Hallo Nicky,

I have stage III Advanced Reiki, although I never did the last attunements for Master/Teacher. You are clearly very clairsentient and intuitive. I shall leave Chris and Trinity to comment on Empathy because their take on it may be different from mine.

I know there are differing views about protection but, in your case, my personal feelings are that you clearly need to learn how to protect yourself when giving treatments. You should just be a channel for the energy and certainly not a receptacle for a client's pain. I would suggest you do that urgently. There is much advice out there about how best to do so and to find the method that is best for you.

Otherwise, you will simply not feel able to give healing and that would be a tremendous shame. I hope you solve the problem very soon.

with love and light,
Veronica

Hi Nicky,

Welcome to Openhand.

Firstly it’s helpful to remember that no matter what the circumstances are, we are given exactly what we need in order to unfold into our trueselves and evolve spiritually.

It most certainly sounds like you are an empath. I used to experience something similar upon walking into a room, or when anyone came in to my energy field. It became quite debilitating at times and made me really appreciate the need for nature and quiet space. I still feel everyones energy now, although my experience is different and I am able to feel it and 'see' it without getting lost in it.

As hard as it may seem, something to realise is that it is a choice whether or not we take on other peoples energy.

When practising any kind of 'healing' it’s really important that we come from a place of absolute centre or a meditational state whilst carrying out the treatment. If we can do this, then I would question whether we should be doing it at all at that time.

It is normal to feel whatever the other person is feeling, although where it goes awry is when we identify with it or take it on as our own. I work with group energy when we are running courses. I may experience a tension, headache, tightness etc. My focus is not on the other people, it is within myself. In focussing within I am working with everyone else. I release the pain within myself in order to release it within the other person. This is quite an advanced form of healing (yet simple and innate within us), whereby I am not identified with it at all. It is what many ‘healers’ are ultimately invited to do. It is literally like stepping in another persons body, experiencing it as our own and letting go together as one.

This is a conscious experience.

What you are currently experiencing sounds like one that is falling upon you rather than a consious one. The energy you are struggling with from the other people is literally getting stuck within you because you are unable to release the blockage within yourself. That's a key factor. By the sound of what you are saying, it may be that you have quite a lot of healing to do on yourself first. This could happen quickly if you seize the opportunity, or you may name considerable time.

The most important thing that I see is that you work on your own issues first. It is very common that people are trained in various practices and taking on a level of healing with others that is beyond where they are at personally. This can actually be quite dangerous. We cannot help another ‘heal’ past the level that we have healed ourselves.

I would say that if you have a very strong empathic ability, that it is your destiny to help heal others. Your calling out (and especially coming to the Openhand site) is testimony to this.

The same goes for entering the energy field of another on a daily basis. If you are feeling their suffering without being able to move through it, it is because it is flowing through your energy field and getting stuck at a place that you are blocked yourself. Your invitation is to release your own blockage yourself first.

It’s quite common that natural born healers have a strong impulse to help themselves, but leave themselves last.

I wrote an article on the 'Challenges of being empathic' a little while back that you may find helpful. There are quite a few helpful posts following it too:

http://www.openhandweb.org/the_challenges_of_being_empathic

It may seem like an insurmountable uphill climb right now, but if you are meant to help others in the way you do, you will find a way through and be a much more powerful healer as a result.

I you resonate with the Openhand work, you might also find one of the retreats or courses of benefit. I can highly recommend them. Energetically Chris and I come from the place I am talking of. We invite our guests to find their own authentic reality and releasing blockages that no longer serve.

