We all have a capacity for empathy, but being an empath takes that capacity to the next level.
Instead of being able to understand somebody else’s experience, as empaths, we can feel that experience in our own bodies.
Empaths are usually born from some sort of trauma. When we have a bad experience, we do whatever we can to prevent it from happening again. In turn, we learn how to extend our energy out and create a hyper-vigilance in our systems.
It becomes so easy for us to feel the emotions and energy of others that we begin to take on things that don’t belong to us. This can make it difficult to navigate where our energy ends and the energy of others begin.
This creates the perfect scenario for the wounded version of the empath to take the reins.
This can look like this:
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Poor boundaries
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The need to fix other people’s problems
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Getting trapped in toxic patterns or relationships
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Feeling like a perpetual victim
There are 5 simple ways you can undo this burden and learn to step into the empowered version of the empath.
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Healthy Boundaries– As empaths, it is so important to learn to track our energy versus others’ energy and establish healthy boundaries. Just because we can feel what others are experiencing, it doesn’t mean we need to take it on and make it our own or fix it for them. Tuning into yourself and creating energetic boundaries will help you discern where you end and someone else begins. This practice will help you stay in your center.
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Being okay with discomfort– Other people’s discomfort often feels like our own discomfort. It is not our job to take make things more comfortable for other people. Sometimes if it feels icky, we just gotta stick it out or remove ourselves from the situation.
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Ask yourself, “Is this mine?”– When you become overwhelmed with bad feelings, ask yourself if those thoughts or feelings belong to you. If the answer is no, allow that energy to exit your system and return it back to where it belongs. If it is ours, it is an opportunity for healing.
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Be centered in yourself– The direct route to helping other people is to help ourselves. Learning how to express how you truly feel instead of people-pleasing, learning how to say “no”, and not intervening when someone is asking for help are all ways of honoring ourselves and staying true to what we want.
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Detach from the idea that being an empath makes you special– We all have the capacity for empathy. Empathy can be a gift, but it is not who you are. Holding too tightly to the empath identity will keep you in the cycle of the wounded version. You are already special. You have a unique set of experiences and teachings you can share with others. If you let go of the idea that being an empath is WHY you’re special, you will be able to use your gift as a service, instead of becoming a slave to the overwhelming feelings that you sometimes feel.
Our job as empaths is to learn how to track our own energy, become responsible for our own feelings, and establish healthy boundaries for ourselves.
This is not an overnight thing, this is a practice. Each time you experiment with these tools, you will become a little more in your wholeness and one step closer to becoming an empowered empath.