How To Know If You Are An Empath

em·path noun — a person with the paranormal ability to apprehend the mental or emotional state of another individual.

Published in

Thrive Global

8 min readFeb 17, 2018

Where I grew up no one gave me the language of an empath. I knew nothing of the sort. Did you? My soul spoke to me so deeply but I lacked the thought form matter language to understand a such a way of life and knowing. I love being an empath and as I explore it more and more through this journey of life; I feel an important moment to share with you.

Recently my music partner, who is an empath as well, shared this compelling thought provoking article with me. I had it recorded by Nicky Scorpio of The Sophisticated Psychos. I hope it helps on your guided journey of life, knowing self, allowing, and understanding the beauties, gems and gifts we have been given.

Listen here.

FUN FACTS: This article was found in Venture Inward Magazine

The author is Kala Ambrose — her website is Explore Your Spirit

For over 25 years I’ve offered psychic services in almost every type of situation possible to clients around the world, from consultations involving relationships and life goals, to questions regarding health and wealth, to viewing auras and the Akashic records to seeing future trends.
As I teach others to tap into these incredible abilities themselves, the most challenging, healing, and rewarding aspect of this mystical journey has been my experience as an empath.
Many people say they “have empathy” and they can “empathize” with what’s happening to someone. Feeling empathy though, is not the same as being an empath. Empathetic people are not necessarily empaths. When asked, I explain the difference in this way:
Empaths feel the emotions of every person they are around, whether they want to or not. They may not even like the person who’s emotions they are feeling, or care what is going on in a particular circumstance or argument. They may completely disagree with the person who is emitting strong energy, but they still feel all of the associated emotions.
They don’t have a choice to care or not to care, though in general most empaths are very sympathetic and caring, and deeply want to help people feel better. In addition, empaths are strongly affected by watching TV shows that portray people in pain and suffering, to the point that they can feel the same discomfort in their body.
I ask a person; do you feel empathy in this way, even for a person that you don’t care for or when you watch a medical show? They quickly see the difference between empathizing and being an empath.
When empaths enter a room they are surrounded by the energy of everyone present. It’s like swimming through energy, and the more people in the room, the thicker it feels, especially if anyone is feeling upset and emotional. The difference in emotional intensity can range from feeling like we are floating in a pool of water with a few fish swimming around, to being pulled under a title wave during a tsunami.
As a child with empath abilities, I found the mood of others difficult to deal with, as it was challenging to discern which emotions belong to others and which were mine. This was before I understood what this was and how to protect myself from waves of emotion over taking me at four instance, holiday gatherings and in large crowds, I didn’t know any better, so the emotions would flood into me to the point that I would become physically ill. For years, It was a topic of discussion in my home, as my mother would share with the rest of the family how she couldn’t understand why every Christmas I would become ill with a stomach ache and flu like symptoms.
She remarked that while most children were excited about Christmas, it appeared to have a reverse effect on me. I would grow weaker until becoming ill. What she didn’t understand, and what I couldn’t explain, was that I was beyond excited about Christmas. I love all the holidays. What was making me ill was being surrounded by a large number of people who are stressed out and worried about paying bills, hung over, dealing with infidelity and other secrets fighting with spouses and family members, and feeling the million other stresses that adulthood brings. Being in one house with all of these people for several days and with no place to retreat, I couldn’t shut off all the emotions, and subsequently it toxified my System until I shut down.
As an adult, I learned how to handle this energy and to transmute it into positive experiences. In fact, I daresay now, that being an empath is something like having a super power!
Empaths, you are here for an important reason, and the time is now to awake into your spiritual gift. Learn how to handle this energy so that it does not feel overwhelming. This ability offers enormous potential to do great good in the world. But, anything this powerful requires preparation and practice in order to direct the energy appropriately.
The first step is to visualize a strong energy grid around your aura and see it filled with massive amounts of white light energy, so that you can do the type of work described above and so much more.
