Before I knew what an Empath was, I used to say that I was sensitive and not truly meant for this world.

I hoped that one day I would become tougher, not cry at every commercial and movie, not feel things so deeply that it would cripple me emotionally.

I remember a day when I picked up my eldest daughter from day-care and the care giver was lecturing a young boy who was weeping while he was being scolded.

My daughter was misty eyed and hanging on to my hand for dear life. I was openly feeling that boy’s pain and let my tears fall.

The care giver explained very patiently to me that there was no use being so sensitive to the situation. She looked at me with a curious expression. There was just no way for her to understand that my empathy for that boy came not from me alone but from falling into his energy field.

Twenty odd years later I am no less sensitive or intuitive. Now I know that I am these things and many more as an empath:

Feel others pain poignantly*
Abhor injustice*
Am visionary
Am creative
Get overwhelmed with too much stimulation*
Have an all or nothing view point*
Am deeply affected by other people’s emotions*
Think deep thoughts about unusual things*
Startle easily*
Am forgetful and easily confused*
Change is confusing*
Avoid overwhelming situations and crowds*
Overreact to minor situations, especially when hungry*
Underachieve when under pressure*
Multi-tasking can produce a type of anxiety verging on paranoia*
Dislike confrontation but can be confrontational when faced with situations that seem unfair*
Must have a peaceful environment to concentrate well, distractions make thought processes shut down*
Uncomfortable in loud environments*
Become agitated in busy environments*
Am intuitive/psychic/tap into unseen energies easily
Need lots of time alone*
Feel sadness and joy very deeply, either one can become uncomfortable from the intensity*
Am almost euphoric in calm, natural settings—forest, ocean, anywhere devoid of people*
Love music as a calming tool, need to get lost in it*
Have strong beliefs that are not easily budged*
Am misunderstood*
Am highly sensitive to lights*

All the points denoted with an asterisk are qualities I share with my husband who is a concussion victim from playing pro hockey and soccer before that, as a child.

Now at first glance one might say that those are things that many people experience and I agree, there is an overlap in symptoms from one situation to another, physically or emotionally speaking. However, 20 years of observation and everyday life between an empath and a concussion victim allows for a lot of contemplation.

My partner is an especially loving and sensitive human being to begin with. He has many Indigo/Star child qualities although he technically belongs to the Indigo child period.

When we looked at the healing of his brain injury (in other words, a concussion) we realized that his and other concussion victims’ brains just do not function like your everyday variety of human.

Other concussion victims have said that after their injury, life became unbearable because of their sensitivity to life in general. Many have committed suicide and I know that empaths can also fall into a sensitivity so deep that life becomes a burden.

The more my partner and I connect with people who are dealing with concussions, the more we see that they and empaths are wired similarly. Is this a coincidence or a neurological quirk? I honestly don’t know but it’s become difficult to ignore.

Some people with concussions have also become aware of the spirit world for the first time in their lives. Or become highly intuitive. Or creative in a way that mimics autistic/savant personalities.

I’m fascinated by this spectrum of similarities.

I don’t know enough to draw too many conclusions (as a lay person, not a brain specialist) because I am only beginning to investigate this phenomena.

I would like to connect with others who may have also noticed these similarities between empaths and those with concussions. My partner suffered for 20 years, arguably the best years of his life (30 to 50) where he should have been enjoying life at full tilt. Our marriage survived because we have an uncommonly deep bond (previous lives together) and because as an empath I could relate to many of his concussion symptoms.

It is only in the last year that he discovered an alternative brain therapy that has truly saved his life. I would be happy to share this therapy by personal message. It is called NIS. (Neurological Integrative System) and is being taught to medical doctors in Germany but is available in the U.S. and Canada as well through Doctors of Naturopathy.

While the years slipped by for my partner, an interesting thing began to happen in his life. Due to a much slower lifestyle, as he was not able to work a full time schedule, he had time to fall into a spiritual path out of a yearning for a connection to something that could offer solace.

As an athlete and by nature, he was not a person to sit still or engage in contemplative type of activities. Reading comprehension is severely impaired by concussions but his yearning for knowledge and peace saw him trying anyway.

In a way, the concussions paved a road for his spiritual growth.

Being already sensitive, he responded well to meditation, which opened him further to a connection with his own guides and greater intuitiveness.

I think that my being an empath helped us to navigate his concussions with greater ease. Many partnerships have fallen apart due to the extremely sensitive natures of concussion victims. Life is challenging in a specific way to an empath. But we understand a lot more about Empaths now than we ever did. Concussions on the other hand, are still a deep mystery. The brain is still a deep mystery.

I see the similarities and wonder, can we help each other understand? Can we offer insights and compassion that perhaps those without extremely sensitive natures cannot grasp?

Please drop a word to me in the comment section of you connect to these words. My partner and I struggled alone for years, and now face a much brighter future. This is my reach out, if only to offer a forum for discussion.

~

Souce:

Mayo Clinic

 

Relephant:

8 Teachings via Dog Wisdom.

~

Author: Monika Carless

Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: Sean McGrath/Flickr