Have you ever walked into a room feeling perfectly fine, only to leave feeling anxious, exhausted or unlike yourself?

Or perhaps you’ve noticed the opposite. One person enters a room and suddenly everyone seems calmer, lighter or more relaxed.

Most of us assume we’re simply reacting to what is happening around us. But what if there is something else taking place too?

Our nervous systems are constantly responding to our environment and, whether we realise it or not, we also influence one another.

Some people seem particularly aware of these subtle changes. They notice when a room feels heavy, when a conversation leaves them drained or when they suddenly feel emotions that don’t quite seem like their own.

If you’ve ever wondered why this happens, you’re certainly not alone.

When energies collide

Imagine dropping two pebbles into a still pond.

The ripples spread out and eventually meet.

Our interactions can feel a little like that. We each carry our own emotional state, our own nervous system and our own presence into every conversation and every environment.

Sometimes those interactions leave us feeling stronger.

Sometimes they leave us feeling depleted.

The question is, how do we remain connected to ourselves without becoming overwhelmed by everything around us?

Staying connected to yourself

Many people try to protect themselves by shutting down, avoiding others or constantly trying to escape busy environments.

While that can sometimes be helpful, it isn’t always possible.

Instead, what if the answer was learning how to stay connected to yourself wherever you are?

When we become more aware of our own body, our own breathing and our own internal state, we create a stronger foundation from which to meet the world.

It becomes easier to notice,

“I’m beginning to feel different.”

Rather than,

“Something is wrong with me.”

That awareness alone can be incredibly empowering.

Lift the room

One of my favourite concepts is that we don’t always need to absorb the atmosphere around us.

Sometimes we can become the person who changes it.

One of the reasons I find this topic so fascinating is that researchers and observers from many different fields are exploring how living systems respond to their environment. One example comes from Veda Austin, who has photographed frozen albumen (white of the egg) and observed different crystalline patterns displayed from battery hen eggs to organic free range eggs. although she noticed a difference between the two groups, when she surrounded the organic free range egg with those that had come from a battery hen, the battery hen eggs changed their crystalline pattern to match that of the free range egg. Makes me think of the expression to be a ‘good egg’!

Even the analogy of an egg. The yolk remains distinct because it is surrounded and protected by the egg white and ultimately the shell which is semi permeable. Likewise, when we feel connected to ourselves, we naturally maintain a clearer sense of where we end and others begin. Without that inner steadiness, it’s easier to become emotionally and energetically entangled with the people around us.

So have you ever noticed someone who walks into a room and everyone naturally relaxes?

Perhaps they don’t speak any louder than anyone else. Perhaps they don’t even realise they’re doing it.

Their calm presence simply helps others feel safer.

Rather than being pulled into the emotional weather of every situation, we can gradually learn to become an anchor within it.

Not through force.

Not by pretending everything is fine.

But by remaining connected to ourselves.

A simple practice

This week’s YouTube video is also called ‘When Energies Collide’ and towards the end I share one of the techniques I use to help return to myself when I notice I’ve become caught up in someone else’s energy or the atmosphere around me.

It’s simple, practical and something you can begin using straight away. Sometimes the smallest practices create the biggest shifts.

Final thoughts

Whether you describe it as nervous system regulation, emotional awareness or simply being more present, learning to stay connected to yourself changes the way you move through the world.

You don’t have to carry every emotion you encounter.

You don’t have to shrink yourself to stay comfortable.

And you don’t have to lose yourself in other people’s energy.

Of course, simply saying “stay grounded” or “stay connected to yourself” is one thing. I often hear people say, “You make it sound so easy, but I don’t know how to do that, or how to return to it.”

That’s exactly why I created the practices I teach. They’re designed to help you build these skills step by step until they become something you can return to naturally, wherever life takes you.

It isn’t about being calm all the time.

It’s about staying connected to yourself.

And sometimes, simply by doing that, you quietly stay strong.

Watch the full video here:
When Energies Collide: Stay Strong

Please do explore all my other videos on YouTube as well and don’t forget to subscribe to the channel – it free to subscribe and really helps to spread the word.