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Thursday Thoughts - Energy Hygiene

• Polly Warren

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This week on Thursday's Thoughts, Lucy and I are diving into the topic of energy hygiene.

Given that we’re 99.9% energy, it’s vital that we’re protecting and preserving our own.

We unpack what energy hygiene actually means, explore the subtle and not-so-subtle ways our energy can be drained, and share simple ways to keep your energy field clear and protected.

We hope there’s something in here that really lands for you.

Love Polly & Lucy

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Download my energising 5 Minute Morning Practice to get your day started in the best way possible.

To find out more about my membership The Inner Space go to: https://www.pollywarren.com/theinnerspace

Email me at: info@pollywarren.com
https://www.pollywarren.com/
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Speaker 1:

Hello and welcome to Thursday Thoughts. Thursday Thoughts what on earth are they? I hear you ask. Well, my friend Lucy and I meet every week over on Instagram to talk all things personal growth, because she is as obsessed with it as I am, and we decided that we might as well put those conversations out as a weekly podcast. So now you can listen to us chat here on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts, and we'll be talking about topics such as spirituality, limiting beliefs, the ego imposter syndrome, gratitude, meditation, confidence and so much more. So, if you're ready here, we go.

Speaker 1:

We've decided we're going to talk about energy hygiene. So I suppose let's just start by thinking what does that actually mean, energy hygiene? For me, what that means is protecting your energy, looking after your energy. You know we protect, so you know we look after ourselves in terms of you know we wash ourselves, we clean. You know know we wash ourselves, we clean, you know we move, we do all these things.

Speaker 1:

But actually do we look after our precious energy? Because actually that is such an important thing, that a kind of resource that we have, and I think actually we just take it for granted. But then we're also very, you know, kind of um conscious of it. When we don't have enough energy, you know what we all want is loads, to have loads of energy, but if we don't have enough, we're you know we're gonna. Oh my god, I'm so tired, I feel lethargic, I don't feel great. Uh, so it's.

Speaker 1:

It's about how we, we look after and protect that and how we protect it from other people, because we're always, as we know, we're 99.9% energy. We are energetic beings, and so we're constantly emitting energy, but we're also constantly receiving energy and picking up on other people's energy and picking up on energy around us picking up on energy around us. So, for me, energetic hygiene is when you're conscious of your not only your own energy, but the energy that you are picking up and put and and and kind of sometimes holding on to unnecessarily. So it's almost like giving yourself a good spring clean and so that you can have a good reset and start from a place, from a really nice, balanced place.

Speaker 1:

Because, being a bit of an empath you know, I'm actually quite a big empath I pick up on other people's energy all the time and unless you're aware of that, it's very easy for other people's energies to completely dictate the mood you're in or dictate how you're feeling. Someone could just walk into a room in a really crappy mood, really heavy, and I can just immediately absorb that and it make me feel really heavy, really shit, and so what we need to try and think about is right, okay, how can I it's almost like how can I put some boundaries in place so I'm not absorbing all that negativity and actually keep myself nice and clear, so that my energy is protected, so I can keep upbeat, I can keep positive, I can keep nice, clean, clear energy, so I can go through my day feeling as high vibe as I possibly can. So I think that's what.

Speaker 2:

