Empowered by sensitivity? It sounds strange, doesn’t it? Sort of ironic, contradictory, even mutually exclusive.
How can you be empowered by something so soft, subtle and delicate, in a world full of hard, overpowering and loud people? Indeed, many of us Empaths get trampled, used, thrown around, and taken advantage of. But we have a secret.
Deep down inside, beyond the veil of our superficial appearances, we harbor something quiet, but powerful. Our gifts don’t dominate, tyrannize or overthrow people, but that doesn’t detract from their strength, or usefulness. If anything, our powerful but subtle gifts benefit us more in the long term, allowing us to gather emotional, psychological and physical information from our surroundings that is often inaccessible and undisclosed to the average, unreceptive mind.
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!
While we can’t bully, back-stab or use brute force, we can heal, guide, protect and deeply understand the lives of the people around us. In essence, we can gather immense amounts of knowledge. And knowledge, as they say, is power.
If you would like to discover whether you are an empath, take our empath test. Also, if you would like to discover what type of Empath you are, you will discover the 10 types at the end of this article.
Are You An Empath?
If you are an Empath, you will experience a combination of some or all of the following symptoms:
- You absorb other people’s emotions like a sponge, carrying them as your own.
- When someone close to you is physically ill, you can feel this as physical pains in your body.
- You often suffer from physical or mental fatigue and tiredness.
- You find Solitude immensely refreshing, and you require it to “recharge”.
- You often experience many mood swings or emotional states throughout the day.
- Witnessing violence or cruelty is unbearable to you.
- You are a very good listener.
- People often come to you with their problems.
- Animals and children are attracted to you.
- You are caring and nurturing by nature.
- You are hyper-aware of the physical environment, e.g. to smell, taste, sight, touch, hearing, etc.
- You can’t stand interpersonal conflict.
- Crowded places are very overwhelming and draining to you.
10 Types Of Empaths
While being an Empath can have its many positives and benefits, it can also weigh us down heavily with confusion, disorientation and anxiety. That is why it’s important to put a name to what we individually experience to better understand ourselves, and identify others who share the same abilities as us.
For this reason, I have included below a list, and small description, of each type of Empath. By understanding who you are, what gifts you possess and where you stand in life, you will be able to begin working with your soul. I elaborate on these types in our awakened empath book.
Claircognizant Empath
This is usually defined by the ability to simply know something needs to be done, or is true or misleading, without having any basis in logic or reason. Often this type of Empath will just “know” when something is right to do, or not, or when someone is lying or hiding something.
Emotionally Receptive Empath
Most Empaths are emotionally receptive, and can physically and emotionally feel the emotions from other people before they are even expressed.
Shadow & Light Membership:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ "Receiving these messages is a beacon of light and hope for me in currently very challenging times. The words of wisdom speak right to my soul, guiding and encouraging me further on my path. I highly recommend Shadow & Light to everyone who seeks to develop and cultivate a relationship with the Inner Self." – Karin
Physically Receptive Empath
Many Empaths are also physically receptive to other people’s illnesses and bodily pains. This often manifests itself in the Empath’s own body, and can be an especially useful skill in healing.
Fauna Empath
This type of Empath can hear, feel and interact with animals.
Flora Empath
This type of Empath can communicate with plants, being able to receive physical and emotional signals.
Geomantic Empath
The Geomantic Empath can read the energy and signals transmitted by the earth. Many are able to feel/predict natural disasters before they occur.
Medium Empath
This type of Empath can either see, hear, feel (or a combination of these elements) spirits, usually from deceased individuals.
Psychometric Empath
This manifests itself as the ability to receive information, energy and impressions from physical objects, e.g. photographs, clothing, jewelry, utensils, etc.
Precognitive Empath
This type of Empath can feel the occurrence of an event or situation before it actually happens. This is usually manifested in dreams, or as physical/emotional sensations, for instance: dread, anxiety, or excitement.
Telepathic Empath
The ability to accurately read a person’s unexpressed thoughts is the main defining feature of the Telepathic Empath.
***
Free Test (Discover Which One You Are)
If you have trouble identifying which empathic gift you have, feel free to take our Empath Type Test
Would you like to save this?
We'll email this article to you, so you can come back to it later!
Your information will never be shared.
Being an Empath can be difficult and confusing, but with awareness of your gifts and abilities, you can refine them and use them to guide, heal and protect yourself and the people you love.
