Christiane Northrup - Dodging Energy Vampires

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CHRISTIANE NORTHRUP, M.D.

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Copyright 2018 by Christiane Northrup, M.D.

Published and distributed in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com Published and distributed in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au Published and distributed in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk Distributed in Canada by: Raincoast Books: www.raincoast.com Published in India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Cover design: Nita Ybarra Interior design: Pamela Homan
Indexer: Laura Ogar

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private useother than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviewswithout prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4019-5477-2

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
1st edition, April 2018

Printed in the United States of America

To Lightworkers everywhere.
Our time has finally come.

CONTENTS

Ive spent a lifetime working in the field of health and healingfirst as a conventionally trained ob/gyn physician and surgeon and then later as a global teacher who reminds women about everything that can go right with their bodies. And, even more important, how to make this their reality.

During my decades on the front lines of womens health, I have seen countless women suffer from seemingly inexplicable health conditions. These women eat well. They exercise. They take care of themselves. They manage families, jobs, homes. On paper, everything looks great, but each time I dig deeper into their lives, I find that there is another person at the root of their problemsa person who seems to be literally sucking the life blood from them. I refer to these people as energy vampires.

Most of the women (and also men) afflicted by energy vampires are compassionate, loving, and deeply concerned about the well-being of the people around them. They interact with the energy of other people to a degree that puts them well past being merely compassionate. They dont simply feel an observational sadness when they see someone suffer; they feel the same suffering, as if they are having a firsthand experience of the pain they are witnessing. These women fall into a category of people known as empaths. My guess is that if youre reading this, you recognize yourself a bit in this description.

Until quite recently, energy vampires have been largely unrecognized and undiagnosed by society in general and the medical and legal systems in particular. Thats why so few people understand what a problem they are.

I didnt actually realize the degree to which they affected the lives of my patients until I began researching them because of what was happening in my own life. As an empath, I mistakenly believed that everyone shared the same empathy and compassion that I have. I assumed that no matter how much harm someone was causing to their families or colleagues that deep down, in their heart of hearts, they were good people who meant well. They were simply acting out of their unexpressed pain and denial. It never occurred to me that there are people who are actually predatorswho prey on the agreeableness, trust, goodwill, openheartedness, and resourcefulness of others. I couldnt imagine that there were people who are nearly devoid of empathy, compassion, caring, and the willingness or even capacity to change. But this is exactly what energy vampires are. They are chameleons who can be master manipulators, getting what they want from others without giving anything in return.

Unsuspecting empaths often open their hearts, their bank accounts, and their bodies in order to help these vampires heal their so-called wounds, which actually dont exist. This is not because the empath is a fool. It results, instead, from the perfect storm of the empaths desire to be a healing force in the world, combined with the predatory skills of the vampireand, very often, the unhealed wounds of the empath, who often doesnt feel worthy of the best life has to offer.

The truth of this was brought into stark focus for me by a series of romantic relationships and with several close friends and some business colleagues. These relationships were sapping me. I felt like I was going crazy. Losing myself. I was always blaming myself and feeling like I needed to improve something. What was I doing wrong? As it turns out, the only thing I was doing wrong was over-giving to people I thought I could heal without including my own needs and well-being in the mix. I had no idea that many people in my life were energy vampires.