An empath is an individual who feels very deeply the emotions and energies from other people, places and situations. Empaths are highly sensitive people who emotionally absorb these energies, whether they are positive or negative and tend to hold on to them. Empaths sense and actually take on these feelings as though they were their own and are extremely intuitive. 

Finding out you are an empath can be somewhat of a relief especially if you are continually being told you're ‘far too sensitive’ or have always felt different to others around you and you find that no one understands you because finally you can begin to understand your extreme heightened intuition.

The good news is that you're not alone even though it may feel as though you always have been and always will be. Although it is a very small percentage, less than  2% of the population are empaths but it shows there are others that will fully understand what a blessing and a curse being an empath is.

Being an empath is a rare gift and is often found in people who are more spiritually inclined and once you understand your gift, you can transform not only your own life but the lives of others as well. Many empaths train to become healers, reiki experts, angel therapists or any form of work that embraces spirituality and connecting with a higher source or indeed, a caring profession where you can show genuine compassion. Often empaths can be described as earth angels and will recognise they have a job here on Earth to fulfil.

You can not learn to become an empath nor can you decide you want to be one. A non-empath can not fully appreciate or understand what it is like to be  an empath who sees and feels the world very differently. Empaths are born this way and are empaths for the rest of their life.  Often it may take some time to realise you are an empath but once you do, you need to be able to manage it otherwise it can drain you and cause physical and mental illness due to not yet having a coping mechanism.

Although not too much medical research has gone into what an empath is, the research that has been performed has firmly concluded that empaths are much more likely to have differences in their brains by having hyper sensitive mirroring neurons and are also far more sensitive to the chemicals produced within the brain itself.

Most empaths are loners or introverts yet have such a longing to ‘fit in’ and be accepted so often tend to isolate themselves. Crowded places, conflicts, busy environments, feeling pressured,  arguments and noise can be overwhelming for the empath. They are easily taken advantage of because of their kind, gentle and caring nature and because there's no boundaries up, find it difficult to say no to the demands of others.

Fortunately, there is much that can be done to protect your own energy which is vital and I will discuss this in another post very soon.