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Return to Sender: An Empath’s Survival Guide
Episode 419th August 2023 • When Spirit Calls • DeeAnne Riendeau
00:00:00 00:39:46

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Are you an empath? Many of us have been told that we are “too sensitive” or have felt confused by the way our body and mind react to different people and environments. The current medical system can’t explain this experience, so it’s easy to feel gaslit and burnt out. Well, you’re not alone! Today we are delighted to hear from Sylvia, a highly empathic healthcare professional, as we discuss her path to embracing her gifts and teaching others how to create healthy energetic boundaries. Many medical professionals approach energy work with a natural amount of skepticism, but both Sylvia and I have personally experienced the importance of understanding and caring for our own energy, especially in the context of caring for others. 

Tune in for tips and scripts for:

  • Identifying and releasing energy that is not yours
  • Preventing energy leaks
  • Creating energetic boundaries 

Remember: “Feelings are just a message from your body that you are alive.” - Sylvia Plester-Silk

Find Sylvia’s empathic quiz, workshops, and more at https://onpurposetransformations.ca/

Connect with me at https://rosehope.ca/

About the Guest:

Sylvia Plester-Silk, RSW is an intuitive counsellor who integrates traditional therapy with Akashic Readings and energy work to help individuals transform to a life that is fully On Purpose.

Over the past 30 years, as a Social Worker, she has worked for multiple community agencies, assisting thousands of individuals through addictions, mental health and trauma to find their way. While she was powerful in this work, her results became exponential when she added energy therapies to her work. 

Sylvia brought energy work into the hospital she worked in and into mental health agencies to assist individuals to heal with ease. 

During the fall of 2019, she embarked on a life changing trip to Machu Picchu where she gained many life lessons and insights that have brought her back to her roots and to open On Purpose Transformations.

She lives in Guelph, Ontario with her husband and her dog Josee.

Find Sylvia’s empathic quiz, workshops, and events at https://onpurposetransformations.ca/

About the Host:

DeeAnne Riendeau is a thought leader in spiritual and business development who’s mission is to elevate how we think and live. Experiencing a life of chronic illness, and 2 near death experiences, DeeAnne rebounded with 20 years of health education and a diverse health career.

She is known as the modern day Willy Wonka for giving away her company Your Holistic Earth, which is the first holistic health care system of its kind. She is currently the owner of Rose Hope International, in which she helps those who are seeking more joy, love, freedom, and a deeper meaning in life using your souls library also known as the Akashic Records.

She has spoken at Harvard University, appeared on Shaw TV, Global Television, and CTV and has been recognized as a visionary and business leader having been nominated for numerous awards including Alberta Business of Distinction. Along with being an entrepreneur, DeeAnne is a mom of 2 bright kids, publisher, popular speaker and international bestselling author who uses her heart and her head to guide others to create their best life.

https://rosehope.ca/

https://calendly.com/discoverywithdeeanne/discovermore

https://www.facebook.com/RoseHopeInternational

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0LSjt08EV0EzZoy_KmcJbg

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Transcripts

WSC Intro/Outro:

This is When Spirit Calls and you on your journey are in the right place. This show is about magic miracles and meaning shared through stories, interviews and channeled messages. We have so much to share about who you are and your divine mission here on the earth. Let's get to it When Spirit Calls is right now.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Hello, hello. It is great to be back with you on When Spirit calls and today our guest is Sylvia Plester-Silk. Sylvia Plester-Silk R SW is an intuitive counselor who integrates traditional therapy with Akashic readings and energy work to help individuals transform to a life that is fully on purpose. Over the past 30 years as a social worker, Silvia has worked for multiple community agencies assisting 1000s of individuals through addictions mental health and trauma to find their way. Well, she was powerful in this work, her results became exponential when she added energy therapies to her work. Silvia brought energy work into the hospital she worked in and into mental health agencies to assist individuals to heal with ease. And during the fall of 2019, she embarked on a life changing trip to Machu Picchu, where she gained many life lessons and insights that has brought her back to her roots, and to open on purpose transformations. She currently lives in Guelph Ontario with her husband and her dog, Josie, I'm so delighted to have our guests, Sylvia today. I hope you enjoy the show.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Hello, everyone. Thank you again for listening in to another episode of when Spirit calls as you have learned, I have the very special guest Sylvia with us today. And I'm so excited to have you here. Sylvia.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

