How to Tell if You Are An Empath

     "To feel intensely is not a symptom of weakness, it is the trademark of the truly alive and compassionate. It if not the empath who is broken, it is society that has become dysfunctional and emotionally disabled."                 ~ Anthon St Maarten,  Divine Living

   If you pick up on the emotional or physical pain of others, you might be an empath.

   If you are more concerned about hurting someone else's feelings than for your own, you might be an empath.

    If you volunteer your time to someone in need when you don't have enough time for yourself, you might be an empath.

    And if you've ever been told that you are "just too sensitive," you might be an empath. 

   All joking aside, if any of those descriptions fit you, I can assure you that you ARE an empath!

Characteristics of Empaths

     Although empathic people are usually intuitive, they may not be aware of their intuitive abilities. In that case, they can better recognize themselves in terms of sensitivity. Empathic persons are also usually Highly Sensitive Persons, or HSPs. If you are an empath, you may have some or all of these characteristics:

• Can feel the emotions and pain of others and take it on (your pain becomes my pain/your health issue becomes my health issue)
• Drawn to people who need help and to the healing professions
• Find if very difficult to be around narcissistic/egotistical people
• Easily bored and dislike routine -- love freedom, travel and adventure
• Highly creative and imaginative
• Love nature and the outdoors
• Find violent/harsh media images and messages painful
• Curious about the world -- crave knowledge and understanding
• Seek the truth and can sense when someone is lying or being inauthentic
• Need alone time -- dislike public places as they feel overwhelming
• Self-medicate with food, drugs, or sex to numb overwhelming emotions and to ground self
• Tend to carry extra weight which functions as protection from negative energy and for grounding

Issues for Empaths

     Due to their sensitivities and giving nature, empaths can be:

• Taken advantage of and hurt by others
• Drained of their energy by others which causes fatigue
• Neglectful of themselves and give away their energy which also causes fatigue
• Ungrounded, which causes fatigue, lower back, hip, knee and foot pain: (click HERE for an article on grounding techniques, and HERE for an article on grounding through Earthing)
• Anxious when picking up on the emotions of others, especially in the abdominal area - which can lead to the development of digestive disorders
• Silent when holding back their words out of fear of hurting others or being criticized. This blocks the throat energy center, which can cause sore throats, laryngitis and other ear-nose-throat disorders. 

 The Gift of Empathy

      For some empaths, their sensitivities can feel like a curse. They can feel used, abused and misunderstood. But empaths are an incredible gift to the world! Empathic people often have a lightworker life purpose of helping others and making a difference, and their empathic gift is so very needed.  But an empath must know how to clear their energy and establish healthy energetic boundaries to actualize their purpose. Read more about how to do that in this post: Energy Hygiene. And read more here about how to maintain healthy boundaries (energy ethics) so you don't take on negative energy in the first place. And read more HERE about how to open the throat energy center with vocalizations.

      For more energy healing solutions for sensitives and creatives, subscribe to this blog and go to my website to subscribe to my newsletter and receive a FREE recording "3 Keys to Removing the Blocks to Getting What You Want in Life" and a power-packed Energy Medicine Resource Bundle with handouts for my most effective energy healing skills! While you are there, check out my award-winning books, oracle cards and guided meditations that can teach you everything you need to know to live a healing way of life and awaken your greater health!

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Reinventing Yourself At Any Age

       "The work of today is the history of tomorrow, and we are it's makers." ~ Juliette Gordon Low, First Girl Scout: The Life of Juliette Gordon Low by Ginger Wadsworth

   On a recent trip to Savannah, GA, the Juliette Low House came up on our CD-guided car tour of the historic district. Although I was a Girl Scout leader for 12 years, I forgot that the organization’s founder was born in Savannah. Girl Scouts from around the world make the pilgrimage to the Juliette Low house year round. Nine years after my Girl Scouts graduated from high school it seemed it was finally time to have my own pilgrimage. I had no idea how moving the experience would be.

Starting Over

    At 51 years old, Juliette Low was a childless widow dissatisfied with the aimlessness of her life. She sought a greater purpose, a more meaningful life. So she started over by immersing herself in founding a new organization for girls. At first a gathering of just 18 girls in 1912, Girl Scouts has grown into the largest organization in the world for girls and women, touching the lives of over 50 million. A stunning legacy for someone who entered her 50s feeling aimless and empty.  

     As I walked through the rooms of the house, I could feel Juliette Low's presence through the pieces of her art on display. An accomplished poet and artist, Juliette sketched, painted, sculpted and even created ironwork. Her pieces often reflected her love of nature. As I looked at Juliette's creations and listened to the tour guide relate her story, I felt deeply inspired. I recalled my time as a Girl Scout leader and could see how Juliette's passion had expressed through every project I facilitated and every new skill I taught my troop.

