We are all born with the ability to sense emotions in others. It’s is a basic survival skill for humans and animals. This ability usually subsides in childhood as we learn to focus more on verbal cues than emotional ones.

Empaths, on the other hand, have a heightened sensitivity to other people’s emotions that keeps developing over time. As other kids stop picking up emotional signals, Empath children become totally overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of emotional information that they receive in social settings.

Since most parents do not know if they are Empaths, they don’t recognize the signs in their kids. It also prevents them for effectively teaching their kids how to manage emotional overflow. For a more in depth discussion on resources for adult Empaths, you can read my articles on this topic here.

Emotional Intelligence is defined as “the ability, capacity, or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, of others, and of groups” (Salovey and Mayer, 1990).  When you teach your children how to manage their Empath skills, you are developing their Emotional Intelligence.

Children have a different way of handling their Empath abilities. Their range of available response is smaller, so they typically pick very quiet (as a way to calm down the emotional chaos they feel) or acting out (as a way to be louder than the emotional noise).

Keep in mind that children learn how to manage their Empath abilities by watching you handle yours. If you’re an Empath but don’t know how to handle it, get help for yourself first!

These are behaviors I have observed in Empath children who don’t know how to handle their abilities:

• Gets unusually quiet (often seen as shyness) around crowds but is fine with the immediate family or smaller groups. Your child is trying to feel empowered and centered by withdrawing from the
  world.

• Gets physically or verbally out of control around people but is mellow at home. Your child is trying to find an outlet to the overwhelming flow of incoming emotions.

• Resists going to bed or wakes up often. Your child is trying to stay centered while surrounded by the emotional activity of adults.

• Catches every illness available (cold, flu, ear infections, etc.). Your child is trying to feel empowered in shutting down unwanted emotional activity. Being sick is often the only way a child can use to withdraw from social situations.

Disclaimer: This checklist is not a diagnostic or treatment tool. I am not a doctor or a mental health professional. Some of the characteristics of Empaths can be diagnosed as ADD, agoraphobia or clinical depression. Contact your health care professional if you have any questions, need diagnostic or treatment for a mental health issue.

There are three fundamental concepts that need to be addressed in order to effectively manage emotional information.

1. Empowerment: Do you control your Empath skills or do they control you (curse or blessing?)

2. Centeredness: Can you always hear your own internal self above all (raise above the chaos)

3. Flow: Does emotional information come in AND out freely (do you have an outlet?)

In order to help your child, you need tools that address each of these concepts.
This is a technique I developed with my son which does just this. It makes him feel empowered by giving him something to do when he is overwhelmed, allows him to focus on himself and helps him release other people’s emotions as he breathes out.

Empath Anchoring Technique:

When your child gets overwhelmed, she often just needs a point of reference to stay grounded. You can be that anchor.

1. Calm your own emotions. You can’t be a positive anchor if you’re upset or angry.

2. Tell her quietly “Look me in the eyes” (point to your eyes) and put your hand on her chest. Make sure you have eye contact for the next step!

3. Tell her “We’re going to take 5 breaths together and count them”. Let your child breathe however she wants. You’re just accompanying her, counting out loud with each exhalation.

Breathing quiets down emotional noise, re-centers the mind and helps children feel empowered by having something they can do when they feel uncomfortable. Include Empath anchoring it in your night time routine!

By Elise Lebeau, M.Sc.

More resources for empaths at http://www.EliseLebeau.com/empath

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Empaths child empath, emotional intelligence, empath tools, empathic children, empaths, is my child empath

A Guest Post by Misuchi

When I say shapeshifting you might think about someone who can change into an animal, or take on the characteristics of an animal.

You might think about werewolves and werecats, popularized in stories and movies. Turning into a werewolf is called lycanthropy. This means that the person takes on the physical aspects of a wolf or a cat, or some other creature.

It has been a shamanic practice for eons, though most Shamans do not take on the physical aspects of the animals, except on an astral level. They morph within that plane of existence to better work with spirits and healing practices.

But physical shapeshifting is slightly different than what we are talking about here. It is, shall we say, a more primal type of shapeshifting compared to Empathic Shapeshifting, which is the topic of the blog.
Read more…

Empaths empaths

There are many ways to cleanse yourself of negative energy and/or emotions which have accumulated after helping others. There are meditations, stones, smudgings, salt baths……and many more.

This particular technique can be done anywhere and at any time. It takes only a minute to do. But at best, it is only a quick fix for momentary relief.

An example would be taking on the negative emotions of a friend at work who was reprimanded. Since you are at work and can not leave immediately to go and cleanse yourself, this would be a viable alternative until you were able to get someplace to cleanse yourself.

The Technique

Close your eyes. Picture your chakras full of swirling energy. Imagine the heart chakra in your minds eye. The heart chakra is the base of emotion. Now imagine a flower (I prefer to picture a lotus blossom) blooming out of the core that is your heart chakra. See the flower in detail. See the center of the flower and imagine pushing out all of that negative energy. Picture black gas( no fart jokes please) being pushed out of the flower’s center and dissipating into nothingness in he air.