It's great to be here, Deanne.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Oh my gosh. So you know, you do a lot of work with empaths. And I struggled my whole life being an empath, but not understanding it. And I you know, this was something that, you know, I felt like I had to shut down my feelings. You know, don't wear your heart on your sleeve. Don't be too emotional, you know, are your two teachers. Exactly. So you've heard it all. And I'm so excited that this is work that you have leaned into. But I want to know, more of the backstory. And I know a little bit but our audience doesn't. And so I would love for you to bring us into that journey with you of your experience, you know, being an empath and what you went through and, you know, understanding a bit more of like, why this is something that you've chosen to really dial into and help people with. So would you share that with us?

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Absolutely. So where do you how far back to we want to go?

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Other lifetimes? You know,

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

I will stick with this one. But we'll go back to the 1990s. And the time that I guess I would say that for most of my up until that point, I have been a clueless empath. I mean, I had not a clue that a there was a such a thing as Empath, or be that I was one I would get feedback on I'm too sensitive. Or I'm too what I forget how they used to describe me when I when my barriers were up, like you just talked about?

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Well, yes. Right. You're blocked, you know, yeah,

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

It was served up too aggressive. And it was like, Well, what do you want me to be? So when I left my clueless status was I was in my very in May of 1995. I was in my first Therapeutic Touch class, which was my first energy thing that I did. And we got paired up and had to sense one another's energy. And so with the old hand once put hands under one put hands over, and I was paired up with a complete stranger that I never met before, but I connected with as soon as I walked in the room. And I saw I sensed I put my hands over to sense expecting that I would feel nothing. And I had pain, shoot up my shoulders. Excruciating pain to the point I had to pull them back. And I can gratefully say that I've never experienced that amount of pain in my life again. And I sit I freaked out and I called over Evelyn who was our teacher and said, What am I doing wrong? And she said, You're doing nothing wrong and Evelyn's kind in very firm way. And she's turned to my partner said, Do you want to tell her Szalai and I'm like, what that is going on. And then I learned that she had chronic pain and I was picking up her pain And that literally shifted my world.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Wow. Yeah, I just got goosebumps.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Because then I started to be able to sense and feel now my empathetic thing. My most strong, empathic, and intuitive sense is in my body, right? Yeah. So I would I remember being in a psychiatric hospital, in fairness, I was a staff member. And sitting in a meeting. But half of me, it felt like I was cut down the center, half of me was sitting beside this guy, who had just found out that his daughter was engaged or having a baby and was like, super excited. And so this half of me felt like this was floating. And this other half of me was sitting beside a guy that was really pissed off about something. And that side of me felt like I was wandering down. And I was just going, Oh, my goodness, I'm sitting in a psychiatric hospital, and I'm supposed to be a staff member. Wow. And so I had a way to make sense of that, that I hadn't before. King because how can I a woman who has never been pregnant, know exactly what it feels like to be kicked by a fetus. Right? Because I can stand beside somebody and feel the stop. Wow. So I had this massive opening. And then I was going around to people saying, Can I help with et can I help with tea tea, and helping people and then taking their pain away and carrying it myself? I'm like, well, this isn't gonna work. Like, that's great that they don't have a toothache. But I'd prefer not to have they're too big for a weekend, thank you eat. So then I had to learn, I had to back in 1995, learn how to manage it. So I could do the work that I needed to do as a therapist. And so at that point, I started to learn techniques for me. It wasn't about passing them on to clients, it was just really trying to keep myself healthy. Yeah. And so I never did anything really with them pass. I never really thought to do it. And tell I left the profession in 2010 came back in 2020. And went, Oh, my goodness, one of my core things with my target market is most of them are impasse, wow. Yes. And then I started to go, I'm repeating this stuff with almost every client on how to manage and protect their energy, although I don't like the word protect, but we don't even know. I think of it as an energetic boundary. Yes, that's how Yes, yeah. Right. And, and so I started to go, there's a nap out here that I should be doing more on this. So I started to do evening workshops, on empaths. And it comes into everything that I do, because even when I'm in the midst of doing so I also do spiritual development groups to help people get in touch with their intuition. And when I'm doing that, I ended up talking about it, and how to release other people's energy and asking people is this your energy? Is this somebody else's energy? And helping them get clear on that as well?

