Are you an Empath?

        There is so much confusion about what it means to be an empath.

Depending on how someone feels about it, it can run the gamut of being a painful life sentence to being the most incredible gift they have. 

I know from personal experience that when you aren't aware of how to take care of your energy as an empath, it can be hard to understand why you get so run down, don't enjoy being around certain people or places & how confusing it can be to understand your own emotions. 

So, if you are curious about whether you are an empath or not.... let's break it down & get rid of any confusion you may have!

Empaths are people who are more sensitive to the energies around them.

 This means you may feel what other people are feeling, notice if the energy of a place is "good" or "bad," feel overwhelmed or over stimulated in certain places or around certain people because of the energy they give off, suddenly know something or feel  something in your body that you didn't know before & you may even sense physical pain or illness in people. 

Empaths are energetically open to the energies around them and part of who we are naturally tunes us in to those energies so we can gather information and understand our world in deeper ways. 

AN EMPOWERED EMPATH IS...

When an Empath is in a healthy place & managing their boundaries and energies in a good way, they are able to gather information and make decisions based on not only what they "know" but what they feel as well. This is such an incredible gift because you ultimately get to have the intuitive guidance in any given moment. 

They are also able to connect with others in really deep and meaningful ways. If you've ever felt like you can't do meaningless talk... this is why! You energetically are not afraid to go deep with people and talk about their dreams and their feelings. It feels so authentic to you and you naturally just look for it!

Another gift of feeling Empowered as an Empath is that you learn how to create these incredibly solid boundaries that honor and respect you and your energy. This means you naturally invite in situations & relationships, that actually feel good and serve you. It also means you are able to know yourself in such a loving way, that you recognize what your Mind, Body & Spirit needs & you are able to give that to yourself. 

A DISEMPOWERED EMPATH IS...

So this is actually what most people think of when they think of empaths.... it's also where so many of us start out (myself included!) This is where you find yourself unaware you are an empath and not taking care of your energy properly, where you have unhealed trauma (me!) & even those empaths who have shut down their empathic abilities because of pain, fear, overwhelm... you name it.

There are many empaths out there who are so afraid of being overwhelmed &  triggered or simply have no tools for understanding how to take care of themselves and their own sensitivities .

There are also  those that shut it down and sometimes flat out refuse empaths even exist (there's a whole congregation of these people on Instagram... I know because I've witnessed them in action!)

When you are disempowered, it's not necessarily from anything you've done. It can be from things you've experience, wounds that are unhealed, beliefs you were taught, not knowing you are an empath to begin with, feeling like you are too sensitive, not understanding the power of boundaries, fear of owning this part of yourself & the most common one... never having been shown how to make yourself a priority & take care of yourself in a healthy way. 

The reason I share this is because we usually all have a mix of these things and most of us were not even aware we were empaths until we became older, so it requires a lot of learning & unlearning to be able to take the best care of ourselves possible. 

If you are in this place of just figuring it out or ready to feel more empowered as an empath and less at the whims of the energy around you, let me give you some steps to start with.

MY FAVORITE TOOLS FOR EMPOWERING EMPATHS

The good news is, even if you have felt overwhelmed or run around a bit by these abilities, every empath is capable of moving into a more empowered place within themselves.

#1 Start Listening to your Body

Your body is one of the first places you will notice if something is off. Stomach feeling nervous, got a sudden headache or some random anxiety pop up that you can't explain? These are signals that your body is trying to send you that something is needing your attention. 

A lot of empaths will absorb energies and emotions through their stomach. You will notice because you suddenly will have an upset stomach,  have a "gut feeling," or maybe you have chronic digestive issues from taking on other people's emotions for so long. 

So pay attention to how you feel in your body! When you listen, it can tell you when to avoid going somewhere because you need rest, help you figure out what emotions are yours versus someone else & how you physically feel or pick up on energy.

Once you start to listen, take action on what it's telling you. It will always lead you towards taking care of yourself & strengthening your own energy.

#2 Make Alone Time a Priority

Empaths aren't anti-social like the urban myth would have you believe. You just simply need time alone to get back into your own energy. When you spend time socializing or around others, your energy can start to feel chaotic or run down. 

Time alone allows you the chance to let go of the energies you have picked up and come back into your own energy. You will feel less run down, anxious & stressed. 

#3  Do more of what feels GOOD & Let go of what doesn't 

 Your energy is strongest when you start to let go of the people, places, ideas, beliefs & wounds that make you feel crappy. If something is too much work, leaves you feeling taken advantage of or causes you to neglect what you really want or need... let it go. It's only depleting you energetically. And when you are depleted energetically, everything has potential to feel overwhelming. 

#4 Heal what needs healed

This is such a biggie and really the basis of my work. Empaths are such beautiful souls and have the potential to be so powerfully sensitive but if you have experiences in your life that have been stressful or traumatic. Times where you felt unseen, unloved or unheard. You could find it hard to be so emotionally and energetically open to the world around you. 

At times it can feel like all you can manage is yourself and the world feels harsh or overwhelming. Places in us that need healed can make us feel this way. We can spend so much time trying to make sure these unhealed places don't cause us pain, that we don't have any energy left for others and the world around us. 

When you heal as an empath, you are healing your emotional body. Think of it as a container that over time may have some holes or cracks in it. When you heal, you close those holes & are able to more powerfully contain your own energy & instead of taking on the energy around you, it becomes something you sense but don't take on. 

All in all, being an empath is a gift to the world. The world doesn't need more emotionally shut down people. It needs souls who are empowered in their emotions & able to meet others from this place of empowerment. Like the saying says "healed people, heal people" and that's what the world needs more of. 

If you feel called to have support in your journey of being an empath or healing, you can check out the options to work 1:1 HERE.

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