Empath's

What is Empathy ~

I regularly hear the question “what is empathy” asked so I will try to answer that question here. What are empaths? For the Trekkies out there you already know what an empath is. Jean Luke Picards fellow crew member Deanna Troy the Councillor in the Star Treck - The Next Generation is half a Betazoid half human being. Although Star Trek is a fictitious story the Betazoid race is that of a sentient species which are able to sense the emotions of others and sometimes their thoughts.

Empathy is about a link between two or more people where a high level of understanding is there almost like an unseen bond, it is an awareness of feelings and thoughts. Empaths are indeed apparently able to intuitively recognise these feelings and thoughts of others. Although empathy is often seen between lovers, within the family unit and between close friends, empathy is possible and often does happen between complete strangers also.

Empathy is also not restricted to occurring just between humans it also occurs between humans and animals. Many times in the past we found oursevelves feeling poorly or upset and our pet cat or dog comes to sit beside us offering us support at a time that we need it so much. Having animals in my life for many years I witnessed this happen on many occasions. Empathy carries the natural honest urge to help our fellow human beings and also I feel the urge to help as animals and plants even earth itself.




~ versus Sympathy ~

People often ask what the difference between empathy and sympathy is and is there in fact any difference? Fair question the answer to this is Yes there is a difference between empathy and sympathy! The difference is sympathy is when we feel sorry for someone in their plight, therefore sympathy is something which is remote to the person involved allowing the sympathiser to distance themselves from the given situation; Empathy on the other hand is when we feel the depths of the persons emotions that we come in contact with, thoughts, fears worries ect personally, it is a close up and very personal experience of the plight of the person. Empathy is not pity as with sympathy, empathy is the actual entering into and experiencing of feelings, experiencing the same emotions that the person we are connected to feels.




~ What are Empaths ~

Empaths are people who are very sensitive and are able to link to someone obtaining a high level of understanding of the person’s situation without having to know very much about them. They are in fact able to be acquainted by means of things that they cannot have had any previous knowledge or understanding of. They have what could be described as a knowing, the empath is able to link closely to another person and be very perceptive of that persons life situation. As Empaths are able to tune into the feelings of those around them they are able to feel the hurts of others very acutely.




~ Becoming aware that You are an Empath. ~

This is often a confusing time for those who are just starting to become aware that they have empathic abilities. Often empaths tune into those around them without any effort and can often be left feeling upset or uptight for no apparent reason. This may lead to the feeling of being very draining and many empaths can find people contact on a day to day basis very draining indeed.

Empaths need to be wary that they do not take on and keep to themselves the sadness upsets and negative thought patterns of these people they come in contact with as this could lead to deep melancholy feelings which may result in depression. I am sure that many empaths who are aware of their abilities would agree that they suffered this at different stages of their life until they became aware that they were in fact empathic.

In time or through contact with other empaths they become aware that they are sensing and reacting to the thoughts and feelings of others as opposed to their own thoughts and feelings. Don’t worry though it is possible to gain control over your empathic abilities and to hone your new found skills.

You have been blessed with a wonderful gift your ability to listen and understand other people can make you a wonderful healer or counsellor you just need is a little help and guidance to protect yourself and not to allow yourself to be swept away in what sometimes can be the great hustle and bustle of other peoples thoughts and emotions.




~ How to hone your empathic skills ~

Before development we are often be unaware that we are open and this frequently causes us to connect to everyone and anyone all the time. As mentioned above this regularly cause us to become very drained and might lead us to shrink back from contact with people and society as a whole. Through development we learn to harness and control this, so once you have become aware that you are empathic you need to learn a few basic steps.




Firstly you should look into how to Ground, to Protect & to Connect Grounding, Protecting and cleansing regularly will help to keep you grounded and prevent negative emotions and thoughts of others attaching themselves to you. This will allow you far more control over your empathic abilities.

In this area of the forum you will find some help through cleansing your chakras and flushing negative energies away.Try reading about the following:

Protection

Mirror Method
Bubble Meditation - found under meditation in forum


Cleansing

Cleansing & Balancing Chakras- found under meditation
Flushing Negative Energy- found under meditation