Vibrations are real, people. The informal definition of vibrations is: a person’s emotional state, the atmosphere of a place, or the associations of an object, as communicated to and felt by others. Now, the formal definition of vibration(s) is this: an instance of vibrating; i.e “powerful vibrations from an earthquake.” No matter how you spin it, the formal and informal definitions of the word go hand-in-hand. In order to feel the instance of vibrating—albeit from an earthquake, person, place, or associations—you’re still feeling something, you’re still feeling the shift of energy and the vibration.
Once you’re attuned to vibrations, you can’t ignore them. You can’t pick and choose when to feel them, they’re always just there. And my God, is it a whole new world when you know they are. (Que Aladdin’s “A Whole New World,” you’re welcome.) Needless to say, vibrations and energies are everywhere, they’re all around us, everywhere we go—even the Earth itself gives off natural vibrations. I mean, think about it: if a full moon has the ability to shift the tides of the ocean and affect the mood of a human, what wouldn’t be able to affect the vibrations in our day-to-day life? It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: nothing, our vibrations have the power to shift and change as often or as little as we like, knowingly and unknowingly; and I think it’s agreed upon universally that no one wants to live in a state of constant negativity.
Teaching yourself how to learn, feel, and read the energies of other people is one thing, but learning and knowing your own is another. So all of this begs the question: how do we know when our own vibration is off?
I’ve created a checklist with all the signs that your vibe is off, and how you can fix it to get your energy aligned once again. (This is especially important during quarantine, we all need to stay as sane and grounded as possible!) Use this checklist to determine if your vibe is off, and how you can fix it so you can live a happy, positive, and flawless life once again.
Signs your vibe is off:
- You’re fully surrounded by negative energy constantly. Negative energy can come from a multitude of places, so it doesn’t matter necessarily where this bad energy comes from, but what does matter is that it’s constantly around you. Maybe you find that the people around you don’t bring anything positive to the table, maybe you have a hard time seeing the good in anything—whatever the case may be, living in a constant state of negativity is a definite sign of a vibe being off.
- The energy around you doesn’t change, even when you move around. Have you ever heard people say that they feel like they have a black cloud hanging over their head and following them everywhere they go? *raises hand* This sort of attitude is exactly what happens when a vibe is off. I know my vibe is really off when I move to different rooms in my house and my energy doesn’t change, or even if I visit my parents’ house and find that nothing’s shifted either. If you find yourself in this position, take note that you need to do a major self energy shift, pronto.
- Little annoyances keep popping up. Daily annoyances happen, that’s never going to change. You crack an egg and half the shell lands in the bowl with it, you spill water, you get your clothes dirty accidentally, sometimes you stain things—all of this is fine because it’s a normal part of life, but if you have a day where every little thing down to even the most basic of activities keeps going wrong, you’re probably going to want to check your vibration. The love and energy you put out into the universe is the love and energy you get back, and though life will never be perfect for anyone, repeated, small annoyances are a major warning sign that you need to get yourself together.
- You’re self-soothing a lot. Doing something like crossing your arms and hugging yourself tightly is a form of self-soothing. If you find that you’re doing things like this to make yourself feel better, there’s a good chance your vibe is off. It may even be buried deep inside of you, but your brain’s still managed to register that something is wrong and caused you to soothe yourself. This is something to be especially mindful of for those who don’t have clinical anxiety or depression because these practices are not normal everyday occurrences. I personally don’t have either one of those, but my boyfriend does and we’ve discussed in-length exactly what self-soothing techniques mean for those with anxiety and those without. He’s told me that making sure there’s constant stimulation around you—i.e loud background noise—is a definite red flag of anxiety, because it’s a self-soothing technique that quiets your brain and the real world around you. So, for example, for someone like myself who doesn’t get anxious, if I were to suddenly blare all kinds of background noise when I wouldn’t normally (or ever, if I’m being honest), then I’d know that something in me was off.
- You feel restless. If you’re having trouble sleeping, sitting still, or staying in the present moment, your energy is probably in need of a good check and realignment. Our bodies act strangely when things aren’t right, and disruptions to the natural order of our lives is a way of letting us know that something’s wrong.
