Introduction: A New Perspective on Energetic Attachments
When relationships end, change, or become challenging, many of us continue to feel connected to the other person in ways that go beyond memory or emotion. We might experience persistent thoughts about them, feel their presence at unexpected moments, or notice that our energy seems somehow entangled with theirs—even years after the physical relationship has ended.
In spiritual and energetic healing traditions, this phenomenon is often described as “energetic cords” or “attachments”—connections in our energetic field that keep us linked to other people, past experiences, or even places. When these connections become draining or limiting, many seek ways to sever them through what’s commonly called “cord cutting.”
Yet traditional approaches to cord cutting often frame these connections as purely negative—something to be forcefully removed, cut away, or eliminated from our energy field. This perspective, while sometimes providing temporary relief, can miss important aspects of the attachment and may not lead to complete resolution or healing.
As a holistic therapist practicing energetic healing in Dublin, Naas, Newbridge, and online with clients worldwide, I’ve discovered that a more nuanced, compassionate approach to energetic attachments often creates deeper and more lasting transformation. Rather than violently cutting cords, what if we could mindfully close the energetic exchange with love, gratitude, and grace?
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore a different way of understanding energetic attachments—one that honors their purpose and wisdom while still supporting healthy release. We’ll examine why we form these connections, how to recognize when they’re no longer serving us, and most importantly, how to close them with love rather than resistance, creating space for new energy and possibilities in your life.
Understanding Energetic Attachments: Beyond Simplistic Views
To work effectively with energetic attachments, it’s helpful to develop a more nuanced understanding of what they are and why they form.
What Are Energetic Cords?
Energetic cords or attachments are connections in our subtle energy field that link us to other people, experiences, places, or even beliefs. These connections exist in what many traditions call the “energetic body”—aspects of our being that extend beyond the physical form but influence our physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.
These connections might be experienced as:
- Persistent thoughts about a person or situation
- Emotional reactivity triggered by reminders of the connection
- Physical sensations that arise when thinking about the person or experience
- Dreams featuring the person or situation
- Intuitive awareness of what’s happening with someone despite no physical contact
- Energy drains or sudden energy shifts that seem connected to another person
While the metaphor of “cords” suggests visible, rope-like connections, these attachments are more accurately understood as patterns of energy and information exchange—resonances that continue to influence our energy field after the initial connection is formed.
The Purpose and Wisdom of Attachments
Unlike some popular approaches that view all energetic attachments as negative or intrusive, a more balanced perspective recognizes that these connections form for meaningful reasons:
Connection and Belonging
As humans, we’re wired for connection. Energetic attachments often represent our deep need for belonging and relationship—a fundamental aspect of being human.
Soul Agreements and Learning
Many spiritual traditions suggest that significant relationships involve “soul contracts” or agreements to learn and grow together. Energetic attachments may reflect these deeper agreements and the lessons they contain.
Unresolved Experiences
When interactions or relationships don’t reach natural completion, attachments can persist as the energy system attempts to process and integrate the experience.
Protection and Adaptation
Some attachments form as protective mechanisms, particularly in challenging circumstances. They represent the system’s attempt to maintain safety or manage difficult situations.
Love and Care
Perhaps most importantly, many attachments form simply because we love and care for others. These connections of the heart are natural expressions of our capacity for compassion and relationship.
Understanding that attachments form for intelligent reasons helps us approach them with respect and care rather than judgment or aggression.
When Attachments No Longer Serve Us
While energetic connections are natural and often beneficial, there are times when they may limit our wellbeing or development:
After Relationship Completion
When relationships naturally conclude but energetic connections persist, they can prevent full integration of the experience and openness to new possibilities.
In Imbalanced Exchanges
Some connections involve uneven energy exchange, where one person consistently drains energy from the other, creating depletion and boundary challenges.
When Holding Outdated Patterns
Attachments formed during particular life phases may carry patterns that no longer reflect our current growth and development.
In Relationships That Cause Harm
Connections from abusive or deeply harmful relationships may continue to transmit destructive energy or patterns after the physical relationship has ended.
When Limiting New Growth
Sometimes attachments to the past—even positive ones—can limit our ability to fully engage with present opportunities and possibilities.
In these situations, mindful release of the energetic connection supports wellbeing and continued growth. The key distinction of the approach I’m sharing is how this release happens—not through forceful cutting, but through conscious, loving closure.
Beyond “Cutting”: A Compassionate Approach to Release
Traditional cord-cutting approaches often employ visualization of scissors, knives, or other cutting tools to sever energetic connections. While these methods can create temporary relief, they may miss important aspects of healing:
The Limitations of Forceful Cutting
Potential for Resistance
Approaching attachments with aggression or force often creates internal resistance, as part of us recognizes the value or purpose of the connection.