That's what I think it is yeah, and I mean I completely agree with everything you said. And but just going back to your point about the fact that we're 99% energy, I think part of the problem perhaps is that many of us it's not even that we forget that we're made of energy. It's just that we're not even really aware. We've never really stopped to think about the fact that the scientific fact is that we are energy, nearly 100 energy. You know, every single thing in this universe is, is energy and is vibrating and is moving and it matters. That's the thing our energy matters and essentially, the way you can check in with yourself on well, what, what is my energy is, how do you feel? That is the check, that is the checklist. How do I feel? And you know it, it really is. I like to think of this life as a kind of a dance with energy. When you think about it as this sort of dance with the universe and a dance with energy, it's like constantly sort of playing with your energy, to, like you say, bringing it back to the high vibes, because it matters so much more than we realize. And you mentioned that we take it for granted. But again, I don't think it's even that we take it for granted. I think it's that we just don't think about it. We're just not walking through our days remembering that we are energetic beings, we're not prioritizing the energy that we're putting out, because, ultimately, the dominant vibration that we are putting out into the world, our dominant emotion, is massively impacting the life that we see before us. What we are putting out, we are drawing back into our life. So, if, 75% of the time, you feel like shit, that is your dominant vibration and you are subsequently going to attract things on that same vibrational frequency, because this is the thing about energy it's like like attracts, like and I've used this analogy a million times because I love it so much. I've heard lots of other people talking about it, but I always talk about it like a radio station. We've talked about it on here multiple times, but it's. You can't hear it enough. Because and even if someone is rolling their eyes going yeah, we know, you've talked about this before my question to them is well, are you actually checking in with what station you're tuned into? Because this is what we have to do every single day. We have to ask ourselves what radio station am I tuned into? Am I tuned into misery fm, or am I tuned into joy fm? Because what we are tuning into, that is, is what we're gonna receive, in the same way that when we tune into Jazz FM, we're gonna receive jazz. When we tune into Rock FM, we're gonna receive rock music. It's the same with us. We're receivers. So we have to remember, we have to remind ourselves regularly, as in every single day what station am I tuning into, what frequency am I receiving? So that's that's really what this life is about.

Speaker 2:

It's this constant and, of course, our energy changes all the time. Mine does, yours, yours does. It's not like we're constantly feeling amazing, but it's. It's about noticing where your energy is and, in terms of energy hygiene, like you, like you say, we've got to keep it clean as much as we can. So it's about noticing, wearing it where it is, and I think the practice is kind of like meditation. It's like it's about noticing where it is and I think the practice is kind of like meditation. It's like it's constantly noticing, bringing it back, noticing, bringing it back in the same way that in meditation it's like noticing your thoughts, bringing yourself back to your breath or bringing yourself back to the, you know whatever guided meditation you're listening to, or just bringing yourself back to your center. It's the the same with our energy and it really is a practice that we have to tune into and we have to tap into every single day Because, again, what we're putting out is what we're getting back.

Speaker 2:

So, and I like to think of it as literally, you know, when, the way that we're feeling, if you kind of imagine sort of energetic particles literally sort of going out into the vibrational field, into the sort of you know, this infinite universal field that we're all swimming in all of the time, without even knowing it, that source energy, think about those particles sort of floating out, and then you are, you are literally attracting back into your life the same energy that you're putting out, attracting back into your life the same energy that you're putting out. And that's the thing. We don't have to feel great all the time, but we do have to focus on keeping our energy as clean as we can and as high vibe as we can, a little bit more than 50% of the time, because, again, it's that dominant feeling, it's that dominant vibration, that dominant emotion is what you're going to attract back and that is what is going to result in the life that you see before you, it's just, it's everything. It really is everything. And you know, I would just sort of invite people to give it a go. Just practice. What have you got to lose? Play around with it Just for the next week. Try and see what happens when you start prioritizing feeling good for the next week. Try and see what happens when you start prioritizing feeling good, feeling a little bit better.

Speaker 2:

And if you are one of those people which, I might add, I absolutely used to be who was much more in the kind of low vibe frequency, I was much more, you know, I was much more into worry, I was feeling down, I was feeling anxious, I was feeling annoyed, I was feeling angry, all of that was my, my kind of dominant vibration, for longer than I care to admit.

Speaker 2:

But truly, when you change that, your life starts to shift, things start getting better and you know, one of the best ways to do this is something we talked about ad nauseum on here is to constantly come back to gratitude. And if you're, if you're finding it hard, if you're like, well, for fuck's sake, I haven't got anything, you know, I think, to feel good about, well, that's bollocks, because we all do. Quite frankly, if you're watching this or listening to this, it means you have a phone. You know you can be grateful for that. There's always something, even if it's the really tiny things. And if you find it hard, just bring it back to the super simple things like you have food to eat, you have water to drink, you have nice coffee, you can have a nice smoothie. You know you get to have a roof over your head. Bring it back to those tiny things and just just start to come from a place of gratitude, because gratitude will always shift your vibration into a higher frequency yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1:

