Almost every client has asked me at one time or another, “Aren’t you exhausted at the end of the day?” or “Do you take on some of my energy when you work?” My answer has always been the same: At the end of the day, I could run a marathon. How am I able to merge with multiple other energy fields in a day, touch some of their deepest darkness and most painful wounds and walk away clear, whole, and energized? Boundaries.

The line between their energy and mine is crisp. And when it’s not, I pause, breathe, and wait for it to come into focus. I imagine the golden edges of our energy fields, separate and distinct. Without that clarity I’m both ineffective and dangerously vulnerable. This applies to all relationships.

My most useful tool for this is a visualization. It’s become a Sunday ritual. I get comfortable and let my body relax while my spirit travels to the outposts, the farthest limits of my boundaries (note: that’s different than the furthest reaches of my energy). That place looks like castle walls. In this realm, I walk the walls. I stalk hooks and intruders, erosion and breakage. I repair and defend. But most importantly, I discern who and what is welcomed in.

During the week I check in with those walls when it feels like someone is closing in on me or siphoning off energy without permission. If I feel watched, tracked, attacked, or off balance, I take to the boundaries and feel into where needs my attention. This is how I find and mend energy leaks.

p.s. here’s a little poem about walking the walls.