For as long as I can remember, I have always been deeply empathic. I had no idea how deep until one of those ‘realizations’ hit me like a baseball bat.
Many years ago, a student arrived for his guitar lesson, saying that he had suffered from a stomachache all day. After making sure that he did not need medical attention, and that his parents knew about this, we enjoyed playing his favourite music and he left feeling better.
But now – I had the stomachache.
And I knew for certain, it wasn’t mine!
How on earth had that happened?
There was nothing in anything I had learned up to this point that explained how such a thing was possible. I also realized that I had probably always been doing this, but was completely unaware of it.
Now I was aware! And I had a big problem. I had to figure out what was my own stuff and what I had soaked up from somebody else. Most days I felt like a sponge!
A large percentage of the human population is born with or is developing deep empathic abilities. Like it or not, there can be serious physical, emotional, mental and spiritual symptoms to this ‘ability.’
Even the medical community has a diagnosis and term for this sensitivity. It is called “Compassion Fatigue” and the list of symptoms is similar to those of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
I was ecstatic when the Calgary Herald published an article July 21, 2008 by Albert Nerenberg, titled, “Are You an Empath?” which was all about empathy and the scientific discovery of what is believed to be the physical basis of empathy – mirror cells. Here is a link to the article: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=e8252002-5374-40cf-b365-9b2734905bb1&p=1
So, what is it like to be an empath?
This is a partial list of empathic characteristics discussed in the website link below.
http://empathicperspectives.blogspot.com/2009/03/symptoms-of-empathy.html
- Acute senses – i.e. sense of smell, taste, sight, touch, hearing etc.
- Acute awareness of the feelings of those around them and feeling deeply for those in pain or suffering – to the point of even taking on symptoms from another.
- Often easily hurt.
- Avoidance of conflict where possible preferring to keep things harmonious.
- Easily startled by noise.
- Easily moved to tears because of deep feeling.
- Nervous in crowded situations.
- People feel safe around them and able to talk to them easily. Even complete strangers will talk to them about personal things without consciously intending to do so.
- Animals and children love and are attracted to them.
- Easily affected by the weather.
- Their greatest gift is to perceive with the heart.
- They are usually a blessing to be around as they are nurturing and caring.
- Music and harmony are very important to them. They can lose themselves completely while listening to music that resonates with them.
The website listed above also has quizzes to help you find out more about your own experience of empathy and lots of good information.
And this brings me to the point of this article.
HAVE YOU SET UP ENERGETIC BOUNDARIES?
We live in a sea of energy and frequency.
And the empaths among us are BOMBARDED by this sea – feeling every current deeply.
Do you have a lot of tools to manage this sensitivity?
I can tell you from my own personal experience that it takes a LOT of tools.
You wouldn’t BELIEVE the stories people share with me of their difficulties dealing with this deep sensitivity.
Here’s the GOOD NEWS! There are MANY tools to help you manage a deep empathic sensitivity.
A couple of years ago, I collaborated with Tina Thrussell of Best U Can Be in a webinar called “Effortless Empathy.”
We delve deeper into the problems and solutions of a deep empathic sensitivity and this webinar is PACKED with great information and TOOLS. The video is about 45 minutes.
Because the challenges of empaths is crossing my personal ‘radar’ at the moment, you can view this video – for FREE – and add more tools to your toolkit here:
Watch the "Effortless Empathy" video.
Would you like to know how to turn your Chronic Stress into Complete Serenity in just 1 weekend with Sharon Carne?
Click the button below to learn more…
About Sharon Carne:
Sharon Carne, BMus, M.F.A. is an author, speaker, musician, recording artist, sound healer, Reiki master and consultant. Sharon is the founder of Sound Wellness, whose programs are at the forefront of education in how sound and music can be easily applied to your everyday life – to reduce stress, help you concentrate, energize you, inspire you, support your health and so much more.
 |
 |
 |
 |