Aletheia Luna - Awakened Empath: The Ultimate Guide to Emotional, Psychological and Spiritual Healing

Everything feels like a blur.

You look around and you see a crowd of faces. You feel the movement of feet, bodies, and emotions whirling around you. You feel a clash of emotion in your body: excitement, frustration, joviality, annoyance, and angst mixed together. Your breathing starts to become rapid and shallow. You begin to feel anxious, dizzy, and desperate to leave. There is too much going on. There are too many types of energy here. It all feels like too much. These people are exhausting you.

Stop for a moment and take a deep breath. How do you feel when you read this? Can you relate to this experience? If this scenario sounds familiar, you are almost certainly an empath.

Originating as a word once only used in paranormal and science fiction shows such as Star Trek , Charmed , and The Ghost Whisperer , the term empath has now come to describe an innate gift carried by certain people in our society.

As opposed to empathy, which is the ability to understand the emotions of others, an empath is a person who can actually experience anothers emotions as their own. Empaths have the ability to assimilate the emotions and even the physical sensations of others, making them deeply attentive, warm, compassionate, and insightful people. But, on the other hand, such a high degree of sensitivity to other peoples emotional energy is also what makes empaths so prone to issues such as anxiety, depression, and stress-related illnesses. When left unmanaged, this gift can result in feeling overwhelmed and chronically drained by others, and even in being emotionally preyed upon.

According to research conducted by psychologist Elaine Aron at Stony Brook University in New York, 20% of the population are genetically predisposed to be more aware and empathic. And while the number of empaths in our population has never been verified or tested before, this small percentage indicates that empaths are something of a minority in our society; even a rarity. Some authors have even speculated that empaths comprise only about 2-4% of society. However, this percentage could be far greater.

So how can you tell whether youre an empath? There are a number of signs you should look out for, such as:

Youve been told that youre too sensitive or intense and people have told you to get a thicker skin.

You tend to absorb the emotional energy of others.

You have a hard time distinguishing your emotions from others emotions.

You feel like a tuning fork that picks up on even the subtlest shifts in another persons mood or energy.

You find it unbearable to watch any form of violence, cruelty or torture because it causes you intense pain and discomfort.

You feel dizzy, fatigued, anxious or overwhelmed in crowds of people (such as in supermarkets, stadiums, and malls).

You absorb or feel the physical symptoms of another ailing friend or family member (e.g. aches, pains, cold symptoms, injuries, etc.).

You struggle with chronic fatigue.

You are highly intuitive and tend to make decisions based on your hunches or gut feelings.

You have a strong desire to ease the suffering of others.

You often play the counsellor or confidant role in your relationships.

Youre often treated as an emotional dumping ground by others.

You are a skilled listener.

You seem to attract wounded and needy people or energy vampires.

You feel drawn to supporting and giving a voice to the underdogs of life.

You feel a deep connection to nature and animals.

You are highly creative.

You need regular periods of solitude to recharge your energy.

You are drawn to the metaphysical or spiritual side of life.

You dont function well in unpleasant, chaotic, or overly stimulating situations.

You can feel the energy of inanimate objects such as food, places, and stones.

You struggle with sacral, solar plexus and heart chakra issues such as unstable blood pressure, digestive and lower back problems (e.g. IBS, weight issues, and stomach ulcers).

How many of these signs do you resonate with? If you could relate to more than half of these signs, youre most likely an empath.