As we often times feel overwhelmed by the negative feelings of other people, especially our children, parents, friends, even neighbors, we tend to flee or just not put ourselves in that position to protect ourselves from bottling up unwanted emotions. 
Emotions are just as anything else on this planet, material or spirit, made from energy. It flows, it changes, it takes forms and circulates round and round. As we don’t know what to do with it, we tend to catch it and not release it. Catching it is perfectly normal though not favorable, but the releasing is the tricky part. 

So, how do we release or protect ourselves from unwanted emotions that we get from other people?
— First you have to know that you are not a barrel that needs to be filled. Imagine yourself as a fog through which anything can pass. Emotions are just energy and you can redirect it into the vast universe, not find an end to it in your body. It it way easier on ourselves to let it pass than gather it and release it afterword in totally inappropriate ways. If we are unconscious of the ways it develops then that energy will transform into our own fury, sadness, etc. And guess what? It will want out. As energy needs to flow continuously. It will come out as shouting, crying, even feeling tiered and drained out. We need to be aware of its transformation and if we catch it, then we can release it consciously into constructive ways. Through breathing, or becoming conscious that it is not yours and you can just let it go and flow it out of your body.

— Understanding the person that is trying to give you that energy. It is natural to try to make the other feel as you feel. You need someone to carry that overflowing energy with you. The negative energies are so low frequency and so overwhelming that are very hard to carry by oneself. So we try to give that overflow to a fellow human. It is not only that making the other mirror our emotion we feel that instant lift off our chest, but we also feel like we are understood. Even though that is only a myth. No one on this planet can fully understand you as you are unique through your soul, your experiences, your programming, your filters through which you see the world. But sharing the same emotion feels like you are being understood at times, but it is more about sharing the load of a too heavy energy that needs to keep flowing, as you tried to accumulate it inside of you against its law.
We tend to duck from the negative energies of others, but have you noticed that positive feelings are the same? You still feel the need to share that burst of too much energy. It explodes outside of you, you can’t keep it in. You can transform it into skipping, happy singing, dancing, but you still feel the need to share it with someone that will understand and cherish it with you.

Understanding the other person is also getting to know the story. If you learn the cause, you can choose not to be affected by it. It is not yours. You can be a support, but also be the fog and let those energies flow through you and you shall not be affected. You may sometimes, with some types of people, find that the person sharing the negative feelings will try so hard to make you feel like them to no end. Keep leading the energies around you and through you. It takes practice. Lots of it. As you are so used to mirror the same feelings exactly.

Think of it this way: why not let the person complain and then you be the one that spreads calm and stillness? Compassion and forgiveness and anything that is needed in the moment. Can you become the spreader and switch the roles just by being? And not by saying.

Many people just need to share, not to find advice or solutions. So don’t be that person otherwise specifically asked to.
You cannot help a person that is not ready to be helped. If the decision has been made then the person already helped themselves and you are just a step on the path of healing. You can only remind people what they have forgotten in the moment if and only if you feel guided by your intuition, otherwise say nothing. Just practice reflexive listening, that is repeating what the other one has said with slightly different words. That will be the moment where the person will feel more understood than ever. Let them be, just hold the space. The best gift you can give anyone is listen.

So the methods to protect yourself from negative energy are:

—Imagine you are a fog

—Imagine a sphere of light around you that deflects negative energy

—Feel the emotions but let them go then and there by crying together with the person. You can return to your normal state after that. Be conscious that you helped someone release that energy and that it is not yours.

—Release it afterwards by taking a big breath in, like you are just gathering that energy from your body and transforming it into air, and release it while exhaling, imagining as a fog that is released into the universe, a free neutral energy that is free now to take any other new form somewhere else.

As a side note, as you are one, it is completely normal to feel what the other one feels. Let’s bring back sharing as normal, as we are here on this planet for each other. Share the sad moments, share the joyous moments. Support each other and let each other be, as this is free will. Don’t judge what are other like, as you are judging yourself as other magnificent versions.

Let me know what you think and how can I help in the chatbox!