Energy Leaks: Check Your Energetic Boundaries & Reclaim Your Magic

How to notice when you’re giving too much away, patch your energetic leaks, and reclaim your energy

By Erin Daugherty

 

Your energy is your most valuable form of currency. The manners in which you share your presence, support, love, and advice with others, and spend your time are just as valuable, or even more valuable, than gold and silver. 

What exactly does an energy leak feel like?

Think of yourself like a glass of water. Every morning when you wake up after a good night’s rest that glass of water is full. As the day goes on and you use your energy in a variety of ways, there is less and less water. Some actions will require more water (energy) than others to complete. There are also actions that replenish your water (energy) supply. 

Imagine your glass of water has a couple cracks. Even when the glass is full, there is water leaking through the cracks. This prevents your glass from being truly replenished. A lot of us live in this state – where our water (energy) levels rise again, but rarely reach a state of fullness. 

Everyone has a crack, or two, or maybe even ten, in your energetic body that makes it challenging to feel like you are recharged and capable of delegating your time, energy, and responsibilities. 

Even when you are doing something you love and truly enjoy doing, you might feel incredibly drained afterwards. Energy leaks can cause people to sleep more, and engage with the world around them less. It’s different from being physically tired – it makes your soul tired. When one’s soul is tired, it makes nearly every action in life a little more challenging to accomplish.

Oftentimes, energy leaks are not intentional. If you are a person who deeply cares about things in your life, pays attention to details and strives for perfection, has a strong intuition, and desires to help other people as much as you possibly can… you might be more prone to energy leaks than others. Setting up a system that supports and protects your energy, so you can show up for yourself and the most important things, is a very valuable tool to have. 

There are also circumstances where another individual might be attempting to gain more access to you, desires the energy that you have, and takes advantage of your kindness to receive some sort of benefit from how you are showing up. These people are often referred to as “energy vampires,” and they are very real. In these situations, the energy leak might have been already present, but engagement with this person might worsen it. This is a key indication of an energetic area that you can be more mindful with and protective of. 

There are many reasons why you must learn how to repair the cracks in your energetic glass of water. While energy can be renewed, it is still a precious resource. Plus, every action that you take has your unique energetic imprint on it. This energetic imprint radiates outward and changes the world around you ever so subtly. With consistent loving, kind, intentional actions, energetic blueprints grow stronger and more impactful. Protecting your energy and repairing energetic leaks allows you to put your own energy to use how you see most fit.

In order to repair the cracks in your glass of water, you must first identify where they are located. 

Identifying energy leaks can be easier said than done because they’re not intentional and sometimes not a part of your conscious mind. You will need to look critically and honestly at yourself and your life. Observe your daily habits, your thoughts, your reactions and your inner dialogue. Consider keeping a journal where you can vent about your day to day life. After a week or so, review your journal entries to see any patterns in your thoughts and habits that might be affecting you negatively or overusing your energy.

Some of the most common energy leaks involve stressful or high pressure situations – whether it is an internal or external force bringing about this stress. Wherever your thoughts and actions are drawn to at a point that it overstretches your boundaries is a strong indication of an energy leak. Each leak will need to be repaired one at a time. If you encounter many leaks in your energetic glass of water, that’s okay. As you strengthen your skills in reclaiming and protecting your energy, less leaks will occur. 

A few of my favorite methods to repair energy leaks include intention and boundary setting, energy cleansing, and journaling. These can also be combined together to form an energy repair ritual. 

Energy cleansing is a common and straightforward method to release energetic ties and reclaim your energy. You can use any cleansing herb such as sage, Palo Santo, or incense sticks. Light the herb of your choice while focused on your intention to reclaim your energy. As it burns, repeat affirmations aloud to yourself describing what you are releasing and how you are calling your energy back to yourself. Breathe deeply. 

This exercise can be completed in a comfortable sitting position, or walking around your home or bedroom. Cleansing your energetic space can support you in setting these intentions through creating a peaceful and clean energetic environment. You might also consider cleaning or dusting your home to further welcome this reclaimed energy back into your space and being. Remember to open a window, and try not to allow any distractions during this cleansing time. 

Journaling can support many aspects of your self growth journey, including facilitating healthy inner dialogue that can repair energy leaks and support you in setting boundaries that reclaim your energy. It is important to understand not just what your energy leaks are, but how they occurred. Do you frequently overthink or over-stress about certain aspects of your life, and why? Are you sometimes more focused on helping others, than helping yourself? What energy are you losing, and how will you call that back to yourself? What do you need this energy of yours returned for? Release it all into your journal. 

Repairing energy leaks requires a bit of shadow work in this sense. Understanding why they are happening allows you to decide what will best repair them. Oftentimes, we just need to honor our energy, emotions, and dreams a little bit more. Setting healthy boundaries and actually following through on them is key. Recording all of this in a journal allows you to talk back and forth with yourself in a safe space, and also refer back to these discoveries and conversations whenever you might need the reminder. 

This leads us into the actual act of following through on your intentions and honoring the boundaries that you have set for yourself. Energy leak repairs must be supported and reinforced. You can do all the cleansing, intention setting, speak all the affirmations, and reflect on it all in your journal… but if you don’t respect this work that you have done when you leave your home and interact with the world around you, your repairs will not be successful. 

For example, if one of your energy leaks has been worrying about things that are out of your control and have not happened, yet you continue to worry about those things when they arise - that leak has not been effectively repaired. In order to repair this energy leak, you must be mindful of your thoughts and redirect them when you start to worry excessively about possibilities. 

Some leaks take more time and energy to repair than others, so don’t give up if you find a few of them to be difficult to work through. You might find yourself returning to your sacred space to do your energy cleansing and reclaiming rituals before the work finally sticks. This is just a part of the process. 

It is so important to remember that each and every one of us experiences energy leaks throughout our lives. Try not to be too hard on yourself in the process of identifying and repairing them. Be patient, try different things, and most of all, give yourself the space to reflect and convene with your inner higher self. Chances are, you know exactly what to do in order to reclaim your energy… it just might be hard to follow through on. 

If you are someone like me, with a big heart, and a lot of genuine love and care for others, your first instinct might be to give your energy away to those who need it most. We are entering the chapter of reclaiming our energy together, and I am proud of you for taking this first step. 

Sending so much love, light, and magic always!

Erin Daugherty

The Spiritual Sunflower