Empath Energy Overload and Astrocartography Insights

Earlier this summer, we packed up the car and made our way from Florida to Bluffton, South Carolina, for our very first pet/house sit. We’d signed up for TrustedHousesitters as a fun way to get away, explore and have new experiences.

It didn’t take long for the trip to become something deeper.

The drive was longer than expected, full of rain delays and traffic. When we finally arrived, we were tired and grateful to settle in. The very next morning, something familiar and unwelcome hit me hard: my back spasmed, I was nauseous, my stomach cramped, and I started shaking. It felt like a full-blown physical collapse.

And all I could think was, “Really? Now?” We were supposed to meet the homeowner in a few hours.

I did everything I knew to do, hydrate, regulate, breath, energy work, but it wasn’t enough.

Eventually, I had to ask for something I still struggle with: help.

I reached out to Shelly, my dear friend and healing partner, and she immediately tuned into my energy. What she found didn’t surprise either of us. As an empath, I had been unconsciously holding a huge amount of collective energy; grief, fear, stress, all of it amplified by what was happening in the world. My nervous system was overloaded.

What I experienced that morning wasn’t random, it was deeply familiar. As an empath, I’ve spent much of my life unknowingly absorbing the emotions and energy of the people and spaces around me. And while I’ve learned powerful tools over the years to clear, protect, and ground myself, this was a new level of intensity.

The collective energy was loud. It was heavy. And without even realizing it, I was carrying it all.

In that moment, I had to practice what I always tell my clients: you don’t have to do it alone. I reached out to Shelly, a trusted healer and dear friend, because I knew I needed support. She was able to quickly connect with my energy and confirm what I was sensing, my system was overwhelmed from taking on far too much collective grief and fear. She helped me clear and transmute what wasn’t mine to hold. The shift was almost immediate. My nausea and shakiness settled, the pressure I’d been carrying lifted.

As empaths we aren’t weak. We’re highly tuned instruments. But if we don’t actively maintain our energy field, it becomes soaked and heavy with emotion that was never meant to be ours.

This trip reminded me that my tools work but only if I use them. Boundaries, energy hygiene, calling in support… they’re not luxuries. They’re lifelines.

That night I finally rested, and the next morning brought a new challenge; a charlie horse in my leg (which for me is usually a dehydration flag). As I reached for water, the back spasm flared again. This time, I knew what I needed: a conversation with my spirit team and a new commitment to not allow collective energy to store in my body.

I made a deal: I would clear my body and energy field twice a day, and they would keep my body clear of symptoms. And you know what? It worked. The rest of our stay in Bluffton was peaceful and healing.

I even slept better, more consistently than I had in months. That was a big deal. For over a year, I’d been struggling with disrupted sleep. But something shifted in Bluffton.

When we got back home, I felt an internal nudge to look at the belief systems I was carrying around sleep. Turns out, I had a few faulty stories running stories I was ready to release. I used energy healing to clear them, and my sleep has been significantly better ever since.

What I didn’t know before moving to Santa Rosa Beach is that I’m currently living on my Chiron line. In astrocartography, Chiron represents the wounded healer, it’s the line where deep, often painful soul lessons rise up for healing. Living on this line can feel like you’re constantly being nudged (or shoved) into your most vulnerable places. It asks you to heal, again and again, until you become your own medicine.

Honestly, had I known I would be living on my Chiron line, I may have hesitated to move here. It’s not an easy path, but it has been a sacred one. It’s the reason so much has surfaced in the last few years; grief, trauma, old programming and it’s why I’ve been doing such deep internal work.

Bluffton, by contrast, sits on my Pluto Midheaven (MC) line. Pluto is the planet of transformation, death, and rebirth. When it aligns with the MC (career and public life), it tends to stir deep ancestral healing, power reclamation, and sometimes past life energy. It’s intense, but it can be clarifying and catalytic.

So it’s no wonder I experienced what I did in Bluffton. The town itself called something forward. Something old and heavy and it gave me the space to release and rewire.

Astrocartography is something new I've been exploring and this trip was a personal reminder of just how powerful location-based energy can be. Where we are physically located matters, it influences what rises to be healed, what feels easeful, and even how we sleep.

Click here for access to Star Path Oracle, the AI based astrology app that I'm loving and is providing so much insight to my astrology and astrocartography.

This trip reminded me how important it is to pause and tend to ourselves, especially if we’re sensitive, empathic, or in any sort of service-based work.

The healing didn’t come from pushing through. It came from asking for help, trusting my tools, and honoring what my body and energy were trying to tell me.

Wherever you are right now, I hope this encourages you to listen; to your symptoms, to your intuition and your environment.

There’s wisdom in all of it, and if you ever feel like your body is holding more than you can carry, know that healing is possible and you don’t have to do it alone.