With Love
Trinity

Hi Trinity,
Thank you so much for your reply. It makes sense to me what you are saying. At least I now know what is happening. Usually the discomfort of somebody elses energy leaves me within about an hour and I know straight away it is not mine. I did not understand before why I was feeling the pain and my friends who are also Reiki masters don't. I thought i was clairsentient. The back pain comes at a time where I have been feeling unsupported and worried about finances which according to what I have read are the two things that trigger lower back pain. I also have a history of back issues so I think in a way it was the healing and taking on my friends pain has then triggered my own stuff.
I have tried many ways of protecting myself such as white light around me calling on the protection of the angels and asking that the pain goes through "roots" from my feet into mother earth for transmutation, I haven't really found it to be very effective, or sometimes it is so effective I cannot feel anything including the reiki flowing through me or the pain of others. The thing is I find it easier to be able to connect with the pain so then i know where needs the most attention, I just wish that then i didn't have to take the pain home with me. Any ideas on how to get the best of both.
I also find that if I have ever given a healing to someone no matter how short the session may be i can pick up on how that person is feeling from the other side of the room or as soon as they enter a room I am in.
Thanks for your help.

Hi Nicky,

You are welcome. I am pleased my own experience can be of help

It sounds like a ‘blessing in disguise’ that any attempts at creating ‘protection around you hasn’t worked. I see it as a really positive sign of your purpose and intuitive ability.

Creating a protective energy field around you might actually simply create and even bigger target for the ‘challenged energies’ that you are working with to latch on to you. If we create a protective bubble for instance, it may also cut you off from the divine flow. This is why on certain occasions you can’t feel anything. The invitation is to feel whatever is arising, yet not identify (become lost) with it.

Ideally, when you are open, universal life energy flows through you unhindered. If you give the energy that you are trying to clear nothing to get stuck upon within you, then it will dissolve of itself. The most effective method is actually to be fully present, yet invisible within it.

It doesn’t feel as if taking the energy home with you is something that would serve you either. I’ll let know what works for me. I might be in a scenario where I am working with a group who have done some intensive energy clearing in a workshop, or one-on-one with a client.Interestingly I don’t set out with an agenda of clearing the energy (which may sound odd). I simply ‘show up to the session. I sit in meditation (or in case of doing massage/energy work I begin the treatment) and see what arises. I find that 95 times out of 100 I am ‘given’ what to do by higher consciousness (if I am not then I don't try to do anything). I simply watch energies arising and a particular method of clearing the energy will happen too.

There is no mind led action within the work, I am simply observing. I might then be guided in how to clear the energy from the field that surrounds me, perhaps even in similar ways that you have tried to do intentionally. I am simply creating the space for right action to happen and acting as a conduit for benevolent consciousness. Does this make sense?

So when the meditation or session is over the energy may still not be clear. This often happens actually. I remain in the room after after every one is gone (or if I can't or in the case of massage/energy healing I go out onto the grass or into the bath room).

At this point I will continue to work with the energy. This part is very important even though for everyone else the session appears to be over. I won’t stop until it is cleared. That may take 2 minutes. It may take half an hour. I will keep recentering until it is done. If I don’t because duty calls elsewhere (which believe me has happened) I carry it with me, which doesn’t really serve me or anyone else. It takes a good level of self discipline to say NO to the rest of the world until it is done. But it is essential.

You may also find certain tools/herbs helpful to clear the energy. Some people burn sage. This is commonly used by Native Americans to cleanse the energy field. There may be some essential oils that particularly work for you. Frankincense is particularly clearing. I might be guided to inhale from the bottle and feel it drawn through every cell of my being as any lingering energies are released. Or burn frankinsence resin or insence and let it flood the field. It can be very powerful! Other methods of shifting final remnants of energy include permeating sound. Some people use chimes, a gong, voice or a drum. They have the effect of breaking up any dormant or unwelcome energies in your field and moving them onwards. Others find ecstatic movement/dance an excellent method too.

If I were you I’d explore some of these things (or other things) and see what works personally for you.

You have a very powerful gift and any challenges that you face simply serve to bring out that gift in all it’s majesty. Keep flowing!

With Love
Trinity

Once again Thanks for your guidance Trinity,
Meditation is something i enjoy doing but find it very difficult to keep my mind still when I am doing any healing work so that is something I will have to work on. I will also try sage and maybe putting on "om" chants I have on cd to see if that will clear any residues for me. Will deffinately work on getting out of the way during any work though. Thanks again and have a great day.
Love and Light
Nicky

That sounds very positive Nicky Keep chipping away until you find what really works for you.

Love and sunshine
Trinity