How to Protect Your Energy and Reclaim Your Peace

Do you absorb other people’s moods like a sponge?

Feel drained after scrolling social media or being in a crowded room?

If you’re someone who feels deeply—especially if you pick up on others’ anxiety or stress—you might be an empath. And you’re definitely not alone. The good news? There is a simple way to protect your energy.

My friend and brilliant psychotherapist, Terri Cole, recently joined the We Can Do Hard Things podcast for a powerful two-part interview. She shared some of the energy exercises she learned from me—tools that help protect your energy field and soothe stress.

Terri also dives deep into something she calls High Functioning Co-Dependency (HFC), a pattern where:

“You’re overly invested in the emotions, decisions, and outcomes of others—to the point it disrupts your own peace and well-being.”

Sound familiar?

If you often feel responsible for others’ emotions or find yourself rushing in to fix things when someone’s struggling, you might be an HFC. Other signs include:

• Struggling to set or maintain healthy boundaries
  
• Over-delivering, over-doing, and over-managing
  
• Prioritizing others’ needs and demands above your own
  

If this resonates, take heart. You’re not alone—and you’re in great company. HFC’s are generally high achievers who make excellent friends.

Terri and I both are recovering HFC’s and we have a deeply supportive relationship because we empathically care for each other and give each other the space to be honest about our boundaries. 

But, when HFC behavior goes unchecked, it can leave you burnt out and bitter, giving way more than you are getting back from your life. 

In the podcast, Terri shares practical steps to begin your recovery—how to become more present with your own needs, rather than everyone else’s, and reclaim your peace and joy.

And if you’re someone who physically feels discomfort when others are upset, it’s not all in your head. That sensitivity is real—and that’s where these energy exercises come in.

The short video below includes techniques to help you:

• Strengthen your natural energetic boundaries, so you feel more grounded, calm, and in control.
  
• Prevent emotional overwhelm, so other’s feelings won’t feel so intense.
  
• Reduce sensory overload, so noises won’t be so loud and even allergens won’t be so aggravating.
  

Yes, having better energetic boundaries can even help calm the severity of allergies. And, can protect your body from the harmful effects of wifi too.

A lot of HFC’s are very sensitive to everything in our environments and these exercises help us maintain our energetic autonomy, so we can use our sensitivities to “read the room” better than most, without losing ourselves or our power of choice in the process;)

✨ Try the exercise below.

Then comment and let me know how you feel—before and after.

And don’t forget to check out Terri’s amazing book:

Too Much: A Guide to Breaking the Cycle of High Functioning Co-Dependency

It’s a total game-changer.

To greater ease and freedom,

P.S. Here’s the bedtime pose Terri shares in the podcast. I swear by it—it helps me fall asleep every night. 💤