Some of you may have heard of Empaths: people who are known for their highly developed ability to sense the emotions and thoughts of the people around them.
You might have heard all the symptoms of being an Empath; finding public places overwhelming, confusing others emotions with your own and absorbing them like an “emotional sponge“, finding films/images of violence or cruelty unbearable, feeling other people’s physical pains, being a great listener, suffering from fatigue, needing solitude to recharge and even experiencing the emotions of loved ones who are far away. But most articles fail to answer why this occurs.
And more intriguingly, Empaths account for about 5% of the population, yet are much more predominant within people who identify with being Old Souls or as a Highly Sensitive Person. How can this be explained?
Spiritual Wanderer Course:
Find your deepest path and purpose in life as a spiritual wanderer. In this immersive course, you get 3+ hours of content, workbooks, meditations, a premium test, and more!
Learn More!
Understanding Energy Bubbles
Until a few years ago, I had never heard of the word “Empath “.
Growing up, I noticed a strange shift within me whenever I was around other people. I’m naturally very calm and centered, but in the presence of other people, I can empathize with the emotions they are feeling almost immediately, which can create distress.
When I was younger, I eventually learned that this was something very useful to possess and had been known for centuries by the Incans. In the Incan way of viewing the world, we believe in a concept known as “Kawsay Pacha“, living energy. To us, the world of nature is alive and responsive, and the cosmos is a vibrating field of pure energy frequencies.
Incans once believed they were born into a world that was as conscious of them as they were of it, and that everyone could experience the energy of another living being as if it were their own. These people who could experience the energy of others had a great blessing, as they would find it much easier to cultivate a soulful connection with all living energies in nature and learn to harmonize themselves within their surroundings using “Ayni“, an energetic reciprocity that exists within all living matter.
When two living energies (for example: humans, animals, mountains) first meet, their energy bubbles touch each other, which is known as “Tinkuy“. Once a person encounters another person’s energy bubble, something we call “Tupay” starts to occur, where the two people begin to experience a collision of contrasts and differences between their energies, creating a confusion.
It’s at this point that the successful “Empath”, differentiates the type of energy of the person, whether it is “Yanantin“; a completely opposing energy, or “Masintin“, an energy similar in frequency. That is when you apply “Taqe“, an attempt to harmonize these two encountering living forces.
The Quechua word for an Empath is a “Qawaq” which means “one who sees“. It comes from the verb “Qaway” which means “to see” the living energy.
Shadow & Light Membership:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ "Straight from the very first weekly email, this has been mind-blowingly powerful, the synchronicity and the on-vibe contents resonate uncannily with my soul’s current challenges." – Marie
Old Souls As Empaths
We all experience empathy to some degree. Empaths, however, struggle to distinguish their own emotions from those of others.
Highly Sensitive People are born with a physical sensitivity, that of a brain that is overly sensitive to stimuli of emotions, thoughts or activity. In many cases, HSP’s are so sensitive to subtleties within their environments that it allows them to feel the emotional changes within other people as well. However, not all HSPs are Empaths.
With Old Souls there’s a difference; their sensitivity is not physical in relation to the brain, but is spiritual, or is in relation to their souls. This doesn’t mean that all Old Souls are Empaths, but it does mean that many can easily become spiritually attuned to the living energy around them.
This spiritual attunement experienced by the Old Soul is enhanced by their “Old” energy that has been reborn many times. The more an energy comes into consciousness and then returns back to its origins, the thinner the veil of identity between “I” and “That” is, and the more it is purified.
As our individual egos become less defined, our unconscious intuitive receptors are left open to not only experience our own emotions, but the emotional vibrations of those around us.
The closest I can come to scientifically explain this is that somewhere within the frontal lobe of the brain, there is an area responsible for Echopraxia,which not only allows us to involuntary repeat others actions, but when activated in Empaths, can also allow for emotions from the surrounding environment to be involuntarily received and absorbed. However, there aren’t enough studies conducted to determine any of this conclusively.
Grounding Your Emotional Center
Being an Empath can be a great asset; but only if you learn to center yourself, grounding your emotions within your own being and refraining from shouldering the unhappiness and suffering of the entire “Pachamama“, mother nature. If you don’t learn how to ground yourself, you’ll live like a slave to your emotions, rather than a master of them.
Once you learn to master these emotions, you will not feel burdened by your empathy, but freed by it. You’ll have the ability to control when you want to feel other people’s emotions in order to purposefully understand them. You’ll also learn when to tune them off, allowing you the space and clarity to act or advise accordingly.
But first, how do we do that?
1. Identify the Origin
The emotions you feel will not always be from other people; they are often your own. It’s easy to think all negative emotions are coming from other people, so in order to get things straight, try to constantly analyze whether there is something that may have caused the negative emotions you’re feeling or not.
Would you like to save this?
Your information will never be shared.
2. Apply Mindfulness to Ground Yourself
The emotional energies that you absorb and experience from others are usually processed through your unconscious intuitive receptors. When you focus your attention with mindfulness on a specific action, it forces your unconscious mind to tune out of those emotional frequencies and focus conscious attention on something else instead. Examples of grounding exercises include focusing on your breathing rhythm, visualizing a protective shield around you, or focusing on the spot between your eyes where your “third eye” is located.
