Are empaths real?
I was cruising around on some forums earlier today and I saw this question that I simply had to answer!
An empath is a person who is able to experience what other people are experiencing as they experience it.
It is closely related to a skill all of us have called empathy.
We know what it’s like to be sad because we’ve been sad. When we see someone sad, we often feel sad, too.
Empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
If you think of a great fiction book you’ve read, you can probably recall feeling emotionally connected to the characters. If one of your favorite characters felt sad, you may have felt sad, as well.
You may have empathy for your friends. If your friend is getting married, you may be able to relate to the joy and happiness he feels — and even feel it with him.
Empath
Someone who is as an empath takes empathy to a whole new level.
Empaths experience the emotions as their own. It’s not uncommon for them to feel overwhelmed in crowded public places.
An empath doesn’t consciously connect to someone and feel what he imagines the other person is feeling.
He might not have ever even asked the question, “Are empaths real?”
Without even knowing what an empath is, he will simply feel it.
Unless he is trained to understand his own nature, he may not be able to separate his feelings from the feelings of the people who surround him.
For an empath, it’s important to learn how to keep other people’s energy out of your energy.
Empathic vs. empathetic
When someone is an empath, he is empathic. When someone uses empathy, she is being empathetic.
Is everyone empathic?
With few exceptions, everyone is empathic to some extent. It’s a skill, like math or reading. Almost everyone has the capability to read or do mathematical equations, but not everyone learns how to do this well.
Some people are naturally gifted in these areas. They pick up the material more quickly and need less instruction. Being empathic is a little different, in that it has to do with your physical senses.
Are empaths real?
There is science behind being an empath.
Your heart has its own electromagnetic field. This electromagnetic field gives off information about what happens internally, whether you’re experiencing positive emotions or negative emotions. Furthermore, everyone has receptors in their skin cells that can pick up the information sent out from the electromagnetic field.
For whatever reason, empaths tend to be much more sensitive to other people’s electromagnetic fields. I suspect it’s due to an increased number of receptors in the skin cells. Perhaps the brain is wired to be more sensitive to the information. The research in this area is too new to be able to explain the “why’s.”
It’s not unheard of for an empath to pick up the emotional state of someone that he is not nearby.
I have on multiple occasions started feeling an emotion that I had no reason to feel, only to go through the list of people I’m emotionally connected to and discover that this wasn’t my emotion at all.
My empath story
In one instance, I was painting the downstairs bedroom at my mom’s house.
For no reason I could think of, I started worrying about money and feeling very anxious about money.
I had all the money I needed to pay my bills — and even a little extra — so I had NO IDEA where it was coming from.
It took me about 30 minutes to figure out that it wasn’t my emotion at all, so I called up the person it felt connected to, and asked him if he was stressing about money in the past 30 minutes are so.
He confirmed that he felt very stressed at the moment.
He had enough conscious control over his emotions and awareness that he was able to shift his emotional state fairly quickly, for which I was VERY grateful!
Empaths do exist, and what they are experiencing is normal, much like every other intuitive modality I’ve talked about.
So I hope that answers your question, “Are empaths real?”
Do you have any empathic stories? Feel free to share them in the comments!
Love this article?? I’ve done LOTS of research since creating this all about Empaths. Check out the Mini Classes and learn much more about being an empath and how to feel great every day as a super sensitive empathic sponge!
glad there is somebody else, very well written article.
i have always been able to “feel” the people around me, if somebody in my family has a nightmare at my house and wake up, i wake up at the same time feeling terrified even if i was having a good dream. i almost couldn’t be at my grandmothers viewing when she passed because there was about 30 or so people there and it was like all those emotions and my emotions crushing me, i hate crowded situations.
i actually have a small question, are withdrawals related to emotion, currently my mother is quitting smoking and i feel nervous, jittery, i can’t sleep or eat, when i do eat i get sick. its just bad, if this is how it feels to go through withdrawals then i am never ever ever doing anything ever.
i found that i do have to be in a mile radius for any emotions to come through though except people i really have built a bond with, then they can be 200 miles away and i can feel how they feel when there is a larger emotion, so im pretty sure that if i want to get away from my mother’s emotions i would have to fly to another continent to get any kind of relief. but i don’t ever want to get rid of it, it helps a lot when i know people need help.
Thanks for stopping by my site! I’m glad you liked this article. You are experiencing your mother’s withdrawal symptoms because being an empath is a type of clairsentience, which means clear feeling. Since she feels both her emotions and her physical symptoms within her body, and because you are tuned in to her vibration, you feel her symptoms as though they are your own. Being an empath is a specific type of clairsentience. Some people who are clairsentient don’t feel others’ emotions, but instead just feel their physical pain. It looks like you are a full clairsentient, picking up both the emotions and the other physical sensations.
I have a question. I find that my husbands moods, as well as my mothers and childrens moods seriously effect me. I feel like i over react to their emotions and that i kind of physically feel their emotions. Is this “normal” or what you are calling empathic? Its actually becoming a problem with my husband the more and more he stresses and gets mad. Again i feel like i over react, but cant really control it. Additionally i have heard mention of some things that i thought were normal or social anxiety but have now seen written as signs of being an empath.
Hi Kirsten,
It depends. Are you experiencing the emotions as your own, and having a hard time distinguishing between your emotions and other people’s emotions, or are you simply seeing their emotion and reacting to it? If you are having a hard time distinguishing your emotion from someone else’s, the it’s very likely that you are an empath. If it’s always easy to tell whose emotion it is, it’s likely that you are emotionally sensitive, and perhaps have a hard time dealing with disapproval.
For instance, an empath will “get lost” in the multiple emotions they are feeling in public places, like the mall, crowded walkways, etc.
Someone who has a hard time processing and feeling comfortable with other people’s disapproval will see that someone is in a bad mood, and if any part of that bad mood is directed at them, they will feel the need to defend themselves, justify whatever they said/did, or change the other person’s mood, because it’s so hard to be around the disapproval.
Confusingly, having problems with disapproval is fairly common with empaths, so if your answer is “Yes” to both, then you’re simply an empath with some sensitivity to disapproval. I used to say “yes” to both of those, as well.
Thank you so much for sharing your knoedwlge with the world. I was blessed when I was lead to your site. Without a doubt I can say You my friend are a Gentle Soul. It shines through each of your words! I have been on this rollercoaster of Spiritual Awakening for as long as I can remember Most recently, in the past 3 years, I have become undeniably aware of who & what I am The past 9 months have been so intense As I believe the Universe decided I have lived in denial long enough! For my entire life, as long as I can remember I have always felt so different than everyone else. I struggled to the point of severe chronic depression and suicidal idealations My moment of awakening came after the loss of my Father and deaths of several other very close loved ones.This Path Although exhilarating at times Is frot with struggles and overwhelming intensities . I have searched high and low in the hopes of finding a mentor or teacher to guide me along with a gently With no luck There is so much noise and confusion out there, not knowing truth from ploy gets kinda frustrating So, thank you again for your sweet and kind words of experience You are an inspiration to me. Much love,Meg~
I am here asking for your help. Not sure what really is going on but I need someone’s help. I dont want to talk to my spouse about it or anyone as I dont want them thinking that I am crazy which I believe they might think so.
I have recently been feeling other people’s emotions so strongly its like I can hear what they are thinking. That is only if their thought is directly related to me and it is a very strong desire to extract information from me.
I have since a very young age felt everything so profoundly. Everyone always used to call me the most emotional person ever and also I used to be the school psychologist according to the label my friends in high school had given me because of my rationale.
When a person would pass away and I would meet their loved ones, I would immediately cry at their reaction. I felt as if I was them. My parents always thought I had a loose screw because I cry when I see someone else cry, I cry when I see an animal on TV being mistreated. I actually no longer watch anything negative or any movie/news where there is tragedies happening because I carry that on me for months.
