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Often labeled as highly sensitive people, dare I speak for all of my fellow empaths when I say, it’s complicated.

MUST READ: Relax, Relate, Release! 10 Ways To Improve Your Mental Health In 2020

Mercury is in retrograde and life has been hitting hard from all angles. When you’re an empath, your campsite begins to feel a bit overcrowded when everyone starts pitching their emotional tents around you. 

Empathy is the ability to share, understand and feel the emotions of others within their own framework or lens. You are able to step into the shoes of other people to gain a better understanding of their feelings, as well as your own, while using it as guidance and practice for further actions.  While I can go on about the types of empathy, how it starts, and how to care for yourself, that can become a whole new conversation. For now, here’s a guide to identifying whether or not you – or someone you know – may be a highly empathetic person.

You Possess Intense Spiritual/Intuitive Experiences

As an empath, your mind, body and spirit are often aligned as one, which allows you to practice better judgment. Even when you doubt it, your gut is rarely ever wrong and you have a strong sense of precognition, knowledge or site. Your first impressions are pretty spot-on that it’s scary. You are a multi-sensory being in every sense of the word and very spiritually attuned. You can most likely tell when someone is lying and your inner intuition is your best guide to problem solving.

The Weather Affects Your Mood

If you’re anything like me, the weather may be one of your biggest enemies. You have an unexplainable sensitivity to drastic changes in weather and sunlight, or lack thereof. Seasonal Affective Disorder (also known as SAD) is a real thing for you. Ever heard of “winter blues”? This is Layman’s terms for SAD, meaning that you become depressed, tired, unfocused and occasionally irritable during the winter because the nights are colder and the days are shorter. You also may experience hypersensitivity to light and noise. Does this sound like you?

You Absorb The Emotions Of Others Like A Sponge

This is the most common sign of being an empath, but often misconstrued because people believe that this the sole trait necessary for qualification. When you’re an empath, taking on the emotions of other people is a dangerous superpower you probably wish you could give back. A blessing and a curse, if you will. You deeply feel the emotions of others, and absorb to the point where you take on happiness, sadness, anxiety, grief or excitement as though it were your own. It’s possible that you can mistake the feelings of others for your own.

You Are Easily Drained By Negative Energies and Auras

Being annoyed, irritated or down-right pissed off are all normal emotions when dealing with negative vibes from family, friends, co-workers, etc.. When you’re an empath, it drains you almost as though your brain just ran a 5k. Negative people are your kryptonite, and watching others suffer from bullying, grief or embarrassment can cause physical ailment to your own body. Have you ever caught yourself turning from news junkets, sad movies or any type of television programming because there was too much violence, tragedy or loss for you to handle?

You Feel The Need To Rescue Everyone

I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. For everyday people, this is easy advice to follow. For empaths, it’s one of our biggest downfalls. No matter how hard you try, you’re unable to detach yourself from someone in need, even if it’s for the betterment of your emotional and mental wellbeing. You put the needs and feelings of others in front of your own so often that it becomes habitual and your exhaustion is routine. You feel drawn to help others, which is probably why you’re attracted to people who are lost, have experienced trauma, or “broken-winged birds.”

You Have To Socially Recharge In Order To Function

As an empath, you feel the emotions of others, strive to help everyone and are instantly drained by negativity. You also have to take social hiatuses in order to keep yourself balanced otherwise your ship will sink faster than it’ll float. At times, you’ll find it hard to share your personal space because your mind is already cluttered with thoughts, feelings and emotions that you want something that you have control over. You require solitude and quiet time to be integrated into your daily routine and large groups of people can be overwhelming at times because there are too many energies in the room. Peace be still, my sister.

People Come To You For Advice All The Time

As empaths, we can take on the emotions of others which in turn would make us great social workers, guidance counselors and therapists. Unfortunately, because of our hidden power, we are able to give sound and practical advice to those in need due to our emotional shapeshifting abilities. Family members, friends, significant others or complete strangers may ask you for your advice on more important decisions such as career changes, ending a relationship or moving to another location. Those who are in your inner circle see you as “the practical one” and will oftentimes unload on you with their larger secrets and life dilemmas.

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7 Signs You’re An Empath  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com