Hi. John Campbell here and recently I have been told that I am an Empath, HSP, a Clairvoyant and a Growing Psychic. THATS A LOT!!!!! Now before I get roasted, everyone has told me that I am in an awakening phase at 42!!!!!! I have no idea what of these are factual but I did the "Empath Test" and passed with flying colors. I want to learn and grow and one day be able to help others the way I am hoping to get help myself. A little about me. I am a Former US Marine that did a total of five tours between Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo. I lost my mom suddenly at the age of 19 and over the next 7 years I lost both sets of Grand Parents. At night sometimes I hear speaking (really fast talking), I get other peoples headaches and emotions. I didnt know this was one, but I carry almost all of my weight in my mid section. Almost everyone I know comes to me for guidance and there have been a few recent times in which I would say or think something and within 30 seconds I would see it or hear it. Yesterday, I said to a buddy of mine, "your killing me smalls" and when I walked out of my office, there was a guy wearing that shirt!!!!!!!!!!!! For the most part of my life I felt that I never fit in, even in my beloved Marine Corps. I can watch a old episode of NCIS and still get very emotional and being in huge crowds is very much an overload. Any and all help is greatly appreciated and I am so excited to see where these gifts take me. Semper Fi  

updated by @lancemiramar: 06/10/19 03:55:20PM

Welcome to the community, John

Thank you very much!!!!

Hi John, I'm glad to see you here...A BIG WELCOME!

I like the phrase, "You're killing me Smalls," that's from a very good movie for boys [and this gal], "The Sandlot."

Yeah, I feel other's pain too. Even if another is describing an old wound or one belonging to someone else, I have to tell them, "Stop!"

We recently had another veteran join here....I hope you two talk. I can't imagine what it would be like to be a soldier and an empath.

Interesting about carrying weight around the middle; there's a chakra at the solar plexis and people put out and receive much energy there....I guess the extra padding could be a protective barrier.

Thanks again for joining; it's great to have more men join...

✌
Michelle


--

I was abandoned by wolves and raised by my parents.

Thank you so much Michelle. Do you by chance know who this other Veteran is?

Here's a thread he started, John:

https://tinyurl.com/y5g57syb


--

I was abandoned by wolves and raised by my parents.

I friend requested him, thank you very much.

Hi John  Welcome to the EC.  Here is a direct link to the Library of Light where you will find lots of information to help you in this new chapter of your life.  

Throw some love into the wind

Bing

updated by @bing: 06/06/19 07:30:14AM

Welcome. I don't come here so often these days; but I love your attitude. People struggle with aspects of being an empath, but I see it mostly in positive terms. At least it explains a lot. I need to be more picky and choosy about whose energies I am around and how much I tune into them.

I'm interested: as an ex-marine, are you aware of Q Anon? (Not a 'conspiracy theory' I can assure you ... or send you to the proofs that show you).

I would seriously struggle to be in the situations you have as an empath. However, seems you have a positive attitude, which is awesome.

@lancemiramar :

Welcome! From your post I can tell that you are someone who has a zest for life. Thank you for sharing all that nice energy!

It seems that most empaths are born that way and experience psychic and paranormal things from a young age. But in recent years we're seeing a lot of empaths awakening later in life in their 30s & 40s. This is a curious trend, and that's the case for me as well. Do you remember any special experiences in your teens and 20s where you showed empath signs back then but maybe unknowingly blocked it? I'm always curious about that.

Quick note on the stomach thing. I also carry some weight around my stomach, but it mostly shows from bloat. I deal with constant sensitive stomach issues. At least part of that is empath related. The solar plexus chakra is in our upper stomach and it is our emotional center. Perhaps a better name for an empath is to call us emotional empaths. And that's because we are excellent detectors, magnets, and analyzers of emotional energy. But in that process we absorb other people's emotional energy through our solar plexus and that causes stomach ache and stomach issues. Being slightly overweight also seems to be a common empath theme. I think part of that is emotional eating as a way to try to cope with some of that unwanted emotional energy through the fun of food. And then it is said that carrying a little extra weight actually protects empaths from harmful energy.

Two questions for you that were probably not on your empath quiz. But I ask everyone I can as I'm taking an informal poll. Do you experience any stomach issues or stomach soreness? And do you have trouble falling asleep and/or staying asleep at night?

