One of my favorite classes to teach is my ‘Psychic Hygiene’ class. I’ve been teaching it for years because I feel that when someone becomes aware of energy or starts working with energy, they need to know how to ground, cleanse, filter, shield, etc. 

The first thing that I was taught as a Wiccan was how to shield myself so that others couldn’t ‘steal’ my energy or so that I wasn’t affected by others. Now I feel that it goes a little overboard with the idea of protecting yourself from psychic attacks, it’s still a good idea to learn how to work with energy so that you don’t become overloaded or off balance. 

For example, grounding. 

I find grounding to be a very important tool with energy work or magic work. I am an empath and being around others with high/low energy affects my emotions. Sometimes when I’m depressed, it’s because I’m truly depressed. But, sometimes it’s because I’ve picked up on the emotions of someone else. Our bodies are open energy circuits which makes this possible. 

So, if I’m feeling an emotion I don’t want to feel…or if I’m depressed…I make a point to ground. For me, this means walking outside and standing barefoot on the ground. As I stand on the ground, I ask for Mother Earth to drain all the energy and emotions from me that aren’t mine or aren’t beneficial to me. Then, I ask her to recycle that energy and use it for her healing. 

Sometimes it’s just the feel of the ground that helps. Sometimes it’s asking for help from Mother Earth that helps. Sometimes it’s the draining of the energy. 

Other ways to ground, are to feel like a tree. Stand tall, maybe with your arms in the air and feel like a tree, with its roots deep in the ground. 

Sometimes I lean against a tree to feel it’s strength or even press against a wall. The feeling of solidness helps me focus on the present and where I am currently. It gets me out of my head and into my body, which is where I need to ground.