I remember seeing the movie “One flew over the coocoo’s nest” in college for a project and I was depressed for months after to the point that I complained to the school about the teacher showing that movie because I could not move on with my life after.
Every time there is something wrong I feel it and I get anxiety attacks. I used to always tell my friends that there is something wrong and I wanted them to help me find out what it was because I could not go on with my day that way. I would go crazy until I figured out what it was, what was bothering me.
I refuse to go to dance clubs (my husband loves to go there). The atmosphere drains me and I find escape by falling asleep everytime I go (crazy huh).
Maybe I am just a very emotional and recognize my instincts and this has nothing to do with emapthic abilities but I cant seem to talk to anyone about it and everytime I bring up the supernatural I get these pressures in my head and I have NEVER had headaches my entire life.
My grandma was a very gentle soul and she was like me. She could feel other people’s emotions since she was little. She never shared anything with others but its almost as if her spirit lives in me because everyone tells me I am like her in every way and I also have her name.
We recently went to Disney with my family and I could feel the woman sitting next to me on a train ride was angry… it was almost as if I wanted to walk over to her and ask her what was her problem, my ride was so uncomfortable because of her.
Am I crazy…… I am not so in tune all the time but I try to avoid people and really like to be alone. Have always like it… I have always liked people around me for very little time and then… my alone time was so so precious….
Hi Ara,
Yes, you are an empath.
Empaths experience other people’s emotions as their own, and many empaths are bothered and feel like they have to help or fix other people’s emotions, which can be strange and awkward for everyone involved.
Very few emptahs enjoy public spaces, as they are crowded with the energy of lots of people. Your experience is very normal for an empath. Many become recluses.
The pressure you feel in your head is your third eye chakra becoming activated – you are very intuitive and psychic, and that chakra wants to grow and expand.
Also, interesting side note, the gift of empathy is often hereditary.
I’d highly suggest you study the chakras and work on learning how to control them. You can learn to open and close your energy so you experience less of others’ emotions and enjoy a normal life.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to tell other people you’re studying the chakras. 😉 You have leaky chakra syndrome, which I explain and teach a technique to help you deal with in in the video Leaky Chakra Syndrome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_U6rT5Jqsk
Use the principles and techniques I teach in the video to learn to keep your energy more separate from other people, and you’ll be able to go out in public with ease.
Sending love,
Erin-Ashley
Erin,
Thank you so much for your response. I have not had a chance to get away from life’s commotion to come back and thank you. I just now saw your reply and am very happy you had answered so quickly. Your website is so informative and gives great guidance.
P.S. I am using a pseudo name and would like to email you if possible. Everyone in my family is on the internet continually and searches what others are doing. Also they are very skeptical of the other wordly phenomena.
Could I apply for your scholarship for the classes you offer? I am more interested in learning how to control it and because of the situation I find myself in (could relate to you in an email) I would enjoy helping those around me should my abilities be such as to offer this kind of help.
This is not something I would like to pursue as a career as I already have a career of choice. I feel as though I would enjoy having this gift and putting it to good use.
I believe in Karma and that is the only way I feel that my life would go well if I give what I want to receive!
Ara,
You may of course email me. My main email address is ea@erinashleycoaching.com, and feel free to fill out the scholarship. It includes 4 weeks of phone coaching. I can’t guarantee anything, but I’m happy to receive an application and look it over. If it’s not the right fit, I may be able to send some other resources your way that you’ll still find helpful.
Sending love and light,
Erin-Ashley
I’ve known 2 people who claim to be Empaths able to read people’s emotions over a chatroom even if you don’t type anything. I’ve also looked around a little and found a list of questions to ask to figure out if you are an Empath or not that would apply to almost any person.
How can I be sure if they are Empaths, if Empaths are something apparently more than just emotional people. And if there is a huge distinction, then what would be the best way to test it since if this is legit, then there has to be some way to figure out who’s truely an Empath better than asking general questions.
Sorry if this is an odd thing to ask, but I’m the type of person that works heavilly on logic and reason before accepting an idea…. Especially when it seems like there should be some kind of way to test it.
Hi Kyle,
The easiest way to know if you’re an empath is whether you experience other people’s emotions AS your own. So if you’re in a room of someone who’s sad, you will feel sad, and it can be difficult to distinguish between your emotions and the other person’s. We all, as human beings, can sense other people’s emotions. It’s literally built into us, and if you’re interested in the research behind that phenomenon, look up heartmath.org. It’s really fascinating – our hearts can literally mirror what another person’s heart is doing if we are within the electrical field of their heart. Some people are simply super sensitive to the point of experiencing it as their own, which is the difference between a “normal” person who can sense other people’s emotions and an empath.
I’ve worked one on one with a lot of empaths, and when working with a “real” empath, one of the skills they have to learn is how to distinguish their own emotion from another person’s emotions, especially if they are in the same vicinity.
As far as knowing if someone ELSE is an empath, basically it’s no different than vetting any other skill. A true empath will experience other people’s emotions as their own, so the normal confusion, shyness, and low-self esteem that comes from living like that all the time would be expected. But, there’s no surefire way to know unless you can be completely honest with yourself about your emotions, and ask them to tell you what you’re feeling, and find out for yourself. It’s much easier to tell if YOU’RE an empath than it is to tell if other people are.
If you’re an empath, you’ll feel other people’s emotions as though they were your own. So if you go to a mall, you’ll feel a lot of emotions, excitement, anxiety, and other normal emotions that you would tend to see in the mall. It’s exhausting. If you’re not an empath, you’ll know other people are feeling these emotions and will be able to sense them, but you won’t experience them as though they were your own. I hope that makes sense and helps!
EA
That helps, but is it possible for an Empath to read your emotions across a computer screen as my friend claims he can? I’ve never met him face to face and, quite frankly, feeling emotion from text messages seems pretty rediculous.
I dunno, maybe it’s just me, but I’m not 100% sure that reading people when you’re not in the same room is a thing. Otherwise, this type of ability could potentially be used in so many applications from the medical field to having an early warning in police work….
Sorry if I misunderstood how Empaths work, but it seems there should be a bigger impact with knolage of this ability.
Most Empaths I know need to see a person’s picture to tune into the emotions of a specific person. It’s possible, but unless they are trained, it will be difficult for your friend to read your emotions accurately. This is because most Empaths have 3 things going on at once when they tune into another’s emotions:
1. Their emotions
2. The other person’s emotions
3. Their emotional reactions to the other person’s emotions
I read for people all over the world, and I can promise you, it’s a thing. But it did take training to learn to distinguish my emotions from other people’s, and further training to learn how to accurately and ethically communicate what I got. This ability is often used in the medical field and in police work, but it’s very rarely publicized because of the stigma of working with people who are psychic. We are often asked not to talk about what we do or how we help, because of the backlash from the communities. Some consider us evil and others simply consider us frauds. The impact is larger than you think, but because it’s not a perfectly exact science (we have to report our emotions and emotional impressions), it’s rightfully not the main tool used in most of these fields.
Why would anyone think of Empaths as evil? It doesn’t seem like there would be any harm at all in reading people’s emotions.
People have weird beliefs. Because it’s a way that many psychics use to tune in, and many psychics are considered evil, this is considered evil. I don’t think it makes any logical sense. It’s simply the way it is for now.
When I was in first grade I was diagnosed with bipolar. Despite that I have had things I can’t so easily explain happen to me. I am a scientific and logical person, and in science the correct answer is often the simplest. I have read that when we are really little the thing that extends our learning and makes us feel stuff like feeling thirsty when someone else is thirsty involves mirror neurons. At some point people begin to pay less attention to these neurons as they get older. These neurons are what allow toddlers to speak of information so exact far beyond their age simply because they heard someone say it.