I have to take meds to sleep. Sorry for the delay of getting back. Work has been chaotic!!!! No stomach soreness though. I just wish I knew what gifts I have so I can help others the way you all do. 

updated by @lancemiramar: 06/18/19 01:59:06PM

@lancemiramar You've been thru so much. Life is religion; you gain personal experience thru living. And, many times, it is getting thru our trials that become our greatest strengths, which we use to bolster others up....💖

--

I was abandoned by wolves and raised by my parents.

updated by @michelle: 06/19/19 02:20:06AM

@lancemiramar :

It takes time to figure yourself out. And it's hard for someone like me to say if you do this or that you'll end up seeing your true powers. It's different for everyone. And everyone has a totally different set of skills and subskills. For me I've experienced that over time some skills present and strengthen while others weaken. I can't figure out any rhyme or reason to it. I think a good place for you to start is with consistent meditation. That will help keep your energy balanced. And the feedback from quite a few empaths is that consistent meditation helped trigger new skills while strengthening others. If you're new to meditation and have trouble calming your mind (which is common), then I recommend going to YouTube and close your eyes while listening to a 30 minute binaural beat segment. It's very calming and soothing and helps me slip right into a meditative state.

Hi everyone, obsessed With the fact that I found this forum. I have known I am an empath for about 4 years now but somehow “ life happened “ and I derailed from my daily routines of shielding meditation etc and I became extremely overwhelmed with life. The universe helped and now I’m on the right path again and more interested than ever to talk to others about the experiences I have day to day, ever since I was in college and realized I was “ different “ but didn’t know what different was I just used to call myself an alien, and now that I know I’m not an alien just literally feel everything and everyone, life just makes sense, I even understand why I hated eating certain types of steak or chicken for that “ gross flavor “ I used to tell my parents or friends or significant others and everyone would be like what flavor ........???? And I was like is it really just me ??? Any way sorry ok how do people deal with:

When you know someone isn’t telling the truth or not being genuine and you just KNOW then you say it - then of course they are like - are you accusing me of lying ??? And you are like yes but have zero facts or how to even explain it objectively. because I am an empath isn’t the answer . Each and every time this happens to me, I let it go yet chose to not interact with that person again but I want to hear how others have dealt with similar situations .

How do you not embody your partners feelings when you don’t want to shield or protect yourself from that ONE person ? I have noticed when I do serious shielding people can tell I am “ detached “ and I can’t seem to find a happy “ medium “ specially with my boyfriend and my boyfriend is a very anxious person so I feel his anxiety in my own body.

As an empath you guys probably know that your normal very real self is a happy, positive, bubbly, loving bright aura person ( loved the post about everyone starring at you btw ) so how do you protect yourself from the people who hate you for that but they don’t even know why ( at work ) before doing some serious shielding filtering grounding work at work I would get migraines every single day . Sometimes it’s exhausting to continuously mentally shield from people I have to deal with daily . I ordered some hematite crystals because rose quartz and amethyst isn’t doing the trick.

Lastly- do you guys ever wake up from someone else’s energy ( significant others ) like it wakes you up from your sleep and you are like - why are you worried about work - or why are you thinking about your mom is she ok ? It’s so bizarre so how does one shield or protect while sleeping ?

Thank you!!’ Love and light to all

@sirenahb :

Welcome! I think you've found the right place. And I can appreciate you feeling alien. We're very different and there are very low percentage of true empaths (estimated to be 1-3% of the poulation).

It is important to find a happy medium. When you don't do the work and shielding to keep yourself protected, you draw in everyone's energy and drown.

And as to the question about people disliking you on sight, that is something on a spiritual level that we can't fully explain. Many strangers and people will seek you out subconsciously so they can connect with your healing energy. But then you have other types who literally hate you on sight because being in your presence makes them feel really insecure about themselves. Those types of people do a good job of projecting an image that is not a true version of themselves (masking the ugliness and insecurities that is really their true self underndeath). Many of these types of people are narcissists. Being around you makes them feel exposed and insecure. And they deep down know that you can feel and see the real version of them that they have tried so hard to hide. They hate that and will usually come after you and try to destroy you on a personal and professional level.

I am a big user of crystals and stones. The ones you have are not protection stones for shielding so that's why they are not working for you in that way. The ones that work best are the dark stones like black obsidian, onyx, black tourmaline, and hematite. I've also had good luck with selenite as an overall feel good vibration raising stone (a white stone). I keep a small pouch in my pants pocket with these and other stones. And they do help quite a bit with keeping me calm and helping me absorb a lot less of the energy around me. And the headaches you get are energy induced stress headaches. That will go away with proper grounding and use of protection stones. Ironically, a lot of people with unexplained migraines are empaths.