Incomplete Integration
Forcefully cutting connections may prevent full integration of the lessons, gifts, or wisdom contained within the relationship.
Potential for Reformation
When cords are simply cut without addressing the underlying patterns that created them, they often reform over time, creating a cycle of cutting and reconnection.
Missed Opportunity for Grace
Perhaps most significantly, aggressive cord-cutting misses the opportunity for a graceful, loving completion that honors what the connection has offered.
A Compassionate Alternative: Cord Closing
I propose an alternative approach that I call “cord closing”—a conscious, loving, peaceful conclusion to the energetic exchange that once existed. This approach:
Honors the Connection’s Purpose
Recognizes that the attachment formed for meaningful reasons and contains valuable information or experience.
Facilitates Integration
Allows for integration of lessons, gifts, and growth opportunities contained within the connection.
Creates Genuine Completion
Supports true closure rather than reactive cutting, allowing the natural completion of the energetic exchange.
Transforms Through Love
Utilizes the transformative power of love and gratitude rather than force or resistance.
This mindful approach to releasing attachments aligns with wisdom from many spiritual traditions, which recognize that the most powerful transformations often come through love rather than force.
Signs You May Benefit from Releasing Energetic Attachments
How do you know if you have energetic attachments that may be ready for release? Here are common indicators:
Persistent Mental and Emotional Patterns
- Circular thinking about a person or situation that doesn’t resolve with time
- Emotional reactivity triggered by memories or reminders
- Dreams or intrusive thoughts featuring the person or situation
- Feeling “pulled back” to patterns you’ve tried to move beyond
- Difficulty being present due to thoughts of the past or specific people
Energetic and Physical Sensations
- Unexplained energy drains that seem connected to thinking of certain people
- Sensation of being energetically “tethered” to someone
- Physical symptoms that arise when thinking of or encountering reminders
- Feeling someone’s presence or emotions despite physical distance
- Energy shifts when certain people contact you or think about you
Relationship Patterns
- Repeating the same dynamics across different relationships
- Difficulty establishing boundaries with specific people or types of people
- Feeling responsible for others’ emotions or wellbeing beyond appropriate care
- Continuing to feel connected to people no longer in your life
- Sensing that you’re carrying others’ emotions or energy
Life Circumstances
- Feeling stuck despite efforts to move forward
- Difficulty being open to new relationships or opportunities
- Sensing an invisible “pull” back to past situations or relationships
- Making decisions influenced by people no longer actively in your life
- Carrying emotions or energy that doesn’t seem fully your own
If several of these resonate with your experience, you may benefit from the cord closing approach outlined below.
The Compassionate Cord Closing Process: A Step-by-Step Guide
Here is a comprehensive process for releasing energetic attachments with love and grace. This can be done as a self-guided practice or with the support of a facilitator:
1. Preparation: Creating Sacred Space
Begin by creating a container of safety and intention for your practice:
- Find a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed
- Consider lighting a candle or using gentle music to create atmosphere
- Take several deep breaths to center yourself
- Set a clear intention for compassionate release rather than forceful cutting
- You might call in support from higher guidance, angels, or your own higher wisdom
This preparation helps shift your energy from everyday awareness to a more receptive, intentional state.
2. Acknowledgment: Recognizing the Connection
Before attempting to release an attachment, take time to fully acknowledge its existence and purpose:
- Bring your awareness to the connection you’re working with
- Notice where and how you feel this connection in your body and energy field
- Acknowledge without judgment how this connection has influenced your life
- Recognize that this attachment formed for a reason—it served a purpose
- Allow yourself to feel whatever arises as you bring conscious awareness to this connection
This step is crucial as it brings the often unconscious attachment into conscious awareness, where it can be worked with more effectively.
3. Gratitude: Honoring the Lessons and Gifts
Instead of viewing the attachment as something negative to be eliminated, approach it with gratitude:
- Reflect on what this connection has taught you
- Acknowledge ways you’ve grown through this relationship or experience
- Identify gifts or positive aspects the connection has brought into your life
- Express genuine gratitude for these lessons and gifts
- Recognize how this experience has contributed to who you are today
This shift from rejection to gratitude fundamentally alters the energy you bring to the release process.
4. Completion: Expressing What Needs to Be Said
Many attachments persist because something remains unexpressed or unacknowledged:
- In your mind’s eye, imagine the person or situation connected to this attachment
- Express anything that feels unresolved or unsaid (you can do this silently, verbally, through writing, or through visualization)
- This might include: apologies, forgiveness, boundary statements, expressions of love, or acknowledgment of pain
- Allow yourself to express fully, without editing or censoring
- Then, state clearly that this exchange is now complete
This completion creates energetic closure where there may have been an open loop keeping the attachment in place.