I love what you said about how we need to just focus on, you know, just 50 percent, you know, just tipping the scales over 51 percent, yeah, to be feeling good, and that's going to shift and that's going to make the difference. And I always think, you know, it was like, oh, I just it's hard to feel good all the time and I'm doing, I'm at work, I'm doing all these other jobs and these chores, but actually it starts with the morning. It starts with how you wake up in the morning, and that's that is why I absolutely love morning practices and that is why, you know, I try and when the moment I wake, even before I've opened my eyes, I'll take a breath and I will just be so, I'll try and just say to myself today's going to be a great day. It's like every day we get this amazing opportunity to restart, to have a reset, and just with the intention, right, today is going to be a great day, and yet nobody. I mean, you know, I gosh, I don't know if anybody can keep that high vibe all day. It's virtually impossible. But just starting with an intention at the start is going to really help. You just remind yourself okay, let's start with a really good intention, rather than going straight away, picking up the phone and checking your emails or looking at your instagram or whatever, just taking a few moments just to check in with yourself and set your intention for feeling good, which is why I just love my morning practice of the inner space as well. It's just a really good opportunity.

Speaker 1:

Breath is a great opportunity to get rid on your exhale of all the crap you're carrying, all the stale, stagnant energy, and breathe in the new, and it literally is as simple as that. It's kind of such a good good um metaphor for for energy, for life. Just let go of the old and the excel, bring in the new and it works. It's a really good cleansing practice that you can do and then with all the other tools, like gratitude, like meditation, like visualization, you can raise your vibration really intentionally and I think, so much more easily. You get this amazing tingly feeling. You actually feel the vibration in your body, you feel your vibrizing and even just 10 minutes of that in the morning sets you up and it took to a place, place. You know your baseline is already risen. Your kind of feel good baseline is is is up here. So from that baseline. Then if you do drop, at least your baseline has started from a good place, your energy baseline. So that is I.

Speaker 1:

I just think morning is such a great place to start, and of course course you've got things going on through the day, but it's just about constantly reminding yourself you know what are the things which make me feel really good, what do I love to do, and just you know, even if it's just like putting your face outside the door for five minutes if the sun's out, and just feeling the warmth in your face, if it's just to put on a really great song, you know we talk about all these things before to kind of lift your vibration and to be aware of those drains, those things which suck all the energy out of you, and we all know what those things are for us, because it makes you feel depleted, it makes feel like shit, and you know, for me, if I've sat in front of my laptop for too long, it does deplete me, and so it's about being able to set those boundaries with yourself. Right, I really need to go and take a break now. I need to go and do something else and actually I will come back much better, with much cleaner energy. So it's about you know, it's people pleasing is another big drain. If you're constantly doing everything for everybody else and you're not looking after your own needs, that is going to completely drain and deplete you. Hanging out with people who are just draining you from your energy, who are real suckers of energy, is going to deplete you. So, again, putting some boundaries in place, right, I'm not going to hang out with those people. Or if I do, you just go right. Great, I'm moving on now. Um, just looking, it's just all those self-care practices, which is about really protecting your own boundaries, your own energy. And again, that's why I do all my, all of those sorts of things in the morning, because it sets me up for a good moving. Moving your body that's another one.

Speaker 1:

If you're feeling lethargic and you're feeling stagnant, jump up and shake your body. It's going to get rid of it. It literally gets rid of it. It's like a dog. It's like when a dog does the shake. It gets rid of all that energy and it's like a reset. Yeah, so, yeah, it gets rid of all that energy and it's like a reset. Yeah, so yeah, I mean it's. It's just having that awareness, as always, of where are you at, you know what, and, at the end of the day, a really good practice, gosh, I don't do this very often, but if you are feeling really depleted, a really good practice is just to to really have a think. What is it which has drained my energy today? What are the things which have sucked it and actually, how can I replenish that? What do I need? What things which can? So it's almost constantly trying to get tip the scales, so that you're constantly returning to that baseline, and if we can raise that baseline as high as possible, then that's great, yeah.

