We all have the capacity to sense the emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations of others.
Yet in our fast-paced and chaotic world, most of us have grown numb to this innate human ability.
Our diets, work habits, lifestyles, and environments all have an impact on our ability to not only feel connected to others, but also to ourselves.
However, there is one type of person who never loses touch with their innate sensitivity. This person is known as the Empath. But while the Empath is a highly perceptive and receptive person, they are prone to experiencing energetic overload every day. This emotional and mental baggage can lead to a lot of physical and psychological disorders such as depression and chronic fatigue.
If you’re a sensitive person that is curious to discover whether you’re an Empath, this page will share with you everything you need to know.
What is an Empath?
Put simply, an Empath is a person who absorbs other people’s emotions and experiences these emotions as if they were their own.
Empathic people are highly sensitive to the emotional climates around them and often take on the psychological baggage of other people. This often leads to chronic mental and physical sicknesses.
12 Signs You’re an Empath
Common signs of being an empath include:
- The tendency to soak up other’s emotions and even physical sensations, like a sponge
- Strong intuitive abilities or claircognizance
- Chaotic or fluctuating emotions
- Moodiness
- Intense sensitivity
- Highly creative
- Inability to watch violence
- Tendency towards anxiety and addiction
- Tendency to attract wounded people
- Gentle and caring nature
- Chronic fatigue + digestive issues
- Drawn to healing professions
How many of these signs can you identify with in this list?
The Science Behind Being an Empath
What is it that enables us to experience empathy — to feel or share the same emotions as another person such as sadness, fear, joy or any other type of emotion?
One possible scientific explanation for why Empaths are so receptive is the discovery of mirror neurons. Basically, we all have a set of neurons in our brains that fire up whenever we witness something that another person feels or experiences. These mirror neurons help us to learn through imitation. When we are young, for example, we primarily learn to speak and behave through imitation of our parents and siblings. Mirror neurons play a role in our biological growth and survival.
Essentially, mirror neurons create a neuro-physical link between us and other people. Studies have shown that simply the act of watching another person pick something up triggers the same areas of our brain as the other person’s brain.
The discovery of mirror neurons has massive implications for Empathic people. Such a discovery reveals why Empaths feel extreme disgust, pain, and horror when watching acts of violence whether in real life or on the internet. Mirror neurons also hint at why Empaths carry so much emotional deadweight from others.
How to Become a Healed and Empowered Empath
When we can literally feel the pain of others (or close), our lives can become rollercoaster rides of extreme highs and lows. However, the ability to experience the suffering of others also opens us up to the deeply vital emotions of compassion and love.
Being an Empath is only a curse when we have a weak sense of self, poor barriers, and a tendency to resist or attach to the emotions we experience.
The key to becoming a healed and empowered Empath lies in working to developing an individuated identity, clear boundaries, and non-attachment/resistance to emotions. The first step in becoming a matured Empath is to learn how to ground yourself in your body firmly.
Examples of practices that all Empaths will find beneficial include:
- Mindfulness
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Qigong
- Breathing practices
- Progressive muscle relaxation
- Body awareness
- SOAR
Any technique that can help you get out of your mind and into experiencing the present moment with non-judgement and non-resistance will help you as an Empath.
Why You Are a Gift to This World
In a world full of fear, greed, cruelty, egotism, and immense pain, your sensitivity is an immense blessing.
Your sensitivity is a gift this world desperately needs.
The ability to care deeply for others is something our world lacks to a severe degree. Your gift not only closes the gap between people, but it also opens the door to loving-kindness and other extrasensory abilities such as intuition.
Can you imagine what the world would be like if we were all sensitive, caring, and receptive to each other? We would be living in paradise.
So honor this experience of being an Empath for the great lessons and opportunities it presents you with.
20+ Empath Resources
It’s important that you read through the articles below and click on any that resonate with you. Once you click on an article, it will be opened in a new screen, meaning that you can come back to this page as your “home base,” and explore some more!
Below, you’ll find out how to master your gifts in this overwhelming world, as well as learn what type of empath you are, and much more.
You might also like to take our empath test.