Okay now for some of my weird experiences. Several years ago my grandma on my mom’s side was dying of pancreatic cancer. We knew we didn’t have long before she would die. We knew time was counting down, but no one knew when not even the hospice person. Somewhere between the eight hours from when my grandma died and the phone call about her death that we got. I had a strong feeling of passing and sadness. This feeling was so strong that when we got the call and my mom and sister cried. I felt sad and I felt their emotion, but I was not surprised by it and I just had this sensation that kinda made me feel prepared for it or something.
I am extremely close to animals. Infact I constructed a bond with a Guinea Pig so strong that there was a huge spiritual connection. My Guinea Pig lived 8 years rather than the 5 or 6 years they normally live. When she passed away I felt like a piece of me fell out of my heart. The day after was so dark and cloudy. Me and her benefited so much from an emotional bond that transended my emotional sensitivity. It was so strong that just the thought of her now centers me.
When I just meet people I feel as though I know someone a certain way in days equal to what it would take other people years to feel about someone. This has some times left me feeling alone at social gatherings because people don’t feel the same about me.
When my mom comes home I can feel her tiredness in me I can feel sadness and frustration. I feel and experience all the things my mom does dealing with State Farm and the sinkhole under the house.
I feel the rhythm of nature so to speak to. I feel the balances between things, and I try to guide my actions on gut feelings and the emotions I pick up from people. Also, I have always picked friends based on the feeling of emotion and the emotion they project.
So their is a sample of my experiences. So, am I an Empath. I keep looking around and I would love it if someone help understand if that is what I am feeling.
A lot of your experiences are definitely that of an Empath. With your grandmother’s passing, you felt emotion as the “signal” that she had passed, and it’s not uncommon for spirits to say good-bye to the sensitive people in their lives as they cross over, especially if there’s a strong connection. It’s also very common to have a strong bond with animals, and to feel other people’s emotions as your own. Again, the closer you are to someone, the more you’ll feel their emotions.
I recently did a video about 5 Types of Empaths, and you’ll likely find more clarity about yourself there. You can follow this link to watch it: https://www.spiritualmechanic.com/2013/03/five-types-of-empaths/
Pay close attention to the Emotional Empath, Animal Empath and Earth Empath portions, because you show signs of all three.
Sending love!
EA
Thank you for responding. Your video really helped me figure a little more about the kind of Empath I must be. I really think that I am an emotional and animal Empath. As for a little more information, I volunteer at the Central Florida Zoo and when I see the animals there I do sometimes feel kind of I guess trapped or something. When I see an animal that is a social one alone I feel lonely or isolated. Your video helped explain that to me better. I think I am also grasping the fact of being an emotional Empath and your video really helped to solidify that. However, the Earth Empath caught my attention and I was wondering if these were experiences that relate to this.
I live in Florida and I feel a sense of being upset and sadness when I see lakes drying up, garbage along the road, and places under construction. I feel this feeling of sickness when I see the beaches dirty and the oceans mucky and brown. These things stand out to me like a thorn in my foot, and I just feel like the balances in nature is very off. I just can’t explain much about the global negative effects on nature becuase every thing I have researched or pursued on this was driven by a feeling I feel inside.
I appreciate your help, thank you.
I would expect to see what you’ve described from someone who had a special connection with the Earth. I’m not quite sure you’re an Earth Empath, simply because as an Earth Empath you would likely feel things AS the Earth did… so you’d feel the disruption of the Earth right before a major earthquake or something similar. Being intuitively connected to the Earth, though, is a very special gift.
Thank you for your responses. Sometimes in life you sometimes perceive things that are regardless great to be apart of something different then you think. Thank you so much for helping me to sort through these thoughts. I know now that I am an emotional and animal Empath. I also know that some of my experiences with the environment are more of an intuitive awareness. It is still great, but at least my thoughts are much clearer now.
You’re very welcome! <3
Hi there,
I really thought empaths were fictional until recently I made a connection with what I have been feeling. I am not quite sure how to explain these emotions. I will cry at anything that is sad even reading something sad and I will cry and I thought I was just a big softie. I picked on when I watch a sad movie and they toss me a box of tissues. Recently, I have been overcome with these very strong feelings of rage. This isn’t me and this rage comes with murderous thoughts and it scares me. I really don’t think they are my feelings. I have a nephew that I am raising who has behaviorial problems and one them is rage. Am I picking up his feelings or are they really mine? This is a question I ask myself all the time. I know when my there is something wrong with my husband and he doesn’t have to say a word to me. I know when he is angry or in pain but his depression is really getting to me. I go in public places and I get anxious and become rude because I can’t wait to get out of there. To give you an example of how deeply my emotions can get I cannot read any books by V.C. Andrews because I become extremely depressed. Can you help me? Am I feeling these for real or are they someone elses. I also sense things too for instance I knew when my two grandmothers passed before anyone else. I knew my dad was telling us good bye even though he couldn’t speak when he died. At first I thought I was just reading people by observation but now I am wondering.
Hi Sherri,
It sounds like you have a mix of things going on. Some of this sounds like it could be hormonal – such as the super deep emotions and crying at the drop of a hat – but other parts of this is classic Empath experience – like experiencing your husband’s emotions. I just did a video about how to tell whether the emotions are yours or not, because if your nephew is experiencing the huge hormonal shifts, and you’re empathing it, it would present as though it were your emotions. Check it out and try the technique I outline. It will help you determine whether (and when) it’s your emotions or someone else’s.
Click here to watch the video: https://www.spiritualmechanic.com/2013/04/whose-energy-is-it/
xoxo,
EA
While its more complicated than the explanation above, many of my friends tell me I’m an empath. Not only can I sense other’s emotions but many friends claim I also project my own. I have had dozens of friends over the years who said I was the only person they could talk to, some even going so far as to claim time with me was more therapeutic than going to a therapist. its actually caused lots of issues in my dating life, because girls I meet quickly develop a bond with me that’s more as a close friend or confidante than lover, but once I accepted that as my role with friends I could date somewhat normally. I’m currently trying to translate this skill, or gift as my friends call it, into a career as a therapist. Some friends have actually had me be a therapist literally, and all have said its the career I was born for
Spencer,
A therapy career is a wonderful one for an Empath.
Sending you love and light!
EA
So my question is this.. I have been told all my life that I am an Empath this I can agree with from the research that I done in my life however, my father has told me that to be able to use this ” power” as he calls it.. I had to my sleeper awoken. I havent been able to find out what this means or if something called a sleeper is even real. I know that when I was 11 years I became over run with the emotion of terror and sadness and couldnt do anything but hide in a corner and cry. A few hours later I called my mother who had at that time recently separated from my father and she told me that a friend of hers was in a car accident and passed away just hours before. This is when my father told me that my sleeper had awoken. I was just wondering how much of that is true? Thanks Elaura
Elaura,
I have never heard of the sleeper before, so I have no idea. I’m sorry. But the experience with feeling the terror at the same time as your mom’s friend passing in the car accident isn’t an uncommon experience for an empath, because we get intuitive information through our emotions.
xoxo
EA
hi erin , i am tee,
i am not sure whether i have any gifts nor do i consider being an empath, but occasionally i can feel when ppl are angry at me , you the kind where
its intuitively. i was able to tell when some1 is
lying or hiding stg, if i am conneected to them , i think emmotionally and when i was younger i could sometimes feel my moms anger , its like in me, you know, and i had a stomach ache, and once she calmed down , it was gone.
I do not know if this is the same as what you are all talking about, and I have never really shared this with anyone. I seem to have dreams, feelings, flashbacks about things that I don’t remember happening. At first, I thought I just have an intense imagination. Then, I had some therapists tell me that I was dissociating, and something happened to me that I have repressed. This has pretty much made me crazy, because I don’t know who, when, where these things were to have happened. Though, I have come to some peace with the fact that it doesn’t matter, because if it did happen, it is in the past, I recently heard about empaths. I have always wondered if it was possible that the intense memories are not mine. I know, this is probably way out there. But they are so intense and real, that I feel like I am there. Perhaps it is even from reading, hearing, and seeing these things on tv. Maybe it just makes an imprint on my brain. I don’t know, but I have never heard anyone else say that this happens to them.
