Are you an empath?
An empath is a person that senses the emotions of others. A healthy empath will be able to discern between his or her own feelings and the feelings of someone else. Empaths feel things really deeply, compared to the average person. For example, you might take the death of a pet a lot harder than other family members, or you might get really down after a falling out with a friend. Your emotions will affect other parts of your life, like time with family, school work, job assignments, etc. Average people will be upset about those things as well, but they can move on a little quicker, and it might not impact other parts of their life.
Empaths generally notice small details, and appreciate the finer nuances of food, art, music, and architecture. They often feel at home in nature, and may be soothed by the sound of water, watching animals or tending to plants. A large number of empaths are introverts and renew energy by spending time alone. There are some extroverted empaths, who get energy from being around others, but they also need some alone time. Empaths have excellent intuition and can sense things without really knowing how they know.
What can steal an empaths joy?
These are some of the things that can steal joy from an empath’s daily life.
- Lack of boundaries around emotions – If an empath lacks boundaries, they will have trouble knowing if an emotion belongs to them or someone else. Feeling emotions that don’t belong to you can become overwhelming. Suddenly, a trip to the mall or a crowded event, can become exhausting and result in the need for more sleep and possibly irritability. Even spending time with loved ones or friends that are going through a difficult time.
- Not making time for self-care – Empaths love to help others and are often people-pleasers. They may have a difficult time saying no to the demands of others, thereby putting themselves last. If you put yourself last on your list, you will not have time to do the things that replenish you, like exercise, eating healthy, spending time with friends, and hobbies.
- Not being able to say ‘No’ – It is not uncommon for an empath to say “yes” to something they don’t really want to do, and then they end up resenting the person that asked them for a favor. They resent the time that they spent doing something they are not interested in. Now, they are upset, and the person that asked for help also feels upset, because they can sense that the empath is not happy helping them. Either that, or the person likes being able to count on the empath, and asks for more and more favors.
- Attracting toxic people – Narcissists and energy vampires are attracted to empaths. They can sense when someone is empathetic to their cause. They take advantage of an empath’s inability to say no and desire to help other people. Toxic people try to emotionally manipulate the empath to get their way. The toxic person can be a spouse, a family member, a friend, a coworker or a boss, for example.
- Living their life in a way that pleases someone else, instead of themselves – We all know someone that majored in a field of education that was not suited to them, in order to please their parents, or another authority figure. You’ve seen people wear clothes that were not fitting for their personality, just because their parents or spouse wanted them to wear a certain thing.
- Not spending time alone in silence – An empath has incredible intuition, but he/she needs some time alone in silence, either outdoors or in a private space at home. You could even sit in silence while driving your car.
- Not spending any time in nature – Empaths benefit from spending time outdoors in nature. Sometimes we let our hectic daily lives get in the way, and we go from home to work, to home again, without ever going outside. Empaths find rejuvenation in a gentle breeze, warm sunlight, green trees and blue sky. The sound of a gentle brook or ocean waves is soothing.
- Not working towards a life purpose – Everyone requires a life purpose, but empaths thrive when they are helping others, by working in a helping profession, volunteering for a charity they are passionate about, or working towards solving a world issue.
Are you missing one of these 8 things in your life?
If you feel like you are an empath, is one of the above things missing in your life? What can you do to make sure you are fitting each area into your daily or weekly schedule? Pick one area that you would like to improve on, and begin working on it. Break it down into tiny steps in order to create a successful new habit. If you want to get out into nature more, plan the time of day you will go outside. Then start with just going outside for five minutes a day. When that becomes a habit, try adding 5 more minutes until you are getting the outdoor time you crave.
If you are wanting to stop attracting toxic people, spend time on personal development. Try reading books, listening to inspiring podcasts, and watching YouTube videos on the subject.
I help empaths work on all the habits above, so that they can get rid of chronic health symptoms caused by neglecting these areas of their life. I help them finally reach their goal of living a life of peace and joy. You can check out my programs here. I have both free and paid resources available.
Join my private Facebook group, Rebooting Health For Empaths, here.
