Starseed Evolution: Embracing Empathic Awareness and the "Is this Mine?" Technique

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Ever wonder if the emotions you feel truly belong to you? As a highly sensitive person myself, I have often found myself overwhelmed by emotions that seemingly come out of nowhere. In this episode of Starseed Evolution, I share a transformative technique called "Is this Mine?" that has been a revelation on my empathic journey. This self-care tool empowers us to discern which feelings are genuinely ours and which we might be absorbing from those around us. By sharing my personal experience with grief, I demonstrate how acknowledging and documenting these emotions can help maintain our well-being while extending empathy to others. 

To further support your journey, I invite you to embark on a 10-day meditation course available on the Insight Timer app. This course is specially designed for starseeds evolving in their awareness and understanding of deep emotions. Together, we'll connect with the energy of Buddha to enhance our ability to sit with and process our feelings. I'm excited about the upcoming episode, where we'll continue this path with a guided meditation. Join me, Shannon, as we embrace our sensitivities and harness them to create a more compassionate world.

Thank you for music by: Chris Collins of Indie Music Box and Blue Dot Sessions

Artful Touch Therapies – my professional website

https://www.artfultouchbyshannon.com/ 

 

Shannon Sullivan, International Meditation Teacher on Insight Timer

(Download Insight Timer app. Then click link to my teacher page)

https://insig.ht/dlUov5SHgLb 

 

Link Tree Information:

https://www.linktr.ee/silverlunastarseed

 

10 Day Course for Empaths and Highly Sensitive People

https://insig.ht/38A3CwdPxNb 

 

Blue Heron Creates 

This is my music artist name where I share mantras and original songs from many different faith traditions.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4I0l8GxlFZ0dD5acKgsabs?si=hVSjJSt7Quudh0-yGBQEBg

 

Silver Luna Starseed Instagram Feed:

https://instagram.com/silverlunastarseed 

 

Indie Music Box – Chris Collins

https://indiemusicbox.com/ 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi, thank you so much for joining me today.
I'm Shannon and this isStarseed Evolution, bringing the
wisdom and insight of thecosmos to you.
I'm grateful that you'relistening.
In our last episode, we startedthe conversation around what it

(00:23):
means to be empathic or highlysensitive.
Today, we're going to becontinuing that conversation by
exploring our first tool ortechnique.
So why do we need tools ortechniques as empathic or highly
sensitive people?

(00:43):
Because we need to develop ourown owner's manual to take care
of our sensitive systems.
In episode six, when I wastalking about what it means to
be sensitive, I compared ournervous system with that of
having a high-powered vehiclelike a Ferrari.

(01:05):
If we have that sensitivity, weneed to understand the
owner-operator manual for ourown nervous system, which isn't
typical.
Tools or techniques that welearn empower us to care for
ourselves and our sensitivity,our energy, our nervous system,

(01:30):
our brain, our psychic field,our emotional body.
Dr Judith Orloff, whospecializes in working with
empathic people, says this Ilove when the environmentalist
David Orr says the planet doesnot need more successful people.

(01:54):
The planet desperately needsmore peacemakers, healers,
restorers, storytellers andlovers of all kinds.
It needs people to live well.
It needs people with moralcourage, willing to join the
struggle to make the worldhabitable and humane.

(02:17):
This comes from Dr Orloff'sbook, the Empath Survival Guide.
So, jumping off this quote, thesensitivity of empaths and
highly sensitive people isnecessary for our world to
maintain the humanity and heartof our world of caring and

(02:40):
compassion.
It's important for us to learnhow to care for our own
sensitive self in order that weare able then to keep showing up
for life, for ourselves and forthose people around us who
might need our help as well.
The tool that we'll be exploringtoday is called.

(03:04):
Is this Mine?
As with any tool, the only wayto know if it works for you is
to actually try it in youreveryday life.
So I'd like to share this toolwith you now and how to put it
into practice, and I hope youenjoy learning about this.

(03:24):
One of the traits of beingempathic is that we can often,
without knowing it or realizingit, take on the energy or
feelings of either those peoplearound us, or energy can travel,

(03:45):
so if we're deeply connected tofriends or family or animals,
we can also pick up thosefeelings through that connection
.
Even if we're not in the samehousehold or room with them,
that energy or information canstill travel through those

(04:06):
connections, those bonds that weformed in our body.
This second tool that I'mteaching you today may seem
simple.
However, when used at the righttime, can be highly effective.
Time can be highly effective.

(04:31):
So how does it work?
When we suddenly feel a feelingor an emotion that wasn't there
before and it seems to come outof nowhere, that's the time to
put this tool to use.
I'll give you an example frommy own life so you understand
how this might come into playand how you might use it in the
future.

(04:52):
One morning, when I woke up, Iwas getting ready for the day.
I remember waking up thatmorning feeling okay, feeling
normal.
About an hour into the morning,I had begun making the bed when
, all of a sudden, thisoverwhelming urge to cry moved

(05:13):
through my body.
This deep grief, urge to crymoved through my body.
This deep grief.
As the grief moved through meand I allowed myself to cry, I
used this tool that I'm going toteach you now, because I
realized that this grief mightnot necessarily be my own.
When you can begin todistinguish between what's your

(05:36):
own and what might be somebodyelse's, who may not even be
present in that moment I stopped, closed my eyes and asked my
body is this mine?
The feeling of the overwhelmand sadness just temporarily

(05:57):
lifted, giving me space from thefeeling.
Because of that lifting up forthe moment, I realized that the
feeling I was having, or theexperience of the emotion, was
not my own, was not my own.