Tracy,
This very much could be you picking up memories from other people. People who are heavily clairvoyant sometimes experience this. I’ve encountered a few people who experience the same thing as you. I’d encourage you to check out some of my videos on being an empath, clairvoyance and clairsentience. Those will probably be the most informative for you right now.
Sending love,
EA
Thank you, Erin-Ashley!
I am completely blown away! I can relate in so many ways. I have always fought against this for lack of understanding. I feel more like a servant of men, and ready to walk away as far as my legs will carry me to the most remote place possible. This explains so much!
Hi Sharon! Yes, this is sooo common. You are definitely NOT alone. As an Empath there are a lot of helpful things to know. If you’re interested, there is an Empath Support Group on facebook. You can find it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/238086119679269/
There are also some great resources on my site and on my YouTube channel. I’ve learned a lot about Empaths since I wrote this post, and I’ve done my best to share the most important things to know on the site. 🙂
xoxo
Erin-Ashley
I am almost in tears at this point! It is as if the universe has answered me. I am often over run by emotions that are not my own, but I can not disconnect. Until very recently, I believe that I somehow lived vicariously through the emotions of others: meaning I did not allow my own emotions or maybe closed them off? Even now, I have a sense of calm and sincerity from you… For a long time I have felt the need to walk out on all this for lack of understanding. People truly meet me one day and pour their soul upon me the next, I do nothing to encourage it. And I carry with me their pain: their joys for days or even months later. I must remind myself that it is not mine. I am beside myself right now! Their emotion really becomes mine. Recently… From across the world…I know their heart. I think I see their soul..?!? I will look up the link. Most definitely further investigation is in order, and I may not be loosing my sanity after all!
Hey my name is Kal. I was wondering if I’m an empath or if I am just empathetic, or something else. It started when I was in high school. I woke up feeling really sick and I didn’t know why. I got a call from my best friend saying she wanted to kill herself. As the day went on the sick feeling just worst and i was crying. I told people that she tried to kill herself but they didn’t believe me, because they said most people threaten to do it but never do. Three days later I found out she did. The next week I got the sick feeling again but I was thinking of someone else. I felt like I was going to throw up and instantly became sad. After practice I was informed that my coach had a death in her family. Sometimes I would be as happy as can be and if somebody walks in the room, my mood completely changes but it never felt like me. I could be thinking of somebody and they call or text me. Just through texts I can tell how they feel and their tone of voice. I can even think of movies and the exact part I think of would be on tv. please help if you can.
Hi Kal!
You are definitely empathic. I would highly recommend you check out some of my videos on being an Empath so you can understand yourself a little better and so you can learn some techniques that will help you feel more in control of your life and your emotions. The most important thing to remember is that you are not crazy and you are not alone. Many other people are Empaths, as well (myself included.)
Here are some of the videos I recommend for you:
How to Keep Other People’s Energy Out As an Empath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC2fM58MrYM
Is it a Psychic Headache or a Sinus Headache: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RdR36-BLcc
Whose Energy is It: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFk5JuR2rA8
Five Types of Empaths: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JolPEXU0Vic
The Science Behind Being an Empath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCzl1xqE8ak
Don’t hesitate to email me at ea@spiritualmechanic.com or comment here if you have more questions.
Sending love!
Erin-Ashley
I was wondering if its possible to use my energy to heal and how can i do that. i ask because all my life i been able to tell when someone is upset even if they act like life is great. And as u stated the closer we are to someone the stronger the connection….well the past few days i was feeling shortness of breath and just a few min ago i wake up to my dad telling my sister that my mwhaving troubble breathing. my mom has some health issues and i feel that because of my gift i might be able to help and maybe in a way use it to help heal some way…..(hope this makes sense) if possibe how or where can i find out or learn how to tap into that ability
Hi David,
You can absolutely use your energy to heal others. The easiest way that you can start using immediately is to imagine your mom surrounded by white light while feeling emotions of gratitude, love, and happiness. You can also do some research on healing modalities like Reiki (my personal favorite), and other energy healing. Many of my good friends are reiki practitioners and I absolutely love how they balance and heal energy.
Sending love!
Erin-Ashley
I love all of what you said. I’d like to know how you learned all of this so I may also find out. If you have any major sources, please email them to me. I also just have to say that it’s odd for me. I can easily distinguish my feelings from others for the most part. If it’s love or affection, I can confuse it for my own. Otherwise, it’s fine. As for physical sensation, I don’t feel pain, but only feel hunger, tiredness, (un)comfortability, etc. Is there any explanation as to why I only feel some physical sensations?
Hi Alexander,
Most people have emotions or sensations they’re more easily attuned to than others, both positive and negative. Why that is is still a mystery, as far as I know. If you’d like to know more about empaths, I have a few resources I’ve created:
Whose Energy Is It: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFk5JuR2rA8
The Science Behind Being an Empath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCzl1xqE8ak
Is It a Psychic Headache or a Sinus Headache?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RdR36-BLcc
How to Keep Other People’s Energy Out As An Empath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC2fM58MrYM
If you’re looking for scientific resources, check out heartmath.org – they published the original studies I talk about in “The Science of Being an Empath”
Sending love!
Erin-Ashley
I have always described myself as an empath, just never knew there was a title/label for it. I was drawn to horses at a very young age and shared many wonderful experiences with them. I never thought too much about it; I just knew I was a bit different.
When my youngest child was born people were drawn to her and it didn’t matter where we were. They always commented on how blue her eyes were and that she had an old soul. When she was 3 we were quietly walking to the lake when she looked up at me and told me not to be afraid to die because she has been here many times. Then began the strange dreams. Even to this day she hates to sleep alone and bed time can be difficult; she is 10. This morning we were talking on our way to school about people telling her she is too sensitive. She mentioned that it isn’t the words people speak but the emotions they try to hide and their body language that is so strong. Many times she feels sad, angry or just wiped out. I am glad I decided to research this and I am hopeful I can help her grow and get a handle on this. Any advice is welcomed! Thanks! !
Hi Virgie!
Being an Empath is definitely hereditary. Not everyone has other Empaths in their family, but many many people do. I’ve included some resources below to help you understand yourself and your daughter better. Also, my dear friend Eren Martin-Beat has a website and group dedicated to energy sensitive children. She has amazing free resources on it, so I’d encourage you to check it out. https://www.earthangelsnetwork.net/
Regarding your daughter’s trouble with sleeping, does she get anxious and nervous before bed? If so, I’d recommend having her hold a pose: Have her lay down or sit down with her hands behind her head and her feet outstretched in front of her. I call it the executive pose, and it’s one that is often seen on TV shows where executives sit in their chairs with their feet propped up on the desk. As an Empath, her physiology is very sensitive, her body is sensitive, so holding this pose informs the body that she is safe, and her stress and anxiety will decrease. It usually takes about 5 minutes to get the body calm once in the pose. Most of my clients find this pose helps them sleep. You can use it too, if you find yourself anxious. 😉
Empath Videos
Whose Energy Is It: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFk5JuR2rA8
The Science Behind Being an Empath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCzl1xqE8ak
Is It a Psychic Headache or a Sinus Headache?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RdR36-BLcc
How to Keep Other People’s Energy Out As An Empath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC2fM58MrYM
Sending love and light!
Erin-Ashley
Hi Virgie! Both my sensitive and inutitive have an issue with this and I did too as a child. I completely understand your situation. Check us out if you need guidance for your child.
