Empaths are the psychic sponges of the world, naturally absorbing the energy and emotions of other people. On our good days, we are the natural healer, helpers, and caretakers of the world. On our bad days, we feel overwhelmed by crowds and high levels of sensory stimulation. Twenty minutes in a shopping mall is enough to make an unshielded empath feel like a wet rag.
My fellow empath and friend Samantha secretly rejoiced about having a solid excuse to not go anywhere, to be at home with her family and ditch all her social obligations, including showing in person to her job. Now almost a year into the pandemic, she is starting to feel the wear and tear of being at locked down in LA with her family. Again.
Now the gloss is wearing off and she is facing the reality of being a highly sensitive person who is trying to manage her kids online learning situations while she is simultaneously working from home and trying to keep her marriage and her home life in working order.
Samantha is not alone in these challenging tasks at this unprecedented time in our lives. Being an empath in a smallish house with four other people and a few pets has pushed her to her very edge and being an empath on top of that has created its own challenges.
So for all you sensitives out there, here are four tips on how to manage a quarantine or lockdown situation with as much ease and grace as we can muster and to give special attention to our empathic natures.
Find Some Privacy – How Ever You Can
If you are lock down with others, find whatever space and privacy you can have to get some alone time. It might be in your bedroom, or the bathroom with the door locked. Do some deep breathing and releasing while you are in the tub or shower. When my kids were little, I used to escape to the bathroom all the time. You can lock the door and generally speaking, no one bothers you when you are in there. I love to wash my hands and use the intention to wash away all the energetic static that I have picked up from other.
Practice Boundary Setting With Your ‘Quarenteams’
If you know you are going to be stuck with your people for a while, find some time to make agreements and negotiate how people’s needs and wants are going to be met. Under stressful situations it’s all too easy for empaths to people please and cave in to others to avoid conflict. You can advocate for your own needs to be met, to ask for help and that everyone do their fair share. Decide in advance what the rules are going to be and how manage conflicts when they arise.
Find Some Inner Space To Process Your Emotions
Empaths need a daily ritual to help them process their deep emotional life. It can create depression and anxiety in us if we habitually repress our feelings so we need a safe way to express them. Meditation and journaling are both effective and easy to do in any situation.
Find Meaningful Community
If you are locked down alone, find a way to reach out to others through Zoom, phone or social media. Many empaths are also introverts but even a die-hard introvert has their limits and eventually need social interaction. It’s easy to find online communities of other empaths to help share our unique experiences of being a sensitive during these trying times.
If we practice these techniques, we can be sure to get through our times of confinement with peace and poise, like my friend Samantha is doing. “It’s been hard, especially as an empath, but we are making the best of it, reveling in the opportunities we have to be together in this unique time and managing the bumpy bits with these techniques.”