Quick Answer: If you are highly intuitive, public spaces can sometimes feel overwhelming because you are sensing far more than the physical environment around you. As your intuitive abilities increase, you may become more aware of other people’s energy, emotions, consciousness, and the energetic impact of your surroundings. Protecting your energy before you go out, maintaining your energetic boundaries while you are there, and practicing Energy Hygiene afterward can make an enormous difference.
Recently, during one of my live Q&A classes, a wonderful student asked me a question that really resonated with me.
He told me he had not been to a movie theater in about 20 years. A friend had a free ticket, so he decided to go. But afterward, he felt absolutely miserable.
It wasn’t only the environment.
The movie itself left him with such a bad feeling that he couldn’t shake it.
As soon as he told me this, I knew I wanted to talk about it because I think this experience is incredibly relatable for highly intuitive people.
What Happens When You Become More Intuitive?
As your intuition develops, your sensitivity can become much stronger.
It may feel almost as though some of the layers that once separated you from everything around you are no longer there. Your senses become amplified.
Think about something many people have experienced: someone you know walks up behind you, and somehow you can feel that it is them before they ever touch you or say a word.
You felt them enter your field.
Now imagine that ability becoming significantly stronger.
You may begin sensing people from farther away. You may even feel someone's consciousness become active when they wake up.
I experience this myself.
I keep very unusual hours. I am often awake at 1:30 or 2:00 in the morning and in bed around 7:00 at night. I love those very early morning hours because fewer people are awake.
I can feel the difference.
Interestingly, some of the highly intuitive people in my online community naturally wake up very early too. They have also discovered how wonderful those quiet hours can feel.
If you experience something similar, I understand.
Your sensitivity may truly be that strong.
Your Psychic Abilities Can Suddenly “Jump Levels”
There is something else I teach my students about called jumping levels.
Sometimes your psychic abilities suddenly increase without an obvious reason.
You may begin to see more.
Feel more.
Hear more intuitively.
Know more.
Something that barely registered energetically six months ago may suddenly feel enormous.
This can be exciting, but it can also be overwhelming when you don't yet know how to manage your new level of sensitivity.
This is exactly why I created my Psychic Dial technique. You do not have to walk around with every intuitive ability turned up to its highest setting all day long.
You can learn how to turn down your psychic seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing when you need a break.
You are allowed to control the volume.
Why Movie Theaters Can Be Especially Difficult for Sensitive People
A movie theater is almost designed to pull all of your awareness away from yourself.
You have an enormous screen, powerful sound, darkness, music, visual stimulation, and emotional storytelling.
Your attention becomes completely focused on what is happening in front of you.
When all of your attention goes toward the screen and the sound, you may stop paying attention to your own body and your energetic boundaries.
That is where a highly sensitive person can run into trouble.
Your boundary goes down.
Now you are sitting in a room surrounded by dozens or even hundreds of people while your awareness is completely absorbed somewhere else.
You may begin feeling the people around you without even realizing it.
Then add the energetic impact of the movie itself.
If the movie is frightening, violent, tragic, painful, or emotionally disturbing, it can affect your consciousness long after the movie ends.
I have personally experienced this.
Years ago, I saw a movie that affected me so strongly that I didn't feel completely like myself again for about four days.
There are people who cannot understand that experience.
For them, going to the movies means checking out for a couple of hours, getting some popcorn and candy, relaxing, and being entertained.
I can't completely check out in a public place.
If I do, I will probably feel yucky afterward.
For me, walking into a crowded environment without maintaining my energetic boundaries would be almost like removing all of my filters and then walking through a polluted area breathing everything in.
Protect Your Energy Before You Enter a Public Space
If you know you are going somewhere crowded—a movie theater, festival, concert, store, family gathering, party, airport, restaurant, or other public environment—prepare your energy before you go.
This is where energetic protection becomes incredibly important.
In my Mohr Method of Healing Reiki Training System, I teach students how to channel Reiki, but I don't stop there.
I teach you how to protect yourself.
One of the foundational techniques I teach is Bubble Up, where you use Reiki and your own positive energy to strengthen and protect your energetic field.
And you don't simply Bubble Up once and forget about it.
If you are in an environment that feels intense, you can continue reinforcing your Bubble while you are there.
Don't Completely Check Out
This is especially important for highly intuitive people.
Stay connected to yourself.
You can enjoy the movie.
You can enjoy the festival.
You can enjoy dinner.
You can spend time with your family.
But occasionally bring your awareness back to your body and your own energetic field.
Notice yourself.
Notice your Bubble.
Channel Reiki.
Strengthen your boundary again if you need to.
You don't have to energetically absorb an entire room simply because you are sitting in it.
