Vampires should be a mere figment of one’s imagination that can thrill, scare, and entertain. However, some people are energy vampires, robbing others of precious strength. They are toxic and often prey on sensitive people, depleting their power and happiness.
17 Strategies to Reclaim Your Power From an Energy Vampire
These poisonous personalities don’t turn into bats; you can’t repel them with garlic or religious artifacts. However, there are ways you can stop their despicable actions that deplete your energy. Try these ways to reclaim your power from energy vampires.
1. Learn How to Recognize Compassion Fatigue
You naturally release compassionate energy to those in need if you’re empathetic. You can be physically, mentally, and spiritually drained when it becomes chronic. A study published by Sage Journals calls this overload compassion fatigue. If you look inside, it would appear as bruises on the soul.
Energy vampires often cause this condition, and they can rob you of happiness and your usual empathy. The best way to cope is to shift the focus to self-care and learn to decompress and step out of the situation.
2. Choose Your Battles Wisely When You Deal With an Energy Vampire
Have you ever met someone who specializes in drama every day? These emotional vampires fall to pieces and cause a scene no matter how insignificant the situation. They experience great happiness when they drag you and anyone else who will listen into their toxic melodramas.
Fortunately, you can stop this tremendous energy drain at will. You needn’t respond to every whimper, whine, and attitude they have when you’re around. You must save your emotional fire for things that indeed are important.
3. Use Efficient Time Management
Another trick of energy vampires is to squeeze as much time from you as possible. It’s one thing to be a shoulder to cry occasionally, but they want your shoulder to be their permanent headrest. They often monopolize your time and use you as a personal on-call counselor and sounding board.
Your time is valuable, and you can choose how you use it. If you give it all to selfish people, you’ll end up exhausted and emotionally drained. Do spend time with those in your circle but save enough to care for yourself properly.
4. Make Yourself Scarce When an Energy Vampire Enters Your Space
Empaths often feel a personal and moral obligation to be emotionally available to all. Energy vampires understand this weakness and use it to their advantage. They assume you are waiting with open arms to comfort them whenever they call or show up at your door.
Pulling up the welcome mat is the best way to nip this negative behavior in the bud. You can be polite yet firm when it comes to this person. Stop answering their constant phone calls and avoid being around them when you feel stressed.
Often, they will take the hint and move on to another sympathetic individual to act as their crutch.
5. Use the Power of Numbers
It’s often difficult for one person to absorb all the drama energy zappers create. They can quickly zap your power and make you feel miserable. The only thing these poisonous personalities like more than a sympathetic ear is a crowd of them.
The next time you get lulled into someone’s pity party, why not share the responsibility? Keep your responses confidential and bring some other folks into the conversation. No single person must bear the burden; someone will change the subject if you’re lucky.
6. Don’t Use Social Media as a Reality Show
Social media platforms can help you stay connected with your family and friends. It’s also ideal to advertise or find more information about your interests. Unfortunately, overusing social media can make you a prime target for an energy vampire.
These folks often focus their negative energy on anything or anyone they can criticize. Avoid their judgmental comments and only post things that aren’t too sensitive for you. Please don’t give them any foothold to jump in and cause a lot of unnecessary drama.
7. Talk Less and Listen More
It takes a lot more energy to talk than it does to listen. Thankfully, energy vampires like to do much talking, so you can save some of your energy. In these difficult conversations, ask open-ended questions, so they’ll have to do all the talking.
8. Minimize Eye Contact With an Energy Vampire
Remember the old scary movies when Dracula would transfix people with his eyes? Maintaining eye contact naturally indicates your interest in the other person’s words. If you want fewer and shorter chats with an energy zapper, keep your direct eye contact to a minimum.
9. Change the Subject
Nowhere is it written in any etiquette book that you must discuss a subject that makes you feel uncomfortable. Most topics that these negative people enjoy are those that are emotionally charged. If you don’t like the direction of the conversation, feel free to change the subject politely.
10. Maintain Your Composure
You won’t be valuable to a toxic personality for long if you don’t give them the attention they crave. Please don’t take it when they offer you the bait of a loaded question or comment. Please don’t give them the benefit of seeing you react to their ploys.
Keep calm and try to maintain neutral body language and tone of voice. When you deflect invasive questions and negative comments, they have no ammunition. They may either change the subject or chat with someone else.
11. Surround Yourself with Positive Energy
You’ll be glad to know positive energy is as contagious as negativity. According to an article by the University of New Hampshire, surrounding yourself with positive people can affect your happiness. Per the article, you’ll have a happier attitude and better well-being.
12. Affirm Your Self-Worth
Has a toxic energy zapper made you feel less than because of their negativity and judgmental attitude? Perhaps you’ve been a target of their fury, which only affects your self-esteem. Meditation, positive affirmations, and journaling can help you re-affirm that you are more than worthy of love and respect.
13. Get a Change of Scenery
You need time to recharge yourself if you feel deflated and rundown because of an energy zapper. Go for a long walk in nature and allow the beauty of the great outdoors to boost your spirits. Visit a museum or do something fun and exciting to help you focus on positive emotions.
14. Make an Exit–Steer Clear of the Energy Vampire
Sometimes you’ve tried every method to cope with an energy-draining conversation, and they fail. In these cases, you’ve no obligation to stay in a conversation that’s making you feel uncomfortable. Suddenly remember something urgent you must do and make a graceful exit.
15. Let Go of the Situation
Are you tired of tossing and turning at night because of someone else’s problems? Your empathetic nature may cause you to expend more energy than necessary. Show yourself some compassion and learn to let go of situations that aren’t yours to fix.
If a thoughtless person absorbs all your energy, put your foot down. Sometimes you must let go of people and their drama. Do so with kindness, learn lessons from it, and go your way in peace and contentment.
16. Turn to Your Higher Power
Turning to your higher power in times of need is advisable. You may feel like this person attacks you whenever they enter your life. Sometimes, you can’t avoid them, as it may be a coworker or relative with whom you have no choice but to spend time. Ask the Universe to surround you with positivity, placing a hedge of protection around you when in their presence.
17. Respond to an Energy Vampire With an Emphatic No!
No is such an easy word to comprehend, yet so few people know how to use it. When these energy-zapping folks come knocking at your door wanting favors or bore you with their constant drama, learn to say no.
You don’t have to entertain this poison; if you allow it in your life, you open yourself up to this constant negativity. When they ask you to do something or want some time, learn how to stand up for yourself.
Final Thoughts on Taking Your Power Back From an Energy Vampire
Energy vampires can exist in any level of your circle, whether family, friends, or coworkers. Your energy belongs to you, and you decide with whom you’ll share it. Save it for those who share theirs with you, and say no to those who only take.
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