Empathic people are the sensitive ones, the people who feel very deeply and can struggle to be in this world. They feel between words, especially those unspoken. They feel the intention and will remember how something or someone made them feel, regardless of how the energy is presented.
The unkind look in someone’s eyes can feel like slivers of glass entering the heart, piercing through a cool exterior.
They are continually seeing, feeling, and tuning into subtle levels of sensory information. They are not reading into things…they are feeling what is entering into their systems, and the difference is vast, yet many of them have not yet found the words to capture these moments because they are felt senses often disregarded by those around them.
They have a hard time beingin this world, often feeling isolated and abandoned by others, family, or in a spiritual regard because the world around them does not always reflect what they sense. The outer world usually contradicts much of what they intuitively perceive; this is one of the reasons they may retreat or pull back.
Empaths are like human lie detectors, not much gets past them…. yet they will likely struggle to listen to their intuition or fail to take action on their insights because they sometimes do not trust themselves or have been told by others that they are “too sensitive” and there may be shame around feeling so deeply.
Empaths struggle to receive in the following ways:
- Sensory Overload: Empaths are already on sensory overload, the thought of receiving or bringing in more of anything is a threat to their nervous system, which is working overtime to manage the energy running through their circuitry. They unconsciously merge with other people, causing excess energy, emotions, insights, stories, pain, and information to be within their scope of awareness most of the time. “Receiving” is exactly the thing they want control over since they are mostly feeling overwhelmed already.
- Associations: The past can often hold an energetic pattern of betrayal, loss, trauma, abandonment, or scarcity through a story. An empath quickly goes to the subconscious to dictate how they should respond or react to a situation. If someone or something in their past had a negative vibrational frequency to it and they were aligned with money, prosperity, power in any form, the empath may discern this as a form of control and may instantly and unconsciously reject it.
- Being Seen: Being seen may equate to attention….something many empaths cannot tolerate. Some empaths prefer to “be a witness” vs. being in the spotlight since everything in their worlds already involves feeling so deeply already. They shy away from attention because eyes on them feel like hundreds of lightning bolts in an instant if they are not managing their energy properly. Most empaths do not even know they are one and therefore are most likely untrained or not certain how to process energy or their intuition in a healthy way.
- Simplicity feels safe and clear: Empaths love simplicity, clarity, and still energy because it feels safe for them. Too much stimulation or information creates overwhelm. They tend to get lost in other people’s feelings; therefore, complicated matters or situations are something they tend to avoid.
- Boundary Concerns: Overgiving and people-pleasing are common traits of empaths, they feel so deeply and struggle while observing the suffering or pain of others, and they take it on themselves. They try to make things better for others. This leads to them avoiding their own boundaries or struggling to hold them.
As a deeply sensitive person myself, I can tell you, it is possible to shift these dynamics and build some resiliency and inner resources. It takes practice, patience, and presence.
You can learn to receive.
You do belong.
You can feel safe in this world and in your body.