Speaker 2:

And also another thing when it comes to sort of energy hygiene is you know, you've already mentioned people and I think you know it's almost like we have to, and I and I try and do this because I, like you, can be very empathetic and pick up on how other people are feeling. I'm very, very aware of how other people are feeling, I'm very sensitive to that, I'm very sort of tuned into that, and it's it's it's so kind of automatic that I barely even know I'm doing it because I've just always done it. But we almost have to create a little bubble around ourselves so that other people's energy can't penetrate our kind of our field. You know, and and this is something that I think I'm pretty sure we talked about on here a while ago, I think I talked about it on my podcast too, but it's become there's there's that thing where you're either the thermometer or the thermostat.

Speaker 2:

So are you the person who sets the thermostat in a room or are you a thermometer, in that you just kind of shift and change to the temperature in the room. So when you walk into the room, if it's, if it's a really, you know, bad vibe, do you find yourself automatically changing your energy to fit the temperature in the room, or do you come into the room and could, you know, set the thermostat yourself and and help everybody raise their energy up to meet you? You know when you, if you think, I mean, and it's silly things like you know, for example, like gossiping, let's take gossiping, it's quite a good example. We've all fucking done it, I've done it, you've done it, we've all done it, we will all always do it to a certain, to a greater or lesser extent.

Speaker 2:

It's something that I've really tried to sort of remove myself from or just not do because it's it's just, it is bad vibes, it just, it just really is. And so, for example, when it comes to sort of energetic hygiene, if you find yourself in in, you know, regular conversations with people who are, say, gossiping about other people, because it's just like you know, there are so much, so many more interesting things to talk about in life than other people. If you find yourself in a conversation, if you find yourself regularly with the same people talking about other people, it's time to like, look at that and I've looked at that in my own life as well, just FYI, it's not like I've never done that, of course, because, again, we all have. But in those kinds of situations, can you be the person to again, can you be the thermostat, can you be the person that that actually moves away from that topic? You know, or or or just doesn't engage like and, and that can be really hard because the people around you want you to engage, because you know when or just doesn't engage like and, and that can be really hard, because the people around you want you to engage because you know when you're with people like that, they're like, they're dying to be like, oh, and another thing and another thing. But can you be the one to actually shift the conversation onto something else? Just, you know, subtly, move it onto something a bit more, a bit more positive and a bit less gossipy? You, you know, it's things like that, just noticing the conversations that you're having and where they're going and how they're making you feel, because none of us feel good when we've, you know, we might feel good in the moment having a massive gossip session about somebody, but we don't feel good really after doing that. So it's just noticing the kinds of conversations that you're having with people what, literally what? And it's not just got things like what are you talking about?

Speaker 2:

Another big one and this is something that I really try not to engage in as much as humanly possible. It's the people who just want to moan and complain about everything that is shit in the world. And boy oh boy, you can find them like that. You know, walk down the street, grab the nearest person and guaranteed you know what I mean you're, you're likely that that's what's going to happen. We, it's just, it's so prolific among humans to just to talk about all the shite that's happening. So, notice, are there people in your life where you end up sitting around just talking about all the shite that's happening. So, notice, are there people in your life where you end up sitting around just talking about all the shit? Oh, this is really bad.

Speaker 2:

And oh, the cost of living, and oh, you know it's such a funny one because, like I've heard and I'm obviously, the cost of living has affected me too. Of course it fucking has, you know, but I choose not to go on and on and on about it, because what is the point? What is the actual point? So, if you find yourself having those kinds of conversations where you're just reinforcing everything that is worrying and anxiety-inducing and it doesn't mean being in denial, like I say, it's freaking happening anyway, you know it doesn't help to talk about oh, that bill went up and that bill loads of my bills. My bills have fucking doubled. I have huge outgoings, I let you know, I have my own flat, it's just me, and so I totally know it. But I, but I still do not allow myself to sit in that worry, that anxiety, talking about well the price of petrol and oh, have you noticed how eggs have gone up?

