Q. I’m highly sensitive and empathic. I’m feeling increasingly debilitated by the emotions and feelings I’m picking up from other people. Is there a way to cultivate my sensitivity without feeling so overwhelmed and burnt out?

It’s depleting and exhausting to be flooded with other people’s emotional energy. And it’s a predominant cultural theme these days. The words ‘empath’, and ‘sensitive’ are synonyms for clairsentience, an energetic term used to convey the ability to sense into and feel other people’s emotions. Clairsentience is not a life sentence. It’s actually a trainable skill. You can learn to decrease clairsentience, create healthy energetic boundaries, and enjoy a sophisticated and elegant way of relating to others without being awash in their emotions.

Clairsentience is a function of your second chakra. Located slightly below your navel, the second chakra has a petaled aperture or opening in the front and back that can be adjusted to regulate energy flow.

Chakras operate like vacuums or vortexes, and they whirl in energy from your surroundings. Your 2nd chakra’s function is to manage and monitor your emotions. When excessively open, your energy field is easily overwhelmed by the emotional energy of others.

If your 2nd chakra is too open when on a late arriving airplane filled with passengers worried about making connecting flights, you’ll vacuum in a lot of anxiety — whether or not you’re anxious about your own connecting flight! If you’re supporting a friend in a hospital emergency room, you’ll vacuum free-floating pain, fear, anger and a whole host of other emotions.

Bottom line: If your 2nd chakra is too open, you’re pulling in emotional energy wherever you go, drama or not! That’s the nature of clairsentience, sensitivity, empathic connection.

You may be concerned that you’ll be cold or heartless, distant and disengaged if you regulate your 2nd chakra and decrease clairsentience. Not to worry. You’ll be able to cultivate a deep connection through your compassion center instead.

When you’re flowing compassion, your heart is available, and it’s a force for good, for presence and genuine connection. Compassion means, ‘I see and hear you. I’m open and available.’

Energetically, compassion is a flow-state. Your compassion center is located in your entire upper chest area, and connects to your heart chakra. It’s where you might spontaneously place your hand if I said something that moved or touched you.

You can never be depleted by the energy of compassion! It’s an ever-present flow state that supports your entire being, radiating outward. The compassion center fosters connection, sharing and full-on presence while remaining self-contained and energetically boundaried. Very elegant, very sophisticated, very respectful — of everyone’s energy and autonomy.

A 3-step approach to cultivating compassion and overcoming empathic sensitivity:

1. Set an intention to evolve beyond clairsentience. An intention might be: I am present, have boundaries and am compassionate with myself and others, fostering self-responsibility.

2. Monitor and train your 2nd chakra to cease vacuuming in other people’s emotional energy. Bring your awareness to your 2nd chakra, slightly below your navel, and imagine closing the petals of the chakra to about 25% open.

3. Cultivate your compassion center. Fill your upper chest with beautiful, clear, light pink energy…the frequency of compassion.

Practice this repeatedly. Consider pausing and performing this energetic reset before joining activities and moving about your day.

Imagine your life without the depletion and exhaustion of taking on and holding other people’s emotional energy. Imagine compassionately uplifting others without being taken down. Regulating your 2nd chakra and anchoring in your compassion center and heart chakra, creates an elegant and empowered solution that benefits you and all with whom you come in contact.