Self Preservation in a Ball of Bright Light

This week I was thinking about how other people's negative energy can affect me.  I can get bothered if I am in a setting where someone who has no self awareness starts chomping ice and spitting it in a cup, for example.  Yes, this happened in a yoga training I attended.  Last summer, I was in a qi gong training in Santa Cruz, and an odd woman kept moaning during class and coming in late and making a fuss and creating a nuisance.  I found this distracting.  Others said to me--don't let this bother you.  Of course, they were right.  But, for me, it is easier said than done.

Fast forward to this past weekend, my qi gong master, Lee Holden, was in town for a day of qi gong at a retreat space in Marine on St. Croix.  This was an incredible opportunity to learn more from him and to advance my own practice.  Lee is a 50 year old athletic California guy, father of three young girls, former soccer player from Berkeley who travels the world for his work and appears on big stages with the likes of Deepak Chopra.  He is often in intimate settings with lots of people who want something from him.  I asked him how he keeps other people's negative energy from getting to him.  He told me that he just releases other people's negative energy.  He doesn't let it get to him, on him, in his mind.  He said that when someone is bringing their neediness or dark energy to him, he imagines that there is the GRAND CANYON between him and them.  What a great image and what a great tip for us all.

Our world is full of people from all walks of life.  Who can know what people are grappling with from one moment to the next?  Compassion for them, yes, but self preservation for you.  Therefore, if you find yourself in awkward situations where someone is not being kind, not being self aware and bringing judgment or negative qi (qi is energy) to you, you might try envisioning yourself in a ball of bright light surrounded by good thoughts, positive images, self love and kindness.  And just imagine that this bright light coming from you can diminish any negative qi that might be floating around you.

This is my plan, and I am sharing it with you.