ahhtherapy ~newsletter ~ july 2026

Living Better. Living well. It begins with the exhale ~"Ahh"

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​Hey there beautiful,

We're wrapping up Cancer season, and if you've been feeling it, you're not alone in that. This year, especially with retrograde in the mix, the energy has been deep.

This season asked us to just sit with our feelings instead of rushing past them. That last new moon in particular felt like a wave for a lot of us : old stuff surfacing, finally ready to be seen and released.

Cancer is all water: emotion, intuition, home, memory, heart. Maybe you've felt more inward lately, more tender, more drawn to slow down and care for yourself and the people you love.

And if you're an empath? You probably felt all of this times ten…. (Same, honestly…)

If this sounds like you, you might already know it; you're an empath. But let's actually talk about what that means, because it's more nuanced than people think.

Empaths exist on a spectrum. For some, other people's energy is a faint whisper. For others, it's a full-body wave that knocks them flat. Most of us are somewhere in between.

And an empath isn't the same as an introvert. I'm an ambivert myself (I can swing either way depending on the day). Introversion is nervous-system wiring: introverts are more sensitive to dopamine, so too much noise, stimulation, or social input can overwhelm the system fast, and solitude is what resets it.

Being an empath is different. It's sensing what someone else is feeling, almost involuntarily. The two overlap a lot (quiet spaces make it easier to process what you're absorbing) but you can absolutely be an empath and the life of the party.

What makes you an empath is that your body picks up on people's real feelings, the ones underneath. The sudden urge to call someone, and they just lost someone that day. The instinct to leave a room the second someone walks in.

You see what's under the surface. Someone laughs, everyone else takes it at face value. Except you. You feel the sadness behind it, the fear under the confidence.

That's what makes you a powerful healer. You notice what hasn't been said yet. You feel where the tenderness needs to go.

But this gift can come with a cost.

Empaths feel everything deeply, which also means loving deeply. But because you're carrying your own emotions and everyone else's, that depth can tip into codependency fast.

Codependency is especially tricky for empaths because the line between your feelings and someone else's gets blurry. You sense what they're carrying, and suddenly it's yours. Their needs become your job. Their happiness starts to feel like something you're responsible for producing.

Slowly, you lose touch with your own life because all your energy is going toward fixing, protecting, saving someone else.

Healthy love flows both ways. Codependent love is you offering more patience, more forgiveness, more of yourself, hoping that loving harder will fix what's broken. But love alone can't create balance if you're the only one showing up for it.

Boundaries feel awful here. They go against your instinct to stay close and help. Walking away can feel like abandonment, even when staying is what's draining you.

But letting someone pull you under doesn't save them. It just means you both drown.

Protecting your energy isn't selfish, it's what lets you keep loving intensely, and keep showing up for the people who can actually receive it without consuming you.

To Do:

• Notice one moment today you took on someone else's emotion. Pause. Ask: "Is this mine to carry?"
• Before saying yes, breathe three times. Ask: "Am I doing this for love, or fear of disappointing them?"
• Write two columns: Mine / Not Mine. then GO! Sort your worries honestly.
• Practice one loving boundary this week : "I can't today," alone time, or letting them solve it themselves.
• Tonight: one hand on your heart, one on your stomach. Repeat- "I release what is not mine. I honor my own needs. I can love deeply without carrying what belongs to someone else.

Healing this pattern starts with noticing it… not just hoping it fixes itself. Community, support, and real boundaries remind you: you were never required to sacrifice yourself to prove your love.

So look back over these last weeks of Cancer season. As the tide pulls you inward, let it show you where you've been giving your water away to people who never learned how to hold it.

You're allowed to protect your shell without hiding inside it. You're allowed to feel everything and still choose who gets to stand in the water with you.

You deserve relationships where someone looks at you and says, I see you, I value you, I want to care for you too.

You are loved, unconditionally, exactly as you are....

Some big news coming up!

This year, Lammas is going to look a little different ~ smaller, quieter, more intimate than our usual gatherings. Lammas has always been about the first harvest, that moment of pausing to honor what you've grown and give thanks before the rest of the season unfolds, and this year feels like the right time to hold that close.

If you've been showing up regularly to circle, keep an eye out for a personal invite. Just a small gathering… and a BIG announcement on 8/1.

I can't wait to share it with you!

With so much love,
​Shana

P.S. I’d genuinely love to hear from you. What’s going on? What’s new? Does any of this empath stuff hit home for you? Or are you simply craving your soul family and ready to circle up again?

Reply right HERE ~ I promise, it’ll reach me, and I’ll write back.

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