Thank you, Erin for passing my information forward. Your service never goes unnoticed by the Universe.
I have been told that I suffer from compation fatigue. I have always been the kind of person that attracts “needy” people. Whether in line at Walmart or meeting a new coworker, they always tell me their life story and then ask me why they did that why they felt that they could talk to me as if we were not strangers. I do not believe in spirits or psychics. I do believe in God and that there are angels and demons , but not that we can communicate with them nor they with us. I’m a caretaker by profession. It’s a job that my great grandmother, my grandmother and my mother have always done. I just thought it was a natural fit for me. But I’m tired. I’m tired all the time. My kids friend,my clients, friends of friends they all come to me, often not understanding why they feel at ease talking or confiding in me. I don’t understand it myself. I can sit in a restaurant and pick out the people that are in trouble. Abused woman, miss treated children, the sadness that the old man in the corner feels from losing his wife. I’m tired. How do I manage this. I need scientific help not spiritual help. If you can help me. Please.
I have always known things. As a nurse, I used to feel things wrong with my patient before they did, many times I knew what it was. Other nurses used to come to me from time to time and have me look at a patient to help them figure out what was going on with a patient. I remember coming home from a trip and the instant I walked in my house I knew my cat had passed away. I couldn’t feel his energy there anymore. I have a dog now that has good positive energy and I always seem to know when he is sick or sad. I always thought maybe I had the ability to read stress on people. Every since I was young, people always came to me for advice and tell me their problems. Many times I’ve heard I feel like I’ve know you all my life with someone I just met, weird. Always doing volunteer work and helping people as I can. In recent years, people call me about their health and want my opinion about what I think is wrong. I swear people call me before they call their doctors.
Thank you for sharing, Roo! I find so many others with similar stories… though not always regarding health.
Sending love and light,
Erin-Ashley
I really loved your article. I haven’t been able to clear which are my emotions which are the peoples who , surround me. Over thesummer I started helping a lot of people through depression, suicidal and people who cut. I’ve been shockingly able to help them all through their bad time and I always knew what they felt and I think by being able to put myself in their position I was able to help them. I am now really good at feeling what others feel and now require quite less effort to help someone but its all coming at a price ne having mood swings and feeling sad for no reason and remembering what people feel at that time. Am I an empath or not ??? And how do I help myself ????
Hi Hamza,
It sounds like you are an Empath. If you haven’t already, you can go to the main page at http://www.spiritualmechanic.com and get your free chakra clearing meditation. It helps you clear your energy so you don’t keep other people’s energy in your energy field. Also, I would recommend checking out the Inner Steel Technique (https://www.spiritualmechanic.com/inner-steel-download/) – a free download that will help you stay strong emotionally and physically as a sensitive person.
Sending love and light,
Erin-Ashley
Hi, Interesting read. Thank you for posting. How common is this? So curious. All my life, I have felt other peoples insides, their intentions. I found it very isolating because others couldn’t tell. Those that are dead inside, react, really react to me. Out of 100 people, let’s say, how many are empaths?
Hi Randi,
I would say it’s between 5 – 10% of the population. Some people estimate as much as 20%, but I haven’t seen that in my own work. Empaths tend to be quiet, so it’s not always obvious who the other empaths are.
In love and light,
Erin-Ashley
I hate it. It hurts. I want it to stop. How do I make it stop?
J, I’m so sorry it’s causing you pain. It’s literally how your body is wired, so you can’t make it stop. You can work with it so it’s no longer painful the majority of the time. Shoot me an email at ea [at] spiritualmechanic [dot] com and I’ll send an ebook your way that will assist you with getting it under control.
I have had a hard time my whole life with being an empath! Kids when i was in school tortured me till i had to move, even then it still followed me. I couldnt understand why they would do that. I didnt awake to the fact that i was empath till i was 28, the awake was scary like having no control of your emotions. Picking up peoples pain was also scary, i could pick my moms pain up for any distance, since then i have learned to balance things a little bit better. I have someone in my family that i cant spend to much time with cause they zap the life out of me. I shield myself and try grounding but this person has a very strong hold over me. I love them but when i go around him i become angry and very stressed. Now after years of stress i turned to numbing myself and that got me in trouble! Now im on the road to recovery, but i still have to spend good deal of time by myself. For anyone that thinks this is not real, i assure you that it is very real. If you dont learn to balance theses emotions you can end up in places and situations that you would never thought you would be in. I also learned that being a people pleaser will get you a lot of pain and people will use you till you are all used up! Im not saying dont help people but watch who you are helping! I still to this day have people that expect me to do things for them cause i let them! I didnt see myself doing these things cause all i wanted to do is help. Everyone that is empath should read ,learn as much as you can about being empath and learn to look inside. I meditate two times a day and it realy makes a difference! I didnt have all the info like we have now on the net. All i can tell is that things get better and this is a gift! Just got know how to use it!
I have done the meditation 3 time now and i would say it works amazing! Knowing how the chakra’s work i can control how much energy i put out. Now its much easier to go out in public and around family! The poses help when you are on the go and need something fast. I use them in places that i can’t handle the stress. Anyone else needing focus and balance to their emotions should try these!
I’m glad they’re helpful!
Hi, so I feel like I’m an empath like I can physically manifest the emotion of people that I am around, but I feel like I’ve shut if off or haven’t nurtured this gift because I felt it made me prejudge someones intentions whenever I met someone. I’ve realized that I normally connect with others like me which are few. Is there anyway I could nurture my gift again without the prejudgement.
Nine years ago, in the morning on my way to work, a man decided to throw himself off the 4th story of the escalator area I had to go up to get to street level. I remember stepping on the first escalator step and hearing a unidentifiable thump behind me. When I turned around to see what made the sound, I saw a middle-aged man lying on the marble floor… I’m sure it took only a fraction of a second but the moment and all the details are still vivid in my mind today. I said to myself : “That wasn’t there a second ago…”, then my brain froze, I didn’t understand what I was seeing and after what felt like an eternity I finally realized and I started running up the escalators, screaming for the upstairs security guards to call an ambulance. That’s when it hit me : I felt his despair, pain, and the deepest sadness I had ever felt in my life. To this day when something brings it back to my mind (I’ve tried to forget but it still haunts me) I’m right back on that escalator, feeling what I interpreted as his feelings. I had always been ultra-sensitive to others’ moods and still am to this day. Ever since that day I’ve had extreme difficulty being around people and I completely isolated myself for 5-6 years. I can’t leave my home, I can’t speak on the telephone; This so-called empathy “gift” has been a curse to me and the people close to me. I tried to get help, to no avail. It’s gotten to the point that I don’t live anymore, I just exist and wait for death because I’m too scared to end it all.
Rita, I’m so sorry to hear about your troubles with empathy. It sounds like you may have PTSD as well, and I’d encourage you to reach out to a trained PTSD professional to help you with that. Here’s a link to a PDF that can help with some of the anxiety that you are experiencing. https://www.spiritualmechanic.com/sensitive-superpower-success/
Sending love,
Erin-Ashley
Erin,
Im so confused about what has been happening to me. I am 42 years old and believe i am an empath. I took one of those wierd little “quizzes” about it and it said i was a “heal the world” empath. Since i was a small child i was always very solitary. I found comfort in nature. I spent hours just sitting in my grandmothers garden listening to the wind and feeling the leaves of the cornstalks brush my face. I was facinated by the beauty of the world after a thunderstorm. When people came around i often hid myself away because of the feelings that i would get just out of the blue. As a teenager my mother would call me a drama queen when i would become upset. In school i was a very good student. When it came to learning i could block all of the other stuff out. And i never studied for any tests. As i became an adult it seemed like i felt so much at times when there was really no reason. It became really bad when i had a family. I was feeling things from all directions. But i never knew what being an empath was. I didnt begin to make the correlation until my son came home one day from school. Everything was fine until he walked into the house. The energy in the house completely changed. I felt angry and hurt. I felt confused and betrayed. I went to his room and he told me that he had seen his girlfriend kiss another boy. And his sobbing became my sobbing. From then on i could somewhat differentiate my feelings from other peoples. I understand when someone says they dont want people to think that they are crazy if they tell someone. Being around so many people throughout my lifetime, doctors have me diagnosed with severe depression, social phobia, anxiety. So now on top of trying to keep control of all my emotions, i have to live with being labeled mentally ill. Are alot of empaths labeled in this way? My children (who are all grown now) would tell their friends, “i dont know how, but my mom always knows when theres something wrong”. But i think that if they were told it was a gift they would not want anything to do with it. We were raised christian and things like that are satanic. How do i shield myself to keep from getting ill from all of the negativity?
