If you have an Empath in your life who is just learning of their abilities, or a seasoned Empath on your paranormal or spiritual team, the below definitions and instructions will help you understand just what an Empath is, and how your Empath can cope with the world around them.

The reason for this article is that many Empaths work among and with paranormal researchers and investigators. It is pertinent that the Empath know of their abilities and shield themselves thus so when dealing with spirits. Ghosts and spirits can drain an Empaths energies and vital-ness to the point of over-exhaustion and, even to the point of bringing on physical illness.

The World Book dictionary's definition of the word "empathist" is: A person who maintains rapport with others through empathy.

The etymology is derived from the Greek word "emp'atheia," meaning, "en" = in + "p'athos" = feeling.

An Empath is someone who can feel other people's emotions as their own...Empaths literally feel what other people feel. Empathy isn't just a relation to a person, place, or thing, but a bond formed of psychic feelings and impressions. An empath is blessed and cursed with the ability to form that bond, made up purely of feelings with another person, place, or thing.

Some of the abilities that are empathic staples are as follows:

1. Heightened (stronger) emotions.
2. Comprehensive understanding over a broad scope of (if not all) emotions.
3. Capacity for want/need of self-sacrifice - giving, basically.
4. Excellent communicatory abilities.
5. "Dreaming."
6. Pre-cognition.
7. Emotion reception.

Empaths are all about feelings. They can pick up feelings from others about things, experiences, and, some say, thoughts, through that bond. It comes as first nature for an Empath...so natural in fact, that often an untrained Empath has no control over this ability thus doing it involuntarily.

Empaths carry this great responsibility as best as they can which is both a gift and a burden. Often, being an Empath makes the individual into a loner due to their powers, for society does not understand their very special gifts.

Being an Empath means living a life where you face not only your pain, but the pain of others as well. Being an Empath is being in a position to be able to help those that seem often beyond help, because Empaths can experience their anguishes which most others could never understand.

Luckily, the same can be said of the Empath experiencing other's good times and feelings of happiness and cheerfulness too.
It is said that Empaths have very rich (if occasionally eccentric) personalities, flairs for the dramatic, senses of character, and strongly rooted codes of honor, morality, and humanity. Empaths usually make wonderful healers, feelers, listeners, speakers, writers, poets, romantics, and visionaries....Empaths are all these things and so much more.

The only three downfalls that Empaths possess with consistency are as follows...

1. Being tortured by the pain they feel from others, through the bond they form. Empaths with heightened emotions can sometimes feel someone else's pain, even stronger than the person who's experienced it first-hand.
2. Being misunderstood by others for their abilities, for being different, which is often caused by the effect that empathy has on an Empaths personality. And being misunderstood by others for seeming too good to be true.
3. This is a sad truth, but Empaths (who have a deeper understanding, sense, and capacity of and for love) more often than not, have the hardest time finding someone who can love them. Empaths can love so deeply and so quickly that they can scare the other person off - sometimes being accused of obsessiveness or fake feelings. This is because an Empath, by virtue of their gift, can cut down the amount of time it takes to know someone emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. What might take years to others can take only weeks or days for an Empath. To an Empath they feel they've known and loved you for years.

But the truth still stands that love is their biggest weakness. Empaths are often doomed to be able to do all they want except to be with someone who can not only accept them for what, and who, they are but also be able to return that which Empaths command with un-equaled grace and ease...love.

These issues aside, Empaths are the owners and guardians of a great power. Empaths are wards to a knowledge that only our archetype possesses.

The next section helps the Empath to keep their environment (themselves) safe and stable as being an Empath can be physically and emotionally draining.

The following can help Empaths who:

1. Feel emotionally or physically overwhelmed in crowds.
2. Feel the weight of the world on your shoulders.
3. Have random mood swing (angry, sad, scared, etc.) that have nothing to do with your current life situation(s).
4. Have a hard time falling asleep before midnight or procrastinate going to bed
5. Have physical symptoms that related to hearing (ringing, popping, itching in the ear canal).
6. Feel emotionally uncomfortable when having sex (anxious, no sex drive, angry)

Or.....

1. Can feel what other people are feeling, even if they're not in your physical presence.
2. Spontaneously know what people need to hear/do to feel better.
3. Have others gravitate to you because people find it easy to confide in you.

Coping Tips for Empaths

Develop Your Shield Body

Around your physical body, there is a layer of your aura that is devoted to your interface with your environment. Its shape and condition indicate your relationship to your world. People who are Empaths often have a "thin skin" in relation to their shield body. When it has holes in it, we are more easily influenced by our environment. Visualize a shield of energy around your physical body. See it as being radiant and complete. You may see it as a particular color. Some people like to see it as white or gold. Decide what color would work well for you, and see it that way. Imagine the shield body as flowing and moving, not static. We are developing a shield here, not armor. It is good for it to be flexible, so you can let in what serves you, and keep out what doesn't. Snap your fingers to hold it in place. Do this exercise regularly.

