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 “Energy Exchange” blog (January 3, 2014) 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/.
© 2014