     Like Juliette Low at the time she changed her life, I am also in my 50s and reinventing myself as a teacher by starting an online school of energy healing. But truth be told, becoming a teacher is more an emergence of who I really am than a reinvention. And I'm sure it was the same for Juliette. In her later years she embraced who she really was -- an adventurous, generous spirit who wanted to help others in a big way.

It's Never Too Late 

      Are you dissatisfied with your life? What would you like to change? What would you do if money and time were no object? What would you do if you were brave? What small step could you take toward this vision today? 

      Juliette Low started with a  phone call to her cousin -"Come right over! I've got something for the girls of Savannah, and all America, and all the world, and we're going to start it tonight!"  Share your idea with those who will support you.  Let go of the past. Let go of regrets.

     If you would you like to discover more about your life purpose, click HERE. Keep in mind that if you are reading this when Mercury, Mars or Venus are in retrograde, it isn't a good time to launch something brand new.  But it is a good time to change the way you do things, to research and plan, or to pick up an idea you've already had and revise or renew it.  Its also a good time to do inner work and to let go of what is getting in your way. And then when these planets are direct...go for it!



      For more energy healing solutions for sensitive and creative women, subscribe to this blog and go to my website to subscribe to my newsletter and receive a FREE recording "3 Keys to Removing the Blocks to Getting What You Want in Life" and a power-packed Energy Medicine Resource Bundle with handouts for my most effective energy healing skills! While you are there, check out my award-winning books that contain everything you need to know to live a healing way of life and awaken your greater health.

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How to Be More Focused and Present: Get Grounded!

     "Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet."  ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment

     When I "woke up" and began my healing journey in 1992, I became aware of how completely ungrounded I was.  An energy healer I went to at that time told me that my spirit body was pulled up and above my physical body.  I was not "present" in my body from the waist down. This would cause me to feel scattered and "lose time" -- episodes where I had no memory of the previous few minutes because I was not present or conscious. I also felt pain and numbness in my lower body, although I was not fully aware of even this until I began working with this healer.  

What Causes Your Energy to be Ungrounded?

     Our physical, spiritual, emotional and mental selves are one. However, past physical or emotional traumas can cause us to live unintegrated, as if our selves are separate. This can cause us to focus on the past and become fearful about the future, which takes us out of the present. Unresolved trauma (which almost everyone has), can also cause us to "self-medicate" and numb our emotional and physical pain with over-consumption of food, substances, and digital entertainment, including social media. We also tend to be ungrounded because we live in insulated homes and wear insulated shoes that separate us from the Earth.

The Trend

      Most people I have worked with are ungrounded. They are not in their body from the chest down, the waist down, or the knees down. As they have awakened, their focus has become more spiritual and less physical, which pulls them out of their body.  They perceive being in their body as heaviness and pain.  But not being in the body actually causes pain!  The more grounded and present you are in your body, the lighter and less pain you will feel.

     It is vitally important that as you integrate with your spirit self that you concurrently integrate with your physical self to maintain balance and presence. This can be done through daily grounding exercises.

How to Get Grounded

• Intention: Simply by having the intention of being fully in your body, you become more fully in your body!  Intend that your spirit inhabit your body down to the bottoms of your feet, and that your spirit infuse every cell of your body. 
• Take a walk while focusing on the sensation of your feet contacting the ground.
• Take your shoes off as much as possible and get them on the bare ground.
• Use the grounding exercises below.

         Pyramid Technique

     Imagine that you are sitting on the ground inside a pyramid. Now imagine that below you under the ground is a mirror image of the pyramid.  Deep breathe as you visualize this for several minutes.

 

     Anchoring to the Earth

     Close your eyes and focus on your lower dantien. This is a point three finger-widths below your navel -- your physical center of gravity. Imagine dropping a column of light from that point to the center of the earth, and anchoring it there. Now visualize a column of light from your lower dantien to your heart center, located at the center of your upper chest. Lastly, bring the column of light up to your third eye, located in your forehead between the eyebrows.  This is the center of your intuition.

     You can also enhance your grounding through drumming.  Click HERE to learn more. Another very important grounding practice with numerous health benefits is Earthing.

              CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION OF THIS ARTICLE!

      For more energy healing solutions for sensitive and creative women, subscribe to this blog and go to my website to subscribe to my newsletter and receive a FREE recording "3 Keys to Removing the Blocks to Getting What You Want in Life" and a power-packed Energy Medicine Resource Bundle with handouts for my most effective energy healing skills! While you are there, check out my award-winning books that contain everything you need to know to live a healing way of life and awaken your greater health.

