What is Empathy?
Empathy is the ability to temporarily step out of your experience and step
into another person’s experience, and perceive it as they do, whether it’s an
emotional, mental, physical, intellectual or spiritual experience.
Empathy is a gift most people have, to varying degrees. But if you
have the gift of empathy, you NEED to know how to turn it on and off.
Ideally, you want to be able to use it at will and then turn it off when
necessary. Some people with empathy naturally know how to do that.
Others don’t.
What’s an Empath?
In short, an empath is someone who feels what other people are
feeling. This doesn’t mean you can get an idea for how other people feel
just some of the time. Being an empath means you were born with
the ability to enter someone else’s aura and explore another person’s feelings
and experience of life, on an intimate level. Much of the time this is done
unconsciously. On the upside, you know what it feels like to be another person,
so you’re often great at relating to others. Empathy is also a psychic
gift and you can use it to read other people.
Signs That You’re An Empath
1. Knowing: 
Empaths just
know stuff, without being told. It’s a knowing that goes way beyond intuition
or gut feelings, even though that is how many would describe the knowing. The
more attuned they are the stronger this gift becomes.
2. Being in public places can
be overwhelming: 
Places like shopping malls, supermarkets or
stadiums, where there are lots of people around, can fill the Empath with
turbulently vexed emotions that are coming from others.
3. Feeling others emotions and
taking them on as your own: 
This is a huge one for Empaths.
To some, they will feel emotions off those near by and with others
they will feel emotions from those a vast distance away, or both. The more
adept Empath will know if someone is having bad thoughts about them,
even from a great distance.
4. Watching violence, cruelty or
tragedy on the TV is unbearable:
The more attuned
an Empath becomes the worse it is and may make it so they eventually
have to stop watching TV and reading newspapers altogether.
5. You know when someone is not
being honest: 
If a friend or a loved one is telling you lies you
know it (although many Empaths try not to focus on this because
knowing a loved one is lying can be painful). Or if someone is saying
one thing but feeling/thinking another, you know.
6. Picking up physical symptoms
off another:
An Empath will almost always develop the
ailments off another (colds, eye infections, body aches and pains), especially
those who they’re closest to, somewhat like sympathy pains.
7. Digestive disorders and lower
back problems:
The solar plexus chakra is based in the
centre of the abdomen and it’s known as the seat of emotions. This is where
Empaths feel the incoming emotion of another, which can weaken the area
and eventually lead to anything from stomach ulcers to IBS (too many
other conditions to list here). Lower back problems can develop from being
ungrounded (amongst other things) and one, who has no knowledge of them
being an Empath, will almost always be ungrounded.
8. Always looking out for the
underdog:
Anyone whose suffering, in emotional pain or being
bullied draws an Empath’s attention and compassion.
9. Others will want to offload
their problems on you, even strangers:
An Empath can become
a dumping ground for everyone else’s issues and problems, which, if they’re not
careful can end up as their own.
10. Constant fatigue:
Empaths often
get drained of energy, either from energy vampires or just taking on too much
from others, which even sleep will not cure. Many get diagnosed with ME.
11. Addictive personality:
Alcohol,
drugs, sex, are to name but a few addictions Empaths turn to, to block out
the emotions of others. It can be a form of self
protection in order to hide from someone or something (external
emotions).
12. Drawn to healing, holistic therapies and all things
metaphysical:
Although many Empaths would love to heal
others, they can end up turning away from healing (even though they have a
natural ability for it), after they’ve studied and qualified, because they take
on too much from the one they are trying to heal. Especially if they are
unaware of their empathy. Anything of a supernatural nature is of interest to
Empaths and they don’t surprise or get shocked easily. Even at the
revelation of what many others would consider unthinkable, for
example, Empaths would have known the world was round when others
believed it was flat.
13. Creative:
From singing,
dancing, acting, drawing or writing an Empath will have a strong
creative streak and a vivid imagination.
14. Love of nature and animals:
Being
outdoors in nature is a must for Empaths and pets are an essential
part of their life.
15. Need for solitude:
An Empath will
go stir-crazy if they don’t get quiet time. This is even obvious in
empathic children.
16. Gets bored or distracted easily if not
stimulated:
Work, school and home life has to be kept
interesting for an Empath or they switch off from it and end up
daydreaming or doodling.
17. Finds it impossible to do things they don’t
enjoy:
As above. Feels like they are living a lie by doing so. To
force an Empath to do something they dislike through guilt or
labelling them as idle will only serve in making them unhappy. It’s for this
reason many Empaths get labelled as being lazy.
18. Strives for the truth:
This
becomes more prevalent when an Empath discovers his/her gifts and
birthright. Anything untruthful feels plain wrong.
19. Always looking for the answers and
knowledge:
To have unanswered questions can
be frustrating for an Empath and they
will endeavour to find an explanation. If they have a knowing about
something they will look for confirmation. The downside to this is an
information overload.
20. Likes adventure, freedom and travel:
Empaths are
free spirits.
21. Abhors clutter:
It makes
an Empath feel weighed down and blocks the flow of energy.
22. Loves to daydream:
An Empath can
stare into space for hours, in a world of their own and blissfully happy.
23. Finds routine, rules or control,
imprisoning:
Anything that takes away their freedom is
debilitating to an Empath even poisoning.
24. Prone to carry weight without necessarily
overeating:
The excess weight is a form of protection to stop the
negative incoming energies having as much impact.
25. Excellent listener:
An Empath won’t
talk about themselves much unless it’s to someone they really trust. They love
to learn and know about others and genuinely care.
26. Intolerance to narcissism:
Although
kind and often very tolerant of others, Empaths do not like to
be around overly egotistical people, who put themselves first and refuse
to consider another’s feelings or points of view other than their own.
27. The ability to feel the days of the
week:
An Empath will get the ‘Friday Feeling’ if they
work Fridays or not. They pick up on how the collective are feeling. The first
couple of days of a long, bank holiday weekend (Easter for example) can
feel, to them, like the world is smiling, calm and relaxed. Sunday evenings,
Mondays and Tuesdays, of a working week, have a very heavy feeling.
28. Will not choose to buy antiques, vintage
or second-hand:
Anything that’s been pre-owned carries the energy
of the previous owner. An Empath will even prefer to have a brand new
car or house (if they are in the financial situation to do so) with no residual
energy.
29. Sense the energy of food:
Many Empaths don’t
like to eat meat or poultry because they can feel the vibrations of the animal
(especially if the animal suffered), even if they like the taste.
30. Can appear moody, shy, aloof,
disconnected:
Depending on how an Empath is feeling
will depend on what face they show to the world. They can be prone to
mood swings and if they’ve taken on too much negative will appear quiet and
unsociable, even miserable. An empath detests having to
pretend to be happy when they’re sad, this only adds to their load
(makes working in the service industry, when it’s service with a smile, very
challenging) and can make them feel like scuttling under a stone.
If you can say yes to at least 10 of these traits (especially 1 to 10), you
could very well be an
Empath.
