Wondering exactly how you can create a happy, healthy life, sooner rather than later?
Feeling anxious and unsafe, as if you're constantly worried that other people or circumstances are going to steal your joy?
Do you know that you need to have stronger boundaries to better protect your positive energy, but don’t know where to start?
When we as spiritual seekers, sensitives and empaths start exploring psychic self-defense, it’s usually because we’ve experienced being overwhelmed or drained energetically, and we want to protect ourselves from that happening again.
But protecting yourself is very different than shutting down or shutting everyone out; mastering your energy entails more than taking the “all or nothing” approach to spiritual and emotional energy management.
Watch the above 11-minute video to learn how balance protecting your energy WHILE staying open!
"My precious! My PRECIOUSSSS!” – Gollum"
Hi! Sensei Victoria with you here from victoriawhitfield.com for your weekly love letter. It's my last day in Negril, Jamaica at Jackie's on the Reef and this week we are picking up on last week’s discussion of protecting your joy.
It's very powerful to be in your joyful space, but you have to protect your joy.
What does that mean? The first image in the energy that I get from off of the Tribe is, "Well, you know, I'm not going to pay attention anybody else but me!" Whoa there!
We have an impulse to block out others, or to avoid all negative stuff. We go overboard, thinking: "I can't talk to that person, because they're crazy," or, "I can't go outside, because everyone's going to steal my joy."
Let's be clear. Protecting your joy doesn't mean isolating yourself.
To do so, as we said last week, the first step is to learn about what exactly is your joy and what it looks and feels like, second is to engage it actively throughout each day, and third is to apply your joy to counteract low-vibe situations and experiences.
Those three steps, Source is saying, are how you protect your joy, just by having an active engaging relationship with her.
You don't have to put her in a box and hide it in the corner, obsessing like Gollum "I'm protecting my joy! My precious, my precious is safe!" No, no, no, no, no.
The way that you protect your joy is by being with her, or being with him – however you gender your joy. (By the way, I prefer using gendered pronouns over the use of “it” because it person-alizes your relationship with each noun. Send me an email at SenseiVictoriaWhitfield@gmail.com if you want to know more.)
Now I'm hearing the Oracle cards for this week calling in the energy.
Whenever I travel I always have at least one oracle cards deck with me, and this one is Wisdom of The Hidden Realms by Colette Baron-Reid. It's a wonderful deck, very direct guidance, beautiful illustrations; I highly recommend it. This is a personal deck of mine, so I'm so happy to get to share this with you.
As always, to use oracle cards we first pray over the cards and ask Source, Spirit, and Nature to tell us what do we need to know, knowing that we are open to receiving guidance, and then we shuffle the cards.
I enjoy the fact that I am not the best shuffler ever; it doesn't have to be blackjack style and all that. It's a natural intuitive practice that is meant to be imperfect, and not a performance, lol!
The card that is coming through for this topic is “The Metal King.”
This is so appropriate, because he has to do with having and cultivating discipline, armor, and boundaries. Here’s the accompanying reading from the book:
The Metal King is strong and arrives to lend you his impenetrable shield of protection.
Protect your joy! Well, I wonder why the Energy has drawn out this card? What a "coincidence." 😉 By now, you should know there's no such thing as coincidence!
So let's read more:
No matter who sends you criticism or jealousy, you will not be hurt. This ally --
Oh, someone in the Energy just stopped me there. Those are another two things that tend to steal our joy: being preoccupied with other people's criticism and other people's jealousy.
Here’s the thing: if someone is critical of you, or jealous of you, that means that they notice you.
Let's just turn that around for a second. It's OK if someone is trying to be critical of you – we're not condoning their criticism if it is harmful – however, we have to notice something in this that could increase your joy.
Criticism and jealousy received means that you are doing something big and noteworthy.
Use this idea as your take-away from the criticism, instead of taking on their crap, and it can cultivate and increase your joy.
Think instead to yourself: "No, that's OK. I see that you see me, I see that you have an opinion. Go ahead over there with that. That has nothing to do with me, but I appreciate the fact that you are validating that I'm doing something big right now, or doing something noteworthy, whereas maybe you're not."
