When I first learned that I was an empath, the strange experiences I had struggled with all my life started to make sense. Prior to writing Whose Stuff Is This? ~ Finding Freedom from the Thoughts, Feelings, and Energy of Those Around You I was troubled by mysterious sensations in my body. When I prayed for people, I often took on the pain they were dealing with. Some emotional responses and disturbing thoughts seemed like they belonged to someone else. Since I didn’t know how to clear the energy of others, I felt drained and out of control of my own life. I now realize my empathic abilities can be used as part of my guidance system.

We all have thoughts, feelings, and emotions that we pick up from others–it’s part of being a sensitive human. How we respond to the energy around us is what makes our empathic ability feel like a gift or a curse.

Most of us were taught to care for others even at the sacrifice of our own well-being or intuition. We were not taught to love and care for ourselves. In fact, many religions value martyrdom and discourage self-empowerment. This co-dependent practice must change if we are to use our gift of empathy wisely. Self-care and living authentically is what keeps us from burning out in our service to others.

“Most empaths are silent sufferers. They are members of communities and service organizations, and sometimes we get sucked into the roles that need to be played and the duties that need to be carried out. We can inhabit the role so thoroughly, we get lost. We are so dutiful in the tasks we volunteer for that we burn out. We are so enthusiastic, we can carry other people right along until one day we sag under the weight. We flood others with our love until we drown them.” ~ Dr. Caron Goode, ED.D., NCC, DAPA, author of Raising Intuitive Children and Kids Who See Ghosts – Guide Them Through Their Fears

I have felt the mental anxiety and emotional draining that happens when we try to play too many roles, do too many things, or please too many people. Living authentically compels us to look at our own lives and see where we are neglecting ourselves and our alignment with Source. As we get in touch with our inner guidance we begin to give up co-dependent behavior. We allow others to have their own experience. We stop trying to rescue people who are doing nothing to help themselves. Instead, we focus on our personal responsibility and create a life that makes us happy. We start living in the present; we let go of the past/future worries. The surprising benefit from this practice is that others start looking to us as a role model. Those around become curious. Some may attack our happiness, which gives us an opportunity to stand strong in our self-love. Others will begin to see that they can take charge of their lives–that they are the creators of their experience and not the victims of circumstances.

Once I learned to manage emotional energy, I began to utilize my empathic gift in my spiritual coaching. Nowadays when I’m in a session with a client, I expect to feel or sense what they are feeling. It may be a discomfort in my body, or a sudden emotional shift, or a “knowing” in which information pops into my mind. I allow this energy to guide me. When the codes in their matrix have shifted, the empathic signal lifts and I do not continue to carry that person’s energy after our encounter.

Staying in alignment with your own joy and having an attitude of gratitude is the key to staying clear of detrimental energy patterns. How many things can you find to be thankful for right now? The thoughts you hear in your head are part of the human programming. They are not who you are. Thoughts and feelings are information. They give us an opportunity to learn something about our subconscious beliefs in order to shift them. Next time you have a negative thought about yourself, flip the thought into a positive statement. The thought of not being good enough can be met with an affirmation such as “I enjoy being aligned with my highest potential” or “I receive God’s love right now”. Think of your own positive statement about some degrading thought you deal with.

If you will practice this consistently, you will notice a change after just a day or two. After a week or so, you’ll find yourself spending less time protecting and clearing yourself from something “out there” and  you will begin reaping the pleasant benefits of connection with your higher self. If you need more tips on using your gift of empathy as a guidance tool, please contact me for a free 15-minute chat or schedule a coaching session.

The word “empath” may be a new term for some, but an ever-increasing number of people are reporting that they are sensitive to all types of energy, including that produced by other humans, the environment, electromagnetic frequencies, geophysical stress, and even non-physical beings. Being empathic simply means you are able to pick up on the energy of others—we can all do that to some degree—but some people are so sensitive to the emotional energy of others that it causes disturbances in their health and life. The confusion for empaths comes from not knowing when they are carrying or attached to someone else’s energy field.

Those who offer volunteer or victim protection work, police or detective work, or have compassionate service-oriented careers at hospitals, clinics, or hospice centers tend to deal with an overload of emotional energy from patients they tend to. There are some who rarely go into public because they feel overwhelmed by the energy they pick up. Many of them don’t know they are empaths, but they would love to learn how to stop the emotional and mental turmoil they encounter in a highly stimulating environment.

Although it has not yet been studied and proven, some people seem to have unique variations in their central nervous system that cause them to be intensely affected by stimuli in their environment. They have an unusual sensitivity to light, smell, sound, taste, and touch, as well as extra-sensory perception (ESP) or what we might consider psychic abilities. Many of these highly-intuitive individuals know that something is not quite “normal” about their abilities since not everyone is adversely affected by going into public and not everyone picks up on the thoughts, feelings, or pain of those around them.

In her national bestseller, The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You, author Elaine Aron states that as many as one out of every five people are highly-sensitive. And, no wonder! We live in an age when electronic information in the airwaves bombards us just about anywhere we go. We carry our cell phones, laptops, and other electronic devices with us on a daily basis. Our energetic field is infiltrated with background noise. While most people are able to tune it out or turn it down, some people have a difficult time processing this vast amount of energy. As a result they may have anxiety attacks, feel overwhelmed, tired, depressed, angry, or drained much of the time.

It is especially important for empaths to recognize their own energy and vibration, but many are not able to discern what their own energy feels like enough to know when it has roamed into someone’s territory or when it is being violated. If an empath does not understand what is happening he may think he is suffering from a physical illness or some form of mental distress or disorder. Psychology and psychiatry currently do not recognize empaths or know how to treat them. While I am not a psychologist, I am an empath and this “gift” has both blessed and cursed my life.

There are plenty of well-adjusted and fully-developed empaths including Dr. Caron B. Goode with whom I wrote Whose Stuff Is This? Finding Freedom from the Thoughts, Feelings, and Energy of Those Around You.

Developing intuition and empathic abilities is a journey of self-discovery that can awaken you to an entirely new understanding about life and what you currently believe about yourself. The more we embrace the fact that we are spiritually, mentally, and emotionally connected, the more responsible we must become in managing our personal energy. Everything we think, say, or do affects all of humanity and ultimately our planet. Let’s join together in a better understanding of this connection through developing the gift of empathy and intuition.

For a coaching session with Yvonne Perry, please see https://weare1inspirit.com/services