My hopes are that the information within this article can continue to make ripples within your life. Please share with me any stories or experiences you have below. This will help all of us broaden our knowledge and understanding of what it is to be an Empath!
If you would like to keep reading about empaths, you’re welcome to click on one of our other empath articles below:
Three paths to inner transformation – here’s how I can help you go deeper:
1. The Spiritual Wanderer Course: Are you feeling lost, adrift, and unsure of your life's purpose? Gain clarity, focus, and direction on your inner path by uncovering the five archetypes of awakening within you. Learn how to navigate the highs and lows of your inner journey and chart your unique path with 3+ hours of audio-visual content, workbooks, meditations, and a premium test.
2. Shadow & Light Membership: Do you crave consistent support on your spiritual quest? Receive weekly intuitive guidance and learn to embrace your whole self, including your shadow side. Cultivate deeper self-love with our affordable, personalized support.
3. Spiritual Awakening Bundle: Ready to embark on a profound soul-searching adventure? Dive into our collection of essential transformative resources! Explore five illuminating eBooks and seven in-depth journals, plus unlock two special bonuses to empower your spiritual growth.
Can you have multiple types of empathic powers? Or must you choose the one that you most relate to?
I’m so tired and drained from all of it, exhausted
I became overwhelmed and almost connected reading this I burst into tears . These stories are all relatable and at the same time understandable . It’s so wierd to see my stories in everyone else . All the “signs” and how it was biographical of me .
I have been aware of this but have tried to surpress, bury and finally medicate because of the over bearing drain .
I hope to learn now from investigating places like this and hear stories on how to “control” this . Thank you for your ..feelings. A lot to sort out
I’ve been so unhappy, physically ill, suddenly have arthritis in my left knee, migraines, and lumps in my breasts. I know when things will happen. I’m rarely surprised. I draw animals to me. Injured things and people find their way to me. Land and property warn me away. People just want to be near me. I’m so overwhelmed but keep going. Nothing too exciting is happening to me so why am I overwhelmed? Why do I feel exhausted all the time? Why do people suck me dry and I go back to be sucked even drier? What is going on?!!! And I’ll mention that I’m only 34!!
My first memory is of my grandfather chasing our family German shepherd through the house trying to beat him with a belt. I remember him screaming for help and me telling him to run. How did this happen if I wasn’t even a toddler and he obviously did not speak to me? Because I’ve always known I can talk to animals. Couldn’t everyone else? I found out very quickly that people did not find that normal. I grew up encouraged to explore my gifts. When I began to see what others couldn’t I got scared. I wanted it to stop! I grew more into myself and kept things I saw and heard to myself. I stopped seeing and eventually stopped hearing but I could always always feel. I feel the unspoken, I feel the illness, I feel the lies, the love, and the crazy unbridled joy of others.
I always aid I lived vicariously through others and that I was too shy to do anything myself u til college. I met people like me and my twin brother. He embraced his gift and mine were locked away. They pushed their way out here and there. I’m always sick. No one ever knows why. I always need to be alone with no noise for several hours but turn around and give a speech to hundred of people. I’m always scared but somehow the right words come to me…public speaking is so easy for me and I never need a speech. The energy that pumps into me before during and after is exhilarating and exhausting at the same time.
So here’s the problem, my migraines are increasing and are almost untreatable, my body is feeling like its wearing down, and I feel like something is beating it’s way out of me. I think it’s time I accept all that I am and learn how to cope with the energy suck that happens to me daily. It’s time to recognize that I am not going crazy from the emotions swirling around inside me and learn to meditate away what I absorbed from others. I don’t want to stop helping others but I want to manage the ups and downs. I am not diagnosed bipolar or schizophrenic but if I said what I wanted to all the time, I might be. I’ve learned who to stay away from and where to stay away from. I’ve learned to use what I can do to help people realize their potential and remove blocks. Now it’s time I give myself that gift. I wish I could find a community in my area but it is small here.
Sorry for my ramblings but I’m struggling with getting everything out of me. I am excited to see what happens for me once I learn to manage the empathy and how it makes me feel. Thanks for reading/listening. :) I’m looking forward to not being afraid to feel my feelings because they won’t be so intense. I look forward to feeling like myself again.