Clean Your Energy When You Get Home
What you do afterward is just as important.
If you have been in an energetically intense environment, I strongly recommend practicing Energy Hygiene when you get home.
My Energy Hygiene regimen goes much deeper than simply imagining yourself protected.
I teach people how to clean everything out, remove cords, clear attachments, clear unwanted energy, and then seal the auric field so that you feel solid and whole again.
And yes, this works.
I have used these techniques over and over again, and I have watched my students use them over and over again.
Energy Hygiene doesn't only change how you feel in that moment.
When practiced consistently, it can change your life.
I often say that I wish we learned Energy Hygiene when we were five years old in the same way we learned how to brush our teeth.
Imagine how different your reality could be if you grew up knowing how to maintain your own energetic field.
What Else Can You Do After Being Around a Lot of People?
Nature can be incredibly helpful.
Take a walk outside if you can. Spend some time around trees, plants, animals, fresh air, and natural surroundings.
A shower or bath can also help reset both your body and your energy field. I especially love an Epsom salt bath after an intense energetic experience.
You may also choose to sage or smudge your space when you return home.
But for deeper clearing, I recommend completing your full Energy Hygiene regimen.
The goal is to get your energy back.
You want to feel like you are in control of your own energetic body again rather than feeling like a victim to all of the different energies around you.
How to Bubble Up Before Going Somewhere Crowded
Here is a simple version of the Bubble Up exercise I teach.
Begin by channeling Reiki.
See and feel Reiki energy coming in through the top of your head, traveling down through your body and all the way into the core of the Earth.
Then allow the energy to travel from the core of the Earth back up through your body and out through the top of your head like a fountain.
Allow Reiki to flow out through your right hand and in through your left.
Breathe.
You may feel heat, tingling, pressure, or another sensation.
Now think of something that feels absolutely wonderful to you.
Maybe you are painting, riding a horse, playing with your animals, lying alone on a beautiful beach, or eating something you love.
Choose something tangible that creates a genuinely wonderful feeling inside you.
When possible, choose an experience involving just you—or perhaps you and an animal—so you are really working with your own field.
See it.
Feel it.
Then use the Reiki energy to inflate that wonderful feeling around your entire body.
Imagine it becoming a huge Bubble of light extending approximately 18 inches, or about half a meter, above your head, surrounding your entire body and continuing underneath your feet.
You are now inside your own energetic space.
When you are in a crowded environment, remember that you can reinforce it whenever you need to.
Your Sensitivity Is an Ability
If crowded places suddenly feel more intense as your intuitive abilities develop, you are not imagining what you are experiencing.
You are becoming aware of information that many other people simply don't perceive yet.
In my eyes, this is part of your evolution.
The goal isn't to become afraid of public spaces or avoid the world.
The goal is to learn how to manage your abilities, protect your energy, and stay empowered while you are in it.
You can learn when to turn your psychic abilities up.
You can learn when to turn them down.
You can learn how to protect your field.
And you can learn how to clean your energy afterward.
As more people develop these abilities, I believe these skills will eventually become much more normal.
Those of you learning them now are simply ahead of the game.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do crowded places feel worse as my intuition develops?
As your intuitive abilities increase, you may become conscious of energy and information that you previously did not notice. In a crowded environment, you may be feeling many people at once in addition to everything happening physically around you.
Why can a movie affect me for hours or even days afterward?
When you become completely absorbed in a movie, your normal energetic awareness and boundaries may decrease. If the content is frightening, violent, painful, or emotionally intense, a highly sensitive person may continue feeling the effects after leaving the theater.
Can I turn my psychic sensitivity down?
Yes. This is one of the reasons I teach the Psychic Dial. You can learn to intentionally turn down your seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing instead of remaining completely open all of the time.
What should I do before going somewhere crowded?
Channel Reiki, Bubble Up, and strengthen your energetic boundary before entering the space. Continue checking and reinforcing your Bubble while you are there.
What should I do when I get home?
I recommend Energy Hygiene, along with things such as getting into nature, taking a shower or Epsom salt bath, and smudging if that is part of your practice.
Ready to Learn How to Protect Your Energy?
If you are becoming more intuitive and are tired of feeling overwhelmed by other people and public spaces, this is exactly why I teach Energy Protection and Energy Hygiene as part of my Mohr Method of Healing Reiki Training System.
You will learn how to channel Reiki, Bubble Up, protect your energetic field, clean your energy, cut cords, clear attachments, and seal your auric field so you can move through the world feeling empowered instead of bombarded by everything around you.
Explore the Mohr Method of Healing Reiki Training System and learn how to take control of your energy and your growing intuitive abilities.