Center of Being

Once you have the shield body in place, imagine that there is a spark in the center of your being that is your pure essence. Focus your attention on the spark, bring all your senses to bear. Also be aware of your sensations, emotions and thoughts.

First try this when you are alone, and then, after a time, practice it around others. See if you can switch your awareness from your environment to yourself, and back again. Notice the difference between the two.

Don't Take On Responsibilities That Aren't Yours

A person can get so used to care taking that they can feel as though they are supposed to do it. You are not. It is good to be as compassionate as possible without going beyond the limits of what you need to do to maintain your health and sanity. You are responsible up to that line, and not beyond it.

If you are an Empath, your idea of where the line is might be a bit fuzzy. Once you get to know where the line is, try to stick to it. It will make all your relationships clearer and cleaner.

Get Used To Being the Bad Guy

Empaths are often outwardly kind and caring. They usually get the benefit of everyone thinking that they are almost saintly sometimes. It is easy to get attached to being the "nice guy." It is not easy dealing with people's negative emotions, but care-taking others does not ultimately serve them or you. It does not help them to protect them from their feelings. It keeps them from growing up.

Besides, it's not real. It's much better to live in reality than a padded reality. Yes, they may get angry or sad at you or with you if you don't do what they want you to do, but it is important to remember that their feelings are not your feelings, and your well-being is not dependent on their wellbeing.

Develop Your Throat Chakra

Sometimes an Empath will know what they need to say or do to make good boundaries, but have a hard time following through in expressing it. The throat chakra is the center for the expression of personal truth. Through the opening of the throat chakra, we open ourselves to expressing our true needs and feelings, as well as expressing the creative force as it moves through us.

Some good exercises for opening the throat chakra are singing and chanting, sharing your feelings and thoughts with friends, and meditating on the throat chakra.

Some healing stones that help with the throat chakra are chrysocolla, turquoise, lapis lazuli, amazonite, and blue lace agate. You can meditate with them, put them in a medicine bag, or wear jewelry (particularly necklaces).

Develop Your Root Chakra

The root chakra helps us to deal with being fully in the world. When the root chakra is open, we are fully grounded and present with whatever is coming our way. When it is not open, we can be dissociative, fearful, and have difficulty staying present with what is going on. Opening and healing the root chakra helps us to release the fears that keep us from our highest manifestation within form.

Some exercises that help to open the root chakra are:

• Imagine you are sending roots down into the earth from your base. Imagine you can breathe in and out of your root center. On the inhale, breathe in energy from the earth. On the exhale, release any thing that is within you that does not serve you out of the root center and into the Earth.

Some healing stones that you might find helpful are:

• obsidian
• hematite
• red jasper

Smudging and Clearing Regularly

Whether you are having difficulty with your empathic abilities or not, it is a good idea to smudge yourself regularly to release other people's energy and influence from your energy body. Smudging is a way to clear your energy by waving incense around your body. Sage, copal, frankincense, and Palo Santo are all recommended.

Other good clearing methods are: showering, bathing and spending time in solitude.

Take a Clary Sage Bath

This is the single most effective thing you can do to clear all that emotional funk away. And I do mean bath - a shower doesn't permeate in the same manner. You don't need candles or anything else, just a nice hot bath and some privacy. Give it a good 15 minutes and you will feel much, much better. I recommend it before going to bed, as you can carry all that crap through your sleep and still wake up with it, otherwise. If you can't find sage bubble bath, its ok, anything will work.

Breathe

Wherever you are, stop what you're doing for 5 minutes and just breathe. You should be inhaling through the nose and from the diaphragm. Slowly. And then you should be exhaling slowly, through the lips - don't just open your mouth and blow it all out. Pretend you're blowing on a cup of hot coffee; that's the kind of blowing you want.

Slow and steady.

Imagine that each time you inhale you are drawing all that crap up to the surface, and then expelling it when you exhale. If you practice, that will be precisely what you learn to do, eventually. Do not overdo it initially - deep breathing can release all kinds of emotional junk you weren't previously cognizant of, and that will just make you feel worse. Really, really worse. So take it slow until you're more skilled at it. A few deep breaths are enough when you're just learning.

The Thin Veil Investigators Team is an independent Ghost Hunting group, based in Carson City, Nevada, U.S.A. We research and explore possible paranormal activity in houses, businesses, objects, and many other public and private sites and locations. Click Here for more info.

References:

http://healing.about.com/cs/empathic/a/uc_empathtraits.htm
http://www.drjudithorloff.com/Free-Articles/emotional-empath-EF.htm
http://empaths.livejournal.com/43504.html
http://www.eliselebeau.com/

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