It’s that thick fog of ‘slime’ in the air, that dark feeling of heaviness, or that draining sensation of being sucked dry of energy …
Negative energy is all around us and it’s seemingly ever-present and unending.
Whether you feel exhausted in crowds of people, emotionally ‘vomited on’ by your coworkers, or unexplainable creeped out by a certain place in town, we’ve all experienced negativity – it’s part of nature and an uncomfortable fact of life!
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Living in this world of duality, there is always a yin and yang, a light and a dark, and positive and negative side.
Yet, although we understand that negative energy is part of this world, we don’t want to live at the mercy of it – understandably, most of us want to ‘get rid of it’ ASAP!
So how do we ‘get rid of’ negative energy?
Or better still, how do we make peace with this fundamental aspect of existence?
In this article, my goal is to help you change your relationship with negative energy.
Table of contents
What is Negative Energy?
Negative energy is a form of energy that is said to vibrate at a lower frequency than more positive forms of energy such as love, joy, and peace. It’s for this reason that negative energy is often referred to as low vibrational energy.
Why is negative energy thought to be of a ‘low vibration’? The answer is that the lower one’s energy is, the denser it becomes, and therefore the more heavy and contracted we feel inside – aka. life feels dark and depressing.
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In more recent times, vibration and its effect on our consciousness have been mapped out by figures such as renowned physician, psychiatrist, and teacher David Ramon Hawkins, (M.D, Ph.D.).
Hawkins, who used the technique of Applied Kinesiology for his research, developed a map of consciousness that ranges from 1 to 1000. Everything from shame (having the energetic frequency of 20) to spiritual enlightenment (energetic frequency of 700-1000) was recorded.
In other words, the lower the frequency, the more miserable and negative the associated energy becomes!
Negative Energy & Spiritual Awakening
If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.
– Nikola Tesla
There is a great irony to be beheld within the spiritual community worldwide. Terms like “good vibes only!” and the desire to banish or ascend past negative energy, are in and of themselves, all forms of negative energy.
When we look at the Map of Consciousness developed by Hawkins, we can see that fear is of a lower frequency, whereas acceptance is of a higher vibration. By rejecting and even demonizing the presence of negative energy, we’re unconsciously spreading the very thing we dislike!
Now, I’m not saying to be a doormat here and let the darkness of the world take over you. I’m not asking you to like negative energy. Instead, I’m pointing out that the wisest and healthiest approach to negative energy is absolutely one of acceptance – we’ll explore what I mean by this a little later.
Ultimately, learning to understand and make peace with negative energy is a central part of walking the spiritual awakening path.
At some points on our paths, we’ll inevitably be drawn into darker ravines (such as the Dark Night of the Soul), yet these seemingly negative experiences are actually potent and crucial forms of spiritual alchemy, purification, and transformation.
Furthermore, facing the source of our negative energy, aka. examining our core wounds through inner work practices like shadow work , collective shadow and inner child work is practically mandatory for any authentic inner change to occur.
There’s no use running away! Our spiritual healing, spiritual growth, and spiritual evolution depend on our ability to face negative energy head-on.
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As Hawkins writes,
Every thought, action, decision, or feeling creates an eddy in the interlocking, inter-balancing energy fields of life. In this interconnected universe, every improvement we make in our private world improves the world at large for everyone.
21 Short Term Approaches to Removing Negative Energy
While negative energy is a fact of life that we need to come to accept, we don’t have to let it eat away at us.
There are many simple and quick ways of ‘increasing your vibration’ or putting this in more down-to-earth terms, helping you to feel more at peace.
Here’s a simple, tried-and-tested list of options that you might like to experiment with:
- Removing yourself from the situation that is causing distress.
- Setting clear personal boundaries.
- Drinking lots of fresh water and eat fresh food.
- Opening the windows and letting in the air and sunshine.
- Burning herbs and incense.
- Practicing self-care.
- Visualizing white light permeating your whole being or the space around you.
- Walking barefoot outside on the grass or sand.
- Doing some breathwork.
- Taking a long walk in the outdoors.
- Mindfully bathing and visualizing the energy going down the drain.
- Listening to solfeggio frequencies and binaural beats.
- Stretching and moving around.
- Listening to some healing meditations.
- Using crystals.
- Use essential oils.
- Visualizing a protective bubble around you.
- Watching funny videos.
- Sprinkling salt.
- Journal to release the energy.
- Declutter your environment.
Do you have any other recommendations? Feel free to share them in the comments!
Long-Term Approaches to Negative Energy
Negativity is an addiction to the bleak shadow that lingers around every human form – you can transfigure negativity by turning it toward the light of your soul.