Think of your and empathic gift as the pearl in the oyster. The pearl is created because a grain of sand was deposited into the oyster and the irritation the oyster feels causes it to cover this grain of sand with layers of mineral substance to protect itself. The end result of this invasive interaction is a beautiful pearl. The challenging aspects that you feel as an empath when emotions enter your auric field are very similar. These experiences are guiding you to build a strong aura, so that you can direct your positive energy to do great good. Yes, I’m saying you are a pearl, and, in fact, I recommend to all empaths that they wear pearls, as they are our talisman.
Now that you know what impacts are capable of, do please work to heighten your own empathic abilities and awake into your highest potential for the greatest good!
Here are some of the benefits and some methods for dealing with energies that I found in my work as a psychic medium and an empath. Most people possess at least some of these abilities;
Empaths might feel the seasons and the holidays. When I say feel, I mean sensing the earth as the seasons change, feeling fall in the air before it turns, and the pent up energy in early spring as the bulbs under the earth and leaves in the trees are ready to burst into bloom. Empaths might enjoy a sensual and sensory experience of people, places, nature, and things that not every one will ever know.
Though that ability also comes with the challenge of picking up so many different emotions from people, empaths can also develop the skill to release this energy and transform it, releasing it from their auric body and back into nature by entering a pool of water, standing in a waterfall, splashing in the waves, digging their toes in the sand, bringing in the energy of a storm to cleanse there aura, standing outside while the wind blows around them or releasing stagnant energy at night under the moon.
Empaths can create interior design that evokes the feeling and emotions that people long to feel expressed in their home or office, through color, decor, and furniture placement. They might feel what the person wants to create an experience and bring it to life for them in their surroundings. It’s an immersive experience.
Empaths can emanate positive energy and bring that loving spirit into their homes to share with family and guests. From intimate gatherings to gatherings of hundreds of people together, empathic abilities allow one to tap into what the global consciousness is expressing and then transform it into an environment that helps people feel happy, warm, and secure.
Empaths can heal others at the soul level, helping them with grief and pain.
Recently I was reminded of this possibility in a strong way. I was going through a very stressful time in a situation where I was staying overnight with a group of people, most of whom were strangers to meet. In the midst of this chaos, I sensed that a man in the group was in deep pain from heartbreak. Putting aside my personal situation, I asked if he’d like to share his story with me. As he spoke, I gathered the pain from his aura and released it. Most empaths first realize they have this ability when complete strangers reach out to speak with them about the most personal things. After an encounter with an empath, most people walk away surprised to have found themselves opening up and sharing their deepest thoughts, fears, and secrets to a stranger. But the side effect is one of feeling better by having done so. This is the superpower that impacts can have. They are able to gather and transmute emotional energy. Empaths can harness and hold the energy others express in a white light field, which allows people to express their emotions and release the pain and fear while the empath gently releases the dissipating emotional droplets back into the earth.
Empaths can see what is coming into someone’s life through what is being created by their thoughts and emotions, and what is blocking them from creating the life they wish to have. Empaths can share with them how these blocks in the emotional and mental fields of their aura, like worry, fear, stress, and anxiety can be transformed into positive energy vibrations of love, peace, joy, and abundance. As an empath with Psychic ability, including the ability to access the Akashic records, one can tap into the person’s higher self to help them see their greatest potential in this lifetime. This is an important moment, as it gives the person the opportunity to release deeply seated, old wounds, and to open up and to embrace their spiritual gifts. This is one of the greatest gifts a person with psychic and empathic ability can give.
Empaths can be aware of the temperature of the world. This is daunting at times as our world is experiencing great upheaval that comes with evolution and change. An empath can tap into global consciousness and send love, light, and joy back into the world, filling it with positive energy. This energy then can help nourish the earth, bringing calm to serious situations, and restore areas that have been damaged. This outpouring of love can be felt on an energetic level by people, nature, elementals, and even in other planes of existence.