(06:21):
I didn't know who it belongedto, so I allowed myself to carry
the grief but understood itwasn't my own process.
Next, what I did was write downthe feeling.
I put the date, the time thatit happened and what I was
experiencing.
By doing this I honored thosefeelings.
The next thing I did was sendenergy to whoever was having

(06:46):
that experience.
About an hour after theexperience, I received a text
from my friend.
She let me know that her dogpassed about an hour before Now.
Her doggie and I had been closefriends for about 11 years.

(07:06):
It was a very special dog to me, so I knew the loss of the dog,
both for my friend and formyself, was a very deep loss.
I also realized that my bodywas receiving that information
before my mind received it.

(07:27):
So when I went back to thejournal to document that this is
what happened, it helped mehonor that I was having the
experience.
It wasn't my own, and I alsodiscovered where that grief had
been coming from.
The last thing that I like todo in this process is because I

(07:50):
might not necessarily know wherethat energy is coming from, I
want that person, that place,that animal to have the
energetic support they need,even if I'm not sure who it
belongs to.
Imagine placing care or love orupliftment into your hands and

(08:15):
handing over this care or loveto your spiritual helpers,
whoever that might be for you,whether it's an angel or an
ancestor, and ask them to bewith the person who's
experiencing these emotions.
Who's experiencing theseemotions?

(08:36):
By doing these steps and I'llwalk you through them it allows
you to begin to process first,what is your own experience of a
feeling you're having, if itbelongs to you or if it belongs

(09:00):
to somebody else.
So you're beginning to discernthe difference between what
you're feeling in your body.
The next thing you're doing islearning to honor the messages
that your body receives, evenbefore your mind might
consciously know the information.
So you're learning to trustthat intuitive part of yourself
by using this tool.
So now let's go through thesteps for tool number two.

(09:24):
Is this Mine?
You've just experienced anoverwhelming feeling that is out
of the blue.
You're not sure whether thisfeeling is your own or someone
else's.
Let's check in First.

(09:46):
Stop, close your eyes Now placeyour hands on your stomach
gently, begin by taking a deepbreath, in bringing that breath
into your hands and exhaling.

(10:10):
Now that we're connected to ourbody, we ask our body and the
feeling that we're experiencingthis question is this mine?
And see what you notice as youask this question that runs

(10:33):
through your body.
Does the energy change slightly?
Does it become lighter?
Does it lift from youtemporarily?
If it does, then you have youranswer that the feeling you're

(10:55):
experiencing is not your own.
After you've asked this questionand discerned whether this
feeling is yours or not, if thefeeling comes back, just know
that the whole point of thisexercise is to discover whether

(11:16):
the feelings you're experiencingare your own or not.
It might take a little whilefor them to completely lift from
your body.
Once you have your answer, thenI'll have you open your eyes
and then just jot down orjournal the time, the date, what

(11:39):
you were experiencing the time,the date, what you were
experiencing.
By identifying this, youidentify that you're listening
to your body.
And then the last part of thisis to then imagine gathering all

(11:59):
those feelings that may not beyour own into your hands,
lifting them up, and thenimagine placing them into the
hands of your spiritual team tohold for that person, that place
or that animal that might beneeding extra support at this
time, at this time Now, taking adeep breath in and exhaling.

(12:33):
You can do this exercise as manytimes as you need throughout
the day.
Doing so allows you to continueto listen to the experiences
that your own body is having.
So let's put those steps outtogether one more time.
First, recognizing when anemotion comes in that doesn't

(12:54):
necessarily belong to youbecause it's out of left field.
When you have the chance, stop,close your eyes, place your
hands on your stomach and askyour body this question is this
mine Taking a deep breath in andthen listening to your body.

(13:17):
If the feeling that you'reexperiencing temporarily
lightens, then this means thatthe emotion that you're
experiencing is most likely notyour own.
Then, making note, either in ajournal or your calendar or your
phone, of that which youexperienced.

(13:39):
So you're honoring, noticingwhat's happening in your body.
Then, when you're ready,calling in your spiritual team
and asking them to hold theenergy of what that other person
, place or animal might beexperiencing.

(14:00):
You can approach using this toolin a relaxed manner.
There's no getting it right orgetting it wrong Over time.
The more you make use of thetool, the better you'll
understand how your body likesto communicate to you.
You're building a bridge ofcommunication between yourself

(14:22):
and your empathic skills.
I'd like to thank you so muchfor joining me today for
exploring our first tool of manymore to come.
As with any new skill, the moreoften you use it, the better

(14:42):
discerning you will become overtime about learning to
distinguish between your ownthoughts and feelings from
others around you.
If you'd like to explore moretools in depth, like the one I
taught you today, I have a10-day course on the app Insight

(15:03):
Timer, which is a meditationapp, and you can check it out
there.
The link will be in the shownotes.
In our next episode, we'll betaking a guided journey with the
energy of Buddha that teachesus how to sit with our feelings

(15:26):
and emotions as starseeds whoare willing to evolve and awaken
.
Learning how to navigate ouremotions is important.
I look forward to sharing thismeditation with you next time.
I'm Shannon and you'relistening to Starseed Evolution.

(15:49):
Have a beautiful day.