
How to Tell if your a Highly Sensitive Empath
How to Tell if your a Highly Sensitive Empath
Being a highly sensitive empath is not easy in a world full of chaos. Highly sensitive people are prone to shyness, anxiety, fearfulness and are most likely to be introverts.
Do you know someone like this? Someone you love? Perhaps a teenager or young adult?
They often withdraw in social situations rather quickly, back themselves into a corner, or stand apart when in a crowd of people. Maybe they react adversely and it seems unnecessary.
Being highly sensitive doesn’t have to hurt.
Highly sensitive people perceive deeply and have a greater understanding of the subtleties of a situation often keeping quiet to hide the depth of their understanding.
They have a six sense that allows them to read the surrounding energy of others. They can sense when someones words and actions are not in alignment.
Often they hide their innate perception to appear normal. This can lead to trouble however, when an individual is not in alignment with their authentic self. When highly sensitive empaths ignore their inner perceptions they often suffer from nu-eroticism, depression, anxiety, inhibitions and addictions.
These become the reactions and responses of a highly sensitive person in their normal state of interacting. The medical community labels people as highly sensitive in the spiritual community it is called empathic, I have come to believe they are one and the same.
Growing up Highly Sensitive
I grew up unconscious that the emotions and mood swings I experienced were not always my own. Extremely sensitive to the energy surrounding me, I would find myself angry, agitated, sad or extremely happy for no reason known to me. This often led to inappropriate responses to life.
I would explode in anger for no reason, feel reckless, withdraw completely or become overly loving towards people or situations with no understanding as to why I felt those emotions.
The radical way I dealt with life often had me labeled as a troubled kid, overly knowledgeable, over reactive. I was ignoring the truth of my own intuitions about people and situations and it led me to unhappiness , depression and anxiety. On my journey I did become depressed, anxious, abused drugs as a teen and alcohol as an adult.
It wasn’t until I got sober that I learned the underlying energy and emotional sensitivity. In reality , I was taking on other peoples moods and emotions as my own. I did not know how to transform them into something more manageable or recognize they were vibes from someone else.
When I became a Reiki practitioner I started to understand what was happening to me. For the previous 6 years I had been working on my personal growth and had developed a spiritual basis for my life which helped balance my emotions and anxiety to liveable state. When I learned what an empath was I finally understood the underlying problem.
I got the book The Reluctant Empath from a friend and everything came into focus. I learned how energy worked. Energy is not just something we expand when we exercise. Energy encompasses our thoughts and emotions as well.
The Authors Steve Wilson and Bety Comford did a wonderful job of explaining the unseen reality of energy in their examples. I learned about myself in this book along with some useful ways to work with the energy I experience. Their book amped up my personal growth and ability to handle adversity. Here are the personal gifts I received from reading this book
Grounding
This was the most important tool that I have learned in my life , sadly it took so long to discover. Being highly sensitive I have consistently tried to numb the pain and escape the emotions that I’ve felt, grounding helps me transform and transmute it all so that I feel stable and balanced. It is also something that I tend to resist and need to work towards consistently.

Better to be quiet: The Chameleon
I had always lived my life trying to blend in with other people, Consciously readjusting myself to appeal to others. Becoming a people pleaser and a doormat, subject to abuse from narcissist. I did this with boys, friends, adults , bosses, etc. at the cost of losing my own authenticity. Empaths try to fit in, yet the truth of the energy can never conform and feel good to us. I remained quiet at my own expense, Now I am able to give voice to my own thoughts and emotions without feeling I have to conform to the ideals of others. I am free to recognize my unique qualities allowing myself to flourish in any environment.
It’s a purpose not a curse
In this book I recognized that being Empathic is part of my purpose. I am here to help others on their journey, Being highly sensitive allows me to read others energy and emotions more easily. Learning how to use my gift I am able to help ground negative energies that I am surrounded by, making a peaceful environment for all.
Manifesting :Beware of your thoughts
In the book it became apparent that thoughts become things rather swiftly sometimes. Looking back at my life I realized that my thought patterns manifested many of the difficult situations I encountered. The easiest way for me to explain this is the expression “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”.
During periods of my life when I surrounded myself with people who had negative out looks on life I had the negative things happen. The same with spending time with positive thinkers. When I met my husband he was filled with positive thoughts and infinite possibilities . I did have to release my marriage as well, I didn’t realize that the positivity from the beginning masked a narcissist and empath co-dependent situation that unfolded slowly over years.
Making Peace
Taking the time to reconnect with Nature makes peace in my life. Restoring and renewing my inner nature. Peace comes when I flow with the energy of the world rather than resist it. I am an observer of the energy now and watch it harmonize with my environment.
If you are highly sensitive or have a loved one who is, I hope you gain a better understanding outside of what the medical community may explain to you. In any situation their is always the unseen and the not proven. We were not meant to live a life of continuous pain. Pain is an indication there is something we are not addressing.
A Highly sensitive empath in constant emotional turmoil because of energy sensitivity can succumb to many ailments.
We are spiritual beings living a human existence, it is important to examine how the body , mind and spirit connect in any situation to receive true healing and the ability to easily function in this chaotic world.
Examine your life , where is a high sensitivity causing you pain?
Is there a way you could shift this pain by being an observer?
Are all the feelings you have really coming from you?
How do you find peace?
I challenge you to seek the answers to these questions, it is there that peace and authenticity will be found and your pain will diminish.
Love and Blessings,