There are many sites and books on being an Empath. Went I started my journey to figure out exactly what this is, I found many insights. Some of them were helpful; many of them were not. One website actually contained a quiz that I could take that asked questions like, “Do you think of a person and then he/she calls you?” and “Do you get a bad feeling in your stomach and then something terrible happens?”. These quizzes did not help. What I am capable of doing/feeling was not really listed or discussed in the blogs and chat rooms, even the helpful ones. I could not find anyone else who seemed to be able to help me with the ability to “feel through” or “read” a person. They also did not help me with the largest piece of the puzzle. Why was I sometimes so right and other times so wrong? The times I was wrong seemed to trump the times I was right and provide undeniable examples that perhaps this was all in my head. But then, when I would be at the height of my “yes, this is all in my mind,” something would happen. I would be in a situation where I was so insanely correct and felt something so deeply that I could not deny that this was real.
The truth is that there is no precise way outside of you to ever truly tell if you are in fact an Empath. I could give you a list of questions and you can add up the numbers to see if they coincide with someone’s idea of what an Empath is, but the reality is that you must find the answer within yourself. It is during my quiet meditations that I know that I am what I am. My many validations prove only that I know something at that moment. It is the voice that is inside of my soul that tells me that my intuitions are more honed. This is another reality. We are all able to do this. Like any skill set, some of us have more natural ability, but we can all access our intuitive selves and feel others. We can do this when we begin to believe that we are all one and there are no separations.
So if you still want to know if you are an Empath, here is what I recommend you do:
1) Find a quiet spot that you can call your own. It doesn’t have to be fancy.
2) Make sure there are few outside distractions. (I meditate at night after my two boys are in bed.)
3) Sit with your back straight and your legs crossed in front of you.
4) Allow your mind to wander where it will, but don’t let it take you. Don’t invest in it. You may have to process many emotions that have been dormant beneath your protective coating for years. Let them come to the surface. Don’t give them a story. Just feel through them. Emotions only have power if you give them power. Greet them like old friends and they cannot have their way with you.
5) Imagine yourself surrounded by a safe and protective light.
6) Try to do this for 20 minutes everyday.
At some point you will feel it. Do NOT expect it to come to you right away. Be patient with yourself. You will have stuff to wade through. You will have other people’s stuff to release. We live in a world that seeks to create noise and distractions so we don’t have to feel. This is unhealthy. In time, you will feel it. There will be a change in you. Silence creates a space.
7) When you feel that space, ask your question. There may or may not be an answer. You will know that it is your soul’s answer if it comes from deep within you. This is not your mind. This is the place that feels what others are feeling. This is the place that has the answers because we are all connected and the light that shines through me shines through you. If you give yourself over to silence, you will feel it.
Love and Blessings
Some people who have helped me in my journey:
*Elizabeth Harper has been a great resource for me-Sealed with Love is her website
*Suchitra is my teacher and guide here. Her guided meditations are amazing. Soul Source is a great site and located in Delaware County, PA.
The Wandering Empath 
Thank you! I needed to read this so bad. My whole life I find myself so overwhelmed with not only my problems but other people’s emotions that are results of their problems as well. This need to fix all situations, even ones that dont involve me, has created many interesting burdens for myself. It drives my husband crazy but I cant help it. I will allow it to consume me so much that I tend to forget about the emotions of the ones I should be putting first. Such as my husband and children. I cant count on one hand how many individuals I have allowed to move into my home because of situations and circumstances that they created for themselves. I automatically make their problems my problems and it has wedge a gap in some of my most precious relationships. I wish I knew a better way of controlling these piggy back emotions. Right now I’m struggling with the loss of a good friend and I feel terrible for his widow. You would think that it was my husband who passed instead of hers. I know in some cases this can be a blessing, but for me it has mostly been a curse.
I totally get that feeling of it feeling like a curse. The first piece of advice I can give you is to figure out where you feel your feelings. People struggle to do this because we are taught to ignore our feelings or give in so completely to them that we can’t step back and see them for what they are: feelings. That’s it. You are letting wisps of emotion from others control your physical and mental path because you believe they are something more than what they are. They are signals. They are signposts. They are fleeting. So I feel my feelings in my chest, my heart chakra. This is the tightness I feel when I am afraid or the flutter of love I feel when I see my sons. I feel others emotions through my belly (sacral). I also receive them through my left arm, which tingles when I am getting really strong emotions from another person. Where do you feel your emotions? You may need to sit in silence and think about something that makes you sad, angry or happy to practice identifying this. 🦋❤💕
Thank you! I will work on this! I am so glad I found someone who understands what I go through daily