DeeAnne Riendeau:

That's, it's so beautiful that you found your way into, you know, the therapeutic touch that you did. What was it that brought you there? I'm curious, because you know, you would have been moving through life. So what was it that was that that, you know, that pivoting point where you're like, I need to try this course.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Again, back to the psychiatric hospital. We were working on the addiction unit, and I would run a family group on every Wednesday night. And I was working with a voluntary Vaughn, who had done this therapeutic touch stuff. I thought it was pure rap. And just hocus pocus and you're absolutely bloody ridiculous. In my most genuinely judgmental way. And I had a headache one night, she said to me, I just learned this thing called Therapeutic Touch. Let me let me do it on you and see if I can help. And I like her for God's sake. All right. And I just I tolerated her doing it, frankly. And so then it felt like my headache flew off the top of my head like a bad toupee on a windy day. And that was like, Oh, my goodness, literally within two weeks. I was in my nurse Therapeutic Touch class.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Wow. Just like that. Yeah. So I love that you shared that because I think so. Many of us have that innate skepticism, you know, in us. And I mean, I came from a medical background myself. So when people started talking to me about energy, and you know, all the woowoo stuff, I had my backup. And I remember thinking, I don't really buy it, even when I took my Akashic Records course now, a decade ago, I can't believe it's been over over that much time. But even now, I think back to that, and I was a skeptic going in. And that's part of why I took the course is because I was like, I don't believe it. And I'm going to prove myself, right. And I took the course, and I proved myself wrong completely. And so this, I want this to just be an invitation to those people that, you know, maybe you're tuning in for the first time, or maybe you've been tuning in for a while, but you're still skeptical about all the modalities out there and all this energy work. Be curious. Yes. You know, it's worth Arius,

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

I, you know, one of the things I'll say to clients when I do some emotional shifting, because I don't do therapeutic touch in my practice, it's, it's not aligned with being a registered social worker. But I'll say to them, once they've had a big shift, that's unbelievable. I'll say, you know, don't believe me, go out and do some field research and see if it failed. See if it made a difference. And inevitably, they'll come back, like one client last week said to me, she said, I've been in talk therapy before, and it didn't work. I need the spiritual thing. I need this spiritual approach. Yeah. That's why this is good therapy. Ah, and I said, well, thank you. But it's because it's holistic in the whole sense. Like, when I'm looking at somebody, I'm not looking at them as a trauma person with trauma. I'm looking at them with a person with a whole bunch of patterns that don't fit anymore,

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Right? Yes, exactly. Yeah.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Right. And so it's like, let's figure out where this pattern comes, came from, not from a wide perspective, but let's find the timeframe we need to go to, to release that piece, whether it's this lifetime or past life, right. And then we can very quickly release it, and their self vision and their self belief shifts in a moment, on a dime,

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Isn't it great when we can prove it to ourselves, right, like, where they get that validation so that they can lean in fully? You know, I think that is so powerful, in that you work with your clients in that way of like, hey, now go and see, you know, don't take my word for it, you know, feel it, know it, you know, check it out, right. And that's the power of our freewill. Right to be able to choose that. So this, this is so wonderful. And so the empath started to come up, and you started to notice all these empaths and all these sensitive souls, and then you recognize, oh, my gosh, I had the story too, of being this too sensitive or too aggressive, either end of the spectrum, right, protection or being too vulnerable. Right. And I think that so many people have to move through that. So what are some of the things that you would want empaths? To know, what are some of the things that they need to know that will help them as they move on their journey of, you know, discovering who they are and remembering who they are?

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

I think it's time to learn to discern and discern what is mine, and what is not mine. So that can be a thought that somebody else's thought or belief that we've taken on? Yeah, I can remember. Silly, but being in a grade where I had a teacher I really loved and admired and adopting some of her gestures, and her mannerisms and how she spoke. And realize it loud. When I reflect back on that a number of decades ago. I think, you know what? I was carrying her energy and didn't know it. And so we can do it in the positive like that. Yeah. But when we do it, we may not feel like we're being real. Yeah, we might feel like we're being faked somehow or because we don't have much toleration for surplus conversation. And how's the weather outside and all of that stuff, and we don't have much tolerance for lies and dishonesty. It's like, just get to the truth of it. Yeah. Don't play games with me if that's the case, and just tell me what it is. Yeah, so I think it's learning to understand what it is. There are some Empath questionnaires out there that make it sound like It's an illness, it is not an illness, it is perhaps in some way something you need to recover from. But I think that's more about just learning some techniques. Yeah, then really recovering from it. And learning how to really intensely recognize when it's not your energy, feel it, and then return to sender.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