3. Seek Solitude and Distance Yourself
After you have grounded yourself using a mindfulness technique, try to leave the area that persons energy bubble might have effected (for instance, leave for a different room or physically distance yourself by a few meters). This will allow you to see whether it really was that person’s emotional energy that was influencing you or not. Afterwards, make some solitary time for yourself which will give you the space to centre yourself again.
***
Being a Qawaq, or Empath has proven to be an invaluable skill in my life which allows me to teach and treat other people. It has helped me to understand what a person wants or needs and what they are afraid or insecure about by attuning myself to their different emotional vibrations.
So now I’d love to know: what are your experiences as an Old Soul with the gift of being an Empath? Please share with me below!
If you would you like to keep reading about empaths, you’re welcome to click on one of our other empath articles below:
Alternatively, check out our empath book for further guidance and clarity.
If you need more help, we offer 3 powerful ways to guide you on your inner journey:
1. The Spiritual Wanderer Course: Feeling lost or uncertain about your path and purpose in life? Gain clarity and focus by learning about the five archetypes of awakening within you. Discover your deeper path and purpose using our in-depth psychospiritual map. Includes 3+ hours of audio-visual content, workbooks, meditations, and a premium test.
2. Shadow & Light Membership: Seeking ongoing support for your spiritual journey? Receive weekly intuitive guidance and learn to embrace your whole self, including your shadow side. Deepen your self-love and receive personal support from us.
3. Spiritual Awakening Bundle: Ready to soul search and dive deep? Access our complete "essentials" collection of beloved journals and eBooks. Includes five enlightening eBooks and seven guided journals, plus two special bonuses to further illuminate your path.
Ah,,,,,, I know what you are talking about I think. Just the other day I was wondering why we bond with some people quiet naturally and with others it is just the opposite. Something like say all H2O moluclues come together to become water. Only theoritically this thought occured to me. Maybe I am childish, but is it what you are talking about, partly at least? Empaths may be catalysts, scientifically, am I right?
Who is always hard to put into words how I felt and my in-depth understanding of things until I stumbled upon the site.I saw your discussions especially the one with anne I just wanted to thank you for helping us with the turmoil that we suffer with. I always felt so misunderstood, distant and confused but It wasn’t until I started getting proper guidance from a new friend, a mentor I should say, and now this, To better understand the person I am in this 20-year-old body haha. Thank you so much
This is a great article. Its so encouraging to read someone writing about this stuff. I feel to blessed to have developed quite an understanding of this myself through my own experience.
I would say you’re spot on with a lot of it. Its an often confusing and misunderstood trait. I like that you offered people tools to work with it. The one thing I personally don’t agree with is creating protective energy bubbles around yourself as a matter of course (perhaps you weren;t suggesting that anyway?), apart from in very occassional circumstances. It feels like it sometimes creates more fear and separation. but I understand there may be the occassion it mgiht be appropriate.
I think being grounded and ’embodied’ is an excellent tool.
anyway, thanks for a great article. and it was really interesting reading the inidgenous approach.
I’m only 18 and I can burly leave my own house to go to school or even just have fun. I’m an empath, and every single time I leave I just want to crawl back in my shell. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on how to control it all,IV tried so much to only experience my own emotions and it isn’t working. Its so overwhelming.
It’s beautiful to have this gift. I’m spiritually in tune and am learning how to ground myself. Thank u for this.
Wow! I’ve never been able to put into words what it is with me. You nailed it all. I know you put some suggestions for controlling the negative to live a healthier life for ourselves. But could please give me specifics. This isn’t new for me but understanding it is.
Nikki
Mateo — I absolutely loved reading your bio and learning about your life story. How amazing it must’ve been to grow up surrounded by such an influx of spirituality! To answer your question: as an empath [and INFJ / Reflector], I definitely have to agree with you when you say you feel too deep, and too much. Some of my earliest memories are of severe melancholy — the world always seemed like such the most painful yet most utterly beautiful place. This quote explains it best: “Compassion hurts. When you feel connected to everything, you also feel responsible for everything. And you cannot turn away. Your destiny is bound with the destinies of others. You must either learn to carry the Universe or be crushed by it. You must grow strong enough to love the world, yet empty enough to sit down at the same table with its worst horrors.” – Andrew Boyd I was the type of child that mourned the death of an insect, or was excluded on the playground. I liked ET / ghost shows and I dreamed of ancient civilizations & a simpler way of life. While my young mind was being demented by society, a… Read more »
Bonjour
Merci de votre travail et de l’attention que vous y apportez.
Je fais partie des 5% des personnes dont les capacités d’empathie sont notables. Je travaille chaque jour l’acceptation la defusion la pleine conscience avec application. Les neurones miroir responsables du mécanisme d’empathie sont bien étudiés aujourd’hui. Ce champ de connaissance qui réunit philosophie psychologie neurosciences … me réjouit particulièrement.
Namaste
Thank you for this article. I am a Psychic/Medium with Cherokee ancestry. You are right on…
I consider myself to be very empathic, even to the point where I can sense the emotions of actors, and even get the physical sensation of losing gravity, which I feel in my balls :[ , whenever I see someone on tv/movie/video jump or fall from on high. But, that makes me wonder if I am actually sensing it spiritually, or if I’m just recognizing a pattern…