Speaker 2:

And yes, if they okay, so they have. But what are we going to do, like, what is the point of going over and over and over? And I just think, as humans, we have a tendency to do that. So notice, if you are doing that, if you're having weekly or daily conversations with the same people about those same things, change the fucking subject. Talk about something inspiring, talk about a podcast that you listen to or talk about, you know where you want to go traveling or whatever it is. It's just so important to not constantly reinforce all of the crap. Again, we all do, but I think we have to be so mindful of this. It's such a big one and it is, you know, when it comes to energy hygiene.

Speaker 1:

This is important yeah, when you you were talking about um, you know how you're a thermostat or a thermometer, I think. Particularly you know, as, as a mother in a family, and I think a lot of matriarchs and like figures and families are absolutely the thermostat, because I know that, as you know, I set the tone in my family. If I am cool and calm and in a good mood and those ripples are incredible, that energy does spread to everybody else. Just, you know, particularly I've got a house full of teenagers and hormones and you know moods can really fluctuate. What I've realized, that if I'm the one and this is very hard when a lot of women are at the same time in menopause or perimenopause, and you know that's that's, there's a lot going on. But if you are constantly, you know, all over the place with your own energy, those ripples then go, you know, really do affect everybody else.

Speaker 1:

And I was, I've always been someone until recently, where I, honestly, if my husband walked in the door and he was in a really crap mood, I always thought that I had to go down to his level of of kind of mood, almost out of sympathy or support, and then I realized like what, what am I doing? That's absolutely rubbish. I'm the one who should be staying up here keeping my energy up, because then I can bring everybody up with me and that is so much more effective. And it's taken me a very, very long time to do that. When you know and it's a very recent thing, but it's amazing. So when and it's only because now I absolutely prioritize my own self-care, own energy, and it just affects everybody else you know when you can start the day as the person who is responsible for you know, you have other, lots of other people around you setting the tone for their day. If I'm starting from a place of feeling depleted, feeling ratty, they are all going to feel it and that's going to affect their day. So I really do.

Speaker 1:

I think it's just such a big one. You know we feel that energy and you know I know that from growing up. You know if you've got you know if you've got a parent who is not in a great place and you're tiptoeing around not to upset anybody it's not a great place to be tiptoeing around, not to upset anybody, it's not a great place to be. So I think we have a responsibility for anybody around us to obviously just to be in the best place we possibly can and obviously we're not always going to be there at all, you know. But if you can always try and get back there is going to help.

Speaker 1:

And ultimately, when everybody you know if you can keep yourself up in that good place, everybody's energetic levels are going to rise. They're they're going to affect the people who they go to. You know my daughter going to school. She's going to affect her friends. You know my son's going to work. You know everybody's going to feel the the effects of this. It's incredible. So it's a massive responsibility really for the wider, wider community if for us to be able to really, really look after our own energy yeah, it's so true.

Speaker 2:

You know, energy is powerful, to the positive and the negative. We have to remember that. And you know, speaking to my audience, obviously, single women, actually, one of the one of the best underrated benefits of being single and living alone is that you don't have to deal with other people's negative, potentially negative energy. And I remember when I, you know I've lived with various boyfriends and you know I mean, obviously it's completely normal, but you know your mood, it's difficult for your mood not to be affected by the people that you're living with, and so that really is, in my opinion, one of the benefits of living alone. And I love that because I'm in control of how I you know that I'm not, I'm not constantly dealing with other people's emotions, sort of thing. Um, but what I, what I was going to say people will laugh at this, but, and again, speaking to the singles out there, so, as you know, I have a cat, so he is the living being that I live with and I'm really aware that. And again, speaking to how incredibly powerful energy is, to the good or the bad, I'm aware of how the way that I'm feeling affects Johnny, if I'm feeling chilled and high vibe, and la, la, la la. I know that he's happy because he is going to pick up on my energy.

