How to Channel Negative Energy

We love hearing from our community, and once a week we answer a question from one of our members, right here on the blog. This week we heard from Justin, who is having trouble with feelings of anger and stress and is looking for healthy ways to channel this negative energy. Here is our advice.

Hi, Justin here. I hope you can help me, because I’m really struggling at the minute; I work in a high stress job and it’s getting me down. I work long hours and the working environment is very negative due to the competitiveness of my colleagues. I come home feeling angry and upset, and I don’t know how to deal with these feelings properly. It’s starting to affect my relationship with my wife and kids, because I, unfortunately, end up taking it out on them by stomping around the house in a bad mood and shouting at everybody. Do you have any advice on how I can channel this negative energy in a healthy way?

Hi Justin, thanks so much for reaching out. It must be so frustrating when you work such long hours and don’t have any time to unwind and relax. Unfortunately, work often takes over our lives, whether we like it or not. For people who love their jobs, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, if your work is having a negative effect on you, it is definitely not ideal. Here are our best tips on how to channel negative energy so that you can feel happier and more balanced.

Leave work at the door

If you work long hours, then your job already takes up enough of your life without bringing that work home with you and letting it affect your free time too. If you have issues with your job, try to tackle them while you’re in the office, so that you can focus on other things when you’re at home.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of complaining to your colleagues, but this isn’t very constructive. If your work is having a negative effect on your life, you need to take these issues to your boss. If you’re worried about things getting heated and causing more trouble, a good way to get things off your chest is to write it down. Write your boss an email explaining what is happening and how to makes you feel. Once you’ve written everything down, you should feel better already.

The next step is to actually make changes. You can either send the email to your boss so that they can read it in their own time and avoid a possible confrontation, or you can use it as script and request a meeting. Keep things calm and professional, and try to work together to resolve the issues. Then, when it’s time to go home, leave your work in the office, and deal with it tomorrow.

Practice Meditation

You may have noticed that we recommend meditation to a lot of people here on our blog, and that’s because it’s such a powerful spiritual experience that can help so many people deal with all sorts of different problems or experiences.

There a countless benefits to meditation, and it is a fantastic way to expel negative energy. Just spending a few minutes each day focusing on your breathing will help calm and focus the mind; as you breathe out, imagine that you are expelling the negative energy and feelings, and breathe in positivity and light. To make the time even more relaxing, burn some calming essential oils such as camomile or lavender.

Work it out

Physical exercise is another excellent way to channel negative energy in a healthy way. Exercise is good for not only your physical health, but for your mental health and emotional wellbeing, too. Try to make 30 minutes each night to dedicate to exercise, and you will feel the benefits.

Running is a great exercise to help channel energy; running clears the mind, and helps boost mood. Imagine that as you are running, you are leaving your negative behind, and running towards more positivity and happiness. Another good way to channel energy is contact/combat exercise, such as boxing or martial arts. This is a safe, controlled environment where you can unleash your energy without you or anybody else getting hurt.

Express it creatively

Some of the best artists started making their art because they were hurting, and needed a way to express themselves and let those feelings out. Choose a creative outlet that suits you, and dedicate some time to it each day.

This creative outlet could be anything from writing, drawing, painting, to making music by singing or even playing a musical instrument. If you don’t know how to paint or play an instrument, maybe now is the time to learn by taking a class, or teaching yourself. This will not only help you channel your energy, but will also give you something to focus on that isn’t work, and will help give you a sense of achievement.