Calling all Empaths :)

[sedgeez]

i hope thats the right term, and i hope this is the right place

i was wondering what people think makes someone an Empath, what kind of things you experience etc

i have often wondered if i am one, but i honestly dont know much about it.

also can you be empathetic with animals? or just humans?

any help will be appreciated

 

[The crowned one]

O though we tend to strongly use anthropomorphism's for our animals, it is unfair to compare us to them or them to us, so unless you are a dog, cat, mouse or bird, I highly doubt you can be an empath with any animal outside your species beyond a simple surface level of obvious distress or happiness..

How do you empath with something that when it smells a rose its experience is the bug that crossed its petals 3 hours ago, last nights dew, and a bit of bee pollen form a recent visitor rather then "perfume". Or something that uses sonar to "see" it is a different set of inputs all together.

AS far as humans go, some are more insightful and aware of body language and facial changes then others. I can easily watch emotions, underlying emotions cross a persons face as we speak, and feelings are even easier to see for me. This makes it easy for me to manipulate theses responses with my words and actions. I think it can be learned to some degree, and I think the greater your ability, the more humane you might become. Keep in mind empathy does not necessarily lead to sympathy. I experience without it effecting me too greatly their reactions to their environmental situation. ( true sadness can be overwhelming for anyone who is "psychologically reasonably normal" and seeing it in another human as it is heart wrenching, but you do not need to be a empath to see that.)

 

[MaineGirl117]

Funny, this just posted up on my FB page, and another friend of mine was asking about it.

There are different types of empaths who employ different psychic empathic traits. These are the 10 levels of the empath:



Psychometry - the empathic ability to receive energy, information and impressions from objects, photographs or places


Telepathy - the empathic ability to read people's thoughts

Mediumship - the empathic ability to feel the presence and energies of spirits

Physical Healing - the empathic ability to feel other people's physical symptoms in your own body (and often the ability to heal, transform or transmute them)

Emotional Healing - the empathic ability to feel another person's emotions

Animal Communication - the empathic ability to hear, feel and communicate with animals

Nature - the empathic ability to read, feel and communicate with nature and with plants

Geomancy - the empathic ability to read the energy of places and of the land - geomancers can feel the energies of the Earth, such as Ley lines. They can also get headaches, pain or anxiety before earthquakes or other disasters occur anywhere on the planet.

Precognition - the empathic ability to feel when something important is about to happen (often this can be a feeling of inexplicable dread or doom)

Claircognizance or Knowing - the empathic ability to feel what needs to be done in any given circumstance, often accompanied by a feeling of peace and calm, even in the midst of a crisis





Symptoms of being an Empath:



•Acute senses – i.e. sense of smell, taste, sight, touch, hearing etc.

•Acute awareness of the feelings of those around them and feeling deeply for those in pain or suffering

•Often easily hurt

•Avoidance of conflict where possible preferring to keep things harmonious

•Easily startled by noise

•Easily moved to tears because of deep feeling

•Nervous in crowded situations

•People feel safe around them and able to talk to them easily. Even complete strangers will talk to them about personal things without consciously intending to do so

•Animals and children love and are attracted to them

•Easily affected by the weather

•Their greatest gift is to perceive with the heart

•They are usually a blessing to be around as they are nurturing and caring

•Music and harmony are very important to them. They can lose themselves completely while listening to music that resonates with them.

•Water is very beneficial and therapeutic to the empath



Having psychic empathic traits can be extremely challenging, and even painful. The definition of empathic understanding is to be able to feel what another person feels (sometimes both emotionally and physically). Even under normal circumstances, having psychic empathic traits can be confusing and difficult to manage or understand, but in times of global chaos, emotional tidal waves that rip through the collective consciousness can be utterly overwhelming. This is why an empath feels anxiety at these times.



Some people consider being an empath to be a paranormal trait, but it is more normal than we realize. Many, many people have psychic empathic traits, but they are usually labeled as being "overly sensitive". Empaths have a heightened sensitivity, and parapsychologists often refer to them as being "Psi Sensitives".



Some of the characteristics of an empath include being "moody", or having mood swings for no apparent reason. This is because empaths pick up on the energies and emotions from other people, places, animals, and even things around them. An empath can be feeling fine one moment, then suddenly become depressed or sad or angry, or even develop physical pain and headaches "out of the blue". Many empaths can feel like they are going crazy, especially empathic children who cannot understand what they are feeling or why they are feeling that way. An empath must learn to trace these feelings back to their origin in order to determine what triggered them. First ask yourself, "Is this mine?" - if the answer is no, then determine when and where it started, and who or what was around you at that time.



Some other characteristics of an empath can involve extreme shyness, avoidance of public places, or being overweight (especially in children). These are all ways to try to shield and protect oneself from the psychic abilities of being empathic. An empath can absorb and take on the feelings and symptoms of others just by being near them or even by speaking with them on the phone, which is why an empath feels anxiety when faced with crowds of people.



