What image is conjured when we think of a periphery, or a boundary?

A partition wall at work? A fence around a swimming pool? A barrier at a car park exit? Or maybe our visions are closer to home. The exterior walls of our properties, or the edge of our land? A driveway with tall trees, perhaps?

The homes we live in and the spaces we occupy are a reflection of our personal boundaries, the physical barriers or the metaphorical perimeters that we are often only subconsciously aware of. They are both instinctive and habitual. We hear how burglary victims feel exposed and no longer wish to live in the spaces where intruders once pillaged. This mirrors my own feelings following a car break-in, and you may have had similar experiences.

We feel a need for boundaries when a person stands too close and we step back to create distance. Or, we may have witnessed this need in others through their body language. Our personal peripheries are of natural and fundamental importance to us. Certain individuals, for example, sap our energetic levels, affecting our aura and leaving us lethargic in their presence.

So how can we be sure of others’ boundaries? And how can we know that others view ours in the same way that we do? Can we protect our boundaries and spaces if there are no physical barriers?

Our primeval instinct is to protect ourselves, and to ensure genetic survival by defending what we consider is rightfully ours. It’s our in-built fight or flight mechanism. In modern culture however, or in social or work-related settings, this is not always an option for us. Human emotion manifests within the body in physical form as a way of highlighting issues that we need to address. The situations we encounter and the people we come into contact with mirror our emotions and provide us with vital clues about our internal thoughts and how we deal with them.

Negative issues relating to our personal periphery are connected to the auric field and the seven chakras:

Root Chakra: Survival and basic fundamental requirement.

Sacral Chakra: Our relationships with others and the desire for personal freedom.

Solar Plexus: The gut; our instinct and willpower.

Heart Chakra: Acceptance, trust and security.

Throat Chakra: Our ability or inability to speak out and say no.

Third Eye Chakra: Intuition; the all-seeing eye.

Crown Chakra: Knowing, higher guidance and awareness.

I once took in lodgers, and soon, every room was occupied and my time alone became infrequent. Expectations became demands, privileges were abused and boundaries were encroached upon. I developed lower back pain and I realised then, how vulnerable I had allowed myself to become.

I hadn’t listened to my instincts based in the Solar Plexus. I hadn’t installed a personal periphery, nor had I defined the physical boundaries within my home. Instead, I offered friendship that was unrequited and my Third Eye Chakra saw what I did not. I recognised the emotions, acknowledged the symptoms and witnessed the connection to their physical manifestation. I had learned a lesson and could now move on and put it behind me, moving to rural France.

Cottages are built on narrow lanes in the sleepy hamlets of Poitou Charentes. The post woman from La Poste knows your business, elderly neighbours watch your every move, and farmers on tractors look over your fence. It’s part of the charm of a traditional region along with neighbourly visits, food sharing and offering vegetable scraps for hens or old bread for birds.

But, in the preceding months, the visits became more frequent and I realised once again I was becoming susceptible. My Heart Chakra knew it too. I hadn’t anticipated uninvited entry inside the house whilst showering, and after hiding in chicken coops and ducking behind vehicles, I saw red. My periphery had been well and truly crossed again, and this time both Root and Throat Chakras came into full force.

We can never really know where each of our boundaries lie, but by installing a personal periphery and setting clear guidelines for others from the start—including personal space limitations—there can be no misunderstanding, only protection. Our emotions alert us instinctively and fear guides us. When we are alert to our surroundings and can identify our emotions, we gain internal awareness, acknowledged within the Crown Chakra.

When there are no physical barriers, such as a fence or wall to protect us, we can simply prepare ourselves by setting the intention to be alert, having the confidence to say no if needed and expressing this with our body language. By hearing our emotions and recognising the symptoms, we can deal with negative situations before they escalate and allow our auric field to act as a protective shield.

I learned my lesson the hard way. Is your personal periphery protected?

Author: Shelley Dootson-Greenland

Image: Wikimedia Commons

Editor: Catherine Monkman