Energy Vampires

(This blog was originally posted on May 7, 2014)

Photo by Rick Hustead

    Vampires are very popular these days. They show up as main characters in popular television series and movies. They are heroes (or anti-heroes) in novels for young-adult and adult readers. The Count on Sesame Street teaches young viewers about numbers and counting. Finally, vampires represent a powerful metaphor to describe a person who literally drains someone else of positive energy and emotional fortitude. Maybe you even know or have someone like this in your life. Like the creatures represented in literature and on film, emotional vampires “prey” on just about anyone they can sink their emotional fangs into. Just like Kristen Wiig’s character of “Penelope” on Saturday Night Live, they are very needy individuals who try to one-up every other person in the room in order to feel more confident and in control of their lives.

   However, like the supernatural creatures they represent, emotional vampires share specific characteristics and must also observe certain behavioral protocols that make them easy to recognize and defend against.

How to recognize an emotional vampire:

• Emotional vampires have a lower vibrational energy than others around them.

• They are often in the middle of or just getting through some kind of emotional disaster. Part of their charm or attraction is that they give off a lost or needy vibe that motivates others to want to just look after them during a crisis. By then, of course, you are already “hooked” and eager to offer more support when another problem develops.

• They often revel in their negative experiences or other people’s disappointments.

• When you share a painful confidence with this person, he or she seems to be in competition with you to describe an even more distressing experience: “When that happened to me….” When you interact with an emotional vampire, you actually feel worse about what is going on in your life than you did before.

• An emotional vampire’s negative energy literally “sucks” out and dampens the optimism, good mood and spiritual/psychic energy of everyone else in his or her environment.

How to defend against an emotional vampire:

• Remember: Just like the vampires in horror movies, an emotional vampire must be invited or welcomed into your emotional/personal life. Whenever you feel uncomfortable in someone’s presence, pay attention/listen to that emergency alert from the primitive part of your subconscious mind, warning you to stay away from someone who could be emotionally (or even physically) dangerous to you.

• Be a true friend to one or several people and surround yourself with individuals who are true friends to you. These are people who like, trust and respect you. They are individuals with whom you share various mutual and separate interests. They may challenge you, but their support does not waver. They celebrate your successes with you, but they do not insult or ridicule you and they do not try to make you bad or worse about a misfortune. They look out for your best interests, and you do the same for them. They also “close ranks” around you and try to shield you from the negative energy of others who try to bring you down.

• Participate in activities that you enjoy doing and make you feel relaxed, happy, positive and self-confident. The more positive energy you give off, the more positive energy you will attract!

• Use your positive energy (attitude) to neutralize negativity in your environment. See my blog titled “Energy Exchange” for more information about how to raise the energy level in your environment.

• Finally, try this cool imagery exercise (one of my favorites!) to create a protective energy shield around you. Visualize, imagine, picture or pretend that you are surrounding yourself with silken strands of pure, positive energy. This energy is manifested as the most delicate strands of gold and silver light, more delicate than the silk of a spider’s web but millions of times stronger. (Remember: silk from a spider’s web is already proportionally stronger than steel. In other words, very strong!) Gradually wind these gold and silver strands around yourself, starting with your feet, and work your way up your body. These strands appear invisible to you and everyone around you, but only until the emotional vampire tries to get to close to you. Unlike a traditional spider’s web, this silk repels rather than ensnares the threat. These strands of beautiful, pure energy encase you like a knight’s armor. They are strong as iron but slippery as soap or ice. Since there is nothing for an energy vampire to hold or sink his or her fangs into, this person has no choice but to is go away and find another “victim.”

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2017

Breath Exchange

Photo courtesy of Microsoft

The act of breathing is a great metaphor for hypnotherapy.

 

Slow, deep breathing is an important component of my hypnotherapy work. Breathing this way not only relaxes the physical body; it also provides them a tangible example of their ability to control a specific, physical behavior. Breathing is also a relevant metaphor for the idea of releasing old habits or beliefs and replacing them with the new, desired behaviors and mental scripts that they believe will improve their lives in some way. Following is a simple imagery exercise that you can do at the end of the day to help you relax and let go of any negative emotion or tension in your body before going to bed:

Start by taking a slow, deep breath through your nose. Visualize or imagine that you are drawing cool, clean air all the way into the bottom of your lungs. Hold this breath for the count of four, three, two, one… This air that you have inhaled is filled with tiny molecules of relaxation, calm, comfort and confidence that travels from your lungs and moves throughout your body.  

On zero, release the breath slowly through your mouth. Visualize and imagine that you are releasing with this breath any tightness or tension that you have been carrying around in your body; you are releasing any negative emotion (e.g., anger, frustration, etc.) that you no longer want or need to carry inside of you. Just let go of all of those negative emotions and physical tensions, allow them to dissipate in the atmosphere where they can no longer affect you or anyone else.

Repeat this exercise several times as needed until you feel completely relaxed and start drifting into sleep.

 

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

© 2014