As healers, wellness practitioners, and empaths, you’re often flooded with ideas, aren’t you?
A new workshop format. An additional service offering. A fresh approach to client (or friend) care. An authentic marketing strategy. The possibilities can feel endless – which is both a blessing and a challenge.
With limited time and energy (especially when you’re giving so much of yourself to others), how do you choose which ideas to pursue?
Here’s a framework I’ve developed to help fellow healers and sensitive souls make these decisions mindfully.
Honor both innovation and tradition
The most powerful offerings in the wellness and healing space combine unique approaches with familiar foundations. Your unique perspective and healing methods should feel fresh and innovative while still connecting to established practices that potential clients can understand and relate to.
For example, if you’re developing a new trauma-healing workshop, you might combine traditional breathwork with your unique somatic approach. This gives clients a familiar entry point while offering them something they can’t find elsewhere.
How to find the happy medium? Consider creating a personal innovation scale from 1 to 10, where 1 represents completely traditional approaches and 10 represents revolutionary new methods. Most successful wellness offerings fall between 3 and 7 on this scale—familiar enough to trust, different enough to stand out. Where do your current offerings fall? Where might your new idea land?
Simple Goldilocks formula: What works for you & serves others
The best initiatives for your practice are those that nourish you even if they don’t immediately succeed as planned. As healers and empaths, this is doubly important – you absorb and process so much emotional energy that you must be vigilant about your own wellbeing. This balance needs to be “just right”.
When considering a new idea, ask yourself: Will pursuing this help me grow, learn, or heal, regardless of the outcome? For instance, starting a weekly newsletter might not immediately attract new clients, but the practice of articulating your knowledge will deepen your own understanding and clarity while creating healthy boundaries around your energy.
Before launching a new offering, consider these questions:
What skills will I develop through this process? How might this challenge help me overcome personal blocks? What aspects of my own healing journey might this illuminate? In what ways might this offering replenish rather than deplete me? How does this align with my personal values and boundaries?
How to align with your core gift
Just because you can offer something doesn’t mean you should. This is particularly true for empaths and healing professionals, who are often pressured to expand their services or adopt trending modalities.
Be honest about what truly lights you up. If you’re an empath who thrives in one-on-one deep transformational work, honor that instead of forcing yourself into group settings that might drain your energy. Your best work will always come from the areas that genuinely ignite your passion while respecting your unique sensitivities.
Your core gift exists at the intersection of:
- What comes naturally to you (often so naturally you might undervalue it)
- What consistently generates positive feedback from clients
- The work that leaves you feeling energized rather than depleted
- The modalities or approaches about which you continuously want to learn more
- The healing experiences that transformed your own life
Take a moment to reflect on these elements. What patterns emerge? These patterns often reveal your true gift – the work you were born to do.
Fall in love with the process, not just the outcome
Nothing wrong with wanting a successful practice and an abundant income. But these shouldn’t be the primary drivers of your choices. The day-to-day work of bringing an idea to life needs to energise you, not drain you – especially for empaths who can quickly become depleted by pursuits that don’t align with their authentic nature.
Ask yourself: Do you feel excited about the actual work this will entail, or are you just attached to the potential results? If you’re considering adding group sessions, make sure you’re genuinely energised by group dynamics, not just attracted to the idea of serving more clients at once.
When I consider launching a new program, I imagine myself doing the actual daily work of this new idea for the following year, even if nobody notices or praises me for it. I ask myself: Will I still find it fulfilling? If not, I might be chasing outcomes rather than honoring my process.
Another important question to ask yourself is this: How does your new idea fit into your natural energetic cycles?
Does it allow for the quiet reflection time many empaths need? Can you structure it to honor your high-energy and low-energy periods? How might you build in recovery time after emotionally intense work? What boundaries need to be established to protect your sensitivity?
Keep it clear and simple
If you can’t explain your new offering or approach simply, it’s not ready to share with the world. This doesn’t mean oversimplifying deep work, but rather being able to articulate its essence clearly.
This clarity isn’t just about marketing – it’s about having a strong vision that can sustain you through the challenges of implementation. When you can explain your idea simply, you understand it deeply enough to bring it to life effectively.
