WE ASKED: How do you stay centered, and keep from picking up clients' energy?

Here is what you told us...

I go within and center myself when I have the time. If I am running a little behind schedule, I simply ask to be able to greet my client from a place of love. Should my client arrive full of stress, I spend a few minutes on his or her chakras to allow peace to ascend before the session begins.
Mariah Grove
Ft. McMurray, Alberta, Canada

I stay centered during my massage sessions by doing T'ai Chi. I maintain the T'ai Chi posture, centered, with my breath centered and muscles relaxed. I maintain flowing, circular, continuous movements and match my internal rhythm to that of my client's response to massage. Afterwards, I sit quietly for a while and reflect on the session and my feelings.
James Evans
Ashland, Oregon

One of my keys to remaining in (or returning to) a centered place is having a good, solid, felt sense of my own body and connection to the world around me, which nurtures and feeds me so that I stay feeling full of energy. This means knowing how to ground and fill myself quickly and easily, and noticing when I am getting depleted by something going on in a session. For instance, if I start to feel inadequate due to my own chronic limiting beliefs, I can stop and notice the belief that's been triggered (by a look, a lack of connection, a comment), and address it directly within myself, by letting myself be open to another way of responding. I then go back to grounding, refilling and connecting to whatever resources I normally rely on.
Suzanne Scurlock-Durana
Reston, Virginia

I have learned to protect myself by enclosing myself in an imaginary white light just before the client enters the room. I breathe deeply beforehand and concentrate fully on my feet and connection with the earth.
Velda Daniels
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Europe

I do polarity, craniosacral therapy and massage. I stay centered and don't take on clients' energy by: 1) keeping the energy in my office cleansed through intention, smudging and verbal clearing; 2) saying "I do not accept anything that is not mine" either before I begin or in a moment when it feels necessary; 3) not believing I am "doing" healing, I am a healer with learned and intuitive skills to help facilitate clients' healing process; 4) not becoming attached to the outcome of clients' experience, thereby allowing them their own space to heal and change; 5) staying connected to spirit and constantly asking for guidance and help; 6) practicing and honoring detached compassion; and 7) making all of this a part of my everyday life, not just as a massage therapist.
Linda Hunt
Portland, Oregon

Everyone has experienced a mood shift directly due to the interaction with another whose attitude was significantly different from his/her own. One way to avoid such enmeshed complication is to have a clear focus from the outset as to what your intention is as a collaborator in healing/stress reduction, communicate this to your clientele, and make sure that there is an agreement and understanding between the two of you. One must trust that with continued practice of such foundations, respect can be gained and the threat of transference avoided.
Mitchell Bridgford
New York, New York