The Inner Light of an Empath: Embracing Your Spirituality


 

Emotions are an inseparable part of human life. We all have them and live with them. However, a spiritual empath’s feelings are delicate and deep. An empath feels sadness, fear and anxiety more intensely and gets upset easier. The empaths get easily overwhelmed and often have the odd feeling that they somehow do not fit in.

An empath feels the pain of others. The pain of the world. The suffering of those around themmakes themoverwhelmed, so empathsoftenexperiencefeelinghopelessness, sadness, anxiety, and depression.So, they oftenwant to withdraw from the world full ofsorrowto protect themselves.

However, if you are an empath, you don’t have to withdraw from the world around you completely.Instead, you need to learn how to embrace your spirituality andhow tobalance your empathyandyour self-protection.

But firstly, you need to understand whyyou tune in your own and the feelings of others so deeply and intensely.

How Neuroscience and Spirituality are Intertwined?

Have you ever heard of amygdala? This delicate set of small almond-shaped clusters of nuclei is settled deepin the temporal lobe of the brain and plays a huge part in processing emotions. The more intense the feelings are the more responsive your amygdala becomes.In other words, the amygdala plays an important part inyourheightenedemotionalreactions.

According to Dr. Elaine Aron, a research psychologist, the amygdala is extremely activated in sensitive people. Through herextensiveresearch, Dr. Aron found that whenshe exposes empaths and highly sensitive persons (HSPs) to pictures of human suffering, their amygdala becomes highly activated.

The amygdala then sends signals tothehypothalamus, the part of the brain that communicates with the rest of the body throughtheautonomic nervous system, releasing hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol into the bloodstream, which further provokes emotional responses.

For an empath’s emotional reaction, it is enough to be in the presence of someone suffering emotionally. An empath feels other person’s feelings and reacts to them. Amygdala then alarms the hypothalamus and the hormones are activated. However, it these hormones are overproduced but not used (for example through body movement), the result may beanoversensitive emotional response.

Constantly repeated, this pattern may block the normal energy flow through the body, putting the hormones and organs out of the balance.

The problem withempathsis thattheirstress triggers decrease rarely or never.The empathsfeel other people’s energy all the time and sometimes this energy can stick withthemfor days after witnessing other person’s emotional reaction.

In short, their amygdala is constantly activated, releasing the large amounts of cortisol and adrenaline into the body, often triggering anxiety, fear, and worry.

How to Embrace Your Spirituality?

Being an empath can be draining. It is, therefore, important to find the balance between your spiritual empathy and the worldyou feel for.

The spiritual empaths are profoundly needed in today’s worldfilled with profounddisaffection and alienation. It is the spiritual energy of the empaths that can influence those around them to seek beauty and peacefulness in the things that surround them.

For that reason, it is important that you work on your inner balance, protect yourself, andlivein harmony with the world around you.

Don’t get to exposed to negative influences. Try to avoid stress triggers as much as possible. Limit your exposure to negativity around you. Tune out people who emit hostility and anger and bring pain into your life. Also, try to minimize the exposure to dramatic news. However, this doesn’t mean you need to tune out the world completely but to filter the information you are going to emotionally invest in.

Be mindful of good.Choose to see kindness, positivity, and calmness around youand be the kindness and love you feel.

Practice mindful meditation.This will help keep yourmind quietand stop unnecessary amygdala activation.

Stay active.If you are an empath, regular exercise will help ease the stress response by clearing excess stress hormones from your bloodstream.

Connect with nature.Negativity mostly comes fromotherpeople.Immerse yourself in nature. Spend time outsideand allow the sunlight and nature to cleanse and recharge you.The empaths are highly attracted to light because their gift is like light to others.As an empath, you emit the light of yoursoul onto your surroundings.Connecting with flowers, animals, and water around you is a great energy healing therapy that will help you regain the balance.

Let it out.Cry when you feel you need to do so. Crying has healing properties -it works like a cleaning mechanism for your soul.

Being an empath is simply something that you are. You cannot choose to be less an empath or not to be an empath anymore. But you can channel your spirituality to make a positive change.

 

Posted by Colette Lopane-Capella, LMHC, D