I love the Return to sender. So let's backtrack. Because I think discernment is something a lot of people struggle with. And what you're saying to us is, can you ask the question? Is it mine or not? So that's one of the first things for people to do. So for example, the other day I woke up, and I was like, I was feeling so anxious. And I was like, why am I so anxious? Like, I have a great day ahead. Like, why am I feeling this anxiety? And I had to ask myself, Is this mine? And I heard immediately, no, it's not. And so then I got to discover I was like, Okay, this anxiety is coming from my partner, or my child or whatever. I mean, it's always different. But here's the thing about discernment. What if we're not getting an answer? Or what if we think we're not getting an answer? Because usually, we're always getting an answer. But sometimes we're looking for it in a certain way, or is there anything that we can do if maybe we're not at that place? Sylvia? Where we're gonna get a yes or no? What are the things we can do to discern that energy? Whether it's our own or not our own? What do we do for not sure, I guess is the question.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

I guess a way to ask it is, does this feel like me? Ah, right, like, so does this feel like my thought? Does this feel like my feeling? Because oftentimes, when we're carrying somebody else's energy, it can put us into like, almost an agitated state. Yeah. But not a full out agitated, but it's just like, like, I know, for me, if I'm carrying what I call a visiting energy, which just means somebody else's energy. I can get kind of grumpy. Yeah, yeah. And there's an I'm tuned in enough now that I know, it's when I might grumpy like this. I don't remember when we're, there's a different way I say it. And that's not me. I'm generally pretty upbeat, happy content. I mean, I can get healthy angry, but the grumbly stuff usually isn't need. Yeah. And so it doesn't feel like me.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Yeah, I like that variation on the question. Like, rather than saying Is this mine? Doesn't feel like me, like is this really, and I think that it just takes practice, ultimately, you know, we keep asking ourselves the questions, and we just keep practicing. And eventually, we just get better and better. And we can see the clarity between the two. But you've added something, which I think is powerful. So regardless of whether or not it is our own, I think that this Return to Sender still applies. So okay, tell me how you think so well, and you know, in my mind, even if so, if I ask myself the question, and I'm not I'm getting fuzzy answers, because I know there's people out there that will get fuzzy answers, and they're gonna be like, Well, geez, I don't know if it's mine or not. When we say Return to Sender, and I always add with consciousness attached. What it's doing is it's boomerang back to you anyways, if it is yours. Right?

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Right. Oh, right. Okay. Fair enough. I can agree with that. I can accept that

DeeAnne Riendeau:

In that way. To me, it seems like, oh, well, regardless of whether it's fine. I could still say that cover off my basis. And if it's mine, hopefully, I'll have an increased consciousness.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Right. Okay. I see and where I would go with it, Dan, is I would suggest that you feel it first. Yeah. So if it's an emotion, we are so pre programmed in our culture to get rid of emotion like it's bad or something or it's dirty. That's right. Bring it and feel it. Yeah, this is feel consistent with me. Yes. And the weird thing is, when you feel your emotions, and they're yours, they'll dissipate.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

That's right. Because you're honoring the emotion. Yes.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

You're listening to your body. Yeah. Feelings are as a message from your body that you are alive.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Oh, all feet. I want to say that again. All feelings are is a message from your body that you are alive. What a beautiful way to put that. Right. Yeah.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

And so we want them because if we don't have them, maybe we're not really. We're not really living.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Yes. Oh, yes. And we cannot evolve and grow from a state in which we are not getting that information. That's feedback for us, right. It's a feedback loop. So discernment, and then feel it like feel the feeling and So does that happen regardless of whether it's yours or not? Sylvia? Do I still feel joy? So even if it's not mine, can I still honor and hold space for the feeling?

