I’m overwhelmed in unstructured, noisy social settings.

If I’ve been around people for a long period, I feel like I can’t hear myself think. My emotions get flustered. My thoughts get confused. I’m a mess.

This is when my whole being beckons me to seek solace—a quiet place to gather myself and uncoil the twists in my insides that wind themselves up when I’ve lost my center in the swirling, whirling energy of others. I am highly sensitive (an HSP) and empathic. I not only feel others pain, I take it on.

I have started to get to a place where, when I sense it’s happening, I remove myself from the room, or delicately shift myself out of intimate conversation with the person I’m beginning to lose myself in. This is when I say I need “psychic space.”

Our minds and hearts need a chance to breathe just as much as our lungs.

When I take time for psychic space, I seek out a quiet refuge like a woody path, a candle-lit room, warm bubble bath, or my yoga mat in an empty and peaceful room. And, if it’s in a social setting, like a bar, party or networking event—then I seek out the bathroom.

Sometimes, just standing in front of the mirror, I look into my own eyes and connect with myself. In that reflection, I begin to feel more solid and dense in my own skin. I may be washing my hands as I look at myself, getting a feel for my own body, mind and heart again. After a few minutes, I’m ready to enter the event, feeling more centered and balanced in my own skin.

When I carve out my psychic space time during a normal day—perhaps when I am shifting gears between activities—I spend quality time with my own thoughts, my own heart, my own breath, my own body. During this time, my only agenda is to unwind. I don’t force myself to do anything. I literally just breathe and refill my cup with the space of the moment, to gather, replenish, renew.

My psyche—the innermost conscious and subconscious workings of my deepest self, begins to clear out the clutter that has built up in the chaotic moments I’ve experienced that day. It begins to cleanse itself. And as it does, my whole self feels cleansed.

I never set a timer when I take psychic space. I let my own internal workings be my guide.

The unraveling and regathering never takes as long as I expect it to.

I know when my psychic space time is up because…

I smile

And I sigh.

As if the “full light” on my internal reservoir has gone off, I feel a sense of “cup runneth over” that makes my whole face beam and my lungs so full of air that it rushes out in one big gush.

I’m full again.

I’m whole.

I’m ready to take on the world!

How to Create Psychic Space to Find Your Center:

1. Find a place you can’t be disturbed—maybe a quiet room in your house, a place in nature, a warm bath.

2. Create the intention to find your center—this can just be a simple statement like: “I want to find my center,” or, “I want to get grounded.”

3. Don’t come back into the world until you do find your center. Time is your enemy here. Put away your phone, your watch, your timer. You will be surprised that it may not take as long as you think it will to come back into yourself.

4. Enjoy every moment of it. This is you experiencing your own sacredness!

Give yourself the time to do this every day. If you do, the world will thank you. We hold each other up when we take good self care. If a million centered and grounded people roamed this world, there would be a deep peace. Let that peace begin with you!

Author: Sarah Lamb

Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: InsomnianFae/Deviantart