Oftentimes people criticize or feel jealous of us because they don't have the drive or the confidence enough to do what you're doing, and it speaks to the insecurity within them and tugs at it.
You're out shining brightly, whereas they're still hiding. Criticism and jealousy says more about the criticizer or the jealous person than you. So laugh, and let it go.
Let me continue the oracle card reading, then:
This ally also prompts you to think about setting healthy boundaries. When you do, no matter how uncomfortable that task may be, everyone benefits. He asks you to make sure you know where you end and others begin. Other's emotions are NOT yours.
By the way, that's a message straight to all of my empaths who are watching and reading right now: Other's emotions are not yours.
If you’re an empath, you may go out to places or speak to someone and then leave from them and still carry all of the energy and the emotion of that space. Let it go.
When you hold on to and analyze their energy in you, that's a waste of your time and energy, because our focus is on other people's problems that we're taking responsibility for emotionally and mentally.
Find a way to clear yourself, whether it's being outdoors, or taking a shower, or doing a mediation, writing in your journal, whatever your clearing ceremony is. If you need to know more techniques, then maybe email back or comment below, I'm happy to share.
The oracle card reading continues:
Other's emotions are not yours, no matter how empathetic you may be. Another of The Metal King's messages is to remind you how important it is to have a healthy sense of self-esteem. It is a good time to shine and be proud of what you have accomplished.
In the energy, Spirit is asking you to be clear about what self-esteem is for you.
That's a bit of an overused term, I'm hearing, so let's reword that as self-awareness: a loving self-awareness, not a self-consciousness with the negative connotation.
You do want to be conscious, but not shrinking, putting yourself down or hiding yourself with your self-awareness.
Instead, draw your eye inwardly and do what we said last week: write that list out of what makes you joyful and begin interacting actively with that list.
The act of writing that list is going to create clear boundaries organically for you, through self-knowledge.
And self-knowledge is always empowering.
Know this: You don't have to shut people out in order to have healthy #boundaries. On the contrary, being who you really are creates clear boundaries!
So many of us sensitive, loving, spiritual individuals have terrible boundary issues. I've been working on mine, so I'm included in this bunch – I am right there with you!
We want to help, we want to fix everybody, or we're so afraid of being overwhelmed by other's energy that we want to avoid everybody to the point where we just scream "I hate people!" and go lock ourselves away for a while, lol! You know?
Hey, I’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt. But that's not the master path. Instead, that's letting your sensitivity, which is a gift from Spirit, run your life rather than embracing it and becoming more a partner in the experience of that energy.
Rather than being a slave to or a victim of your sensitivity, engage your joy, know your joy, and by doing so, you will protect your joy. And the earth needs ways more joy, way more.
I can feel the trees and the ocean and the coral reef down here at Jackie’s On The Reef in Negril, Jamaica agreeing, saying: "Send more joy! We're doing our best, but you're joy generators; it's very unique amongst humans.”
So, I'm curious to hear: what's your list of things that make you joyful? What are going to be the things that are non-negotiable that you feel are a daily prescription of things that make you happy?
Share them with your TRIBE here, so we can encourage each other. Share it on the Facebook group, Facebook.com/SenseiVictoriaWhitfield, or you can tweet me at Twitter.com/SenseiWhitfield, and I'm open to hearing what you would like to share.
Sending you a big hug and kiss, and I will see you next week, back in the States. Bye!
In Love and Light,
Victoria.
VictoriaWhitfield.com
Facebook.com/SenseiVictoriaWhitfield
Just for Today...
Re-evaluate how you go about protecting your energy.
Ask yourself: "Am I just shutting people out and avoiding the energy off and on, or am I creating a consistent sense of emotional and energetic safety, balance and flow for myself?"
Notice how you feel at that moment - you're already healing!
SHARE THIS! You’d be surprised how many people you know right now are in desperate need of healing and could use this information to change their life. If you can read this, you know someone who needs this Love Letter!