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Positive Energy…
THE MISSING LINK IN HEALTH AND HEALING

An Interview With Dr. Judith Orloff

SML: How can intuition help us sense energy?

JO: There’s no way to experience subtle energy with your intellect alone. So, throughout the book I focus on how to tune into intuition so you can be more sensitive to the energy that’s in and around your body, and the energy coming from other people. This means learning how to be open to images and impressions that reveal your energetic responses to the environment. Intuition is amazing because it helps you know all that.

SML: How does subtle energy impact our bodies?

JO: Every aspect of health is related to subtle energy. You can’t talk about a biochemical reaction without talking about a subtle energetic reaction. The field of prescription-based psychiatry needs to be reinvented to bring spirituality, subtle energy, and intuition into the healing process. Many people are scared to death of traditional psychiatry, afraid they’re going to be called crazy or pathologized.

SML: You write about the intriguing concept of intuitive empathy. Can you explain how this can help people who have very real symptoms, but the doctor finds nothing wrong.

JO: An intuitive empath is someone who not only senses energy but also absorbs it from others and the environment. Their body takes on the angst of the world. It can be very draining. I’ve been an intuitive empath since childhood which prompted my exploration of this phenomena. I couldn’t go to shopping malls or crowded places because I’d get overwhelmed by the energy. I’d walk in feeling fine and walk out exhausted, anxious or with a new ache or pain. I told my mother who was a physician and she said, “Oh no, dear you just don’t have a thick enough skin.” So I thought there was something wrong with me. Only as an adult did I realize that I’m an empath and I was absorbing the energy of crowds. Being compressed in crowds can zap your energy. Traditional medicine doesn’t address this at all, but Energy Psychiatry does.

SML: Do you find that many people are intuitive empaths?

JO: At my workshops on energy I ask people to raise their hands. At least a third to half of the room are empaths to some extent. And of course some people don’t realize it. You see empaths run from doctor to doctor with mystery symptoms that can’t be solved by traditional medicine. They are labeled “hypochondriacs” or “crazy” and sent to psychiatrists. But psychiatrists don’t know how to deal with the energy component of what’s going on. Energy psychiatry gives patients a home to come to so that they can be understood. In my book I describe many techniques to center your energy and not absorb it from others. We empaths need to learn this to survive!

SML: I find it interesting how you relate empathy to overeating and weight gain. Can you explain?

JO: Empaths often overeat to ward off negative energy. That’s why old time faith healers used to be obese women. They packed on the pounds to buffer the negative energy of their patients, believing that was the only way to cope with it. Nonsense. That’s an unhealthy way to deal with negativity and in my book I outline other alternatives. I’ve identified a new eating disorder, “Energetic Defensive Eating,” which explains why many diets fail. People aren’t aware of how they energetically cope with negative energy by running to the refrigerator. You don’t even have to talk to someone. Just being around negative vibes can cause you to overeat.

SML: Wow. Sometimes I feel that’s my problem.

JO: Yes, many people can relate. It’s a huge missing piece to obesity. When I give lectures about energetic eating disorders people are going “Ah ha!” all over the place because they’ve never thought of it that way. What I suggest to people who have weight they want to get rid of and can’t is to notice how they relate to others in the world. If they start reaching for food or carbs, they must see if it’s related to some negative interaction.