posted April 23, 2010 04:48 PM         

it can be quite overwhelming.

yesterday i was conversing with someone who was very sad, and sadness flooded my very soul so deeply. i know they felt better later that day, so i think i literally took it from them.

it isn't symathy, it is empathy, i think. it happens quite often.

posted April 23, 2010 05:10 PM         

Mostly I think just have to keep remembering to stop trying to 'heal' people, because it's like I'll find myself unconsciously going for it automatically. I try grounding and centering, but sometimes i get all caught up in some weird empathy loop and can't separate my own feelings from another person's and just have to go off alone, take a walk, or even bake lol

posted April 23, 2010 06:31 PM         

I've struggled with this all my life & it was so bad that I thought I was going crazy along with the need to 'save' everyone. It can't be done cpn.

posted April 24, 2010 12:39 PM         

A number of years ago, a very good psychic picked up on this about me and she said I am like a sponge and absorb other people's everything. She said to picture everything I absorb from others going right through me (picture a drain or tube letting it all pour out).

Now it's easier for me to detach and be an observer to other's rants or moods and walk away unaffected.

posted April 24, 2010 01:40 PM         

I will have a think about how I do it and let you know. It might just be the kind of person I am - I can be very closed when I want to be.

posted April 24, 2010 02:23 PM         

i know when people read me. i know other empaths. i know when someone is lying and i know when someone reads me too. i have had it all my life and didnt know what it was. the healing, i didnt get until i was 26. it was like electricity went through my hands when i was in church and since then God heals through me, through hands on. i hesitant to use it but have a few times and only told the one person what happened. the others probobly dont understand what happened.. but the empathy thing is even at a distance. 3,000 miles that i know for sure.

thank God now i know why i cant go to kroger. i pay someone to go to kroger for me, shop online and only go to very small markets. and one of my children for sure, and my mother very strong, only her energy is a bit different, she knows God tells her things, and i guess he does..and i understand her isolation. i think its genetic. now i need to study it and learn how to turn it off or something sometimes.

posted April 24, 2010 04:07 PM         

Mentors are artists of encouragement. They possess an unseen spirit of affirming and positive energy. This arises out of a sense of loneliness and a sense of being different.
They are virtuous and good stewards, trusting and trustworthy, empathetic, nonjudgemental and authentic.
They are change agents and need at least one trusted colleague for support. Many leaders shoulder alone and this is stressful. Productive mentors are congruent, they are who they purport to be. They have a self-actualizing temperament, a superior perception of reality, an increased acceptance of self, others, and nature.
They are solution oriented. They exercise increased detachment & autonomy.
Forging an authentic, unbounded life is a process, not an event.
Show me your mentors, I'll show you who you are.
One first becomes successful inwardly.
One should question what's the best use of his or her time now?
Give no attention to toxic, manipulative people.
Express truths and values in a sufficiently beautiful way.
Have affinity with kindred spirits.
Pick up own cross and tackle life's challenges as necessary and fitting.

Signs of Productive Mentors
1. They affirm life & further it's potential
2. They enter into authentic dialogue and are genuine and emotionally available.
3. They set clear boundaries for self and others.
4. They stabilize people in a continuity of effort (they are grounded)

Creative types experience:
isolation (ideas & perceptiveness)
keen sensitivity/ability to empathize
natural curiosity and love of discovery
tendency to follow hunches to see where intuition leads
a need to re-create oneself

posted April 24, 2010 04:14 PM         

I apologize if you already have this info. I've got to find my notebook with HSP & empath research.

posted April 24, 2010 04:40 PM         

Need a set routine - diet, exercise, meditation, prayer, rest and sleep.
Are very pourous "have no skin"
Image self as a pipe to flow through for healing.

Entity Contamination Release -
Dear God, I ask that all souls, energy patterns and entities be sent on their spiritual evolution for the highest good and mutual benefit of everyone concerned.

Image your auric shield moving & flowing.

*** Myself personally, I like that philosophy pray and let go. I try not to repeat the "same" prayer over and over as this reflects doubt and impatience and tends to drag me back down.

posted April 24, 2010 04:42 PM         

Something I do that may be a form of shielding: I see "people" (this is to include their energy, "space," etc, so in a surrealistic sense) as flowing around me, like there's an indestructible bubble around me. At the very least this is a psychological trick to remember my space so people don't walk over me, and when people enter my "space," they virtually always change a little (though I catch my posture and like changing in response, too, which I'm sure also has an affect).

One day I plan to experiment by letting that shield down and just letting everything flow through me...but right now I'm just not willing to take that chance. And I still remember vividly the guy who spread I had a demon in me after I read his mind back when I was 14 (by his own admission, saying I was responding to what he was thinking rather than what he was saying).

posted April 24, 2010 07:10 PM         

CPN - the same for me - I sense peoples energy, I recognise changes in energy which means I know that something is wrong (they are lying, they are scared, I have said something that upset them etc etc........). It can be both a blessing and a curse in an office environment. Like you, I pick it up from certain people here as well - but is that a honed perception/instinct? I think I get it from the way they respond to things, rather than any sixth sense?? I tend not to respond, as I think people often don't recognise it in themselves, the last thing they want is someone else pointing it out?

BTW - you recognised it in me a few weeks back, and was the one person that really helped. I conquered a demon and moved on light years. His response when I was singing MC Hammer in my head? He turned the air conditioning up and said 'ice ice baby'!

posted April 24, 2010 08:02 PM         

I'm empathic to the extreme - Pisces Moon in the 3rd Conj IC, Neptune in the 1st & Chiron conj South node. I'm not going to go into detail, but it's something that I've utilised with previous jobs & it's also affected my relationships. I'm no longer a 'sponge', it took a lot of effort to prevent this from happening, but was well worth it.

Empaths are so sensitive & naturally feel things on a deeper level than most....it's beautiful quality once one can manage it.

The actions that have helped me are:

- Only associating with people who are good for me.(sounds selfish, but it's vital for my wellbeing)

- Consciously shielding my energy field - It's 2nd nature now.

- Being assertive

- Not getting swept into other peoples dramas

- Grounding & clearing my energy

- Self healing with Reiki

The following audiobook has helped me in the past, it's a must for empaths and sensitives it's called: Positive Energy Practices: How to Attract Uplifting People and Combat Energy Vampires by Judith Orloff

Hope this helps.

posted April 24, 2010 08:50 PM         

What Deliverance said here is the first step that will give instant results for you.

quote:

---

Consciously shielding my energy field - It's 2nd nature now

---

Here is a technique that I am giving a workshop on soon called the Eggshell Technique.

http://www.angelslove.net/protection_clearing_releasing.htm

I cannot recommend this enough cpn. You should be aware that the first time will take a bit of effort but afterwards you might find that it only takes 2 minutes to maintain.

Love you

posted April 25, 2010 11:46 AM         

- Only associating with people who are good for me.(sounds selfish, but it's vital for my wellbeing)

- Consciously shielding my energy field - It's 2nd nature now.

- Being assertive

- Not getting swept into other peoples dramas

- Grounding & clearing my energy

- Self healing with Reiki
**
I have been really avoiding negative people in the last few years, including a few friends that just drained me, for some reason.

good suggestions everyone - thatnks.

spanky - i love you too, i will check out the link.

eskimoo - i wanted to make you feel better - pa used to do that for me with her humor quite often, one reason i love her.

reiki is something i am interested in.

dervish - i can see how that would happen. sinstinctive survival, been there too.

thanks again for all of your imput everyone.

very helpful suggestions