The solution to your problem might very well be energy control. Just as when an empath accepts the emotional energy of those around him, or broadcasts emotion to those around him (yes, we can do that too), you can manipulate the energy of those around you. By absorbing small amounts from many people, if you are in a crowd, you can get by. It is easier, though, if you gather energy from nature when you are in one of your solitude phases. Air works well, but can be a bit unpredictable, earth is easily accessible and quite stable. Water tends to work very well, especially for the empath. It will also be a bit easier to work with, since most empaths find being near the water soothing. Take that energy in, let it energize and calm you, refresh you, and help you keep your emotions calm and centered. Another point to keep in mind is wearing a rhodonite point crystal helps keep psychic gifts level…that might give you some relief as well. I wish you luck.:)
I’m still in two minds about what I am going through as far empathic abilities it seems to be occasional or I notice things more when it is a major life event or situation. Additionally I do enjoy my red wine and cigarettes often lol so I don’t know how much this might block things …My family would never accept nor believe me so it’s difficult. They hate the word pyschic and it is frowned upon amongst Christian families from the Caribbean. When I was 7 I stayed home from gymnastics class because of a stomach ache…my grandma also was feeling unwell. I made her some tea and we got in bed to watch tv. she fell asleep and died right there next to me. All i think is that she would have been there alone if I had not stayed. Years later I dreamt my brother and I being driven away from our home by a fair skinned lady. And that later turned out to be the social worker taking us to a foster home away from our Mother.
More recently a friend let me know his girlfriend was pregnant and instead of saying congratulations I blurted out “no she is Not!!” I just knew she wasn’t I just was confident. He was furious I felt bad that I was being negative and after a few months of the charade the truth came out. It was a lie the girl my friend was seeing was faking a pregnancy for months.I also have dreams that are precognitive. For example I have dreamt my ex coming to tell me he is having a baby and a year or so later I hear of him becoming a dad. I will dream of trouble with my siblings and their friends and find out weeks later that they resonate .
My son and I have begun having matching dreams or similar. He is nine and has a twin that has passed away. He will say strange things to me that have come to be true. Out of the blue he will say “I don’t want to move mommy”…then I will hear from the housing provider the next day!! He also asked me if his Dad and I were gonna break up before something happened very unexpectedly to actually cause a break up. hard to figure out what is coincidence or not. I believe he has seen spirit many times and has been terrified. I feel the heaviness of toxic people a conversation that is negative can unsettle me. I know how people truly feel about me. So I isolate myself often to keep balanced. I didn’t know that this is what I was doing before now. Or I will have to cut certain people of until their energy is better because I get dumped on alot. I encourage open communication about feelings and dreams with my son. Because If he is intuitive as well then I want to be able to educate myself of how I can help the both of us.
seems like im late to the party! i have come to terms with being empathic. and i have it controlled to the point that there are 3 specific people that i cannot ‘turn off’ my ability to. 2 of them are fine, i dont mind the connection with them. but the 3rd…the haunting of my dreams almost nightly, the pain in my chest when they are thinking of me, the connection is unlike anything i have felt before and i have tried for the last year to break it. it will last for a week or 2 at a time, and it always comes back stronger than before. i do not want to be connected to this person, they do not want to be connected to me. we do not talk, we do not associate, we co-exisit in the same neighborhood physically, but universally, we are everywhere together. they feel me. i feel them. how can i break this? how can i turn this off for this specific person? i am at a loss and am starting to lose hope and faith in my ability and feel like the universe is nothing but a bully.
I’m very new at this, but someone told me it’s like any other thing we do: we have to let go. Blocking is harder to do (especially if someone else is connected from their end). I have a friend I’ve been attempting to block for a few years. It mostly works now but it some times breaks through. I’ve seen her physically get angry with me for no reason when she could not connect to me. Now, she doesn’t know why she was so angry, but I do and that made me want to block even more.
So back to your questions, I think it’s like insomnia. The more you try to will yourself to sleep, the worse the insomnia gets. Instead, you have to approach sleep peacefully, not adversarially. Apparently this person is someone you do not like and it is mutual. Your negative energies towards one another is actually keeping you connected. Try to find peace and send it towards his/her energy and the other energy cannot and will not want to join with yours at that point. It’s gonna be work but it also looks like you’re no stranger to hard empathic work.
This is just my opinion though. :) Good luck and I hope this settles for you soon.