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Yes, I think so. And then you can go, you know, then it's like, this doesn't feel like my right. And so if you're not sure, you can say if any part of this isn't mine. Yeah, that'd be Returned to sender at this moment.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Yes. Beautiful.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Right. You'd have to you don't need a clear yes or no. And though I still encourage you to ask those questions. Yeah. Because a clear you can get about it, the quicker that you can release it. Right now. There's sometimes complicated energies that take help. Yeah. Right. Like, there's some times when I'm like, oh, something's going on. And I'm going off to my massage therapist to go what's going on? Right? And that's with 28 years and energy. Yeah. Right. And so if that's careful, be careful not to judge yourself over it. Because some things are a little trickier. Some things are just really, you've been with somebody you care about, they've unknowingly leaked their energy on you. They didn't mean to. And they always when I have you send it back, I have. I asked people to send it back to people's higher self. Mm hmm. Because to me, it's not like a boomerang, flinging it back to you as a person. It's giving you to your higher self. So you're in choice whether you want to take that into your consciousness or not. I'm not making you change. That's not my thing to do. But I'm inviting you if you choose to.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Yeah, yeah. eautiful beautiful. I love that process. So there might be some people listening Silvia, they're like, Well, I think I'm an empath, but I'm not sure. Can we talk about what an empath, you know, is maybe some characteristics of a true empath. You know, I'd love to hear you elaborate on your perspective of that.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

So for me, there's a few things generally speaking, we've been told that we're too sensitive as children that we need to, you know, get a thicker skin. We often have difficulty being around violent behavior, angry behavior. It can be really taxing on us feel very emotional can cause us to feel really out of sorts, afraid or anxious. Even to the point of like, I won't watch violent shows. Yeah, me neither. Yeah, it just because it does nothing for me. It brings me down. It doesn't lift me up. It does no service for me. I, one of the things I ask is, if I'm doing like a mini mini assessment, I'll say, so what's it like for you when you go to the mall? Hmm. How do you feel when you leave the mall? Yeah. And if you're an empath, you're gonna say I feel grumpy. I feel tired and feel exhausted. Maybe I feel a bit anxious. Right?

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Yeah, I'm raising my hand right now to that. Yeah, yeah. Shopping and my thing because I feel all the energies and it feels exhausting to me. I'd like I love the idea of buying new clothes or new things. But it's the it's exhausting for me.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So we pick up energy around us, we can be very sensitive to being in a messy space. Mm hmm. feel quite calm when it's clean and tidy. Yes. What else we often have a sense or unknowing that something's going to happen before it's happened. So that piece of intuition is often with us whether we know it and own it yet or not. And I just say yet. And what else would I want to say? We feel other people's emotions or we feel their physicality. Right. So I've been talking about holding toothpicks for people that kind of fun stuff. And now use it as

DeeAnne Riendeau:

That would be more of a physical Empath, right, you know, you're probably more extreme on the spectrum in that sensitivity. I know myself, like I will physically feel unwell as well. So sometimes, I noticed in my body that that physical response to and so some people listening might also feel unwell, but it might not be their own stuff.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Right. So Ben, you're gonna say, okay, you know, like, if you've got a cold, you're gonna say, where did I pick this up? And the thing right? Oh, I was out. Oh, there's a reason for me having this cold where it's like, no, I don't have a cold. There's no I haven't been around anybody. I can't possibly have a cold. Oh, is this my maybe it's not? Let me return it to sender Ah, yes. Yeah. Right. And that's, that's true, whether it's physical empathy, or whether it's emotional, even psychic, right?

DeeAnne Riendeau:

You know, this actually reminds me I was watching a little video, and I can't remember, you know who the person was, unfortunately. But she was talking about how, you know, when we get injured, we have a tendency of like covering up the injury. So for example, you know, you stub your toe and you like, oh, ow, and you rub your toe, or you put your hands on it, or whatever. And even my kids, you know, when they're injured, they want me to like, put my hands on it. And she said, Well, think of it this way. You are taking an energy from that item, whatever it was, you landed on or stubbed your toe on or whatever it is. And she goes, when you cover it, you're not letting that energy release. So she suggested that when you stub your toe, you bang your elbow, or you hurt yourself in any way, that you actually take the object. And you put that injured part of your body back on the object and say, I return the energy to you. So interesting. Interesting. Yeah, I just I felt like that was interesting to bring up because it's kind of a similar idea. When we talk about energy and our ability to pick up on sensitivities, the Return to Sender, in a way, she's making this Return to Sender, very much a physical experience where it's like, okay, I'll put my big toe back on the, on the leg of the chair that I you know, hit it on, right. And it was interesting, because I was like, okay, here comes the skeptic again. I tried it, and lo and behold, Wallah, my pain was instantly gone. And so it's just something again, I wanted to bring to the surface for the audience, because I don't think that there's really limits on this on how we can manage our energy and create these boundaries and say, Hey, wait a second. I don't need to take that on. I can do that consciously. Again, back to the power of freewill. We think that we have to deal with all of this energy and all this stuff. Maybe we don't really, right. Maybe it can be a conscious choice. Yes.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Yes. Yeah. Another thing that triggers my thought process around pity.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Let's talk about pity.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Yeah, so pity and empaths are one dangerous mix, it makes the empath become like Velcro to everything. And not the good stuff. Yeah. So if I pity you, I kind of give you I'm sending out an energy that for you. You can't do it. You're not capable. I mean, that not a may not be my attention, but that's how the energy reads. Wow. And so then what happens is if you get somebody, that's what's the word I want? Empowered? That's fine. It's no big deal. But if you get somebody who I call a professional victim, like poor me, no, it's everybody else's fault. And if only this, if you change, I'd feel better, because then their willingness to just have an energy leak onto you. is really dangerous. Hmm. Right. It's almost like your invite into unintentionally inviting their energy to be on your energy,

