As soon as the calendar flips to October, I feel it: The days shrink, the air shifts, and everything — from group texts to grocery store aisles — seems louder. More charged. More layered.
Essentially, it feels as if my personal space (energetic, physical, and yes, metaphorical), gets crowded before my eyes.
“It’s an energetically porous stretch of weeks where boundaries blur, emotions rise, and overstimulation creeps in.”
Like many sensitive people, I’ve come to recognize this time of year as something more than just “spooky season.” It’s an energetically porous stretch of weeks where boundaries blur, emotions rise, and overstimulation creeps in — not only from the external world, but from the energetic residue of others. As a naturally open person, I’ve had to learn (and re-learn) how to protect my emotional energy this time of year. Because protection, I’ve found, isn’t a one-and-done act. And most importantly, this ongoing process can be done gently.
This guide isn’t about shutting yourself off or becoming rigid. It’s about cultivating spiritual and energetic protection while still honoring your softness, intuition, and openness. To help explore this nuanced balance, I spoke with three intuitive practitioners — psychic Crystal Fawn, energy healer Kesaine Walker, and certified guide Holly Harnsongkram — about how to approach emotional protection as a sacred and sustainable practice during the spooky season.
Why the season can feel so overstimulating
Autumn, especially in the northern hemisphere, carries a particular charge. “It’s a very wacky mix of both frenzy for the harvest and stark realism,” says Fawn. “We end up being excited and scared at the same time, which leaves us feeling a bit tapped out.”
In addition to the external shifts (like cooler air and shorter days), there’s the internal pressure that comes with this season’s cultural and spiritual symbolism. “The collective focus on the supernatural tends to open up an energetic field,” explains Walker. “For empaths or highly sensitive people, that means the chances of picking up psychic debris from others and the environment are higher.”
“In addition to the external shifts (like cooler air and shorter days), there’s the internal pressure that comes with this season’s cultural and spiritual symbolism.”
Harnsongkram adds that it’s not just spooky media or social pressure that heightens this intensity. In fact, it’s the thinning of our own energetic boundaries. “Energetically sensitive people have often withdrawn their energy in response to past trauma,” she offers. “So their aura is closer to their physical body, which is why they feel more affected and drained by other people’s energy.”
Color me intrigued. This makes so much sense in terms of the feelings I experience at the turn of fall.
What emotional protection *actually* means
Emotional and energetic protection isn’t about cutting yourself off from the world. Instead, it’s about intentionally managing your energy, so you’re not constantly absorbing everything around you.
“It’s about intentionally managing your energy, so you’re not constantly absorbing everything around you.”
“Energetic protection is about clearing yourself and creating a safe container,” says Walker. “It’s taking the time to tend to your inner garden. It’s all about keeping your frequency clean.” Likening my energy to an inner garden? That’s beautiful and easy for me to envision maintaining my energy as a process. After all, plants need tender care and ongoing maintenance or tune-ups.
She goes on to add that it means incorporating tools from the elements. “Breath and prayer for ether, smoke or music for air, salt baths or ocean dips for water, grounding through nature for earth, and candles or visualization for fire,” says Walker. “Each element brings you back to center without hardening your heart.”
Harnsongkram agrees, noting that trauma-informed energetic protection is rooted in restoring the flow of your energy field — not just building walls or keeping yourself enclosed. Through practices like Life Activation or intentional rituals, she says, empaths can “re-establish their natural energetic flow” and strengthen their aura over time.
So, how do you begin? It doesn’t have to feel like a big undertaking. Fawn encourages people to start with clarity and permission: “Try putting up Out of Office notices,” she suggests, either literally or through visualization. “Then slowly allow stuff back in when you feel ready. Usually what happens during OOO time is that we remember how being alone (energetically or otherwise) has its own limitations too, and we start to reassess the value of ‘letting other people’s energy’ mix with our own.”
Signs you might be absorbing too much
Before we even get to rituals or remedies, it helps to recognize the signs that your energetic field may be overextended. These signs can be subtle and so easily dismissed.
“You might feel heavy, foggy, or emotional for no reason,” says Walker. “Or it could be physical: tightness in the chest, tension in the gut, or a sudden dip in energy.” She suggests simple interventions like rinsing your hands, moving your body, or doing a smoke cleanse. “Low vibrations can’t hold onto high frequency.”
“It helps to recognize the signs that your energetic field may be overextended. These signs can be subtle and so easily dismissed.”
Other markers that might metaphorically pop into your days differently. Fawn adds that even mundane tasks can become red flags. “Picking a playlist, deciding on meals, sketching out a schedule; all of these things start to feel completely overwhelming. Which I think is normal and totally okay! But usually a sign that the call is coming from inside the house,” she says. Her favorite trick? A New Age energy-clearing ritual that uses physical gestures and deep breathing to help you assess whether the energy you’re feeling is yours or someone else’s.
Harnsongkram offers an additional layer of insight: You may find yourself thinking thoughts that don’t feel like your own. Or reacting to food prepared by someone in turmoil. “We also take in energy through food,” she notes. “So if something feels ‘off’ in your body, trace it back… you might be absorbing more than you realize.”
Spiritual tools for protection and grounding
Each of the experts emphasized that spiritual protection works best when it becomes a regular rhythm — like brushing your teeth, but for your aura. Here are a few favorite tools and rituals you can try:
Visualization & Energy Work
- Fawn: Visualize “Out of Office” signs. Meditate with clear quartz in your left hand and a dark grounding crystal in your right. Use prisms in your space to shift energy.
- Walker: Use the “sword of light” or “golden sieve” visualizations to cut cords and filter dense energy. Imagine yourself inside a glowing crystal chamber to recharge your aura.
- Harnsongkram: Engage in rituals that expand and strengthen the aura, ideally passed down through sacred teaching.
Elemental Cleanings
- Walker recommends incorporating the five elements: “Breath and prayer for ether, smoke or music for air, salt baths or ocean dips for water, grounding through nature for earth, and candles or visualization for fire”
- Fawn swears by salt in the bath at the end of the day.
Energetic Hygiene Practices
- Mix in daily affirmations. Try “I am safe, I am clear, I am sovereign,” says Walker.
- Checking in with your energy before and after social events.
- Avoiding “energetic commitments” that you haven’t explicitly consented to.
Protecting yourself without closing off
The heart of emotional protection isn’t about isolation or only saying no. This practice is about integrating discernment into your decision-making and your intuition.
“Just because someone drops their energy in your lap doesn’t mean you have to sort through it,” says Fawn. “If it’s too much, you’re allowed to toss it right out the window. Managing your own energy first isn’t selfish; it’s essential maintenance”
Walker echoes this, too. She reminds readers that sensitivity is a form of strength. “Being sensitive to energy and seasonal shifts is a gift that just needs maintenance,” she says. “The more you cleanse, ground, and protect yourself, the more magnetic your energy becomes”
“You are allowed to protect your softness. You can honor your openness and your need for peace.”
And if you take only one thing from this guide, let it be this: You are allowed to protect your softness. You can honor your openness and your need for peace. You can opt out of overstimulation without opting out of connection.
This season, let your boundaries be sacred, your rituals be nourishing, and your energy be your own. 🫧
Stephanie Valente is a Contributing Editor at The Good Trade. She is a copywriter and editor covering wellness, commerce, lifestyle — and more — for publications like Brooklyn Magazine. Based in Brooklyn, she’s often writing poetry, getting lost in a book, or hanging out with her dog.
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