By Lyn-Rose-Hornabrook and Grace and Grace Associates Consulting Inc

I wouldn't say this is a comprehensive explanation (really tipping the iceberg with some gross generalities thrown in), but it'll get you started

 

[sedgeez]

O though we tend to strongly use anthropomorphism's for our animals, it is unfair to compare us to them or them to us, so unless you are a dog, cat, mouse or bird, I highly doubt you can be an empath with any animal outside your species beyond a simple surface level of obvious distress or happiness..

How do you empath with something that when it smells a rose its experience is the bug that crossed its petals 3 hours ago, last nights dew, and a bit of bee pollen form a recent visitor rather then "perfume". Or something that uses sonar to "see" it is a different set of inputs all together.

AS far as humans go, some are more insightful and aware of body language and facial changes then others. I can easily watch emotions, underlying emotions cross a persons face as we speak, and feelings are even easier to see for me. This makes it easy for me to manipulate theses responses with my words and actions. I think it can be learned to some degree, and I think the greater your ability, the more humane you might become. Keep in mind empathy does not necessarily lead to sympathy. I experience without it effecting me too greatly their reactions to their environmental situation. ( true sadness can be overwhelming for anyone who is "psychologically reasonably normal" and seeing it in another human as it is heart wrenching, but you do not need to be a empath to see that.)

thank you for your reply

 

[sedgeez]

Funny, this just posted up on my FB page, and another friend of mine was asking about it.



I wouldn't say this is a comprehensive explanation (really tipping the iceberg with some gross generalities thrown in), but it'll get you started

that completely described me.
i have thought i might be an empath, i have been like this since i can remember, but everything there describes me so well



thank you

 

[celticnoodle]

i hope thats the right term, and i hope this is the right place

i was wondering what people think makes someone an Empath, what kind of things you experience etc

i have often wondered if i am one, but i honestly dont know much about it.

also can you be empathetic with animals? or just humans?

any help will be appreciated

Well, I am an empath and the kind of things I experience is that when people are around me, I pick up on their moods. Not only that, but if they have a problem with their arm, I will feel it. If they have eye problems, such as bad eye sight, my eyes will begin to blur (if they have bad eye sight only), but just for a few seconds. If they have a bad heart, I'll feel a slight pain in my chest where the heart is.

I sometimes also will hear what the issue is with them. I sometimes will have a smokey feeling in my chest--and will know they have lung issues--possibly cancer. At times, while I am 'feeling' this, I may get a vision of lungs and they'll be smokey like. Then, I know they have lung cancer.

I can also get this by looking at pictures of people--especially the deceased. I once had a picture of an elderly woman, who died by having a stroke as she was descending the stairs in her home. As a result, she fell down the flight of stairs, and couldn't move. She lived alone and eventually died as a result of the stroke AND the fall. When reading her picture, I felt the stroke and felt like I collasped, (though I was sitting down in a chair) and I could see the steps in my minds eye and literally feel her head hitting every step as she went down. I knew exactly how her body layed at the bottom of the stairs, because I could feel it. But this feeling doesn't stick with me for long--just long enough for me to understand what happened.

Yes, I think you can be empathic with animals as well. I would advise you reading up on it--via the computer and books both.

ETA, once, while doing a psychic/medium reading, my customer wanted to contact her deceased relative who was unbeknownst to me a drug abuser. He committed suicide, also unbeknownst to me at the time--due to an overdose of drugs. Bringing him through, I immediately knew this, and unfortunately it took me many hours to shake that druggy feeling. It was quite frightful for me. I won't try to bring through anyone that has committed suicide, murder or was abusive in life--either to themselves or others anymore. If they naturally come through in my readings--so be it, but I won't try to connect with them. Too Frightening!

 

[danieljuk]

I have had signs my whole life that I was Empathic but somehow until very recently I didn't link it to being psychic in anyway at all. But being Empathic you are great at perceiving emotional states and peoples moods.

Things I have noticed about me my whole life...

- I'm really sensitive and affected by peoples negativity. But I can tell very easily what someone's opinion is of me. It's very easy to make me cry because I just care about everything a lot
- I am really good in situations of comforting and helping someone. Somehow I always get to the situation or provide the thing that helps (I don't understand that really at all). I always know the thing to say.
- I'm a very nervous / anxious person. It affects me in quite a chronic way.
- I am always positive about other people and 'giving' when I am not always quite so much about myself.
- I really sense things in places
- I always get on really well naturally with all children and animals
- I have that Cups suit sort of moodiness. I can get quite depressed and very happy. mood swings really.

One interesting thing about anxiety and nervousness is that many Empaths hate really crowded places. I thought it was because of my mental health but actually its because of all the people throwing off moods. It's definitely something worth reading up on. You can wear crystals to calm things down a bit and block peoples negativity. But I do pick up on everything going around!

I have not done any mediumship type things, with spirits and so have no experience of that area at all. But have had random messages come to me to give to random named people. Like I picked a tarot card as a daily card for me and a voice in my head said please warn "friends name" of this card. I did give her the message after discussing it here. It turned out to be a warning not to get involved in something unethical in her work place.

