Most of us come into this work because we're sensitive people to begin with. We feel things much deeper than most. We pick up on people, rooms and situations. Some of us have been doing that our whole lives without even realizing it. Then we start intentionally opening ourselves up during healing sessions, readings, hypnosis or other spiritual practices, and suddenly we're using that sensitivity instead of just experiencing it.

That's a wonderful thing, but it also means we need boundaries. I don't say that to make anyone afraid of spiritual work. I do this work myself, so obviously I don't believe we should be scared of it. I just believe that if we're going to intentionally work with energy and the spiritual realms, we should know how to open that space safely, recognize when something doesn't feel right, and close everything properly when we're finished.

And honestly, most of it is pretty simple so before you work on anyone else, check yourself. I would never go straight into a session without grounding and checking my own energy first.

Sometimes we're so focused on helping that we forget we're part of the equation too. If I'm exhausted, emotionally overwhelmed, scattered or already feeling off, that's going to affect how clearly I can tell what's happening around me. So start there.

Ground yourself in whatever way works for you. Go outside and put your feet on the ground. Take a few minutes to breathe. I personally adore Wim Hoff and his breathing exercises. Visualize roots extending from your energy centers into the earth. You don't need an elaborate ritual. You just need to feel centered and fully in your own body.

Then you need to protect your own energy. This is where you can actually have a little fun with it because your protection doesn't have to look like anyone else's. You can surround yourself with golden light, put on a suit of energetic armor or even imagine a cube of one way glass around yourself. You can see everything outside of it, but nothing outside can see or access what's inside unless you allow it. One of my favorites is an invisibility cloak. Find something that makes sense to you and use it consistently.

I also wouldn't wait until you're doing energy work to practice this. Grounding, calling your energy back and protecting your field are good habits to get into every morning and again before bed. After a while, being grounded becomes familiar enough that you notice much faster when you're not.

There can be a tendency in energy work to think that because you're the practitioner, everything happening in the session belongs to the client. That's definitely not always the case.

You can pick up emotions, become drained or form energetic cords with clients, especially when you care about what they're going through. You can also bring your own emotions and unresolved issues into a session without realizing it. Self-clearing is just as important as clearing your space.

It's also important not to immediately move on to the next person without checking yourself. Call your energy back. Release anything you've picked up that isn't yours. 

Cut any unnecessary cords that formed during the session and give yourself a minute to reset. And know when you're done for the day.

Being exhausted isn't proof that you've worked harder or helped more people. Sometimes the most responsible decision you can make is to pause or end your day because your not in the right condition to do the work.

From the very start, set the rules of the space. Once grounded and protected, establish a boundary around the actual session.

You can use prayer, visualization, intention or simply say it out loud. It doesn't need to be complicated. Say something like This space is protected and sealed. Only those of the highest light and serving the highest good of humanity are welcome to interact here. The exact words aren't the important part. The intention behind them is.

You're making it clear that this isn't an open invitation for anything that happens to be around. You're deciding what is allowed within the space before you begin working. I think that's an important distinction because opening spiritually shouldn't mean throwing every door and window open and hoping only the right things wander through. You have authority over your space.

Checking sovereignty in everyday and especially before every session is one practice I take very seriously. I collect my energy, ground myself and connect with my Higher Self. I then ask three times if I'm sovereign. What I'm looking for is an immediate and very clear yes each time. When I talk about sovereignty here, I'm talking about being in possession of my own free will and energetic authority, without anything interfering with my ability to clearly conduct the session. It's also a good idea to establish passwords. Decide on an image, a song or anything you want to use as evidence your connected. Discernment is key. A vibration can't be faked.

If I don't get a clear yes to the questions, I don't just shrug it off and start working anyway. I'll call in angels and guides and ask for a self-clearing. I'll ask that anything interfering with my sovereignty or discernment be removed. Then I'll ground myself again and repeat the check. If everything is clear after that, great. If it still isn't, I don't conduct the session. You don't have to push through just because somebody is expecting you to.

You can't assume every guide is who they say they are so this is another area where discernment becomes really important. Once you've worked with your angels and soul guides for a while, their energy should become familiar to you. You begin to recognize how your own team feels. But I still validate them. I ask them 3x's if they are of the highest light and serving the highest good of humanity. Again, I expect three immediate yeses. If I don't get them, I'm not proceeding as though everything is fine.