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Right? Because as soon as we feel sorry for them, it's like, we want to lessen the load for them, right. So it's like, here, I'll take your backpack of garbage. And I'll put it on because I feel so sad for you. Right? Yeah.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Or we go oh, how could I help Deanne? Let me think, yeah, okay, well, I could, I could get her groceries and then I could, you know what, I'm going to find a really good therapist, because I think she'd that would help with what she's going through. I'm going to you know, I think it would be good if she had a party. So I'm going to make a party. Like I'm running through and trying to do all these things. Yeah. And I said to a woman in my last time pass workshop, whatever you just asked your family if they wanted you to do these things. Yeah, right. Yeah. We like how many of us have those people in our words like like, here's an article you have to read. Oh, I saw this. Like check it out. And we can be a class rescuers. Right and are so unwanted and as an empath when we when our caring isn't wanted, that can feel very cutting. Yeah, yeah. But we're not owning our own and not standing in our power and letting other people stand in their power.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

That's right. And you're not telling us that we can't I provide suggestions and ideas for people. But I see what you're saying, because I have a woman in my life. And she's lovely. But it's like too much. It's always trying to do something and be helping. But it's like in my face, and it's almost like, I feel like it's just too much. And so I don't want her to feel rejected. She's trying her best. And I see that. But we get caught up in this fixing people pleasing kind of energy, don't we? And I think that's very chronic for a lot of empaths, too. Is the people pleasing. In fact, in most empaths, I also see this strong people pleaser. Would you agree with that in your findings?

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Yeah, I think that we have too much compassion for other people. And contrarily not enough compassion for yourself.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Hmm, interesting. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah, I will, I will throw myself under the bus before somebody else.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

I won't do that anymore.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Yeah. And I'm learning the process. But I've done it a few times in my life where I just took the brunt of it, you know, and even though it didn't feel good, and even though it wasn't the truth that I believed it to be, I took it at ease, because it just felt like, you know, I didn't want the other person to deal with the consequence.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Right? And then you unknowingly gotten in the way of that other person's process.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Right? Yeah. Locking that other people in what they need to experience, I really do love that you brought that up. Because, you know, I think for a lot of empaths, you know, because we feel so much we do feel a sense of obligation in many cases, or we feel like this sense of pity for other people. And I think that's a such a great opportunity for us to recognize and reel that in, into turning that compassion onto self, and to recognizing they have a path to go on. And it's okay, it's okay for me to extend them love, but I don't need to carry the weight of the world for them. And this has been one of the most powerful lessons that I've learned in terms of not taking client and family and whomever I love. And one of the sayings is this, and you probably have something a similar technique, but I want to share this with the audience because it was so powerful for me, because of course, we're all human beings. So we have the dumpers and the drainers, right, we've got the people that dump all their stuff on us. And then we got the people that latch on. I've heard people referenced them as energy vampires, although I don't use that term, but it gives you a pretty good idea of what we're talking about. And so even my kids can, you know, suck energy for me. So, and particularly, I have a deep bond with my son. And so sometimes I, if he's feeling upset or worked up, I can feel him. And so I started the technique. And I say, I've wrapped you in my love, you can take no more from me. I've taken my love, you can take no more from me. So I'm saying it with authority and with conviction and say, you can take no more for me, you already have all my love. You have everything that you write. And sometimes I'll add that I'll say, I've wrapped in my love, you have all that you need, you can take no more from me. So it's like it's me kind of allowing that boundary to take place so that I'm not thinking about it or being weighed down by it. Because it's not sustainable for us either. As you know, it isn't. It'll knock us on our butts. If we keep getting caught up in that. Yeah.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