– John O’Donohue
Wanting to know how to get rid of negative energy from your life is normal and natural.
If something hurts and brings you down, why not try to fix it and remedy it, right?
This desire to rid oneself of negative energy is a logical and rational response. It is healthy to want to stop struggling with the toxic people and negative energy around us.
However, as mentioned previously, in the self-love and self-improvement community there is an out-of-proportion emphasis on learning how to get rid of negative energy, learning how to block “low vibration” feelings/topics of discussion, and learning how to shelter oneself from what is known as energy vampires (people who feed on your energy).
All of these approaches, while well-meaning, don’t create much long-term change. In other words, we keep running into these situations again and again and suffering because of them.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some excellent short-term approaches to negative energy. These techniques help you to feel much better in the immediate present moment – but they are limited in their ability to truly help you understand negative energy and function alongside it in the long term.
The problem with many short-term approaches that teach you how to get rid of negative energy is that they speak about negative energy in terms of “how to banish it,” “defeat it,” or “block it.”
But these common approaches don’t take into account the reality of life: there is negative energy and there is positive energy. Without one, there can’t be the other. And not only that, you can never permanently block, defeat, or overcome negative energy. It will always return!
However, although negative energy may always return in the form of a jealous thought or annoying relative, such energy can be understood, integrated, and thus transcended.
If you would like to learn how to get rid of negative energy – or better still, learn how not to be so deeply impacted by it – you might benefit from some of the lessons I have personally learned on my spiritual path:
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1. Negative energy is a fact of life
By accepting negative energy and negative people in your life precisely as they are, you create harmony and greater peace of mind. Why? Well, by honoring life as it is instead of trying to forcefully change it all the time, you find more inner peace.
Ironically, the moment we resist the negative energy of others is the moment we allow it to have power over us, and the moment we declare “this shouldn’t be this way!” is the moment we contribute to the negativity even more.
2. Accepting negative people doesn’t mean letting yourself be used as a doormat or toilet
Embracing negativity doesn’t mean opening yourself up to absorbing it (especially important to know as an empath) – instead, it means simply accepting that it’s a part of existence. You can still set boundaries and be assertive about your needs when it comes to negative people but it will be in a less reactive and stressful way.
3. Permit yourself to empathize with negative people, but not to enable them
Many people argue that empathizing is a form of enabling. It isn’t. You can understand a person’s pain that fuels their toxicity without feeding their bad behavior.
Very few of us are skilled empathizers, which is why we need to learn to love and accept ourselves first before we can effectively empathize with others (and keep in mind that being an empath is not the same as having empathy).
The more self-love you have, the easier it will be to love others.
Learn more about How to Love Yourself »
4. Think about your ability to deal with negative energy in the short and long term
By all means, supplement the need to accept and understand negativity with all of the short-term techniques mentioned at the start of the article.
For example, you might like to limit your exposure, de-clutter your work area, learn how to be mindful, clear your area with essential oils, and so forth.
The question isn’t how to get rid of negative energy, but how to accept it as an inevitable force of life, without resistance.
***
I want to leave you with a beautiful message from the Tao Te Ching. I reflect on these verses often:
Do you think you can take
over the universe
and improve it?
I do not believe it can be done.
The universe is sacred.
You cannot improve it.
If you try to change it,
you will ruin it.
If you try to hold it,
you will lose it.
Tell me, what is your approach to negative energy? Do you have any practices you’d like to recommend? If so, please share below!
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It is the hardest thing to let go of negativity, especially when it’s coming from others and all you want to do is shake them so they see things your way!! The answer, for me, is to look at the person as a whole, their personality, their life experiences and find some understanding. When you have this understanding you can let it go like a dove out to the universe and the negativity is transformed. It is a better way than eshausting yourself being the warrior. Hope that helps :-)
Oh yesss, this is such a good piece of wisdom you share Jasmine! Learning to focus on the other person *as a whole* takes a bit of practice (especially when we’re just used to zooming in on their behavior), but it brings so much relief and peace of mind. Thank you so much for sharing!!
This well-written article addressed a number of areas for me that I couldn’t quite wrap words around. Other Lonerwolf articles have done this for me, too. Glad I found you two. And, I love that you quote John O’Donohue. :). Thank you for your generosity.
I’m so glad this article helped you Lori! ♡
I find cold very helpful in getting rid of negative energy (especially if I’m feeling really bad). Going outside for a walk or some kind of exercise when it’s cold or taking a cold shower always seems to reset me. And if it’s cold enough, I get that nice warm feeling when I go inside / end my shower.
