Protecting yourself from disconnection often forms as a disconnection itself.We can’t totally irradicate anything from our experience without disconnecting from ourselves in the process.

Be aware of your protective mechanisms. If we are unconscious to them, they can end up generating the very thing we are trying not to have.
For example if we’re trying to avoid rejection or loss, with our protective mechanisms we might (consciously or unconsciously) not let people fully in. Then with time they end up stepping back from a relationship with us, because they don’t feel the connectedness and closeness they need. The loss and rejection is fulfilled.
A tricky pattern to get out of.
The first step is to raise our awareness around our patterns and underlying fears.