What It Means To Be An Empath.
I know I am an empath, but the journey to this moment has been exciting, exhausting, and every single emotion in between.
I have been an empath my whole life, but only really understood what it was, or that I was an empath, about four years ago.
Not sure what an empath is or if you are one but you know something isn’t quite right and you don’t understand the emotional overwhelm? Feeling lonely or feeling like you are crazy?
An empath is born with their gifts. It is a person who feels other people’s issues — physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually — taking it on as your own until you know how to tell the difference.
Physically means feeling someone’s aches and pains in your own body. You can be feeling wide awake one minute, and the next you are super exhausted and yawning, wondering if you can take a nap in the middle of the day.
I was walking in the mall one day. Since I am 5’2.5”, I enjoy wearing heels, which are usually 4 inches high. All of a sudden, I had a pain in my hip that hurt so bad I almost fell down. I stood there breathing through the pain, trying to figure out what happened, when I realized it wasn’t mine and asked the Universe to remove it.
If the physical pains are not yours, then ask for them to be removed. We are not meant to hold on to it. Feel it quickly and release it.
Emotionally means taking on the world’s emotions. You do not need to know people to feel their emotions, beliefs, or thoughts. Before I learned the difference between what was mine and what wasn’t, I took it all on as if the weight of the world was on my shoulders. There were days when sticking my head in the sand was the best option.
Funny thing is, we feel it all and we never question the positive, fluffy emotions. Why would you? You are on a super high from being happy or joyful and having gratitude that knows no bounds.
Mental means being in an empath fog, where stringing together two words that make sense is difficult. You find you cannot make a decision even when asked what you want for dinner. Believe me, I know. You are in a total cloud of confusion. As my hubby likes to say, I have several hourglasses just spinning.
The spiritual feeling is the most important aspect of being an empath. It is how it affects you as a person. This is where your mindset comes in. You see, four years ago, I hated being an empath, even though I have been one my whole life; I hated every single thing about it. I mean, was the Universe deliberately trying to torture me?
The answer was No. If you are in that spot, I can feel your pain. It wasn’t until realizing I could start identifying what was really mine and what belonged to others that the situation started to seem brighter. I was not dancing and singing in the streets, but it was a start.
It gave me room to breathe, and I was starting to see that my own mindset was actually making being an empath a lot worse. Here is the tricky part: if you want to create your best year yet, but you continue to think life sucks and being an empath is difficult, it will continue to be exactly that.
Empaths are highly sensitive to what is going on around them.
Can you say That’s me to the following statements?
- You are picking up on others’ emotions.
- You feel their physical issues. All of a sudden your back, hip, and feet hurt where they never had any issues before.
- You get in an empath mental fog, where making a decision is difficult, or stringing together a sentence hurts your brain. Even the good ole What’s for dinner makes you want to pull out your hair.
- Noise can make you want to cover your ears and leave you frazzled.
- Bright lights get to you. It can start to give you a headache and you feel the need for you to wear sunglasses indoors.
- The Number One emotional response that comes easy? Crying, of course. It doesn’t matter the situation, either happy or sad.
- Watching violence on TV is a big no-no. It doesn’t matter if it’s the news or a TV show. Your body actually shudders from it.
- Commercials that make you cry. You know the ones… animal cruelty, starving children, and the disappearing environment for wild animals.
- You are a peacemaker. Always trying to stop people from arguing.
- You avoid conflict like the plague, and when around it, you try to bury your head in the sand.
- Malls and other places with lots of people make you want to turn tail and run.
- You are always on the side of the underdog.
- You can sense when people are lying to you.
- You can sense BS a mile away.
- You know when someone is not being genuine.
- You just know things.
The most important things for an empath is to know how to tell the difference between what is yours and what belongs to the rest of the world. A simple technique I use is to create a symbol. My symbol is a bear, and I ask the Universe to show me a bear when what I am feeling does not belong to me.
When I become overwhelmed and realize this is not mine, I use a bubble that wraps itself around the physical or emotional issue that I am having, and it is lifted from my body.
If you are feeling this mental overwhelm, here is a helpful hint: Grounding. Just be outside, put your feet in the grass, and if all else fails, take a nap. You will wake up refreshed.
Remember: You can be an empath, love life and be happy.
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Tricia Dycka is an intuitive coach, Reiki Master, bestselling author, teacher, speaker and enthusiast. Tricia’s mission is to help empaths get out of emotional overwhelm, by learning what emotions are really theirs and what belongs to others, then hone those gifts so they can truly follow their dreams. Empaths have so many conflicting emotions, sometimes it is even hard to figure out what they want because for so long they believe their parents or society’s ideas are really theirs. Sign up for her free Empath Guide: How to Reclaim your life.
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