My question is this- Is there a way to "turn off" the empath ability so to speak? Just for little bits of time so I can get a break? I am completely untrained, my ability was blocked for years, my mother was/is an abusive person and to say she didn't like me is an understatement. I didn't realize I had the ability until it came back somewhere around 2001-2002? But since then it has grown in leaps and bounds, and sometimes I need a break from it so I can regroup. Also, I live in a house with my three daughters,(2 are teenagers) and I have two roommates. One roomie is a sweet gay man who isn't here too much, the other is an anxiety ridden chick. I am trying to get through college. Please help me find a way to block out the background noise.

Thank-you,
Heather

It is very difficult to turn empathy off, and there doesn't seem to be something like an on/off switch so you can use it just when you feel like it. In that respect, it's different from the other sensing abilities. There, you reach out for the information you want. With empathy, you're feeling other people's emotions all the time, and you have trouble making out what's yours and what's not.

There isn't really a quick fix for empathy running wild, but there are definitely exercises you can work on and a process to help you make sense of it. Several of my students with budding empathy have been working on this, maybe they can tell you something about the results they're getting. If you want, you're welcome to talk to me on skype (rohaa_) or sign up for our next intro course.


It's not you your mother didn't like, she couldn't stand herself : )

Would love to hear about some exercises I could do that would help me with the background noise. If I could just turn it down some that even would be nice. I don't really have time or mental energy for another class right now. I am a full time student at my local college. I am working towards a degree in nursing. Between that, 3 children, and maintaining my home...I have more than enough to be considered busy. lol I do make it a practice to do yoga and take a mile walk daily. That seems to help get some of the emotions I pick up from other people out.

Thanks for any advice anyone can give.
Heather

Thank you Rohaa for replying to me.

I had problems with my empathy and Enelya suggested a "bubble shield."

Enelya wrote:The Bubble Shield seems to be a shielding technique that finds good use in empaths because it blocks or stops the inflow of energy (harmful, emotional etc.) from reaching your energy field.
What you do is you focus on your gut, and find your energy field around you. In your gut you have an energy reservoir you can use to strengthen that field. Keep strengthening it until it's nice and strong, then expand it outward, like a bubble around you. This doesn't have to be far, a few inches works just fine.
Important is that you program your shield though. Energy you don't want in there, be it harmful or specific emotional stuff, should be kept out, but clean positive energy should be able to get in. Also, any muck you might have inside the bubble needs to get out.

Let me know if that is of any help or if you want to talk more about empathy.

I read the posts you suggested and think they might help. Am going to try doing the bubble thing, with the specifications. I will let you all know how it works for me.

Thank you Whispers.

Heather