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.

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