How to be an Empath without Suffering

The term empath denotes an individual who is more sensitive to the energetic experience of others, whether it be people in close physical proximity, or some type of non-local interaction such as over the phone or online or simply thinking of a certain person.

In all actuality, every single individual is empathic and intuitive. We all have the ability to fine-tune our sensitivities and increase our clarity of awareness.

We all feel the energy flow of those around us to some extent, but most of this may go unnoticed. Without really understanding the details of our energetic connections, we will react to the energies and emotions of those we interact with every single day, but on a subconscious level. That is, unless we become aware of our empathically sensitive nature.

Some of us may identify with the term empath in order to justify why we feel like a victim to other people’s energies. It’s a somewhat common understanding of the empath persona to feel so deeply that we feel overwhelmed by other people’s energies quite regularly. Some may feel so overwhelmed by erratic emotions, especially when in large crowds, that we determine we just prefer the more solitary life of an introvert and decide not to go out very often. In extreme cases, we feel it’s best just to stay home, except for very specific outings we feel obligated to accomplish, such as work and grocery shopping.

 

You Can be Empathic Without Suffering

 

To become more reclusive because we are energetically sensitive is unnecessary. There is a way to be an empathically sensitive individual who can comfortably go out in large crowds, even for long periods of time. We can interact with others and not get upset by the chaotic or the seemingly ‘low’ energies that others exude. I know it’s possible, because I am also extremely sensitive and empathic myself.

Empaths are very sensitive to energies, which means being highly sensitive to emotions (energies in motion). The reason why is because empaths have naturally very wide-open heart centers.

The empath’s heart chakra is extremely strong, open and intensely tuned-in. We are sensitive to other’s emotional (energetic) states because our energy field is in tune with the flow of energy between ourselves and the individual(s) with whom we are interacting.

Our heart is our emotional facilitator: and when it’s strong and open, we are emotionally very aware.

Being so energetically tuned in is why some of us get overwhelmed in large crowds. It can feel extremely chaotic and challenging to clearly understand what we are experiencing within ourselves versus what energies we may be sensing from others.

What we call emotion is simply our personal impression of the creative life-force energy flowing as, through, and within our being. This vibrant life-force energy is always flowing as a divinely orchestrated harmonic symphony, the quality of which is impeccably perfect and isn’t logically understood by analyzing, but only experientially realized as it’s felt and known within the core of our being.

When we experience this creative life-force flow clearly, we tend to become transfixed in a state of complete reverence and awe for the utter beauty that encapsulates us. Vibrant wellness is our natural state when we allow energy to flow through us. Being in an energetic state of absolute allowance, in each moment, is experienced as total peace with What Is.

 

Allowing the Ebb and Flow of Life

 

We may perceive the life-force energy flowing within our being as potentially negative or positive. But those thoughts are just our personal judgments, based on whether we are openly embracing that moment or if we are viewing our experience through the confused lens of fear and insecurity, creating resistance to that moment as it is.

The energy of life exists as the infinite flow of creation, and is neither negative or positive… yet it does ebb and flow, expand and contract. We cannot escape this flow or the cyclical shifts within it. We can only honor the entire flow in all its glory, so that we may be at peace with What Is.

What we may consider negative—such as death and destruction—is simply the creative process of eliminating what’s no longer vibrantly useful, opening up space for more expansion, and essentially creating the new from a fresh foundation.

All is a part of nature’s creative flow.

Yin and Yang occurs in this physical life experience, no matter how much suffering, struggle, and pain we may scream out against as a plea for it to stop. All is extremely sacred and vital, no matter how we may perceive it in the moment.

When we see clearly, we experience all as the sacred flow of infinite love. Struggle and suffering occurs because of our resistance against the contractual ebb of the sacred flow, not as an actual component of the flow.

We ourselves exist as the sacred flow of life. We are all innocent expressions of this sacredness in physicality. Our feelings exist as our individual impression of this creative flow as it coincides and connects with our personal experience.

When we are in a state of full allowance, being completely open energetically and by embracing all just as it is, we feel the emotions as being extremely pleasant and positive. The energy flowing unimpeded is what causes us to feel peace, serenity, contentment, calm, inner reflection, grace, limitless expansion, creativity and reverence for all.

 

Fear is Resistance

 

When we doubt, or buy into fear, we are seeing this energy through a perception that interprets the flow of energy as harsh, upsetting, disturbing, and antagonistic. We may have thoughts that tell us there’s a potential problem, and we may get caught up in the idea that something needs to be solved, resolved, protected against, proven, defended, or justified. We may feel stressed out, sad, angry, or uneasy because we buy into beliefs that lack may be our ultimate destiny.

Fear that all may not be well distorts our perception, causing us to experience the energy flow as uncomfortable and undesirable. Many of us tense up to resist the flow of energy when we fearfully perceive it as negative, because we think we should avoid feeling it in order to protect ourselves. We may suppress feeling anything we perceive as negative because we think we must ‘be positive’ to keep ourselves in a ‘higher state of vibration’ or to effectively create the reality we desire.

