A and I met at our favorite vegetarian cafe, Good Karma, to discuss my most recent crystal healing class based out of a small shamanic practice in Santa Monica. She and I have spoken about our spiritual and homeopathic practices many times before, but soon our conversation turned to meditation. We both had taken the Science of Happiness class at USC and enjoyed mindfulness exercises for strengthening willpower and mental toughness. A’s parents aided her growth as a shaman as her father used to own a medical practice, but eventually made the transition into a shamanic healer. Her mother is a psychologist, however, she relies heavily on meditation as a mechanism for self-preservation. A learned the figure 8 meditation from her mother, who learned it at a spirituality retreat. After lunch, A took me to a secluded outdoor sop where she walked me through the meditation practice.

A: We all have those people in our lives with whom we do not get along with. They’re the toxic and draining individuals who you cannot bear to be around, but you don’t necessarily know why. They seem to infuse your presence with unwanted negativity and require much more effort to remain happy in your relationships. When I was really young, my mom would sit down with me on the floor of our living room and help me go through these mental exercises so that I could separate myself from all of those negative people. These energies come from people you constantly see, but receive negative vibes from. You want to cut yourself completely off from them, that way their energy does not affect yours and thereby taint it. Imagine that person (the one you cannot stand being around) is sitting or standing across from you. Visualize a wall of light that envelops their energy and your energy in a figure eight, where each person is centered in the open space of the figure. This wall goes through the ground and reaches the sky; it keeps you separated energetically from them. By sitting in this tube of light, there isn’t any interconnection. Essentially it boils down to you are in your space and I’m in mine, so you won’t affect me as negatively or badly.

It took me a while before I got rather comfortable with this process, but after extended periods of time sitting with my mom I ended up becoming much better at it. I still use it today whenever I have someone in classes or at work who just somehow sends me negative energy. Once I focus on this practice, I feel much safer.

L response: I have heard before that the wall of light functions as an insulator to keep your energy within you when you’re doing healing work. With crystal healing, you have to set an intention for everything and make sure that these energies do not mix otherwise your healing tends to go amiss. I haven’t used it for a mental exercise, but rather as a precaution against negative intentions and conflicting vibes.