I also pick up a lot of anxiety and feelings of worry from my wife. She is the closest person to me in my life so my theory is that I have opened up to her on a connected level that makes me really vulnerable to picking up her stress. I do sleep with my pouch of protection stones either under my pillow and that does seem to help.

updated by @hop-daddy: 08/07/19 10:15:17AM

@hop-daddy

Thank you for your response, it’s so Refreshing to feel understood.

Dealing with those people who hate you because you can see through them like crystal clear water is something I’m still trying to adjust to because I naturally want to help and love . I usually, up to this point was able to avoid those type of people ( I was lucky ) but now I have those at work and I need to up my crystal and grounding / shielding game 100%. I have a lot of types of “ shields “ for different situations and love each of them but I don’t have many grounding ones . Would love to hear what people like using for grounding methods or examples of quick visualizations.

My migraines will go away as soon as I sit in my car for about 2 minutes . I’m working on telling myself in my head as I hear people’s problems. or stories or ANYTHING to say those are not my feelings and it has been working ..

Last question I’ve wondered about for a while too . . . How does one decide on who you heal ( or who’s worth your energy? ) , who you open your colors with more, and how do you “ dial “ yourself down so you aren’t as “ open “ ? I have become so good at knowing who’s a project and who’s not, who’s a vampire, who is a narc but have not mastered the art of when “ it’s my path to help “ ..

Thanks for all the insight it’s been super helpful! !!

Hi @sirenahb,

I have a grounding technique I do each morning and whenever I feel the need that really helps me. I stand and imagine that my feet are heavy and glued to the floor. Then I imagine a large steel ring attached through my belly button area with a thick steel chain running all the way down to the center of the earth. I feel it holding me steadily and strongly and affirm that I am grounded to the earth so I can handle all that earth life has to offer. This may be more than you need, but if you are like me and really wish you were not on this planet, it may help a lot. I've tried a lot of other grounding techniques, but this is the only one that helped. 

Hi @lancemiramar,

     I hope you are still around! Thank you so much for your service.

     I call the belly fat my "stress baby", since often it can be due to very high cortisol levels caused by stress. I think most of us would agree that being an empath, especially one with psychic abilities too, can be very stressful. I've seen videos of a couple of psychics talking about how fat is often put on as insulation for the emotions.

    I am also diagnosed with PTSD, after being dead from a car accident and coming back with a brain injury. I did not have a near death experience, unfortunately. Is it possible you have PTSD from experiences in the service? That could cause your cortisol to spike dramatically whenever you experience triggers, like a car backfiring, fireworks, etc.

     I got hooked on a drug for sleep before I found out that there are some supplements that can greatly help with this. It took me two years in withdrawal to get off the drug. Ashwagandha is good around the clock to calm it down, and Seriphos can be taken at night to help keep cortisol from being so high you can't sleep. Cortisol that stays too high for a long time can cause serious physical health issues too, so it's good to get it under control. 

@sirenahb :

There are many grounding techniques. But grounding is pushing low energy out of your body that in turn raises your vibration and returns you to optimal levels (what you would call a good version of you). Grounding can be as simple as taking time to do something you like that relaxes you and makes you happy. For some its a few hours gardening, painting, or a hike through the forest. For others grounding works best as part of a meditation to relax the mind. I'm going to dig around and see if I can find some web links to send you to give you some ideas.

Knowing who to help as a healer is an age old question. I used to try to help everyone who crossed my path. But after a while I became exhausted and cranky all the time. When you heal someone as an empath you are taking in their pain and low energy, in exchange for your healing high vibrational energy. And by helping too many people I started suffering myself. Grounding can help you push out the low energy and help you reset. But along the way I learned that the same people with the same problems kept coming back to me. They never took the time to work on themselves to work past an emotional problem in their life. Instead they took the easy route by avoiding the problem and just came back to me twice a week for a pick me up to make them feel better. And at about that same time I was reading some very helpful empath books that said we need to be choosy about who we help for two reasons. And that advice seemed to be a good fit for me. For one, it can be exhausting and even harmful to us to help others so we should pace ourselves. And secondly, people who do not face their life challenges are stuck in their life path and are no longer moving forward. And we are enabling them and not allowing them to move forward by being their energy donor & therapist all the time. In other words, they need the pain and frustration to kick them in the butt to make changes in their life to help themselves. So a lot of the time I reserve conscious healing for those who are ready to take the ncessary steps to move past the damage and their life challenge.