I have always known I had these special gifts since I was very young. At times I felt overwhelmed by the barrage of emotions and thoughts. There were always family, friends, pets, and strangers that came to me who seemed to want to constantly ‘pick my brain’ or were in need of something. I literally used to dread having my skin crawl whenever anyone was suffering physical pain. Then there were the looks I would get when I could tell when terrible weather was about to happen,,,before it actually did. But there were also the times I would smile and giggle at knowing I was able to be so in touch with the world around me. It makes sense that I pursued a career as a licensed massage therapist. And it was when I returned to my college to help a class, that an instructor pulled me into the hall and asked if I would like to be medically certified as an empath. I had absolutely no words. It was then that my life went spiraling out of control. That year I became my dad’s caregiver along with hospice, and 2 years later I did the same with my mom. Each time was a grueling 3 weeks of care-giving that although I wouldn’t trade for the world, left me in a terrible place spiritually, emotionally, and physically. And then, out of the blue, an instructor/friend of mine contacted me about taking her reiki classes. That was my turning point. I was finally able to make sense of everything I was experiencing. I had the necessary tools to put everything in perspective. Wellness is the perfect balance between physical, emotional, and spiritual. I re-learned the importance of grounding, that during my care-giving years I just simply did not think about as my parents were most important. I make it a point to practice meditation that I used to think I had no time for. I do exercise and stretching of any kind to clear my head, release endorphins, and shake off negativity. We are all on this journey together….and although we have little control over events or other people’s thoughts, opinions, or actions, we have the ability choose our own path. I’m a firm believer that these special gifts can help heal this world. We just need to be able to accept the energy. Namaste!
Hello! I just want to say thank you so much for posting this!! I’m still young, quite young in fact, I’m only 12, but, I feel as though I’m having some sort of awakening. All of the sudden I want to know more about stuff like this. Anyways, after talking to my mom, I feel as though I have traits as an Empath, but I can never know for sure, but like I said, I’m still young yet. Ever since I was a little younger, I felt as though I could look someone in the eyes, and now exactly how they feel. One day, I was talking to my best friend, and I started feeling as though I was being hit with waves of sadness, even though he showed no sign or trace of sadness. I asked him what was up, and turns out his dog that he had loved dearly had passed away the night prior. It was then that I noticed what I could do, that was two years ago. Now, I feel as though I’m quite good at reading people. My easiest way is looking people in the eyes, I don’t know if I can truly “see” their emotions in their eyes, or if that maybe I’m just sensitive to emotions and have traits of an Empath. Also, I find people often caving in to me, talking to me, coming to me for advice, and I don’t know where it comes from, but I can always give people the right advice. Another thing that I’m curious about, is my sensitivity to people’s energies. It runs in my mom’s side of my family, special traits and abilities, and my mother excels in the Healing Touch, and can read people’s energies and “see” their chakras, which helps her to know if their chakras are spinning the right way, and whether they’re opened or not. I feel as though I have the ability to also read people’s emotions based off of the energy that they give off, and, I’m not exactly sure how I know or what I’m doing, but I can manipulate my own energy to give off different emotions very intensely. It’s hard to know whether or not I am an Empath or if I have other abilities, but I’m still young. Also, I have an extremely strong gut instinct. I use it a lot when I play card games, and if I use it, I never lose. It’s like an extremely strong feeling in my chest, and it’s always present. It’s hard being who I am, because I’m young there’s no one I can talk to except for my mom and one other girl, whom I get this strong feeling from her that she has abilities but she is yet to unlock them. This is why I came to you, and the internet, because I’m extremely shy and it’s a lot easier to talk to people like this online, especially if there are people that are Empath. After reading your article, I think I have traits as a Claircognizant Empath because I can tell when people are lying or telling the truth & I have strong sense of what’s right and young. As well as an Emotionally Perceptive Empath, which I explained before. I’m sorry that this came out to be quite long, but, I also loved your article, and, if you can, I would appreciate it very much if you can help in any way. ^^
I’ve been reading about empathy for a few years now. But it never accoured to me that I might be one. However, my mom has been having pain in her back and shoulders, and its developed in me. I have all but one trait of the empath, and that’s amazing. I couldn’t figure it out until tonight. Thank you for the amazing articles. They are really mind blowing and helpful. Keep doing what you do, it has and will continue to help other in the future. Much love, L.Lee.
I fell in all catagories but the psychmetric for what kind of empath…but my two strongest is telepathic n precognitive….and what would a catagory be to be able to connect to the universal truth and understand and know things beyond my iq…..? Or is that different…
I scored 89 out of a hundred in your list. How do i shut this off? I think im not just accepting.. Im also projecting. When im late for classes i usually focus on the bus driver and dump all my frustrations. Sad to say the driver speeds up but becomes a bit reckless. I cant deal with people coz i empathize with them. I need to shut this off or something.