Speaker 2:

And there have been a few times in the time that I've had him, for the three years I've had him, where you know, say I've had like a row with my sister on the phone. Or say you know what I mean. Or say I've been on like customer service to my fucking website provider. That, oh my god, I can't even talk about it because it triggers me so badly. I've had, like you know, two hour quite heated conversations with customer service because they're just so rubbish. I won't name the company, but anyway.

Speaker 2:

Um, but, and I've come off and I've looked at this little cat and I've thought, oh my god, and I've gone over to him and I've gone oh my god, darling, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. Um, because it, because it really matters, because you know, again, your energy is powerful and the people around you are picking up on it and pets are picking up on it too. You've got a dog. You know how Herbie is Like when you're in a bad mood. You can probably tell he's a bit like oh my God, you know what I mean and it affects him. So it's kind of it matters to not just the humans around us but also the animals in our lives as well. And again, I'm just like super conscious of or just aware that, johnny, really, as long as I'm feeling good, that little cat is feeling pretty good, you know. Yeah, no, no, but it's true, but they do. Yeah, it was a great energy receptors.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely. Maybe we just it's got just in the last minute or two, maybe we just kind of come up with some ideas of ways to protect your energy, of what you do. Someone once told me and I I used to do this, I haven't done this for ages that if you are very, very sensitive to other people's energies and you know if you're an empath, you'll totally get this is, before you even go out the front door, you can actually put on an invisibility cloak, almost harry potter style, and you can put the cloak over, put it over your head, wrap it around your, your body, and it's almost like this sort of layer, this invisible layer that is going to protect your energy within from everything outside, and actually it really does help. Uh, you know, keep, keep, you keep your energy in. It's just something so simple but actually really, really effective. So that's something which, um, you can do.

Speaker 1:

Uh, and I think also, just if you are feeling like you've been completely like, ah, I've got, you know, picking up on other people's energy, it really is about just kind of getting getting to a place where you can just really have some time just to let that go. It's almost like shake it off, have a bit of a reset, get some fresh air clear your head. And, yeah, for me movement is movement is so important as a reset. You know it's a great way. You can almost kind of like hum it out, shout it out, take it off. Yeah, and again, look at animals, what they do.

Speaker 2:

Speaking of animals and speaking about Johnny again, because any excuse took my back on the cat. As you know, he always like, every time, and I'm sure Herbie does this as well every time Johnny, like you know, wakes up from sleeping, the first thing he does is have a massive stretch, the first thing he does without fail, and I often look at him stretching. I think, bloody hell, I need to take a leaf out of his book. I need to do that. Do I need to like stretch? And he just does it like it's the sweetest, funniest thing, like he kind of.

Speaker 2:

You know how he'll do it, where, when he sort of stands up from sleeping, he'll just like arch his back it's the cutest thing ever, and then he'll like have a big, proper, like mega kind of cat stretch and and I do I think to myself god, I need to start doing that more. It's so important. And, actually, speaking of that, I and I never used to do this. I never used to warm up and cool down from my strength workouts. And now I found this new I don't know if I've told you probably I found this, this woman online anyone who wants to get in strength training, by the way, I found this awesome woman online on YouTube called Cheryl Coulombe and she has lots of like different workouts, like 30 minute workouts, and I've been doing them for the last couple of weeks and I love her.

Speaker 2:

She's got fair hair. Yeah, she's probably in her. I would say she's in her late 50s, early 60s. Maybe lift with city.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I know awesome. Yes, yeah, yeah, do you I love her.

Speaker 2:

So I've been doing her youtube workouts right and and I really like them. And well, actually saying I like them is a lie. I don't like them, but you know, I think they're good workouts and I kind of, yeah, anyway, she always, she always stretches, you know, does some kind of stretching before and stretching afterwards, and again, it's about that kind of shifting that energy, moving that energy. Um, I don't know where I'm going with this. I'm going to shut up because it's half past nine. We're not a complete tangent, my bad okay, amazing.

Speaker 1:

Um well, there we go, there, we go, there we go, there we go. I've seen it done A pleasure, as always. Yes, absolutely. Have a lovely day, you too See you next week. See you later. Lots of love, bye, bye.