How to fix it:
The good news is that it’s natural to have energy shifts and for your vibration to be thrown off every once in a while, the important thing is that you know what to look for, and make it a priority to get your vibration right right away so it doesn’t seriously impact your life. Bad vibes, whatever you may think of them, have the power to affect your entire world.
Below is a list I’ve created of ways you can shift your energy and bring your vibe back to a positive level again. Here’s how to fix your vibe when it’s off.
- Take a step back. The first thing you should do is take step back—from everything, even if it’s just for one moment. You can’t look at anything objectively when you’re caught up in it. Take a step back, put down all electronics, and try to shut your brain off. Once you’ve done that, you’ll find you’re able to reevaluate the situation and world around you better.
- Go for a walk. Nature is one of the greatest gifts in this world, and there’s no better way to put your energy back in alignment than getting lost in it. Being outside reminds us of where we all essentially come from and go in the end—the dirt. All of us, regardless of race, age, gender, wealth, all have that in common; we all end up in the ground in the end. There’s so much beauty in nature, too, allowing yourself to get caught up in it all will allow you to become one with the Earth again, which is where the biggest energies of all come from. Reconnecting to the ground [essentially] will keep you grounded in turn.
- Meditate. Meditation allows you to silence the white noise and focus on your breathing, and there’s no better way to fast-track your vibe back to normal again than doing both of those things. You’ll also find that your head will be clearer afterwards.
- Sage. Saging (AKA smudging) has roots in Native American culture and traditions. It is a ritualistic act of cleansing a person, object, or place to clear out any unwanted, bad energy. Many different cultures and religions have adopted some form of smudging (I didn’t realize until I saged my home that they do it at church), and it’s grown in popularity in mainstream pop-culture as of late. Saging your [entire] home is a great and easy way to clear out negativity and protect your aura. I personally love saging, and think it’s a great way to set your vibe right again. Since we’re all quarantined, look for online stores that sell sage sticks (there’s plenty out there), just don’t forget to set a positive intention before you sage! It can be anything like, “please clear this place and myself of any negative energy.”
- Crystals. Crystals are another great way to fix your vibration because all crystals contain natural vibrations themselves. Since crystals come from the earth, their natural vibrational frequencies have the ability to cleanse our own, as well as permeate the air and release good energy wherever they are. You can use selenite to cleanse your aura by bringing it from the crown of your head, all the way down to the bottom of your feet; or you can take any other crystal and place it on any part of your body, hold it in your hand, or place it near you in a specific room. I personally love clear quartz, selenite, and rose quartz. Side note: since crystals have natural vibrations like humans, you’ll want to make sure you cleanse them first by either burying them in the ground for 24 hours (we all come from the dirt), placing them atop a piece of selenite, or cleansing them underneath the sun or full moon. Before you write this off, trust me, crystals work. Whenever I need to cleanse myself, I go to sage and crystals.
- Positive affirmations. Change your mindset, and you can change your life. Positive affirmations are helpful to break the cycle of negative thinking. Try saying out loud or writing down things like: “I deserve happiness and accept it from the universe,” “I can do anything I set my mind to,” “I will not allow negativity to enter my life,” “I will not let anything break me.” If you say or write down things like this enough, you’ll eventually start to believe it, thus setting your vibe right again. Putting out positivity into the universe will ensure that you get that positivity back. You’ll also help manifest positive vibes for yourself, ultimately clearing out that negative, stagnant energy.
- Prayers of gratitude. A prayer of gratitude is always a good idea regardless of whether your vibe is off or not. It’s important that we remind ourselves all that we have to be thankful for, and it helps put problems in perspective. When your vibe is off, even saying out loud “I am grateful,” or thanking a higher power for the blessings in your life will help restore your vibe. It’s easy to get caught up in the negatives of life, especially when there is so much wrong and unfairness in the world, but lowering yourself onto that level isn’t the way to go, it’s only going to impact your life negatively. Prayers of gratitude will help block the negative energy and also prevent you from getting caught up in it.
Related: Meet My 3 Favorite Crystals: Selenite, Rose Quartz, + Clear Quartz
