How does your inner sensitive-soul child try to get your adult attention?
“You are just TOO sensitive!”
“What is the matter with you?”
“Why can’t you just get over it?”
Have you heard anything like this during your life? If you are reading this, you are probably an “old soul” (either “not from here” or have been “around the block” numerous times, or both). And you are likely an empath who is very sensitive to EVERYTHING around you—including emotions and energy. Are you also sensitive to light or the fabric your clothing is made of? Are you sensitive to large groups or crowds? Maybe you just don’t want to be around certain people for reasons you can’t identify. As a result, you may have closed yourself off from your calling in the world and absorbed more trauma from having these spiritual gifts (and having them labeled negatively) than you realize. Judith Orloff describes sensitive folks like us this way: “We don’t have the same filters as most people. We are emotional sponges who feel everything and instinctively take it in.” One of the first things my empathic old-soul clients discover as we begin to tend to, protect, and clear our energetic bodies is that much of the energy they we are carrying around—that is weighing us down—is not actually ours.
Sensitive-soul empaths can start feeling trauma even before birth—in the womb.
The first few years of life can be very jarring and tough. Additionally, many of us who had less than stellar childhoods—and are carrying the trauma that goes with that—are parenting or grandparenting old soul/empathic kids, and we want to support the formation of their sensitive emotional worlds in healthier ways than our parents did. So how do we do that?
It is important when we become aware of our sensitivities (and the sensitivities of our children) that we clear, protect, and upgrade our energetic system regularly—and make sure we clear the energies of others—whether those energies are coming from family members, folks we work with, systemic trauma (white privilege, childhood trauma, ancestral lines), or the energy of the car crash we drove by on our way home. Sometimes these different kinds of energetic trauma manifest in anxiety, physical pain of various kinds, or just a general feeling of being un-well. Traditional therapies and the self-help movement have done a great job of emphasizing the importance of creating healthy boundaries in our relational lives. But our energetic boundaries are important too—especially when we (and our children) are sensitive souls. (I’ll write more about parenting and clearing and healing our star-seed children at another time. That deserves much more attention. And the work we do on ourselves ALWAYS benefits our kids.)
There are many things we can do to help ourselves if we are sensitive souls.
We may find it very useful to participate in spiritual practices alone or in communities. We can prioritize withdrawing and resting when possible (For those of you with anxious/overachieving childhood wounding who have not one ounce of spare time on your Google Calendar, I’m looking in your direction!). Check in with YOUR inner child//children. What would bring them joy? Creating, making music, knitting, painting, writing, getting outside in nature, playing with pets and (other) kids in your life? Or maybe you need to connect and create relational time with folks you trust. (For those of you with avoidant childhood bonding wounds, I’m looking in your direction now. Creating a bunker and hunkering down in it is only going to work for so long. It will get lonely in there.). So how do you create me-time and get out into the world and connect with others in ways that are rooted in your joy and calling?
I have navigated these challenges all my life.
I can help you learn how to tend to your bonding trauma, clear and upgrade your energetic field, establish healthy energetic boundaries, and utilize your considerable gifts. By keeping the negativity and clutter out, you will be able to navigate, move (and lead, and create, and parent and grandparent) with greater presence and power. Many books have been written about sensitive souls and empaths (by Judith Orloff, Judy Dyer, and Elaine Aaron to name three). I welcome you to send me a message so I can help you upgrade, protect, and fill your energetic cup—and better navigate your spiritual journey.
