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If you were drawn to this article, you are likely an empath in search of understanding how to navigate the world in a healthy way.

Perhaps you are that person who has to leave the party early because you are not feeling like yourself all of a sudden. Or, maybe you are that person who has deep compassion for everyone around you because you can easily feel what others are feeling—so much so that you confuse their energy with your own.

And, you may have been this way your entire life (although it can also be possible to open up to your sensitivity later on in life). However, now that you are fully aware that you are an empath, it is time for you to learn how to direct your energy in a way that keeps you from feeling like a victim of this gift. 

Yes, that’s right! Being an empath is a gift. Those with the ability to deeply feel and pick up on energies around them are tapping into a part of themselves that many people are closed off to. This does not mean others cannot navigate the world in this way; it simply means they haven’t developed this ability—yet.

An empathic person navigates the world around them based on their feelings, emotions, and sensitivities to subtle energy. Those who are not empaths are navigating the world around them through more of an intellectual, mental, and often analytical perspective.

It’s two completely different manners of seeing the world. One is more focused on their individual bubble of reality, their own feelings, their own knowledge, and their own thoughts and perspectives. Simultaneously, the other is more focused on the unity of everything or the connection to everything. Often, these individuals can feel like there is no separation between them and everyone else.

Tip: 

It is easy for you to get lost in the emotions of others. You have the amazing gift of compassion—you can energetically walk in other people’s shoes. The downside is that it may be difficult to distinguish your energy from someone else’s. If you are not aware of this, you could even take on other people’s energy, emotions, and problems.

Everything is made of energy, and you have the ability to read it in a powerful way. This truly is a gift! At the same time, if this ability is not used correctly, it can feel like a curse.

Learn about this gift—seek guidance and read books—so that you can develop it in a way that it can be used for the highest good of yourself and those around you. For example, you can neutralize your tendency to absorb others’ energies by setting a powerful intention to be aware of this energy but not take it on. Do energy checks often, asking yourself if this emotion or feeling is yours or a product of your environment or the people around you.

Be willing to let go of all energetic feedback that is not yours. Send love to it, then gently release it. You have your own emotional energy that needs your love and attention.

What does it mean to be a disempowered empath?

From personal experience and a personal perspective, a disempowered empath feels like a victim to the energies of their environment or others around them. If they have not done the healing work on themselves and their inner child wounds, they will most likely perceive many of the negative vibrations they feel from others as their fault, something they need to fix, or something wrong with themselves.

When a disempowered empath first picks up on the energies in their environment, the energies will feel directed toward them or even perceived as their own energy. 

Suppose we look at the root cause of this perception. In that case, it derives from a lack of energetic boundaries and often a need to be energetically open at all times out of the fear of needing to know what is going on around them in order to detect or sense danger.

It’s the idea or belief that, if they are always aware of what others are feeling, they can stay safe from any misunderstandings or malicious intent. This will manifest itself in many different ways, but the most common way is emotional overwhelm or empathic overload.

The disempowered empath may also become a sponge for the energies around them and soak up any vibrations they are open to. It can even cause a struggle with low self-esteem and allow them to be swayed by guilt or manipulation tactics. These individuals often set their own needs aside for others and do not always make time for self-care.

Tip: 

This is a time of healing old emotional wounds—a time to rewrite your personal story.

Your guides and angels are asking you to look at your past in a new way. If you grew up in a household that did not practice and teach unconditional love, you might be left with the emotional scars that cause you to ask, “What did I do to deserve this?” You may feel like you were abandoned, neglected, or mistreated in a way that left you feeling undeserving of love.

Instead of reliving the painful past, you are being asked to heal these wounds and rewrite your story; it is time to reconnect with your inner child. Go within and imagine what you looked like at a young age. Talk to yourself at this age. Assure your inner child that he or she does matter, that he or she is worthy of love, and that it is time to heal the past. Ask yourself what you need to finally be at peace with this.

As you nurture your inner child, it will free you up to forgive those in the past who have caused you pain. Begin to rewrite your story by looking at all of the ways you have thrived in life, despite the challenges you have faced.

As you heal your inner child, you pave the way for new beginnings.

What does it mean to be an empowered empath? 

An empowered empath is an individual who uses their intentions to navigate the energies around them. They are still open but have a heightened sense of awareness of what is their energy and what is someone else’s. They can clearly read the vibrations of others and do not get the energy they are feeling confused with their own vibrations.

In other words, they will feel a vibration coming into their energy field and will quickly shut it down or shield themselves from harsher energies. They understand that self-care is key for navigating their sensitivities. They have most likely developed this gift through years of self-healing or inner child work. They have learned to set energetic boundaries through their intention.

An empowered empath may have also learned that it is not always healthy for them to be energetically open to all situations. Once they reach a certain level of mastery with this gift, many of them are called to be healers, teachers, mentors, counselors, or any other profession that will help them utilize their gifts for the greater good. 

The empowered empath has the ability to develop deep interpersonal relationships and connections with others. This does not mean that they will not experience the plight of the disempowered empath from time to time. It means that, if they do, they will eventually identify what is happening and work toward untangling themselves from those outside energies.