Why video calls affect HSPs and energy sensitives so badly

Find out what affects Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) and energy sensitives so badly on video calls.

Video calls aren’t everybody’s favourite in these Coronavirus months.

There are plenty of articles doing the rounds, from Zoombies to Zoom fatigue, from tips on how to improve your video call experience to reconfiguring your social life with virtual meetups.

Ironically, of course, I’m also adding to the Zoom noise, with video calls as my main mode for 1:1 consultations, and virtual retreats, where you can get a group-energy boost for your meditation practice.

Overall, there’s a lot of physical, mental, and emotional labour going into video calls these days.

As HSPs, we’re already so much more sensitive than the average person. We pick up on the moods, emotions, and energies of the people around us more than non-HSPs. We’re more sensitive to what we see, hear, and pick up on.

So it comes as no surprise that video calls affect us more than the average, too.

The physical, mental and emotional labour I mentioned above weighs doubly heavy on HSP shoulders.

But it goes deeper than that.

Most of the articles I’ve read out there don’t address the one thing that’s critical for Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) and energy sensitives.

The thing that tires you out, wears you down, and is hard to pin down but most definitely there: how video calls affect your energy.

No, I don’t mean your get-up-and-go kind of energy (though that’s related).

Nor do I mean your tired/not-tired kind of energy (also: related).

I mean your actual energy.

Humans have an energy. Some of us are conscious of it. Some of us are aware of it – in fact, we can’t not be aware of it, because we’re highly sensitive.

Not all HSPs are energy sensitive, but most energy sensitives are probably HSP.

What happens when we’re physically in the same room with a colleague, friend or relative, is simple: our energies connect.

Your energy – and theirs – connect. Alongside your physical interactions, your exchanges of ideas, your expressing, witnessing, and empathising of emotions, your energies have a catch-up too.

You’ll recognise the effect of that energy connection when you spend time with people and afterwards you feel completely drained. Or revved up. Or somewhat disoriented and you can’t quite pin down why.

This energy connection goes on without us noticing it most of the time. Except for the after-effects, maybe.

But video calls take it to another level.

Over the phone, your bodily, animal self understands there’s distance involved. You don’t see one another. Like calling across the valleys to one another, your body neither expects nor receives the energy connection as strongly as when you’re within touching distance.

On a video call, the other person looks as if they’re seated just across the table from you. Your visual, bodily animal expects an energy connection.

Your energy searches for theirs, but doesn’t find it.

Your energy reaches out to touch their energy, but it’s not there.

You’re hard at work, stretching and searching further and further.

Your energy is trying to make a distance energy connection for you.

That’s quite the task, by the way.

Some people, myself included, have a knack for distance energy connection – that’s why my 1:1 intuitive sessions work online as well as in person.

But for most people, it’s not a developed skill.

It may be a natural talent of yours, but you’ve not yet mastered it.

So video calls leave you tired. Drained. Depleted. Exhausted.

And that’s no surprise, because your energy’s off ‘out there’ somewhere, trying hard to connect with your caller.

You’re stretched out energetically in all sorts of directions.

There’s not much energy around your body after these exertions.

Luckily, now you know your energy is off spreading itself thinly out there somewhere, the obvious solution is to bring it back, right?

There are two straightforward tools you can use to bring your energy back. So straightforward, even an exhausted Zoombie can do them.

These tools are Grounding and Centering.

In just a few minutes, you can use Grounding and Centering to bring your energy back to you, and balance your energy in your body.

What’s more, once you’ve learned these tools, they’re there for you every day.

To help you feel more present, centred, and grounded, whether you’re on video calls or not.

To bring you focus, better clarity, and more energetic.

To help you receive your intuition’s signals more often, more clearly, and more timely.

I come back to these tools time and time again. They’re foundational, in fact.

If you already have these in your toolkit, take a few minutes to refresh yourself with them. Remind yourself of them. Weave them into your day, into your daily routine, and reap their benefits right now.

If you want to dive in, you can join me on a virtual retreat. A chance for you to Ground and Center with other meditators, get your questions answered, and rest, refresh and recharge. Check out retreat dates and availability here.

And next time you’re on a video call?

Be gentle with your sensitive self. You deserve it.