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How to Tell the Difference Between Exercise and Healing Movement

     "Put your body in motion and your psyche will heal itself. "  ~ Gabrielle Roth,  Maps to Ecstasy: The Healing Power of Movement

     It's no secret that I love to exercise!  I've got to bike or swim every day or I don't feel like myself. When I go on vacation (like this week), my first priority is to find a public pool and a bike rental place to work out the kinks and the stress associated with traveling.

     The health benefits of exercise like biking, swimming, working out in a gym or taking an organized fitness or exercise class are well-known and manifold. Research indicates exercise can be more effective in treating depression than medication, and can be an excellent treatment for insomnia, weight issues, and insulin resistance.

     However, if I'm feeling stuck, disconnected, ungrounded or unbalanced, rather than exercise, I seek out healing movement. Why? Because the repetitive movements that characterize many exercise programs can actually create stagnation by reinforcing held patterns in our bodies, thoughts and beliefs. This is especially true for stationary bikes and treadmills - a lot of effort to go nowhere! If you want to break through your patterns, you need movement that is intuitive, creative and playful.

Healing Movement

When we move and exercise, we aren't just moving our physical bodies. We are also creating movement in our subtle bodies, the energy structures of our body. This raises our vibrational level and balances our energetic and biological rhythms. Movements that emphasize the flower of energy rather than repetitive muscle movement are healing movements. Here are some examples:

• Eastern movement arts such as Yoga, T'ai Chi or Qigong emphasize being rather than doing - a premeditative state of mind that requires one to be in the moment. Practicing Eastern movement arts can enhance personal growth by heightening intuition, increasing awareness of energetic movement, building "inner" strength, and balancing energetic flow. 
• Western movement arts such as Pilates or continuum are educational in nature, increasing body awareness and helping us break free from habitual and limited movement and thinking patterns.
• Dance Movement Therapy uses movement to further the emotional, cognitive, physical and social integration of the individual - as defined by the American Dance Therapy Association.

     You can also utilize healing movement on your own. However, this requires that you:

• Trust your intuition in how to move.  More about trusting your instincts here. 
• Let go of judgement of how you move, no matter what.
• Give yourself permission to move any way your body wants to, even if it feels initially awkward.
• Approach movement as play.  More about that here. 
• Try listening to some music with your eyes closed and follow how your body wants to move  When I do this, I will get mental images of ways to move.  
• Be willing to go out of your comfort zone.
• Let go of inhibitions and enjoy! More about that here.  

      For more energy healing solutions for sensitive and creative women, subscribe to this blog and go to my website to subscribe to my newsletter and receive a FREE recording "3 Keys to Removing the Blocks to Getting What You Want in Life" and a power-packed Energy Medicine Resource Bundle with handouts for my most effective energy healing skills! While you are there, check out my award-winning books that contain everything you need to know to live a healing way of life and awaken your greater health.

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How to trust your intuition

    "Somewhere in there, among the worries, questions, advice and advertising jingles, lives your intuition, your true 'inner voice.' You can hear it to the extent that you give it your attention."  
~ Martha Beck, Finding Your Own North Star

     We are all intuitive. You are receiving intuitive insights all the time. But it can be difficult to recognize the difference between random thoughts and intuition. Intuition is:

• Wise: Even when your insights suggest you do something that is difficult, it will have the quality of wisdom.
• Loving: Intuition never criticizes or judges, but is supportive and compassionate. 
• Consistent: Intuitive insights are consistently helpful and reliable.
• Empowering: Intuitive insights help you believe in yourself.

     The problem is, when we get an intuitive insight, idea or vision, usually self-doubt quickly comes in and tears it apart. Before you know it, you've come up with a list of reasons why you shouldn't act on it or trust it, and you've dismissed the insight. The way intuition works, you will probably get that insight again when you are in a more receptive state. But there is another way to circumvent the self-doubt issue:

• Keep a log of your intuitive insights, ideas and visions. The minute you get one, quickly record it in a file on your PC, the notes section of your phone or in your journal. You can even utilize the voice recognition ability of your phone, if it has it, to get it recorded before its gone.
• Review this log once a month.  This way even if you dismissed an insight initially, you can come back around to it.
•  Sometimes during this monthly review you will reconnect with the initial insight and be ready to take action on it.  But if its part of a long-term goal of yours, it could be a piece of a bigger puzzle. You may not have the full picture for a year or longer. 