Within my own spiritual practice, I don't believe that a name, appearance or even the right answer by itself is enough to establish identity. This is why developing discernment is so important. You're learning to pay attention to the quality and feeling of the communication too.

Once I've confirmed my own sovereignty and I'm comfortable that I'm connected with my actual team, I'll ask them to help clear the session space. That can include clearing residual energy, dealing with anything that shouldn't be present and closing anything that shouldn't be open before we begin. Now I'm ready to work.

If something changes during the session, pay attention, but every strange sensation doesn't mean something terrible is happening. Energy work can get intense even when you're doing remote work. SRT practitioners are advised to connect to the client through their guides and not directly. This is always the preferable option. In person, such as reiki practitioners etc, you're in direct contact with people releasing emotions and bodies reacting to stress. Clients can become tired or overwhelmed and practitioners can too.

When the feeling of a session changes, don't ignore that. If someone suddenly becomes extremely nauseated, panicked, confused or unusually fatigued, or develops significant head or chest pressure, intrusive thoughts or other symptoms, stop and reassess what's happening. You don't have to immediately assume it's a psychic attack. There are too many other possibilities.

If someone is having a physical symptom that could require medical attention, treat it that way. Spiritual interpretation should never stop someone from getting appropriate medical care. But regardless of whether the cause is physical, emotional, energetic or something else entirely, you don't need to keep pushing forward while someone is becoming increasingly distressed.

Pause and get everybody grounded again. Slow the breathing. Bring the client's awareness back into their body. Call your own energy back and have them call theirs back. Release unnecessary cords. Restate the boundaries around the space and ask your spiritual team for additional support if that's part of your practice. Then reassess.

If you can't get yourself grounded again, I would end the session. That's enough information to know that I'm no longer in the condition I want to be in while working with somebody else. And when you're done close it.

I think people sometimes put so much attention into opening a session that closing becomes an afterthought. Don't leave the energetic door hanging open. When you're finished, thank your guides and ask them to disconnect from the client. Close the session intentionally. Close anything that was opened for the work. Call all of your energy back to yourself and guide the client in doing the same. Then cut any unnecessary energetic cords that formed during the session.

After that, get physical. Stand up. Stretch. Shake your hands and arms. Walk around. Wash your hands. Drink some water. Do something that reminds your body that you're finished. Then clear the room before you bring another client into it. Use whatever method belongs to your practice: smoke, sound, prayer, visualization, intention or a combination of them.

I wouldn't want to carry the energetic residue of one person's session into somebody else's any more than I'd want a massage therapist using the same unwashed sheets from one client to the next. Clear the space and start fresh.

Using discernment without becoming afraid of everything is probably one of the most important things I can say about psychic protection. Protection and fear are not the same thing. You don't need to start looking for an entity behind every headache, strange thought or uncomfortable feeling. Sometimes a headache is dehydration and anxiety is anxiety. Sometimes an emotional release during energy work is simply very intense. And sometimes something genuinely does feel energetically wrong. Both things can be true.

Discernment is being able to stay calm enough to consider what you're actually experiencing instead of immediately jumping to the most frightening explanation. I've heard practitioners say that talking about psychic protection is fear-based, and I don't agree with that at all. We take precautions around things we respect every day without being terrified of them. We wear seat belts without spending the entire drive expecting to crash. That's how I think about psychic protection.

I'm not expecting something bad to happen every time I do spiritual work. I'm creating good habits so that I'm grounded, protected and paying attention if something does happen. That's really what I want other healers and energy workers to understand. You don't need to be afraid of your sensitivity or the spiritual world. But you do need to respect your own boundaries and know where your authority begins and ends.

Ground yourself before you begin. Protect your field. Check your sovereignty. Know who you're communicating with. Keep your session space contained. Pay attention when something feels wrong. Close the work completely when you're finished, and clear yourself just as carefully as you clear your client.

Do those things often enough that they stop feeling like emergency measures and simply become part of how you work. That's what spiritual hygiene should be. Not fear. Good habits.

(Credit for some content used: Astral Exploration with Lara Starr, Check out her daily podcast for all things astral!)

Much love to you all!