Empath Energy Sensitivity: Identifying Emotions

Is it your emotion you are feeling? Or does it belong to someone else?

Learning to differentiate between ‘whose emotion belongs to whom’ certainly proves to be a challenge for an Empath.

Every Empath quickly discovers of their ability to sense the emotional energy in others, but some struggle to distinguish these emotions from their own.

I often get asked questions like: ‘How do I define what I feel in another person?’ or ‘How can I block the emotions coming from others?’

Not understanding what other people’s emotions represent is more common than you might think within the Empath world.

When I was younger (teens and twenties), I did not know I could sense another’s emotions. I thought my own insecurities made me feel uneasy when around certain people. If anyone carried hidden pain, negative energy or anger issues, I felt them as a deep sense of discomfort. Which I wrongly interpreted as being part of my own social hang-ups.

Before I had heard the term “Empath,” I was already working on myself in the mind, body and spirit. But, unbeknownst to me, when I began developing a spiritual practise, as well as striving for balance, I began to sense other people’s energy/emotions more intensely. And it did not feel good. I was later to discover that by developing a spiritual practice it effectively purifies the Empath and speeds up their vibration. Meaning anything of a lower vibration feels awful.

Mystical Woman Composing Photo Montage Fantasy

Lower vibrating energy feels heavy, sticky and dense. This type of energy can bring the Empath down fast. And, for this reason, places where they may have frequented without a problem such as shopping centres, pubs or coffee shops, may become draining and difficult to be in. Even for a short period of time. (The more in balance you become as an Empath the less these denser energies affect you. If you find the opposite to be true you may have leaky aura syndrome. Click here to learn more.)

When I eventually discovered I was an Empath it was an incredible light-bulb moment. Everything about everything I hadn’t understood, about how I felt, now made sense. And the journey into differentiating energy began.

Fast forward some years and the more I developed my intuition and life skills, the more I came to understand what I felt in others. I came to recognize the energy of an untruth, insecurity, angst or grief. But although I became more adept at differentiating the subtleties between emotional energy, I still did not enjoy the way they made me feel.

Other people’s energy can leave an Empath deflated. Even when they know to whom the energy belongs, it still rouses unpleasant sensations.

Generally speaking, when you pick up emotional energy off others, you can interpret it as the emotion you either least enjoy or that which is related to an unresolved issue. And it is common for the energy to stoke up anger or irritation, even if the other is not themselves experiencing this emotion.

Also, if you are one who dislike people in your “personal bubble” you will not welcome their emotional energy either. Others’ energy suddenly showing up, uninvited, in your energy field can feel invasive and claustrophobic. The energy you experience does not have to be negative to stir up negativity; being unsolicited is enough to ignite unpleasant feelings.

It often takes a while for an Empath to learn how not to be affected by the emotional energy of others. And just by being an Empath, does not mean you automatically understand the energy you feel or are able to prevent it from affecting you.

The first steps to take in defining the emotions, lies in your own self-development. Developing your intuition, quieting your mind through some type of meditative practise and striving for balance all help with this.

Building your inner power protects you from digesting the energy of those around you. As already noted, if you have tried the above techniques but still get continuously overwhelmed by the emotional energy of others, or by life in general, you have to consider your chakras and energy field are out of balance (click here to check your symptoms.)

Rebalancing is not an overnight process. You have to put the work in if you want to understand what you are feeling.

An Empath will always feel other people’s emotions at some level. Depending on where you are on your Empath journey will determine how you, or your brain, interprets this energy. It is important that you do not punish yourself, or feel ashamed, if another person’s energy sparks a negative reaction.

When you work on yourself, building your Empath awareness and take steps to re-balance, the way other people’s energy affects you changes in a big way. But no matter how far you have come in your self-development, you are still human. And, no matter how evolved you are, you will always have days when another person’s emotional energy can bring you down and frazzle your circuits.

You may also find the following posts helpful:

Recognizing Psychic Attack

Are You Triggered by Another’s Energy?

10 Ways an Empath Can Protect Themselves From Other People’s Energy