It's All About Resonance

     Sometimes intuitive insights come in the form of a realization that a person, place, project or organization no longer resonates with you. You may no longer feel in sync with it and your intuition may be telling you its time to let go. When we trust the timing and move on, we make space for the next step in our life's journey to come in.  But it can be difficult to let go, especially if others won't approve of your decision and you may feel guilty.

     Here is an EFT video I made to help you process the guilt for doubting yourself and the guilt for acting on your intuition when it involves ending a relationship, job or endeavor.

      For more energy healing solutions for sensitive and creative women, subscribe to this blog and go to my website to subscribe to my newsletter and receive a FREE recording "3 Keys to Removing the Blocks to Getting What You Want in Life" and a power-packed Energy Medicine Resource Bundle with handouts for my most effective energy healing skills! While you are there, check out my award-winning books that contain everything you need to know to live a healing way of life and awaken your greater health.

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How Focusing On Your Discomfort Can Become the Solution to Your Problem

     "The problem that you are trying to get rid of may, in itself, be the doorway to whole person healing."  ~  The Other Medicine That Really Works

     "...our vulnerability to suffering actually offers us the doorway to healing and life."  ~ Kent Sayler, Journey Into Truth

     What if the very thing that you are fighting against in your life was not a wall -- but a doorway?  What if you were to go toward your negative emotions - toward your life difficulties - instead of fighting against them? Sound crazy?  Here's the thing -- healing cannot take place in the energy of opposition.  Being "anti" keeps the difficulty in place.  You can't release fear, anger, sadness, guilt or shame if you are pushing against it. You can't heal anything with opposition.  And yet the Western medical system is almost entirely based on opposition!  Look at all the medications that are "anti" -- anti-inflammatory, anti-depressant, anti-histamine, anti-coagulants....and the list goes on.

     If you are like most people, you deal with some level of emotional and physical discomfort on a daily basis. You likely feel either sad, fear, anger, guilt or shame at some point during your day. You may feel empty and disconnected.  You may have repetitive negative thoughts. Your body may feel tight, achy, or painful. And you likely think these are the problems that you need to get rid of. To feel better you might engage in one or more of the following behaviors:

• Distract yourself with TV or getting on the computer
• Numb yourself with food, alcohol or other substances
• Suppress the pain with a pill
• Suppress your negative thoughts by immediately switching to positive thoughts

The Real Problem

   You may think your problem is the emotional, spiritual, mental or physical discomfort, and that engaging in the above behaviors is the solution... but its the other way around!  The problem is engaging in the above behaviors!  Why?  Because they don't work.  They don't get to root of the issue. And these behaviors can  actually create disease! Yes, emotional suppression is at the root of almost all disease. Even the conservative Center for Disease Control acknowledges this.

   I can tell you from my 20+ years of experience in alternative medicine and energy healing that most physical pain is emotional pain expressing physically!  So whether you are suppressing, numbing or distracting yourself from emotional pain, spiritual pain, mental pain or physical pain, its all the same - and it all comes from the same source.  A wounding.  

The Real Solution

      You may be wondering how your discomfort is the solution. Because it is the messenger. Once you stop fighting it, numbing it and suppressing it, you can receive that message. And the message is simply this: I am hurting.  Instead of saying "shut up!" to your pain, ask what will help. The solution is to go toward the hurt with loving, kind attention.

      In childbirth, if labor is intentionally stopped, the baby doesn't get born. If you intentionally stop your discomfort, your rebirth will not happen. Your healing will not happen. Your physical, emotional, spiritual and mental pain is very much like labor pains to birth a happy, healthier self.

1. Start observing yourself with kindness.  This will put you in the higher self position. Do not feel sorry for yourself!  That will put you in the position of your lower self!
2. Three times a day, close your eyes and observe.
3. Scan you body head to toe.  Where do you hurt? Where do you feel empty? Where do you feel tense?
4. What is your emotional state?  Sad? Mad? Fear? Guilt? Shame?
5. Deep breathe for 10 minutes, imagining that your breath is going to wherever it is needed -- the tense places, the hurting places, the empty places, the sad places, the angry places, the fearful places, and the guilty places.

     If you do this 3 times a day, something amazing will happen. You will go through the doorway and find your wholeness within.

    
     For more energy healing solutions for sensitive and creative women, subscribe to this blog and go to my website to subscribe to my newsletter and receive a FREE recording "3 Keys to Removing the Blocks to Getting What You Want in Life" and a power-packed Energy Medicine Resource Bundle with handouts for my most effective energy healing skills! While you are there, check out my award-winning books and programs that can teach you everything you need to know to live a healing way of life and awaken your greater health.