5. Release: Letting Go With Love
Now move to the actual release process, approaching it with love rather than force:
- Visualize the energetic connection between you and the other person or situation
- Instead of visualizing cutting tools, imagine this cord gently dissolving into light
- You might say: “I lovingly release this connection, with gratitude for what it has given me”
- See or feel the attachment transforming—not being violently severed, but gracefully completing its purpose
- Visualize both ends of the connection being sealed with light, returning the energy to its rightful owner
This loving release avoids the resistance that can come with forceful approaches.
6. Reclamation: Calling Your Energy Back
An important part of the process involves reclaiming your own energy:
- Intend to call back any of your energy that has been extended into the other person or situation
- Visualize your energy returning to you, filling any spaces that might feel empty after the release
- Welcome this returning energy with love and acceptance
- You might state: “I reclaim my energy with love. I am complete within myself.”
- Allow this reclaimed energy to integrate throughout your being
This reclamation helps prevent the sense of loss or emptiness that sometimes follows traditional cord cutting.
7. Integration and Protection: Sealing Your Energy Field
Complete the process by integrating the experience and establishing healthy boundaries:
- Visualize your energy field becoming whole and complete
- See a gentle boundary of light surrounding your energy field—permeable enough for healthy connection but strong enough for protection
- Set an intention for how you wish to engage with energy exchanges moving forward
- Express gratitude for the process and the healing that has occurred
- Gently return your awareness to the present moment
This final step helps stabilize the changes and creates a template for healthier energetic exchanges in the future.
Common Experiences During and After Cord Closing
The cord closing process affects people in various ways. Here are common experiences you might have during or after the practice:
During the Process
- Emotional releases: Tears, laughter, sighs, or other emotional expressions
- Physical sensations: Warmth, tingling, lightness, or brief intensification of tension before release
- Visual impressions: Images, colors, or symbols that provide insight into the connection
- Intuitive information: Sudden understanding about the purpose or nature of the attachment
- Resistance: Hesitation or reluctance to fully release, which should be honored and explored gently
After the Process
- Spaciousness: A sense of more space or lightness in your energy field
- Temporary emptiness: A feeling of emptiness that soon fills with your own energy
- Emotional processing: Continued emotional release over the following days
- Dream activity: Increased or significant dreams related to the person or situation
- Shifting perspective: New insights or understandings about the relationship
- Decreased preoccupation: Reduced mental and emotional focus on the person or situation
- Energy fluctuations: Temporary energy shifts as your field stabilizes in its new pattern
If you experience significant disruption following a cord closing practice, working with a skilled practitioner can help integrate the changes more smoothly.
Specialized Approaches for Different Types of Attachments
Different types of attachments may benefit from slight variations in the cord closing approach:
Romantic Relationship Attachments
When working with attachments from intimate relationships:
- Place special emphasis on honoring the love that existed
- Acknowledge the vulnerability that was shared
- Create clear energy boundaries around sexual or intimate connections
- Release expectations or fantasies about how the relationship “should have been”
- Reclaim projections of yourself you may have placed on the other person
Family Attachments
For family connections that need rebalancing (not complete separation):
- Focus on transforming the nature of the connection rather than full release
- Address inherited patterns or beliefs ready to be transformed
- Work with setting energetic boundaries while maintaining appropriate connection
- Release unhealthy family roles or identifications
- Acknowledge both challenges and gifts from the family connection
Past Life or Karmic Attachments
For connections that feel ancient or unusually powerful:
- Set the intention to address the connection across all time and space
- State your desire to complete any karmic contracts or agreements
- Visualize the release happening across multiple lifetimes or dimensions
- Express gratitude for the soul evolution this connection has supported
- Set intentions for new possibilities in your soul journey
Attachments to Places or Experiences
When releasing connections to locations or events:
- Acknowledge how the place or experience impacted you
- Visualize gathering all parts of yourself that may have remained energetically attached
- Express appreciation for the role this place or experience played in your journey
- Visualize leaving the place energetically clean and clear as you withdraw your energy
- Create a conscious energetic boundary around memories versus ongoing attachment
Self-Aspect Attachments
For attachments to past versions of yourself:
- Approach with particular tenderness and compassion
- Focus on integration rather than separation
- Acknowledge how these aspects of yourself served you
- Invite these aspects to evolve with you rather than remaining static
- Visualize younger selves being embraced and included rather than left behind
Maintaining Energetic Clarity After Cord Closing
The cord closing process isn’t a one-time fix but rather part of ongoing energetic hygiene. Here are practices to maintain clarity after releasing attachments:
Daily Energy Awareness
