Empath Survival Tip: Conscious Heartache

If you’re feeling extra sensitive and emotional right now, you’re not alone.

But empaths and highly sensitive people are always susceptible to taking on the pain of other people and the world.

Even positive feelings like love can cause heartache when we let them in fully.

Instead of trying to escape this, it’s best for everyone when we let it in and learn to feel it all with mindfulness and presence.

Here’s a summary of what I discuss in this video:

One of the defining traits of an empath is that it is easy for us to feel the pain of others and even to take it on. This means that when we hear about tragedies or any situation where someone is suffering, being an empath can be a challenge when we don’t want to take on all that pain.

That’s why there’s a lot of talk about shielding and boundary setting for empaths as well as shifting into a positive vibration.

While these tools can of course be helpful for empaths, it’s also important to be able to sit with the feelings we’re experiencing, even when they’re painful. This is something I call mindful heartache. It’s a process of breathing into the feeling you’re having, and allowing it.

Being an empath, after all, often means feeling pain even when we feel positive feelings like love and connection. And bringing mindfulness to any of these feelings can help us move through the pain instead of trying to stuff it down and deny it (which never works anyway).

So acknowledge your feelings. Breathe into them, be with them, and explore them. Ask yourself: how can I take care of myself right now? And ask yourself: how can I take action in the world to create positive change?

You may also want to speak about your feelings with others as you let them wash over you and move through you.

You’ll find that the other side of mindful heartache is gratitude. Gratitude for the fullness of your love, for the people and animals you care about, and for this mysterious and awe-inspiring human experience.

Being an empath means that if you choose to experience what you are feeling, you can live fully, love fully, and open up to the beauty of this life experience.