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How Play Can Make You More Productive

   "The opposite of play is not work - the opposite of play is depression." ~ Dr. Stuart Brown, Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul.

    For the past few months, I've been working on expanding my business online. Unfortunately, in my quest to complete a long list of tasks I started working every evening and weekend. It wasn't long before I lost my balance and was spending more and more hours being less and less productive. All work and no play makes Heidi a dull girl.

A Workaholic Culture

     I know I'm not alone. The American work culture is decidedly workaholic and focused on hyperproduction.. But overworking not only decreases productivity and creativity, it has a detrimental effect on health.  This is because without proper rest, sleep, and play, our energetic rhythms become flattened, which depresses our biological rhythms. In this post, I will talk about play.

      Play is the basis of art, fashion, movies, books, games and sports. It is not rigid or competitive. Play is purposeless, voluntary, uninhibited, improvisational, varied, pleasurable and energizing. Play adds excitement and adventure to our lives, increasing productivity and happiness.

     Corporate America is beginning to recognize the importance of play through the hiring of individuals with a strong play history. They do this because they recognize that innovation comes through play and those lacking in childhood play are also lacking in problem-solving skills.

The Energizing Effects of Play

     Bringing playful energy into my energy healing sessions has a dramatically positive effect on the healing process. Play is energy medicine! A playful approach accelerates releases of energy disruptions, raises frequency, restores vibrancy, and harmonizes.  I have noticed this effect on my own energy when I'm engaged in play. Play makes me feel tingely and buzzy throughout my body.

     What kinds of play did you enjoy as a child?  What creative endeavor do you enjoy?  Give yourself permission to do it now.

     The possibilities for adult play are limitless. Here are just a few examples:

•      coloring in an adult coloring book
•      blowing bubbles
•      throwing around a ball
•      playing card games or board games
•      reading for pleasure 
•      engaging in a hobby or craft
•      dancing to music
•      planning a fun outing or activity with friends
•      swinging on a swing
•      acting out your feelings in a melodramatic fashion

     Did you know that recordings of the sounds dogs make when they play calms and soothes shelter dogs? (The clip below is of my dogs playing.) If the sound of playing can have that much of an effect on dogs, imagine how much harmony you can experience by actually playing!

      For more energy healing solutions for sensitive and creative women, subscribe to this blog and go to my website to subscribe to my newsletter and receive a FREE recording "3 Keys to Removing the Blocks to Getting What You Want in Life" and a power-packed Energy Medicine Resource Bundle with handouts for my most effective energy healing skills! While you are there, check out my award-winning books that contain everything you need to know to live a healing way of life and awaken your greater health.

Thank you for supporting this blog by using the amazon link embedded in this article for ANY purchase.  Your support is greatly appreciated! 

How Our Pets Can Show Us What Needs to Heal

    "Always say 'yes' to the present moment...Surrender to what is. Say 'yes' to life - and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you."  ~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

     This evening my dog Lexi was barking like crazy at the windows because there was a strange dog in the neighbor's yard.  Nothing I did could get her to stop. She can be domineering and territorial.  Ever since I got her, I have tried to assert myself as her pack leader.  Lexi is eager to please and wants to do what I ask.  She will lie on her side in a surrender position when I ask her to. But the thing is, she never actually surrenders!  It seems no matter how long I ask her to stay in the surrender position, her body remains tense, ready to jump back up and resume barking.

     And then it dawned on -- she is a mirror of me!

     Lately I have been struggling to surrender to various life circumstances.  Like Lexi, I know how to go through the motions of surrender, but I rarely actually get there! I keep getting in my own way, trying to solve everything rather than turning it over and trusting that all is occurring in the exact right time and in the exact right way -- even when it doesn't seem to be.

     So I took a deep breathe and mustered as much patience with Lexi as I could, staying with her until she completely relaxed and let out a deep sigh.  She had surrendered...and so did I.  Thank you Lexi!

     If you are struggling to let go, be patient. Stay with your deep breathing for as long as it takes you to reach a state of relaxation. Eventually, you will surrender.

      

      For more energy healing solutions for sensitive and creative women, subscribe to this blog and go to my website to subscribe to my newsletter and receive a FREE recording "3 Keys to Removing the Blocks to Getting What You Want in Life" and a power-packed Energy Medicine Resource Bundle with handouts for my most effective energy healing skills! While you are there, check out my award-winning books that contain everything you need to know to live a healing way of life and awaken your greater health.

Thank you for supporting this blog by using the amazon link embedded in this article for ANY purchase.  Your support is greatly appreciated!