Develop a practice of regular check-ins with your energy field:
- Take a few moments each day to sense your energy
- Notice any new or reformed attachments
- Bring conscious awareness to how you’re exchanging energy with others
- Address small imbalances before they become significant entanglements
Healthy Boundary Practices
Maintain clear energetic boundaries in your daily life:
- Practice saying no when appropriate
- Be mindful of where and with whom you share your energy
- Notice when you’re taking on others’ emotions or responsibilities
- Visualize your energy field as distinct while still remaining open to connection
Energetic Cleansing
Incorporate regular cleansing practices into your routine:
- Salt baths or showers with clearing intention
- Smudging with sage, palo santo, or other clearing herbs
- Sound cleansing with bells, singing bowls, or specific music
- Movement practices that help energy flow and release
Mindful Relationship Creation
Bring greater consciousness to how you form new connections:
- Set clear intentions for the nature of new relationships
- Be aware of patterns that have created unhealthy attachments in the past
- Check in regularly with how relationships are affecting your energy
- Create conscious agreements rather than unconscious entanglements
Integration Practices
Support continued integration of the lessons from released attachments:
- Journaling about insights and shifts
- Creative expression of your experiences through art, movement, or writing
- Meditation focused on integrating the reclaimed energy
- Body-centered practices that help embody the changes in your energy field
Cord Closing Services in Ireland
As someone specializing in compassionate energy work, I offer several options for those seeking support with releasing attachments and energetic patterns:
Personalized Cord Closing Sessions in Dublin
At my Dublin practice location, I provide one-on-one cord closing sessions that take you through this gentle yet powerful process in a supported environment. These in-person sessions combine energy work, guided visualization, and personalized guidance for your specific situation.
Energy Healing in Naas and Newbridge
For those in County Kildare, my Naas and Newbridge locations offer convenient access to cord closing and energy healing work. These appointments create a sacred space for compassionate release of attachments that no longer serve your highest good.
Online Cord Closing Sessions Worldwide
Geography is no barrier to effective cord closing work. My online sessions use adapted techniques that work effectively in the virtual environment, allowing clients from anywhere in the world to experience this transformative process from the comfort of their own space.
Small Group Workshops
Periodically, I offer small-group workshops on cord closing and energetic boundaries in Dublin, Naas, and Newbridge. These interactive sessions provide education, guided practice, and community support for those looking to develop skills in compassionate energetic release.
When to Seek Professional Support
While self-directed cord closing practices can be powerful, sometimes additional support is beneficial. Consider working with a qualified practitioner if:
- You feel overwhelmed by the energy or emotions connected to the attachment
- The attachment is related to significant trauma or abuse
- You’ve attempted self-directed practices without the results you’re seeking
- You feel uncertain about navigating the process on your own
- The connection feels particularly complex or entangled
- You’re dealing with multiple significant attachments simultaneously
A skilled practitioner can provide guidance, containment, and support that enhances the effectiveness of the cord closing process.
Conclusion: From Attachment to Freedom with Grace
The journey of releasing energetic attachments isn’t about cutting away parts of your history or denying the connections that have shaped you. Rather, it’s about bringing consciousness, love, and intention to how energy moves in your life—recognizing when certain connections have completed their purpose and allowing them to close with grace.
This compassionate approach honors both the value of connection and the importance of healthy boundaries. It acknowledges that relationships and experiences leave their imprint on us not as a burden to be severed, but as a rich tapestry of learning and growth that can be integrated with wisdom.
As you practice cord closing rather than cord cutting, you may discover:
- Greater peace with your past experiences and relationships
- More energy available for present endeavors and connections
- Clearer discernment about where and how to invest your energy
- Deeper appreciation for the soul lessons in all your relationships
- Increased capacity to form healthy, conscious connections
- A sense of completion and resolution rather than severance
- More space for new possibilities to enter your life
Remember that this process is not about rejection or denial but about loving completion. Each connection that has touched your life—whether joyful or challenging—has contributed to your evolution. By releasing with love rather than resistance, you honor this contribution while creating space for the next chapter of your journey to unfold.
The most powerful transformations often come not through force, but through love. May your practice of compassionate cord closing bring greater freedom, clarity, and wholeness to your energetic being.
If you’re interested in exploring cord closing work to release attachments that may be limiting your wellbeing and growth, I invite you to reach out for a consultation. Together we can discuss how my services in Dublin, Naas, Newbridge, or online might support your journey toward greater energetic freedom and clarity. Contact me to learn more about individual sessions, upcoming workshops, or personalized guidance for your specific situation.