I don’t know if I am an empath or if I am dealing with an undiagnosed mental illness. I definitely can receive other peoples feelings whether it be joy or sadness, and I didn’t have to learn that it came naturally to me. I cannot hurt animals or even insects, although I do eat meat I get really bad stomach aches. My family eats the same food but they don’t get them. My left knee has been hurting my entire life but I don’t have arthitis or joint damage. I have back pain I am guessing that is from being over weight though.I have been dealing with depression for a long time. Sometimes I would get out of it for a bit and see the good in the world although it would not last long. I have an addictive personality except for substances, for instance until recently I was stuck in games trying to escape reality. I am male and most of my life I was trying to emulate others to find my happiness, not really thinking about myself. I would let others tell me what would make me happy. I have had a hard time expressing my feelings to others, not wanting to burden them yet letting others lay their burdens on me. I am always there to listen, and have been told I am a good listener. I enjoy communication with people most of the time, I will walk with the homeless and talk with them. One thing I don’t know if you others feel this but when I when I was singing gospels as a child I would not get overly sensitive, however, when I heard people singing during remembrance day I would feel a heavy burden, even though none of my close family had to fight in the wars. Also as a child I had a hard time defending myself, not that I wasn’t strong physically. For instance I have only been 3 fights my entire life. The first time I fought this kid in grade 6, it was the last few days of the year and I had enough of his bullying. I tried to physically hurt him, but it was like there was something holding my arms back lessening the damage, I also hit him in areas that would not hurt as much. The second time I slipped on some ice and he punched me in the scalp but I didn’t care I wasn’t hurt, and he didn’t continue the fight. The third time my less enlightened friend was driving me my brother, and 2 others to the bar. He started going crazy and driving over 80km in the city and I told him to pull over and I put him down, I didn’t punch him just made sure he wouldn’t hurt anyone. Also at times if my family and certain friends are having trouble with words I can get the word or idea out. I also seem to be able to understand things without really having to research them.
Hi Jordan,
It sound like it would be helpful for you if you used a technique that I developed for sensitives. Regardless of whether you’re an Empath or not, you definitely ARE sensitive, so it will likely help. You can check it out here: https://www.spiritualmechanic.com/sensitive-soul-ution-challenge/
It’s a PDF download and will show you an easy way to work with those emotions and feelings.
Sending love,
EA
PS – I also used to understand things without having to research them.
I don’t want anyone to know my name for personal reasons. I want to know what is going on with me. random people i don’t know well tell me about their problems. mainly women. they say im just easy to talk to. i hate crowds cause of the feel of them and spend alot of time inside or in nature cause of the feelings the give me. i close myself off from emotion because it shifts too much. when i open back up i feel strange and like there are hundreds of emotions going through me at that moment. i do not however feel anything for animals in pain unless i am emotionally close to the animal i think that this is because death has been a part of my life from the start of it. i understand death like nobody else. i have about half in common with an empath and the rest with a psychopath. people often tell me i have an infectious personality . im confused and i just want some answers
If you want to understand yourself better, I’d recommend getting the free PDF about being a sensitive here: https://www.spiritualmechanic.com/sensitive-soul-ution-challenge/, there are physiological things that are different for you and there is an easy way to deal with it. Also, check out some of the other videos I have.
Best of luck
EA
i don’t know if this is normal for people like me but i have an extremely addictive/obsessive personality. I seem to take on and magnify particular emotions. Anger, hate, sadness, and sometimes although rarely happiness. this is part of the reason i close myself off. the thoughts get to me. most of the time just bringing pain to people but sometimes homicidal. i have a good handle on it but i am addicted to the adrenalin that comes with it. any advice?
That’s normal, but seriously, do what I suggested before. Get the ebook. It’s free. It will explain a LOT more in a lot better detail than I can here in a comment box. That’s why I wrote it and spent 6 months researching to make sure it would help. For you and people like you. You’re “stuck” in those emotions because you’re used to them. You can get that same adrenalin rush from excitement instead of anger. Check it out. Practice it.
Thank you for your help. i really needed it. i have been having this get worse and worse since i was 8. thank you again for all your help
You’re welcome.
Hi Erin. After a lifetime of having feelings I couldn’t explain, they became more frequent, stronger and overwhelmingly obvious to me within the past year. I started googling stuff and I found out there’s a name for it — Empath. So I asked my mom if she experienced it and her answer was, “Of course.” I was still questioning if I’m actually an empath because I don’t fit all the traits but in reading all these comments, I now have no doubt. My question is this . . . When I’m with my mom, a lot of times I become sullen and negative even though I may not have been that way the moment before I was with her. She is definitely not that way. She is always so loving and positive. Now that I’m writing this, my dad is very often times sullen and negative but he is not always around. I can’t figure this out. Any ideas?
Can an empath have physical symptoms to the point of requiring surgical intervention. I had to have part of my intestine removed for what doctors thought was Crohn’s disease but after 2 psychological evaluation’s and some counselling it’s believed the problem is linked to extreme level of emotions. I currently take medication twice a day and have to keep my mind empty to control the symptoms. My IQ is above average and during testing it was noted that I have knowledge of things I have no educational background in
Hi, i have been asking myself the same thing as i have had 2 operations on intestine and when i meditate and look back over the years it seems to be a load of buried emotions and deep fears that tend to dip into my mind some my own or others which trigger the feelings connect to them._.Knowing your an empath should be a red flag in terms of._its agreat gift to have that spiritual connection yet, it will be a journey of development so we dont become burdened by all the vibes around us mainly people we bond or have bonded with. If we are very sensitive to others emotions then our very own feelings will affect us even more without us finding some root grounding. Or for some of us empaths we suffer physicaly with gastro,intestinal problems._
Being a strong empath is a curse..plain and simple. Having the feelings of others flow into you to such a degree that your own feelings and thoughts fade until you remove yourself from a situation is a crappy way to live. You also tend to avoid others as much as possible. Relationships are impossible……all it takes is feeling the emotions of someone you love…loving another and you’ll never want to get close again. Alcohol and drugs numb it to an extent, but it fades so quickly it’s not worth it.
Being an empath does NOT have to be a curse. I work with very strong empaths all the time and train them on how to feel sensitive and strong without cutting themselves off from the world or loved ones. I’m sorry you’re struggling with this. You can find my two best resources on how to feel comfortable as an empath here (both are free):
How to be sensitive and strong in 10 minutes a day: https://www.spiritualmechanic.com/sensitive-soul-ution-challenge/
Leaky Chakra Cure: https://www.spiritualmechanic.com/leaky-chakra-cure/
Sending love,
Rev. Kerti
Fascinating
I’ve always as a child and an adult felt odd. Out of place. I feel emotions I don’t wanna feel at just about any given moment. I’ve somehow managed to ignore it and pretend its not there. When my mom died some years ago I spent months feeling regret, dispair great sadness but I always knew it wasn’t my emotions. I could walk into a room happy and then feel this heavy sad emotion out no where but I wasn’t sad a moment ago. If someone is upset I can feel it before I see their face to confirm it. I can tell if trouble about to start or if their is fight going on nearby without hearing and seeing anything. It just hits me that something is up. Dreams are vivid and emotions are intense. I can’t b around sad people angry people or confused…it becomes my emotions also. I hate it.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one!! It’s such a relief to know that everyone in the universe is being spoken to and some can just sense and connect to the information more clearly.
