Think about the amount of time you spend either holding in emotions or apologizing for them. It’s a lot isn’t it? Our culture doesn’t exactly encourage public displays of emotion in all circumstances. Sure it’s moving when a public figure drops a tear while giving a powerful speech to the masses, although bursting into tears at the office can be seen as juvenile. Or worse…weak. The truth is that sensitivity is a great gift because it means that you’re an empath. What does that mean? That YOU are spiritually gifted.
It personally took me quite a while to figure out that my sensitivity is actually my biggest strength. I’ve always been incredibly sensitive to other people’s energy and my own emotions are right below the surface all the time. That mixture means that someone else’s mood alone can bring on that frog-in-the-throat-choking-back-tears feeling for me without my even knowing why. It’s why certain friends are draining, and it’s why others are energizing.
For me, this has come up as something to accept about myself in many a romantic relationship. I’m not the person that can fire off thoughts without considering how they’ll land, so at times that meant not saying enough. I see the good in people’s souls despite what their current behavior might be demonstrating, which at times meant giving second chances that probably weren’t deserved. I can feel a lie before it even comes out, feel when people fall in love, and frequently freak people out by intuiting what they’re going to say. Once I could feel the energy so strongly of someone new coming into my life that I knew when and where he would materialize. And that he did.
There are certainly elements of this that are lovely and convenient. It can also be challenging. It’s confusing to intuitively know something about someone that they’re having a hard time admitting to themselves. It’s hard to explain why a “great” opportunity just doesn’t feel right. “I got a sign” is not a language that everyone speaks. Sometimes that means making decisions based on feelings alone, which requires immense self trust and means that other people won’t necessarily understand your motives. That’s when you wonder if you’d prefer to be living that whole “ignorance is bliss” type of life. But you wouldn’t.
When you open your heart sometimes you get hurt. It’s easy to look at the “fails,” lament over what’s been lost, or feel silly for trying. It’s a stronger choice to be grateful for having felt the depth of love or any emotion because it’s transformative, and it sets you up for the next best thing to come. Running from feelings to avoid the growth that it requires is one option. Taking them on fiercely is another. I’d rather look at those tender spots, pray away my fears, and gulp…admit what I’ve done wrong. Eventually I learned that I could keep people in my hearts without giving them to much precedence in my life.
Is that easy? No. In face, it can really hurt sometimes. However, it’s also liberating! I’ve always preferred to learn what I need to learn to get where I’m supposed to be going, as opposed to relinquishing control over the outcomes by remaining silent or unseen. The point is that feeling things has purpose. Whether what you’re feeling are your own emotions or those in the world around you. It just takes accepting your sensitivity to learn how to use it to your advantage instead of getting overwhelmed by everything that’s coming at you. Can you relate? Here are some things that are very important for living life as an empath.
Protecting Yourself
Other people are often aware of your sensitive and possibly giving nature. That means that some of them will try to soak up your goodness in ways that don’t work for you. Understanding where your boundaries are is crucial for a healthy give and take in life. This applies to the physical, emotional, and energetic. Sometimes it’s possible to directly talk to people and communicate our standards. Other times the best option for getting a behavioral change is to write them a letter that will never be sent and hope they get the vibe.
Visualization methods can be pretty powerful for protecting yourself as well. That might involve evoking light shields or calling upon traditionally protective forces like the Archangel Michael. Others prefer to carry amulets or stones with protective properties. Energetically protecting yourself isn’t blocking you off from other people. Instead it’s helping you stay balanced so that you can be your best self, which in turn allows you to best use your gifts and honor the people around you.
Staying Grounded
Going about the day to day can mean interacting with a lot of different energies, and if you aren’t making an effort to stay grounded it can get a bit jarring. You know that overwhelmed type of exhaustion that doesn’t seem all that reasonable based on the normal day you had? That’s where it’s coming from. There are many different ways to approach staying grounded. Eating a natural diet helps, showers can be extremely effective at washing away the energy of the day, and even laying on the ground for a moment can help get back in touch with that solid life force.
A daily meditation or yoga practice is another thing to consider. This offers a time to check in and reboot, which becomes more important the busier you are. As the old zen saying goes, “You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day, unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour.”
Meditating and doing yoga both help to reduce the blood pressure and encourage deep breathing, which can instantly make you feel more like yourself. Taking some time in the morning to facilitate a calm, focused state will help you better handle anything that comes your way in the day.
Exploring Ways to Open Up Further
If you’re an empath, you’re an empath. Acknowledging your insights and developing your intuition is going to strengthen you in incredible ways. The more attention you give to those synchronicities and signs that seem to pop up out of nowhere, the more often they’ll do so, and the more you’ll understand why. Many people trust that these insights come forward when they do because there is something else out there guiding us along the way. Those spiritual guides might be angels, spirit animals, or ascended masters. The more you listen the more you learn, and often the clarity that comes will encourage you to use your empathic gifts to help others.
This is precisely why SWIHA has created their Intuitive Guide Program. To help people just like you and I explore our gifts in a safe and sacred space and to tune our abilities to the highest frequency of receptivity. It elevates being sensitive from a gift into a purpose.
If you are interested in learning more about SWIHA’s Intuitive Guidance Courses, click the link below to start embracing and honoring your spiritual sensitivity today and using it to improve the lives of others.