Our emotional state is always our own individual interpretation of the sacred flow of life.

Allowance is our naturally harmonic state of pure being which honors everything we experience and feel. Resistance, due to inner fear and feeling unworthy, is an effort to try and restrict the flow of energy within our experience, with the intention of keeping us safe—and yet doing so keeps us struggling against what is and only offers us suffering along the way.

 

Judgement Disrupts the Flow of Life

 

When we are empathically sensitive and feel uncomfortable when interacting with an individual, we may determine the other individual’s energy as ‘low’, ‘dense’, ‘heavy’ or ‘negative’. That’s when many of us empaths may determine it’s time to leave the situation to avoid that which we don’t prefer.

If we have determined another’s energy as ‘low’ or ‘negative’, that is an indicator we hold judgments and are buying into a belief of inferior and not ‘good enough’.

We only judge that which we fear. We only judge that which we deny and that which we’ve ignored within our own selves.

We judge another’s anger when we’ve suppressed our own anger. We resent another’s flow of joy when we’ve sacrificed our own joyful flow. We may also misinterpret or take another’s ‘negative’ energy personally, because we don’t realize we have unresolved insecurities within ourselves.

Our level of comfort or discomfort is always our own perception of the energetic flow. We do not experience another’s interpretation of the flow of energy, as that is filtered through their own state of being, beliefs, and awareness.

When we allow the life-force energy within our own field to flow freely (even during the ebbs of contraction), we will not determine (judge) the flow of energy within another as negative or bad, ever, no matter how the other individual experiences their own energy. We will honor the flow of energy as we and they each choose to experience it—without our personal judgments of how open or closed, dense or light, low or high we think their flow of energy may be and without feeling the need to analyze all the potential reasons why their energy may or may not be flowing.

 

Become Empowered as an Empath

 

The best way to become empowered as an empathically sensitive individual is to strengthen and increase our conscious awareness of our own connective flow to the sacred energy of life.

If we take full responsibility for our entire experience of life, we will choose to honor our own creative flow.

We can follow our heart and our knowing, and create our own amazing experiences from the joyful passion of our innermost essence. In this way, we are not actually increasing the energy itself, but are simply becoming more consciously aware of the sacred flow of energy (life) and our individual connection to it.

 

Strengthen the Solar Plexus to Ground Emotional Experiences

 

Finally, we can become more conscious as we perceive our individual energetic flow as an aspect of our power center, our solar plexus chakra. The solar plexus is the energy center within our gut that determines our level of confidence in our physical expression. This is our power center because it’s where the flow of life-force energy is most directly felt within the physical body.

As this chakra is located directly below our heart, it’s the main energy center uniting the physical human aspect of our being with our more etheric energetic essence; it is the bridge between our more intuitive senses/aspects and the physical component of our being.

Our heart and solar plexus unify our cosmic universal energy within the active physical expression of our being in human form. Our solar plexus is the vital energy center which provides us the means to actualize our fulfillment here in the physical world.

By strengthening our solar plexus, we balance our huge heart center with the grounded, physical components of our being, uniting our sacred divinity within the physicality of our human vessel. We more readily actualize our fulfillment within the physical as we apply our inner knowing confidently, by aligning our choices in each moment with our gnosis, as we balance and strengthen our solar plexus to match our already-huge hearts.

Having a huge heart but not being able to physically express that energy will only result in feeling emotionally unstable, as a victim to our circumstances and the people that form our experience, while feeling unable to physically manifest our greatest dreams.

When we embrace that which is unconscious within, enveloping all the potential unknowns with total compassion, we will no longer judge that which is unconscious within others.

Embracing all that we avoid, reject, suppress, ignore, and deny with absolute compassion offers our wounded innocence solace.

 

Allow Life to Flow with Unconditional Compassion

 

By fully facing, acknowledging, and shining the light of awareness on that which we fear, that which may appear hideous in ourselves or others, we can then perceive the exquisite beauty of our wounded innocence. We make that which is unconscious conscious.

Everything we have determined as either good or bad in the outside world exists as a mirror, reflecting that which we honor and embrace within or those aspects which we reject, deny, and resist within ourselves.

Unconditional compassion is not threatened, bothered, or upset by anything.

When we sense another’s unresolved pain, we will feel compassion if we’ve offered our own pain compassion. We do not like that which we’ve denied within. We are bothered only by that which we do not embrace within ourselves. We judge what we deny within. We reject in others that which we reject within ourselves.

As empaths, when we use all that we experience in our world to more clearly know our divine Self, we offer ourselves the gorgeous gift of taking total accountability for and embracing all aspects of our being with unconditional compassion. We recognize our entire experience is a miracle, a divine gift of eternal sacredness—and not a burden, test or struggle we must endure.

By accepting, embracing, and honoring all aspects of our own being, we will naturally offer the same compassion to all those with whom we experience the journey of life.

 

 

Anna Horst is Creator, Energetic Empress, Psycho-Spiritual Consultant, & Empowerment Adviser at ConsciousManifesting.com