When I was writing my doctoral thesis (and then my book), my advisor used to keep reminding me: Clarity, clarity, clarity! Talk about a huge lesson that keeps on giving. Before launching anything, or marketing your offering, try to explain what it is to people from various fields and with different backgrounds:
For example, ask the opinion of a fellow practitioner in your field. Ask someone from another industry. Then, try a potential client and see what they think. More importantly, see if you can explain your idea clearly to all of these individuals.
If you can communicate the essence and value clearly to all of them, you’ve achieved the clarity needed to move forward confidently.
Fellow empaths: This is how to do an energy audit
For those who are highly attuned to the emotions of others, there’s an additional consideration: the energy exchange. Before launching a new offering, conduct an honest “energy audit.” Will this work leave you feeling expanded or contracted? What boundaries will you need to implement to protect your sensitive nature while still sharing your gifts?
Remember that as an empath, your sensitivity is both your greatest gift and your vulnerability. The most sustainable paths forward honor both.
This year, I’m all about expanding my energy. I don’t know about you, but I’m done with focusing on trying to shield myself to protect my energy. If you’re on the same page, here are some of the energy expansion techniques I’d recommend implementing, especially while developing new offerings:
- Energy expanding rituals before and after client sessions (rather than just clearing)
- Creating flexible physical space boundaries that allow for authentic connection while honoring your needs
- Clear time boundaries that include space for your energy to expand and regenerate
- Permission to adjust or evolve your offerings as you receive feedback from your own expanding energy system
- Regular check-ins to assess not just sustainability but opportunities for energy growth
- Practices that transform absorbed energies into fuel for your own expansion rather than depletion
Remember that while being highly sensitive can present challenges, it also gives you unique advantages in the wellness space:
Intuitive understanding of clients’ unspoken needs Ability to create safe containers that clients can feel before you even explain them Natural talent for holding space without judgment Capacity to sense energetic shifts that indicate healing is occurring Innate understanding of the delicate balance between supporting others and self-preservation.
Join The Call: A remarkable community that actually gets it
If you’re navigating these decisions and feeling the weight of your sensitivity, you’re not alone. That’s why I’ve created The Wounded Healer – a dedicated segment of The Call, our membership space, specifically designed for empaths, sensitives, and healing professionals.
Within this sacred container, you’ll find:
- Frameworks for decision-making that honor your sensitive nature
- Community support from fellow empaths who understand your unique challenges
- Practices to protect your energy while amplifying your impact
- Guidance on building a sustainable healing practice without burnout
- Regular group sessions, and activation exercises
- Templates for client communications that preserve your energy
- Continuous support from those who’ve created lucrative and sustainable careers while honoring their sensitivity
- Plus, everything in The Call Media Centre and Community Library (webinars, herbal wisdom, Ayurveda, wellness challenges, downloadables, and more!)
“Before The Wounded Healer, I constantly felt drained by the idea of starting my own practice. Both in my personal life and otherwise, I was helping others but losing myself in the process. This community taught me that my sensitivity isn’t a liability – it’s my superpower when channeled with proper boundaries. Now, I’m serving more deeply while feeling more energized.”
Selene, holistic nutrition student, The Call member
Final thoughts
As empaths and wellness practitioners, you need to be especially mindful about where you direct your energy. Every “yes” to a new idea is a “no” to something else – including our own rest and recovery.
Choose your pursuits wisely, ensuring they align with your authentic medicine while supporting your well-being. The most sustainable practices honor both the healer and those they serve.
The world needs your gifts now more than ever – but it needs you to offer them in a way that’s sustainable for your sensitive system. By applying these frameworks to your decision-making process, you’re not just building a practice; you’re creating a healing ecosystem that can flourish for years to come.
What ideas are you currently considering for your practice? How do they align with these guidelines? Share your ideas with our members who get you – we’ll support you in making choices that serve your highest good while deepening your capacity to serve others.
Editor’s note: The information in this article, as well as all content produced and shared by Ivy Chan Wellness, including programs, memberships, and downloadables, are provided for informational and educational purposes only. They are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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