7 Key Ways That Sensitive Empaths Feel Things A Little Differently

If you answered yes to several of these questions, you're probably an empath, someone who is wired to feel not only your own energy and emotions but also the energies and emotions of those around you. Perhaps you were a sensitive child, or you might have awakened to this sensitivity later in life. Below we'll explore the root of your sensitivity and how being an empath makes you a little different from friends, family, and colleagues who are not as sensitive:

You simply have more to process at the end than your less sensitive friend. It can often take sensitive people longer to let their systems idle back into neutral after the stimulation of big events or any interaction where the emotions and energies were high or intense. If you had an action-packed day interacting with lots of people—in person, over Zoom, or over email—indulge in some low-stimulation activities at night like putting together a puzzle with the kids or reading quietly before bed.

Every empath is unique and will have a different threshold for physical stimuli. Your threshold might change throughout your life, depending on your circumstances. You might find a loud and busy hospital overwhelming at first, but six months into the job develop a tolerance to it. Or you might be temporarily unnerved by stimuli—like fast, aggressive music—you used to enjoy because your system is temporarily overwhelmed because your sensitivity is experiencing a growth spurt.

Let roommates, partners, and family members know that physical spaces, and how they are maintained, is important to you. After physical cleanings, perform an energy clearing of your space with a bell, aromatherapy spray, or sage smoke, and see if this helps the vibes. Keep in mind that digital spaces—like certain websites and social media feeds—also affect you.

The cardinal trait of an empath is being naturally wired to feel the energies and emotions of others as the empath's own. If you were a machine, it would be your default setting to tune in to others this way. It's a lovely ability that allows empaths to connect profoundly with the world around them. Yet it can also be very overstimulating if empaths don't learn tools to engage witnessing energy so they can observe others from a more detached, neutral place. In my book Self-Care for Empaths, I give empaths the knowledge and techniques to more mindfully tune in or out of others.

When you can feel someone else's joy or pain in your own system, as if it were your own experience, it can lead you to be quite tenderhearted. Empaths can feel so much, that it's important they learn how to connect with and support themselves so they don't enter burnout. When you are too much in another's emotional experience or all your energy is going out to others, it could eventually make you quite bitter, cranky, and not very compassionate at all! The most compassionate thing an empath can do is to put themselves first—then they'll have more reserves and stamina to be a force of compassion for others. Remember that just because you can feel other people’s emotions does not make you responsible for their emotions, so avoid rescuing, codependency, and people-pleasing. Develop methods for processing your own emotions to stay centered and grounded, so you know what's yours and what is someone else's in emotional territory.

An empath's sensitivity makes them very intuitive. Clairsentience is the psychic pathway of feeling intuitive information—feeling emotions, energies, or even physical sensations—and an empath's go-to, but it's only one of four main psychic pathways. You might also be able to hear intuitive guidance as a gentle voice in your mind (clairaudience), see intuitive guidance as an image in your mind (clairvoyance), or know intuitive guidance as a breakthrough thought or mental download (claircognizance). Know that with practice and understanding, your particular type of intuition can increase dramatically over time.

Develop daily, weekly, and monthly grounding routines that keep you centered in your own energy—like meditating each morning, listening to the same upbeat podcast every week, or meeting a friend for dinner once a month—to feel stable no matter what the collective energy is doing. You can use your sensitivity to collective energy to your advantage to court energy you'd like to experience, like visiting a spiritual center or quiet bookstore when you want to calm down, or sitting at an outdoor beer garden or visiting a dog park when you want to feel more enlivened. Your sensitivity to collective energy could inspire you to become an activist for important causes.