But, as of late, I have finally recognized my psychic powers as an empath. I also don’t know if I’m only empath or multiple things rolled into one. When I’m amongst people, I sense their emotions almost immediately especially if they’re having strong emotions other than calmness (anxiety, anger, sadness etc) and I take on their emotions just as fast as I feel them. I also can feel my own emotion and I can feel myself sending out the positive vibrations I want others to receive from me and I also feel if their receiving what I’m giving out or if they’re denying them. If someone is hurting emotionally, I sense it and try to send “love” vibes out as soon as possible, and if they are in psychical pain, my body starts to feel what they are feeling and almost becomes overwhelming. So, all of this sounds like an emphatic person and I fully well accept it, but there is also other things I sense that i don’t feel is part of being and empath. When I meet someone, I can tell if they’ve been through trauma or hardships and I can almost completely guess what happened to them if I continue to conversate with them. I also can feel their “angels” of loved ones who watch over and protect them. I also can feel if there are any negative spirits who are clinging onto people. I haven’t been getting many experiences of these types of occurrences, but they’ve been happening a lot more as of late and even with my own Angels I’m connecting with. I just don’t know what I am but I know I am very unique especially in the world of psychics and I’m only wanting to learn more and find more and create more because it’s helping me more than I ever could imagine. I know this is a lot but I’m completely serious, I just want help…
Hi I’m kara
I don’t really belive in this stuff. I’m from rural kentucky. So since I was little I have been able to tell when people lye to me. As a general rule I’m a happy optimistic girl and I love the water and natural I’m uncomfortable not being around them. When I was about to turn 15 I started feeling intense emotions such as rage anger sadness anxiety which is unusual for me. And now it seems like I can feel what people feel and subconsciously act upon that it’s very strange. since I started dating my bf I can pinpoint where he is hurting without even talking to him or being in the same place as him if he isn’t sleeping than I can’t sleep either I don’t know about yall but it pretty much drives me crazy. He was the one who suggested that I might have something like this wronge with me. Since I freaked out his family by accidentally telling them I could feel an old man there and being able to practically smell him when there wasn’t one. But one had lived there before and died. I’m open to comments and help.
My email is
Missykgin@gmail.com
Hi,
I always thought of empaths as s fictional thing, I believe in a lot of things as fictions or myth. But I also always recognized that for there to be so much knowledge of it and such a developed idea of it and so many claimed instances then it must be at the very least based off of something real.
I have always had a sort of social anxiety, and a lot of the times I feel emotions with no reason of my own to feel them. For a log time I just thought that I had things like depression and anxiety, but now it’s clearer that a lot of it could have been coming from the people around me.
I also can remember times when I was little and would feel a presence with me when there wasn’t, most people just call it an imaginary friend, and at the time that was what I believed. But looking back on it now I can remember it almost as a person, who looked like an older version of me but with a thinner body and a different face shape. I can remember feeling emotions tied to this “imaginary” person, and in recent years I learned my parents would have had another daughter just a couple years before me, what I experienced now makes me wonder if it is possible for an empath or some other type of spiritual connection to feel emotions from those around them so strongly the connection somehow takes them beyond to what could have been. Or like the emotional connection with my parents was so strong I could sense that missing person through them? I was just wondering if you had heard of something like that?
Another experience I had was when my great aunt died, I was too young to really understand why death was a sad thing or what it was, but more than a year later when everyone had already stopped talking about it and moved on i felt a strange feeling I had never felt before and was too young to label it. I now recognize it as a sadness and emptiness so deep it was boarderline depression. On Christmas Day when I was 9 years old I felt the need to hide from my cousins instead of playing and I suddenly missed my great aunt so much that I felt that deep sadness and need to isolate. I cried to my mom about it, not understanding it at all, and she started crying too and said that since it was the first Christmas the family would spend together without her she was planning to bring back an old Christmas tradition my great aunt started when she was younger. Later that night my mom told some stories about how my great aunt used to give all the kids cookies and m&m’s all the time and told us all about how she had this tradition of giving everyone in the family a Christmas ornament that represented their personality in some way, then she gave everyone ornaments and told us how they represented us. This great aunt who I should have been too young to remember much about was suddenly everywhere in my life after she died, this same year I started eating lobster. I couldn’t figure out why I decided to try t in the first place because I was one of those kids who used to eat literally only pasta and peanut butter sandwiches, and then out of nowhere I had this obsession with eating lobster and it became my favorite food. At the time I hadn’t connected the lobster to any of this, but by now ive heard my family tell me so many times that I eat lobster the exact same way my great aunt used to, they tell me she would never leave even a bit of meat in the legs of it and neither do I. It’s kind of funny, and it doesn’t seem to make much send but I feel like the isolation and sadness I felt could have been coming from my mom who felt it then because it was the first Christmas without my great aunt and she was thinking about the old tradition, which could have explained the emotions if I was some kind of empath I guess, but then feeling like I have some kind of connection to my great aunt and feeling like I knew her when I didn’t really seems strange and so does the sudden changes in food preferences. Is it possible I could have been channeling some kind of emotion from my great aunt? Or that the emotions of missing her and wanting her that my family felt were so strong I kind of just adapted to being what they needed at the time?
Hello, thanks for this. I wanted to ask if anyone knows how i cAN be sure if I am an empath?
been doing this after my first real relationship. first thinking to know someone. i experienced a totally diffrent person. that pillow talked about me. at that point closed down to people almost isolation felt like i lost trust in people. Figured out my true feeling what i felt in many diffrent situation. how they affected me. my conscience to the coming consequences after. when i decided to lose my pride that not everyone was like that only somepeople hide it. i started listening to everyone. paying attention to them as the characteristics they presented to me. i didnt want fake people in my life. by doing this i started feeling angry some mornings not knowing why,but father in his room in an arguement. at this time im thinking its me and for years past that was thinking this from all people i talked to. my mind frame is why be mad all the time,and why be a ass to others,but yet i was feeling these with people. not to just a few months ago a x of mine seen me looking deep inside,and she ask me are you a empath. im like what are you talking about. she could tell i triggered it cause the look i gave her was the same feeling she was going through. the troubling im having is i have some friends that live in lies. and when they tell these lies to be something they are not. i excuse my name outta the story. well now i pick up buddys angry. and how the people around him are feeling. i mean i almost pull on a call. Unless like times before i told them i can do this they laugh and be like how do i feel now. and try to throw it off. i tell them the exact opposite of what i trully am feel just so they dont continue to joke hurtfully. then thats when you get there actually feeling. totally opposite of what they are, and they are confused. i know vibration thoughts carry. we dont see it,but its there. i dont know how not to pull theres. because when i see them and i happens to be sad feelings i latch it not because i wanna feel pain but part of me is wanting it to leave them so i can rid the thought. i could probably write a book on this in my life. i cant toss goods empath to people. i myself believe you can, but the others you direct to have to be on a conscience lvl and not letting them self numb to the prior feeling of saddness. by numbing i mean. guy is sad that sad ends up creating hate. i dont know what im doing im loyal to a fault. i do mess up in life as does any other human. only my x has believed what i could do and can still do. everyone else i feel like im a joke to them. its hard to try to help another hurting when they live with the. dont tell me how i feel line. when no! i know the feeling there is just a diffrent story behind yours then mine. just bored thought id share my story’s.