I think we're prone to burnout.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Yes, we are. Yeah,

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

More than others.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And part of that, though, is about not having the boundaries, right.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Absolutely. Yeah. And I think that we can have energetic boundaries without speaking a boundary.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Agreed, agreed. You know, one of my energy boundaries I set up in the morning is I bring in my energy field, and I set this intention, I only allow Energy serving me at my highest good into my sacred space. I only allow Energy serving me at my highest good into my sacred space. So I create that energetic boundary. And then I can move through the day freely, without needing to feel inundated or overwhelmed by energy. And so every now and then I might have to do a top of of that intention, but it pretty much is so you know, and that helps me I don't think it'd be able to do the work that I do. If I didn't have clear boundaries around that.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

And I do the same thing, but I do it very differently. Who I want to hear so I wrap myself in God's golden byte light. Hmm. dutiful every morning. Beautiful with similar intention.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Yes. Yeah, but you imagine that beautiful golden Yeah, that's beautiful. I love that too. Oh, my gosh, Sylvia, I don't even know where time is gone. I feel like we're just getting Oh, wow. Yeah. But we're gonna wrap things up. So, you know, again, you've given us so much to build on here in terms of the empath journey and recognizing Is it mine You know, discernment, feel it, and then send it back to the sender and return sender like that. That tool in itself is, I think worth its weight in gold for empaths. But hopefully, if you are listening and you're an empath, you have now a new understanding being an empath is a tremendous gift. As Sylvia mentioned, you know, a lot of empaths feel or notice or see things far before they happen. And so if you can harness this gift, it gives you this wonderful opportunity to connect with people more deeply, to make better decisions for yourself. The list goes on. So Sylvia, any final words that you want to share, and we will be providing the website link for everybody below so that you guys can access Sylvia's gift, the empathic quiz that she's got available to you? But Sylvia, final words, what anything else that you know, you feel compelled to share? Before we say goodbye today?

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

I think that as an empath, I would invite you to consider asking yourself what you need in each situation. And you'll feel intensely selfish until it becomes balanced. Because if your cup is full, you can give. But it's only if it's full of your stuff, and the good juju, not everybody else's stuff. Is Yeah, right. And so really start to look at what is it I How am I feeling? What's the need out of that emotion? And what do I need? What's one action step that I can take to address that need for myself? You know, as we care for ourselves, other people are taught to care for themselves to

DeeAnne Riendeau:

Yes, if we can do it, we get permission to others. Yes. I love. I love that question. What do I need? In any given moment, right. So I can ask myself, What do I need? I have never asked myself that question. I don't think in my entire life, what do I need here? And I love that you've really flipped that around so that we're as empaths leaning into deeper compassion for ourselves first. And you know, I'm a big believer in you know, they say, put your oxygen mask on the airplane first, you know, so you can help others. I mean, we've all heard that probably a few times now. But I've always said that that's, you know, important to me. But yet, I've never asked myself, What do I need in this situation? And so I think that that's a powerful question to start asking ourselves, what is it that I need here? Right. And then from that place from the cup being full, right, then we can pour into other people. Okay, I got what I need now. So I can give you what you need as well. And I think

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

If I choose to, yes, it's okay to say no.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

And it is okay to say no. Yeah, I think I think this is a conversation that could go on days. And that's why you offer courses on this, don't you? So I do. Oh, you know, if you are an empath, and you've been struggling with being an empath, or you're just needing to lean into some support. Silvia is the expert in this area. And again, Her website is down below for you click on that and you will find access to her beautiful Empath quiz that you can take, and any other information that Sylvia has regarding her workshops and events. Sylvia, thank you so much for coming on today.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Thank you so much for having me. I've absolutely enjoyed our conversation.

DeeAnne Riendeau:

I really have to and I hope you have to to everybody listening. Thank you so much for being here, and I can't wait to be with you again next time. Until then. Bye. Bye.

Sylvia Plester-Silk:

Bye.

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