What does it mean to be an empath? It is one thing to discover you are an empath, having the ability feel others feelings and even physical sensations, but it’s an entirely different journey to learn then what that means for you, how (or whether) to interpret the information, and how to bring yourself to a healthy and centered place again and again.
And, it is entirely possible, even probable, that you arrived here, in this life, having forgotten your power, who you truly are, what your gifts are and how to use/focus them.
In recent years, I have been offered ongoing guidance to assist fellow empaths in exploring their gifts and learning to ground, and as a result, have a more peaceful life experience. For the purpose of this article, I’ll simply focus on empathetic (felt physically and emotionally) energy and how that looks and feels to me with the hopes that my interpretation will start to unveil your understanding as well.
The proper definition of an empath is: A person with the paranormal ability to apprehend the mental or emotional state of another individual. While this is defined as paranormal, you will often hear me describe this as an ability of all people, but only utilized by some. Some of us have had lifetimes of experience with this gift, and it comes quite naturally, while others will need to remember and/or develop it.
From a very young age, I found myself saying “I feel you. Don’t you understand that I feel you?” And truly, most people did not seem understand. Many perplexed looks and decades later, I came to realize that the information I was receiving quite naturally was not what the rest of the world was experiencing. Once I started to accept this, I started to break down the various ways I actually interpret other consciousness with my own senses, to include second senses but not to exclude the normally-defined 5 senses (sight, sound, taste, touch and smell).
My own most obvious empathetic sense is very tactile, physiological AKA clairsentient. I quite literally feel like an antenna and have a clear and physical sense around both yes, no and other emotional sensations, like hesitancy, for example. For me, “yes” feels like chills, tingles, but not quite the same as with goosebumps which are felt from the outside in, my “yes” is more from the inside or core of my body out. I get this same feeling around the crown of my head (it feels like I would expect a halo to look), down my spine, back of head/neck and legs. The physical location and amplification of the tingles does differ depending upon the information I am receiving, whether I am channeling/having a chat with a nonphysical being, who that being is, or whether I am simply asking questions for my client. I interpret the tingles around my crown to indicate that I am channeling or in the presence of what some would call an angel or angelic energy; this does include beings who are physical and nonphysical, human and animal alike.
An empath will also often self identify as an HSP (hypersensitive person). What this means in real-world terms is the world (particularly the immediate physical environment) is too loud, too big, too intense, too stimulating. HSPs find themselves isolating regularly to escape the intense feeling of energy being processed. This is not to be mistaken with feeling insecure, though the experience can certainly lend itself towards feeling broken until it is understood.
Energetically speaking, in terms of what I see (clairvoyance or clear sight) and how I identify a person as an empath, I see the aura and interpret a more translucent biofield, allowing light but not completely transparent. It is almost always the case that someone with this energy is something of a chameleon, feeling their way through life and reflecting back to the people and energy around them what they sense. This is sometimes understood consciously by the empath, but is often subconscious, and in this case, the empath will usually resonate with the understanding of this, but not fully mentally comprehend the abstracted concept.
I have, in recent years, come to understand that it is possible and even natural to become a grounded, empowered or mature empath, which simply means “to stay in your own body, biofield or emotional space” and navigate life from that perspective. The empath is constantly feeling, seeing, hearing the experience of others, and as a result, it is quite natural to want to leave your own etheric or emotional body in favor of the louder “chord” or energetic sensation, often even learning to martyr the empath’s experience entirely. Naturally, we wish to assist the other person back to a peaceful experience OR we literally interpret it as our own experience. When the empath learns to stay put in their own experience, a radical shift in perception and empowerment begins to occur, and bit by bit, the experience here is understood and navigated with more clarity.
With all this in mind, specific and real tools become important to assist with grounding, particularly in learning the vibrational feeling of being grounded as opposed to not. Once an empath understands the contrasted feelings, they are more able to evoke and/or interpret their experience/feelings and gain control. Some specific ways I ground myself or stay put in my own physical body include a willingness to feel my feelings, earthing (bare feet to earth), hugs, sunshine to bare skin, fresh water, chlorophyll (greens), exercise, sauna, and training my mind to return to what feels good and aligned to my own well being. All of this allows my central nervous system (interface with Source) to function properly, and I am less inclined to indulge in ways to numb my feelings, like alcohol or cigarettes. I do tend to require about 10-12 hours of sleep most days, which seems to work for me in terms of my own ideal sweet spot for healthy living and with consideration of my job (as an intuitive). I would suggest that this would vary by person, but an empath naturally does require more rest in my experience.
I hope this has offered some clarity in understanding what it means to be an empath, both by definition and experientially, and some basic ways to begin to gain control of the empathetic experience, allowing the gift to be a blessing and one way to interpret guidance.
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This article first appeared on my website: Empath-Malia.com
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