I have spent much of my life feeling how others do. I’m only 17 so this is difficult for me. I have difficulties understanding which feelings are actually mine and have been trying to figure out how to tell the difference between the two. Recently family members I didn’t know very well passed away. Yet at the funerals I was overwhelmed with pain and grief. When a friend of mine cries I don’t cry because I see tears falling down there faces. I cry because I can actually feel the pain as if it was mine to bare. I’ve never been in these situations yet I feel like I have. This can happen with anyone. No matter how well I know them. I can walk past someone in the hallway and feel pai for a brief moment then it disappear. Can you help me understand what this actually means? I’m trying to understand so that maybe one day I can control it.
You may be interested to know that geneticists have discovered a gene that indicates that people who have it are more prone to empathy and being good listeners. I, too, experience unusual feelings or insights. I have no control over it except to choose to let it go and think on other things. I had a friend with whom I could stop and think of him and within 5-30 minutes he would call. We never saw each other for many years and seldom talked. It was strange. This has happened with my sister also. Sometimes the phone would not even ring because I had started topick up the phone to dial and she would be on the line. I just always thought it was coincidental until it happened consistently. More seldom I’ve dreamed of death and of people who were already passed. The dream was so heavy that I thought it was about my own death. Three months later my father passed away and while standing at his graveside in a family cemetery, I saw the graves of the people in my dream. I can’t prove any of this. Many people think I’m obtuse when I try to relate my experiences. Earlier in my life I thought that my ability to “read” people was just good observational skills, but as I’ve aged I’ve become more comfortable with it. People are not comfortable if they suspect I’ve become aware of their actions or thoughts. It’s often best to just stay quiet.
I’m overwhelmed. I have lost a son to cancer, a daughter to cystic fibrosis, and my husband to dementia. We have one surviving son. Here is my question? I feel everything my son feels for the losses. And my granddaughters who lost their mother. I’m taking all of this on to try to make. It right for them. To help them move forward. I feel their bad days. I’m trying with all my being to help them heal. This exhaust me. I check in daily. I cry if they have issues with friends. I’m trying to fix everything. Its like I’m living through each of them. I feel what they are experiencing. Can you please help me to understand all of this. Thankyou
Hi Sharon, I’m so sorry to hear of your troubles and those of your family. I’d highly recommend checking out my Empaths 101 resource (link: https://www.spiritualmechanic.com/empath/ ) I designed it to help people like you manage their sensitive nature without losing connection with their loved ones.
Hi
Article is great, I love that you have added science to it, makes it easier to explain to all the atheists and non believers of the world. I’ve only recently found this out about myself and have to say I’m really struggling with it now I’m consciously aware. As not only am I an empath I also have really good/photographic memory, I’m also very intuitive, agaub, only found this out recently so I’m sure you can understand why I’m struggling. Any suggeatiins of books, videos and advice wiuld be much appreciated x
Hi
Ive wanted to talk to someone about this for so long.thanx for making it possible…ive got so much time on my hands im on youtube most of the day just watching vedeos.so i came across signs that you may be a witch,gosh freaky but i was all the signs.signs that your an empath,out of the 60 ive got 59…so im so unsure.can you help me figure this out please…i feel others pain,if they cry i cry,even on tv weird but i feel actors emotions.all animals are very freakishly drawn to me.im able to tame every wild animal and always take animals in.at least i live on a farm.i’ve healed animals that has been run over almost took their last breath.i dont believe in thousands of rands medicine so i just heal them.comfort them,feed them and they just recover.i love nature more than i love being around alot of people.i tend to attract sad and negative people that always tell me their secrets that i dint ask for and that would bother me for so long.i want to help every single person and i do even when it gets me financially down.ill always put someone elses needs before my own.my friends tell me alot of times to stop trying to save everyone.if this is too long ill understand but since i had all these questions strange things are happening that i never expected..thanks for this…..
Yeah I have had that for soo long , only now just trying to understand it all. Very overwhelming picking up on emotions, feelings etc and not knowing why they were manifesting in me . People all too wiling to dump their problems on me even people I have only just met . I find myself exhausted a lot of the time , sleep doesnt stop the tiredness . My poetic outlets seem to capture the feel of the subject (often the comment I get) . Anxiety that rears its head for no apparant reason its been very confusing for most of my life .Im only now coming to understand that I dont seek this , it is just me . My “gut feel” seems to be really on point . I love with an intesity that some cant handle yet I refuse to hate , which I always thought would come with strong love . I pick up when people arent feeling well and they seem surprised when I point it out as they thought they were hiding it well , yet I try to hide my (others) feelings from people and put on the brave or humerous or happy front even though I am internally in turmoil. And at times I just need to escape to my fortress and block out the world to do some healing , unfortunately not often enough which usually ends in a massive crash on my part , getting better at it 🙂
I am empath and my head feels this tinkling on the right side of my head .?
That’s usually due to energy movement in the third eye chakra – it usually means it’s opening. Sometimes it can mean something more mundane – like you pulled a muscle or have nerve damage, but if it’s only when you’re working with your energy, it’s likely the third eye.
It makes so much sense to me that this ability is related to the human electromagnetic field. I experience other people’s physical sensations and emotions pretty regularly (this use to confuse the hell out of me and make me think I was crazy), and I also interfere with electronic devices (mobile phones, computers, video games, radios, and such). I can cause these devices to temporarily stop working and stop receiving signal, and I frequently make video games glitch out and do very strange things that friends have never seen before. I also have the frequent experience of street lights turning off as I drive under them. I always assumed this was related to faulty wiring, but perhaps not.
This electrical interference has been getting stronger recently and it has puzzled me, but I understand now. Thank you for this info. I’m going to keep reading your site.
I know without a doubt I am an empath! I think it may go well beyond that. Sometimes it scares me how much I know before it happens. My husband drives a truck for a living he will call and ask me what time I think he will be home, without hesitating I give him a time. Sometimes he says WOW, your only 3-12 min off on average, and sometimes he will say your way off I will be there a few hours before that, and every time he encounters road work or an accident and he gets home within minutes of the time I gave him, he quit asking me because he said when I tell him he will loose time he always does. If he is talking to someone on the phone and says my name I call him within seconds to a min or 2. I know when something is going to happen around me or to someone I know. I can feel when there is someone or something wanting my attention and I regularly have to say firmly out loud I can not help you I do not know how to help you go find someone else, it usually works within an hour or so. The older I get the stronger it gets and I have started having dreams I feel like are not mine. I can no longer sleep without the tv on because when close my eyes and it’s silent I see to many people I know and don’t know, and it becomes overwhelming. How do i use my abilities to help people or just shut them off so they quit getting stronger?
I have what feels like a crazy question… I am an empath I believe but I know my daughter is a very strong empath she is 11. We just had a court rule her narcissistic and abusive dad temporary custody because they felt I was alienating her even though he has abuse charges and she expressed fear and the fact she was not ok with it. At any rate I know she is going through so much. However I keep hearing her very clear calling mommy in two different tones, her 4 year old brother is with her as well. It is not constant is sporadic but I feel an urge to go towards her voice to help. The crazy thing is I keep feeling her presence then hear her voice only in one corner of the home which just so happens to be directly across to my ex’s mother in laws home 5 houses down. I’ve even walked outside to listen and walked that way to see if she was playing in the yard but it instantly stops…. is she trying to communicate, is this possible for her to project her feelings in this way? Or am I simply just feeling for her?
I would describe myself as empath. What I feel from other people feels real enough and can sometimes be very powerful. What I’ve always wondered though is how accurate am I? Am I so off the mark that I am basically living in a fantasy land of false perception or am I bang-on most of the time? Likely somewhere in the middle I suppose. I also suppose it’s very subjective and impossible to measure. I’ve scouted the nets and can’t find any good info on ‘how accurate are empaths’. If anyone knows of any info, let me know. I have no idea how old this forum/chat is. Cheers. imark69@hotmail.com