can take, here.
“Healing yourself can be offensive to those that benefited from your brokenness.” ~ Anonymous
To protect your energy, it’s essential to reserve your energy for the things that align with your core values. It’s important to recognize that your energy will be drained when you’re in a position that goes against your core values.
Reserve your energy for the things that matter most to you. Are certain social situations making you uncomfortable because they go against your core values?
Practical Ways to Protect Your Energy~
Use Mindfulness:
Choose your attitude
Believe it or not, you have the power to choose your thoughts, and your thoughts will shape your perspective.
It doesn’t always mean putting on a happy face or feeling pressure to adopt a socially acceptable outlook. Choosing your attitude is about being aware of and knowing how it affects your energy.
Speak up
Your words have power. If you notice the energy in the room is negative, you can change it. Let others know you’re focusing on setting healthy boundaries for yourself.
Follow your intuition
Are you dealing with a person or situation that feels unhealthy? Protect your energy by listening to what your gut is telling you.
It’s easier to understand who is or isn’t good for you by stopping and listening to what your gut instinct is telling you.
How do you feel after interacting with this person? How do you feel after scrolling through hours of Facebook newsfeeds? If they leave you feeling drained or overwhelmed, pay attention to that feeling.
Set healthy boundaries and limit your exposure to anything or anyone that makes you feel off.
Limit Your Exposure to Negativity
Negativity can be addicting. And it can be very challenging to focus on positive energy when the negative constantly surrounds us.
To protect your energy, limit your exposure to negative people, thoughts, and social media feeds continually bombarding us with sour energy.
“Not everyone has access to me because I want peace more than attention.” ~Anonymous
Self-Care & Self-Love:
Self-care isn’t always about the fun things like pedicures and bubble baths. Sometimes it’s getting through the challenging parts of yourself, like self-reflection and self-evaluation.
Here are some examples of self-care practices that will help protect your energy:
Journal
Meditation
Affirmations
Some affirmations to try in setting boundaries and protecting your energy:
- I am free from energy drains. I release the energy that no longer serves me.
- I trust me to look after myself and protect my energy.
- I will breathe in positive energies only.
- I am choosing to feel grounded, calm, peaceful, and secure.
Clean your physical and mental spaces
Decluttering your personal areas, whether at home, at work, or inside your head, is a powerful way to protect your energy. If your environment is filled with disorder, mess, and chaos, your energy will be, too.
See also:
“Energy is your most precious human resource.” ~Susannah Seton
Set Healthy Boundaries:
Setting boundaries is the core of true self-love. You must make space for yourself to feel without the influence of anyone or anything.
Learn to say “no” more often. Be proactive in managing others’ expectations of your time and energy. When dealing with “drama queens,” as in those who never fail to have a problem or crisis they want to tell you about, protect your space!
Choose how long or willing you are to bask in their energy. You draw the line.
Stop Giving Away Your Energy:
You may feel drained because you allowed someone or something to take all the happy, healthy energy from you.
It’s essential to understand the benefits of protecting your own energy and not just giving it away to someone else. It’s a difficult concept for most of us because most of us want to help coworkers, friends, and family members more often than ourselves.
An important part of protecting your energy and setting boundaries is loving yourself, first.
Release What You Cannot Control:
I love the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. In this book, he talks about two circles: the circle of concern and the circle of influence.
These circles distinguish between proactive people, those who focus on what they can do and can influence, and reactive people, those who focus their energy on situations beyond their control.
The first circle, the circle of concern, includes many things. From global warming, the state of the economy, attitudes in society, work environments, the things colleagues do and say, the way people drive around town, etc.
This circle encompasses things that are outside our influence. Devoting time and energy to this circle can be detrimental to your well-being.
The second circle, the circle of influence, includes things that we have the power to do something about. This circle may consist of things like how you react to a coworker’s snarky comment or how long you spend scrolling through your Instagram feed.
To protect your energy, it’s vital to focus on the circle of influence and not the circle of concern.
“If a situation brings extra hurt to your heart, it is okay to retreat. Removing yourself from the drama does not mean you are weak. It means you recognize when it’s time to look after yourself, and that is a beautiful strength.” ~Anonymous