I also wanted to note that you probably notice that you heal people on a lesser level involuntarily. I call this an energy draw down. Just from you being around people you will make them feel better and a little more happy and energetic. People in general are unconsciously drawing on your special high vibrational energy with you being in the vicinity. This is why you'll feel headachy or fatigued in a crowded area. And then last but not least, there are people who are energy vampires who chase after you and really draw down your energy and wear you out at an accelerated level. These types are usually very emotional and dramatic people with all sorts of chaos and sad tales in their life. When I unwittingly sit down with an energy vampire to hear them out I literally start getting fatigued and start yawning and falling asleep during the discussion with them. It's that noticeable that fast. And quite often these vampires are not what you would call a bad person. Just a troubled person who on a soul level knows that you make them feel better. And due to that they want to seek you out as much as possible. Energy vampires really screw up your day and should be avoided or blocked as often as possible.

I hope this all helps. I'm sure you have plenty of questions. Let us know how we can help.

Thank you @cheshire-cat I have been doing your visualizations for grounding

@hop-daddy

I have noticed I heal people more involuntary and can never do it when I “ try “ to but the involuntary are usually strangers so i am still working in a balance - which brings me to my next questions how do you guys keep a balance with anything in life ? I have an issue with being in the “ middle “ gray “ area “ .. I really want to learn how thought and it’s hard because being an adult and not being able to have a happy medium like others makes me look “ childish “ or immature but I just either feel or don’t feel - love or don’t love, like or don’t.... and it’s beyond me .. it’s hard when most people are a flat line and I’m just a pendulum or a Richter scale. Ok lastly how do you guys “ think before talking “ when communicating . I feel - that’s it , takes me days to process while I reflect . Wondering if there are any “ tricks “ to a shorter version . I journal daily and when I need to have serious conversations I make notes and have to go off the notes in order to get my point across .

Thanks guys !!

@sirenahb,

    You may get some help by finding a free version of  the MBTI personality test online and taking it. Knowing your type and reading up on it can explain a lot of what you are asking about. You may also want to take the Big Five test as that can also give you a lot of insight into how you operate as compared to others. 

    You sound like you may be an INFJ type, a lot of us empaths are, and those traits are just the way we are, as the rarest personality type. I am not very good at being anywhere close to a "flat line" and have had to be extremely picky about who I let into my life as a result. As an empath, I also find most people are only interested in me when they need a free therapist to dump on, and they find me too intense to just hang out with, so I had to learn to go against my nature and hold everyone at arms length for awhile to protect myself. It can be lonely, but it's better than being drained.

@sirenahb :

I share your challenges. If I try really hard to use my empath and psychic abilities, it rarely works. But if I try not to focus on it, it works pretty well on autopilot. I have read in many places that some of us already have strong skills that work on command. While the rest of us have to work at it. Psychic abilities reside in your subconscious mind. When you're wide awake your conscious mind is worrying about your "to do" list for the day and all your other life worries. That gets in the way of psychic progress. When I go into a meditative state or daydream-like state, it all works great. Obviously this is not ideal when trying to heal someone one on one. But quite a few powerful mediums do their best work while slipping into a sleep-like state where their conscious mind goes to sleep and subconscious mind goes to work.

Balance is difficult for any empath. You really have to work at it. And something that I've taught myself to do over the years is to better recognize when I'm slipping and becoming unbalanced. But it's a challenge in this 24/7 world of ours.

People will always gravatate to you in their time of need. They know you make them feel better at a soul level (they know you are a healer). It can be frustrating. But you only have to help those you choose to. Quite often its the same people coming back with the same problems over and over. You're their aspirin that helps them for the day. But until they face their own challenges and come up with their own solutions, they are at a standstill on their own life path. It's like groundhog day until they start moving forward and taking your advice on how to improve themselves. I've had quite a few people come to me repeatedly where I had to say this is the last time I'm going to listen to you dump this on me. I said, if you don't make the hard choices to improve your life that you know are needed, I cannot be there for you as your magic pill from this day forward. You really have to set these limits or else you're just everyone's dumping ground. And that's unhealthy for you and they are not progressing in their own lives.

On your last question, I often have the same issues when having a tough or emotional confrontation with someone. You go into it with organized points that you want to discuss. But then the two way emotions of the discussion overwhelm you and you forget your points and your mind gets confused. It's just emotional overload. Being more balanced and using protection stones can help with that. I would also suggest to either keep going off notes to keep you on track, or break the discussion into two shorter discussions rather than one big one.