It’s a bit strange at first, there is a lot of resistance, thoughts like, “I can’t do this.” and “I’m already feeling bad enough.” But if I ignore them and do it, it’s like magic.
I hope this helps :)
Nice :) I used to do cold water therapy (hydrotherapy) for years and it helps a lot with re-energizing the body – and I love how you point out how it can help with negative energy. The cold is kind of like a slap in the face that draws us back into the present moment. Thank you Val!
Oh cold water is a great source of negative ions I think. And helps to Jumpstart the body, and nervous system to get us out of fight/flight/fright. This is a topic I’m learning more and more about, thank you for helping me embrace the cold more brrrr I’m almost always cold and Winter is coming lol but embracing it will probably help me way more than I realized and take the excess cold away ❄
Wow, it took 4 days for me to receive this message on my Gmail. I wonder if all outbound forms of media are being scanned. Hopefully soon Australia’s borders will open up. I would like to visit! Great article! It’s just what I needed today.
Hmm, that’s strange Terry. Have you marked our emails as “not spam”? I hope the borders open up soon as well (it has been almost two years of this!). ♡
In the ancient Chinese art of Qi Gong (Similar to Tai Chi) the human body is shown in their writings as having different types of flow or circulatory systems which are points of value and meaning which interconnect and meet at various energy points or gateways. These ultimately link to zones in the Spiritual worlds, starting at the lower energy points of the 3-dimensional human physical world and on upwards or downwards depending on how positive or negative the energy gets from human behavior and emotional activity.
Like springs that flow down the mountainside in wilderness areas, become wash aways, then creeks, then tributaries that interconnect and finally join main river systems to the sea, Which depicts a healthy flow upon which life can flourish, grow and stay healthy. But if this system is for some reason is blocked upstream, which forces the river system to alter its course and direction, then regions become choked forming into oxbow lakes with sluggish tides and stagnant pools.
This is similar to the human circulatory system. When for various reasons be it past conditions, a current circumstance we dive into the dark side feeling our system become stagnant, fatigued, and very very negative, we can form dark low energy pools which hinder our positive thoughts, make decisions impossible. This can start as poor thinking and feeling low to very deep disruptive emotional thoughts which if not cleared with Therapy can harden into mental, emotional then physical pain.
To overcome this I suggest Qi Gong exercises which can move the stagnant energies around and eventually clear the mental emotional and physical system. This is done in conjunction with meditative clearances, therapy, and rest opens to balance the flow of negative to positive energies, also the feminine to masculine too. This flushes the lymphatic and nervous systems.
Plus breathwork in harmony with body movements turns off the negative mind flow and gives peace while the nervous system heals and comes into alignment along with all other systems.
So in conclusion instead of hammering out negative energy and attempting to push it back into the Dark Side, we go with the flow, bending and stretching with health and resilience like a reed in the wind until we recall natural health and balance in all areas.
Thank you John for this recommendation. I have only tried Qi Gong once in the area I live (unfortunately there aren’t many classes) and I loved the experience but didn’t resonate with the teacher who had a very regimented approach which I’m sure suited some people. I have been practicing the circulation breathing technique for quite a while and love it – there is something so natural and effortless about this modality! I really like this part of what you wrote: “we go with the flow, bending and stretching with health and resilience like a reed in the wind until we recall natural health and balance in all areas.” Thanks for sharing and reading. :)
Hi Aletheia,
I always find your thoughts regarding negativity and empathy refreshing and affirming of my lived experience.
Thankyou x
I’m so glad to hear that Leith!
I have found that really toxic people are usually dishonest; they will lie, cheat and steal from you without conscience. When such a person has proven himself in this manner, there is no point in persisting with them. The best thing to do is to write them a note pointing out their error and how it has impacted you and that you have not been fooled by them. This must be done in a clear and un-emotive way and that for your self-protection you cannot allow them to have any further interaction with you, at least until such time as they have brought correction to their hurtful behavior. Bid them farewell.
This is an interesting approach that might work for some people in some occasions. I’m sure it has worked for you before and I hope it has been empowering for you. :) My approach is to let people figure out their own errors and if they ask me directly, I will tell them. I do favor the approach of creating a lot of distance and sometimes when necessary (as in, when my inner child is threatened), a golden egg of protection. Those who lie, cheat, and steal do not deserve a place in the front row of your life, that’s for sure!
There’s many forms of negativity
not only energetic. Now we have devices that can kill . Research over use of. Electro Magnetic pulse ( EMP ) Most haven’t experienced this new form of darkness. I’m afraid all is relative