Have you ever entered a room and it just didn’t feel right? You wanted to turn around and leave, yet you couldn’t explain why?
Or do you notice you feel a natural sense of comfort with some people but are immediately stressed by others?
Have you ever come home exhausted from a crowded shopping mall, or after working around stressed people at your job?
If so, you may be an empath, or “highly sensitive person.” But what do those terms really mean?
The truth is, they’re too general. There’s more than one type of sensitivity, more than one kind of empathic nature.
And in fact, you can be more than one type – Some people are all of them!
Read on to see if you can relate:
Type 1: The Physical Empath
If this is you, you’re like a sensor, able to physically feel the energy around you. This can be valuable in terms of sensing how someone else is feeling, so you can adjust your own energy to resonate with theirs, and make them more comfortable.
But there’s a downside here, too – It means you can be physically affected by the invisible vibrations of the people and places around you. Your body responds to that energy, and by the end of your day, you may crave alone time, just to recover from having to cope with the intense energy around you all day!
Type 2: The Inner Empath
If this is you, you’re not so affected by the energy around you like the other two types, but instead it’s the energy deep within you that matters. It’s as if an inner intuitive voice is trying to speak to you. You may even get messages from the “other side” and have an innate talent as a medium.
But there’s a downside here, too – It means that you may struggle to know what’s just your imagination and what’s a true intuitive hit. And you may feel fearful that if you start to listen to these messages, the floodgates will open and you won’t be able to turn it off!
Type 3: The Emotional Empath
If this is you, you’re like a sponge for the thoughts and emotions of the people around you. This can be fun – You may often find that you think of someone right before they text you, for instance. It’s not a coincidence; you felt them think of you as they reached for their phone!
But there can be a downside here as well. You can soak other people’s emotions without always knowing those feelings aren’t yours. In other words, your own emotions can be too affected by how those around you are feeling. This can too easily put you into overwhelm!
Or – Do You Believe You’re Not Sensitive?
There’s something really important to understand: Even if you feel you don’t fit into any of these categories and aren’t sensitive at all, you’re still being affected by the energy around you and/or within you.
Science has found that as we go through our everyday lives, we all unknowingly “entrain,” or synchronize to the invisible frequencies around us. This means we adjust our own energy to match. For example, research shows that people in restaurants tend to chew their food to the speed of the other people in the space! You can be pretty sure they’re not looking around as they eat, trying to match the rhythm! Most of us tend to keep ourselves so distracted, we just don’t notice when we’re being affected in these subtle ways.
So whether you believe you’re an empath or not, the next time you’re sitting at your desk and a feeling starts to wash over you, consider that it might not be your feeling! It might have floated in from someone down the hall, or on the other side of the wall from you – After all, energy isn’t blocked by walls or doors! Often just that awareness alone can keep you from taking it on.
