We hear a lot about Empaths, but what are they, exactly?
Most people characterize empathy and sympathy with being an Empath, but the two are not synonymous.
How does one become an Empath, and what do they feel when they are experiencing an empathic pull? How can an Empath protect themselves from taking on the emotions and feelings of others and navigating through the tumultuousness of having others’ energies constantly bombarding them?
Empaths
Firstly, let’s talk about the difference between an Empath and empathy, or even clair senses (clairvoyance, claircognizance, clairsentience, clairolfactory, clairaudience).
It is common for humans to relate to others during periods of grief, strife, happiness, etc. However, Empaths take on these feelings as if they are their own and aren’t able to delineate the differences between their own feelings and someone/something. So, if you are someone who is consistently feeling what others are feeling and believe it to be your own feelings, you are an Empath.
An empathic person becomes so from a background of childhood trauma in which they were forced to navigate their surroundings based upon the more subtle energies. This happened in order to protect oneself and gauge what was going to happen.
For example, if you grew up with an emotionally abusive parent, you might have developed overly sensitive emotionally empathic tendencies. You did this in order to predict what emotional state your parent would be in, along with disengaging from your own emotions. If you grew up with a perpetually sick parent, you might have developed overly sensitive medical empathic tendencies in order to “help” your parent by taking on their physical pain.
Empaths want to heal. Therefore, they take on others’ emotions, thoughts, and pains in order to do so. But without proper self-care and protection, this can wear the Empath down so that they have nothing left for themselves.
There are six different types of Empaths and each one experiences feelings or physical discomfort differently, dependent on what type of Empath they are.
The 6 Different Types of Empaths and How to Deal with Being One
1. Emotional Empaths.
Emotional Empaths are the most commonly referred to and known about Empath. These are the ones who take on others’ emotions and feel them as if they’re experiencing the emotion for themselves.
Emotional Empaths can have a hard time distinguishing what emotions belong to them versus others and radiate the impression that they are in the mood that they are just picking up on. If you are an Emotional Empath, it is important for you to practice clearing energy out of your own body that does not belong to you. You can do this via grounding meditations, chakra clearings, or salt baths.
2. Medical Empaths.
Medical Empaths, also known as Physical Empaths, feel physical manifestations of others’ physical pain as if it was their own. If someone they’re around has a stomachache, they will also develop a stomachache. For some reason, this empathic ability seems to be more common in men, as seen when they physically take on symptoms of their pregnant partner.
If you are a Medical Empath, it is important for you to practice mindfulness meditation so that you may gain the experience being present in your own body. Over time, this will enable you to recognize the difference between your own physical pain and someone else’s.
3. Psychometric Empaths.
Psychometric Empaths absorb the energy from inanimate objects and feel the emotions of the person who owns or had previously owned the object. These Empaths can usually get their qualities under control the easiest and transmute them into any of the clair senses. This is seen with certain psychics who may ask to hold a personal item and be able to express certain attributes about the owner.
If you are a Psychometric Empath, it is important that you practice funneling energy from feeling into experiencing. This will enable you to utilize the clair senses to express the sensations rather than absorbing them.
4. Geomantic Empaths.
Geomantic Empaths, also known as Earth Empaths, are location-based Empaths who absorb the energy either from the Earth or from physical locations. Geomantic Empaths can predict natural disasters, or they experience in their body what the person/people who were in previously in their current location (such as a house) were feeling while being there.
If you are a Geomantic Empath, it is important that you regularly cleanse your living space, and also be careful to not absorb energies from lower vibrational locations, which can ultimately make you physically ill.
5. Fauna Empaths.
Fauna Empaths, also known as Animal Empaths, don’t just like animals or want to be around them. They feel the animal’s physical maladies and emotional states as if they were their own, and generally have a lot of free-floating anxiety due to both domesticated and wild animals being everywhere.
If an animal is in pain, the Fauna Empath will be so overwhelmed with the same pain that it can become crippling. On the flipside, if around an animal which has been rescued, the Fauna Empath also becomes overwhelmed by feeling the unconditional love from the animal as if it were their own.
If you are a Fauna Empath, it is important that you protect your own energy with a form of an “energetic shield.” Whether this is done via visualization, meditation, or another form that you are comfortable with is up to you.
6. Flora Empaths.
Flora Empaths, also known as Plant Empaths, are not simply people with “green thumbs.” Flora empaths literally feel the energy of plants as if they’re an extension of themselves. Yes, they know when a plant needs water or sunlight, but they can also communicate with plants as if they’re part of their root structure. If a plant is dying around them, their energy too gets sapped, and they will feel the fluctuations of seasons with the cycles of birth, bloom, and death as if their emotional and physical energy depend on it.
If you are a Flora Empath, it is important for you to nourish your body during each seasonal cycle. The best way of doing would be through the Ayurvedic Doshas.
If you are an Empath of any kind, chances are you have been going through life with stress, anxiety, and the gamut of emotions from others. It’s difficult taking on the energies of external factors, but with mindfulness, practice, and energy work, you can get your abilities under control.
Be kind to yourself; you would be kind to those you are feeling, so give yourself the same love, patience, and attention. But above all else, know that you are safe now, and though you have this empathic ability, you don’t have to rely on it for your own safety anymore.
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Alexx Shaw
Alexx is a certified Master Herbalist, energy healer, Reiki Master, 500-hour RYT, and spiritual teacher and writer specializing in the Soul Family. She is currently writing her second book. You can find her Soul Family teachings on YouTube.
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