Biggest thing I have learned is to go with it. When you feel something or sense something, go with it. Trust your intuition. The message and gut feelings I seem to get seem to be more accurate than me just making my own choices in real life

It's definitely something to read up on that is a wonderful thing!

 

[The Kiwi]

That post about facebook and empaths is actually what brought me here.
Excuse my ramble, this ended up alot longer than intended:

I've always considered myself empathetic so I don't know why I had never associated it with the term Empath before, as I've considered myself psychic at times in my youth as well. When I've mentioned it to my family, I was always asked, "Well then what am I thinking?" Obviously I was unable to answer, and usually got quite upset that they didn't understand what I was trying to say, but I see now I was getting overly emotional because they were uncomfortable. It's kind of like an "ah ha" moment, where my anxiety comes from, why I easily cry, I can actually feel someone elses physical pain when they're hurt and my mood swings at times. I put up a block sometime in my mid-teens, unable to cope with my own emotions let alone that of every school mates. I then fell head over heals in love with a guy who wasn't the best for me. He was cynical, didn't care about anyones feelings but his own, and was an all around nasty person. Looking back I realize I was attracted to the not caring, I hated caring about what everyone thought and caring how everyone else was but me. I didn't notice that I was just doing the samething, but it was him i was focused on not everyone. 6 years later I left him. The year after we split my empathic abilities came back with a vengeance. I can feel myself putting up my blocks again, and I just wish I could find a happy medium (haha no pun intended) between not throwing my entire life into someone again, and not blocking off my empathic abilities.
I recently started reading tarot for others, and I think this has offered me to focus on them instead of solely on one person. I've heard meditation helps as well, but was never able to get into it before, and should probably try again. ANYWAYS, I started this post wanting to comment on these following posts, not give my life story about my empath journey. Guess that's what happens when you try posting in a thread for empaths, they're easy to talk to

AS far as humans go, some are more insightful and aware of body language and facial changes then others. I can easily watch emotions, underlying emotions cross a persons face as we speak, and feelings are even easier to see for me. This makes it easy for me to manipulate theses responses with my words and actions. I think it can be learned to some degree, and I think the greater your ability, the more humane you might become. Keep in mind empathy does not necessarily lead to sympathy. I experience without it effecting me too greatly their reactions to their environmental situation. ( true sadness can be overwhelming for anyone who is "psychologically reasonably normal" and seeing it in another human as it is heart wrenching, but you do not need to be a empath to see that.)

This post kind of errked me the wrong way, just because you can *see* the emotion on someone's face does not mean you can *feel* the emotion they are feeling. And I certainly don't think empaths of any sort kind or breed would intentionally manipulate someone. This is just my opinion.

I have had signs my whole life that I was Empathic but somehow until very recently I didn't link it to being psychic in anyway at all. But being Empathic you are great at perceiving emotional states and peoples moods.

Things I have noticed about me my whole life...

- I'm really sensitive and affected by peoples negativity. But I can tell very easily what someone's opinion is of me. It's very easy to make me cry because I just care about everything a lot
- I am really good in situations of comforting and helping someone. Somehow I always get to the situation or provide the thing that helps (I don't understand that really at all). I always know the thing to say.
- I'm a very nervous / anxious person. It affects me in quite a chronic way.
- I am always positive about other people and 'giving' when I am not always quite so much about myself.
- I really sense things in places
- I always get on really well naturally with all children and animals
- I have that Cups suit sort of moodiness. I can get quite depressed and very happy. mood swings really.

These are all things I too have had in my life. The one thing that truly makes me think that I have empathic abilities is that I can feel others pain. I'm not in pain per-say, but I can feel it on my body where others have hurt themselves. I used to work at a bar, and was hanging out at work one day when the bartender on duty had reached into the dishwasher to find out why it was stuck and sliced her arm open on a broken glass. I could actually feel the pressure on my arm and a tingling sensation. Kind of like when a doctor numbs you for stitches but you can still feel your wound.
I also once ACCIDENTALLY hit my sister in the head with a baseball bat, she walked up behind me and caught my back swing. My head hurt for a week. I still tear up thinking about that, but that's more guilt that empathy i would think.

Sorry about my ramble, first post in a long while. Needed to write I guess.

 

[ann823]

I think I might be. Sometimes I feel depressed and can't figure out why then it occurs to me it isn't my feeling, it's someone else I'm with. I also enjoy going to parties where other people get a bit tipsy because then I feel it too, but no hangover(I guess I have my empathic limits, LOL.)

 

[DownwardSpiral]

Ok this question is probably going to sound off the wall but I can't help but wonder.....

With love...getting your heart broken...do you think for the most part it feels the same for everyone? Do you think being an empath intensifies the hurt????

I know this sounds like a weird question...but seriously....what do you think?

I'm asking because I've had my heart broken a few times....and every time feels like the first time. LOL I should be an expert at handling the pain by now but the pain really hurts and it's all I can do to pull myself together.

Any thoughts????

On the flip side I have a high tolerance for physical pain. So why one and not the other?