Today’s post about self-care for energy workers as much a ‘note to self’ as it is a message to my soul family of energy workers out there. When we love our work it’s easy to do way more of it than is good for us. This is true for all the Tarot and Angel card readers, intuitives, mediums and, energy healers I know. When we have a chance to help others, we blossom and thrive. Part of our calling is to help, heal and guide those who come to us for these purposes, but when we do too much of it without pausing to nurture ourselves, we easily start running on empty. This is true whether or not we charge for our services.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.
– Matthew 10:29
Better Balance
I feel that today, at the Libra Full Moon, is the perfect time to address this issue of finding the balance between being there for others and caring for ourselves by sharing some self-care tips that I know work and should be using more for myself than I actually do, so I know I’m preaching to the choir here because I’m betting you’re a bit like me in the sense that you may read these tips, promise yourself to do more of the things that help you recharge… and then rush off to help someone in need of your spiritual services, or to cook, clean or spend time with your loved ones because they need you.
Our souls become fragile like the fledgling sparrow in the picture above when we neglect our own needs completely in favour of being there for others.
7 Favourite Tried and Tested Self-Care Tips
1. Dry Brushing
Spend a bit of extra time in the bathroom and dry brush your skin first thing in the morning before you get in the shower. This is a wonderful way of doing a gentle detox by getting your lymph moving and it also does wonders for the elasticity of your skin. This article breaks it down for you if you are new to dry brushing.
2. Gentle Stretches
Whether you sit all day (doing readings, for instance) or stand for long periods of time giving healing, you will benefit from doing gentle stretches both at the start of the day and right before you go to bed. I find that when I remember to stretch for a few minutes before I go to bed, the quality of my sleep improves a lot. Moving first thing in the morning also sets you nicely for the day of ahead, clears any brain fog and allows your creativity, intuition and any healing energy to flow freely. You don’t need to do yoga (unless you’re totally in love with yoga, of course), just listening to your body and stretching your muscles to your favourite chill-out tunes will do nicely. The point is: Just. Do. It.
3. Spiritual Discipline
It’s your practice so I’m not going to tell you what to do but it will require discipline to stick to it. Some of us thrive on daily prayer. Others prefers the complete silence and stillness of a regular meditation practice. Others still need to be in and connect with nature to nurture their souls, while some need a weekly dose of temple/church attendance. What you do you do to nurture your soul in terms of connecting with the Divine has a more profound effect on your energy work than anything else. When you are aligned with the Divine (God, Source, the Universe… whatever name you feel comfortable using), your work reflects truth, love, power, and integrity. Nothing drains us faster of our true power than being too caught up in the material world.
4. Psychic Protection
Protect yourself psychically. Have some form of psychic protection in place before you start an energy healing session or reading. If you are a natural empath and intuitive (which I assume you are if you are reading this), you are more sensitive than others to the energy of people you connect with in the healing space. It is quite easy to start absorbing the energy and thereby the problems/issues of others unless you protect yourself. Here are some psychic protection techniques you may wish to try, and here are 10 ways to prevent and clear what I like to call the ‘ick’ (sticky psychic energy).
5. Nature
Nature is the greatest healer, the Healer of healers and provides the most easily available form of self-care. If you connect with Nature, you connect directly with the Goddess aspect of the Divine and you are instantly nurtured by Her. Spend more time in her arms, dear one. And if you are an urban spirit warrior, you can still harness this power by surrounding yourself with plenty of house plants which will have the added bonus of improving the quality of the air in your flat/apartment. Animals are Nature’s angels and have a very healing effect on us. Most of us, even those of us who live in small-ish flats, can care for a small pet.
6. Furthering Yourself as Form of Self-Care
Keep studying. This is one of my absolute favourite ways to nurture my soul. We live in a wonderful age of almost infinite learning possibilities… and while there is a lot of free information out there, having the benefit of structured learning is hard to beat if you wish to both have fun and make progress at the same time.
If you are lucky enough to live in a city, you can probably find interesting courses that relate to your energy work where you live… and if not, there are literally thousands of online courses to choose from these days. In addition to keep growing and learning about your own area of expertise, I also recommend studying ‘unrelated’ topics (though there is no such thing since everything is energy) just for the fun of it. Mahatma Gandhi once said: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
7. Playing is DEFINITELY a Form of Self-Care!
Play more. Yes, play! Do not worry about tomorrow. Do not fret about the past. Be The Fool, be the girl to the right in the 3 of Cups, throw a party like the one in the 4 of Wands. Play with the cards too. Use them for your own edification and not just for Tarot readings. And why not use them to get the balance right between work (being there for others/Libra) and self-care (being there for self/Aries) with the Libra Full Moon Tarot Spread?
