The Recipe

For empaths and others who are sensitive to energy, I recommend starting the day with a four-part practice I’ve named the Recipe. The Recipe consists of grounding, centering, being comfortable in your space, and creating a bubble of protection.

Think for a moment about your morning routine. You likely take a shower, comb your hair, brush your teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast, and maybe have a cup of coffee. These tasks help you to physically prepare for the day.

Energetically, there are also ways to prepare for the day. Some people meditate and others go for a walk. Some people have a daily spiritual practice, such as writing in a gratitude journal or setting intentions for the day.

Starting the day from a place of energetic alignment and balance helps empaths be prepared for what might lie ahead. By beginning in a good, solid place energetically, we are more likely to stay grounded and in our truth rather than being influenced by emotions or energies in our environment.

We know that life can bring unexpected things our way. If we’ve done the Recipe, we have this extra bit of grace because we’re energetically prepared. When stressors arise, we are more likely to choose our response from a place of centeredness rather than reacting and taking on the troublesome energy around us.

The Recipe to start the day – and then repeat as needed

Most people wouldn’t think of leaving the house without being properly groomed and fed. For empaths, it’s equally as important to prepare energetically for the day.

The Recipe is a helpful way for empaths to start the day. And then throughout the day, it can be repeated as needed if you feel yourself starting to be affected by other people’s energy. With repetition, the Recipe becomes streamlined. Over time, you will be able to ground yourself in one breath. When the Recipe becomes second nature, it will take just 2-3 minutes.

Past participants in the “Energy Essentials for Empaths” class notice significant changes after using the Recipe for just four weeks. Using the Recipe daily gets people about 85% of the way to feeling confident in their ability to manage their energy more comfortably. This is a relatively small commitment of time and effort for a big shift in comfort.

The four steps in the Recipe

Step 1 – Grounding

It is part of our birthright to be connected to Mother Earth and receive her love and her support. When our energy is aligned with Mother Earth, we speak of this as “being grounded.” Being grounded has many advantages – time slows down, we can focus much more easily and we come fully into our bodies. When we are fully home in our bodies, we are much more able to set healthy boundaries and care for ourself.

• Take several deep breaths and feel yourself settle into your body. Continue to breathe slowly and purposefully.
• Bring your attention to the base of your spine. Visualize grounding cords extending from the tip of your tailbone and running down your legs and out your feet. Continuing to visualize these grounding cords moving down through the floor, down through the concrete of the building, and down into the earth. These grounding cords are like magic – they very easily and with no effort move through anything in their path.
• Gently use your breath to extend your grounding down through the top soil, down past the tree roots, and down through the layer of rocks and crystals to the very center of the earth.
• Allow your roots to connect with the stability and safety of Mother Earth.
• Look around for a way to anchor your roots at the core of Mother Earth. You might tie them to a tree or wrap them around a rock. You might even hand them to Mother Earth to hold onto.
• With each in-breath, begin pulling that loving Mother Earth energy up your grounding cords. Feel the energy come up your grounding cords – up past the layer of rocks and crystals, up past the tree roots, up through the top soil, up through the concrete of the building, up through the floor, and up into your feet.
• Continue to pull that loving Mother Earth energy in to your body. With each in-breath, feel it coming into your feet and rising up your body – up into your ankles, your calves, your knees, your thighs. Allow it to come to rest in your belly.
• Feel the love and support of Mother Earth.
• State your intention that these grounding cords continue to support you for the rest of the day, keeping you connected to the stability and safety of Mother Earth while also naturally serving as release valves for any excess or unwanted energy.

Step 2 – Centering

If we feel discombobulated or out of sorts, we may literally be out of our center. Our center of gravity may be shoved off to one side or too high up in our body. Adjusting our center of gravity is an easy, elegant solution. When our energy is centered in our body, we are much more likely to be balanced and grounded – and choose our actions and responses to any challenges that arise from a place of centeredness.

• Stand and bring your attention to your energy.
• Notice your alignment. Are you leaning more to one side than the other? If your energy is off to one side, shift it back to the center of your body. Do this through the power of your intention, asking your energy to move more into the center of your body unti it’s spread evenly aligned left to right.
• Also notice your alignment front to back. Are you leaning forward or backward? Shift your energy back so that you are aligned with an erect spine, neither leaning forward or backward.
• Notice your alignment top to bottom in your body. If most of your energy is currently in your head, try lowering it until you feel more balanced. Many people find this comfort point somewhere in their torso – often in the belly. Some find their comfort point a bit lower, down in the knees or feet. There is no right or wrong – it’s wherever you are most comfortable and where your energy provides the most stability.
• You’ll know your center of gravity is balanced when you can stand perfectly still without swaying.

Step 3 – Owning the Room

(This technique is adapted from John Friedlander and Gloria Hemsher in their book Basic Psychic Development.)

Owning the room helps us be comfortable energetically in our space. It’s important to make sure that you’re sending your *intention* out, not your *energy*. Each person can hold the intention to be energetically comfortable in a room without detracting from anyone else’s comfort or experiencing dueling energy.

• Send four thin lines of intention from each foot out to the four corners of the room along the floor. Repeat the affirmation that you wish to be energetically comfortable in this space.
• Send four thin lines of intention from the top of your crown to the four corners of the ceiling. Again, repeat the affirmation that you intention to be energetically comfortable in this space.
• Bring your attention from side to side in the room, from front to back in the room, and from floor to ceiling in the room. Again, state your intention to be energetically comfortable in this space.

Step 4 – Protection

(This technique is adapted from Tom Kenyon. He calls it the Holon of Balance.)

We can shield and protect ourselves using the sacred geometry of an octahedron, a three-dimensional diamond-shaped structure that looks like two square-based pyramids connected at their base. When we this structure with divine white light, it functions as a “smart shield,” filtering out negative or harmful energy while allowing good energy in.

• Imagine yourself standing within an octahedron large enough to encompass your entire body and immediate energy field.
• Fill this octahedron with divine white light.
• Be mindful to use divine light, not your own energy.

The Recipe is taught in Module 1 of the “Energy Essentials for Empaths“ series. Ready to enroll?

• Empaths Winter 2024 series – begins Saturday, January 27, 2024 – on Zoom
• Empaths Spring 2024 series – begins Sunday, April 7, 2024 – in-person
• Empaths Fall 2024 series – begins Saturday, September 14, 2024 – in-person