The reason this works is because chakras are energy portals. If they can take in energy, then they can also release energy.

And again, this is only one technique among many. And it may not suit everyone all the time.

Oh and what does this have to do with empathic perspective? Well think about it. We consider ourselves sponges of all emotions and types of energy. But if you flip the coin, changing your perspective of the same situation, you can also rid yourself of those emotions very easily.

A Guest Post by Mishuchi

PS: Would you like to submit a guest post? You can! Just contact Elise

Empaths empaths, releasing negative energy

A year ago, a created a web site for Empaths called “The Empath Community“.  At the time, I thought there would be a handful of people who’d join and we’d exchange tips and stories about the trials and tribulations involved in this mind boggling experience.

Today, I looked at the Where are u?
map that shows the location of our members as little dots on a world map…And I admit it, tears poured
out as I saw the world literally light up with Empaths dots!

It warms my heart to see so many answer the call and step forward to say:
Yes, I’m an Empath (…and I’m not crazy dammit! LOL).

I cannot express in words our grateful I am that you are here.
Every self aware Empath is such a blessing to our world. I feel
profoundly moved by your courage to step forward and embrace who you
truly are, no matter what others might think about this.

In amazing love,
Elise
Professional Intuitive
www.EliseLebeau.com

Empaths empath community, empaths

Empaths have a natural ability to sense not only their own
but also the emotions of others. This innate skill can be observed in
babies. This ability usually subsides in childhood as we learn to focus
more on verbal cues than emotional ones.

But for some people, the flow of emotional information just keeps
coming. This can lead to powerful internal conflicts as they pick up
incoherent verbal and emotional messages from people (such as when
someone lies or suppresses anger). It can also quickly become
overwhelming in social settings where the sheer quantity of emotional
information can be too much to handle.

Emotional Intelligence is defined as "the ability, capacity,
or skill to perceive, assess, and manage the emotions of one’s self, of
others, and of groups" (Salovey and Mayer, 1990). Developing your
Emotional Intelligence means that you have tools and processes to manage this emotional data.

Are you an Empath? 

1. Do you feel anxious or nervous in a crowd (4+ people)?
2. Does your mood vary seemingly at random (getting angry or sad for no apparent reason)
3. Do you feel a change in your physical energy level when you’re in a crowd (tired, wired)
4. Do you have a hard time falling asleep before midnight or do you procrastinate going to bed?
5. Do you have physical symptoms that related to hearing (ringing, popping, itching in the ear)?
6. Do you feel emotionally uncomfortable when someone touches or is close to you? 

  Disclaimer:
This checklist is not a diagnostic nor treatment tool. Some of the
characteristics of Empaths can be diagnosed as ADD, agoraphobia or
clinical depression. Contact your health care professional if you have
any questions, need diagnostic or treatment for a mental health issue.   Empath Resources

Fortunately, there are more and more online resources available for
Empaths. Unfortunately, most of these resources suggest a process that
is likely to make things worst for you! Any kind of "protective mental
shield" is based on the assumption that emotional information is
threatening. If you go down that path, you will have to "defend"
yourself for the rest of your life. How exhausting does that sound?

My work is result-based: if it works, keep doing it! As an Empath,
these are the 3 tools I find most effective to manage the flow of
emotional information I receive constantly. Try them out and see for
yourself which one works best for you.

• Being Transparent:

When we feel
threatened by our surroundings, we become physically tense and our our
energy field (the magnetic field that wraps around our body) becomes
dense and constricted.

When you notice this tension, imagine that your energy field is
expanding, like a gas. The particles are getting more and more spaced
out, making your energy field thinner and much bigger. As your energy
field becomes looser, emotions go right through you, like a rock
falling through water. Instead of being caught in your dense energy
field, the emotions of others will simply flow through you.

• Adjust the Volume: 

Sometimes the
noise from other people’s emotions gets so loud that we can’t hear
ourselves think! We get confused, hesitant, frustrated. Close your eyes
and imagine two volume dials in front of you that go from 0 to 10. One
says "Me" and the other says "Everything else". Turn the "Me" dial to
10, and the "Everything else" dial to 0. Instantly, your mind will
respond to this request and the chatter will calm down.

• Progressive Affirmations:   

Progressive
affirmations can help you build up to where you want to be. Keep in
mind that affirmations must ALWAYS feel good in order to be effective.
So start at the "easiest" affirmation and say it for a few days. When
you feel ready, move on to the next level for a few days until you can
say the "top" affirmation while feeling good.

1. "I am willing to master my Empath abilities"   
2. "I am ready to master my Empath abilities" 
3. "I am choosing to master my Empath abilities"

Keep in mind that practice makes perfect. Try doing it in your head
before you throw yourself in a tough situation (such as the mall or a
party).

Once you are comfortably managing your Empath skills, you are ready
to move on and develop your Emotional Intelligence by productively
using emotional data in your daily life.

Empaths are you an empath, emotional intelligence, empath resources, empaths, what to do if you are en empath