Am I an Empath? What is an Empath & How it Affects You

I feel everything. I am highly sensitive and the people I’m around drain me. Am I an Empath?

This is a very popular question. 

Claiming to be an empath right now seems to give you permission to get stuck in exhaustion and overwhelm by picking up on everyone’s energy without any support or boundaries - but it doesn’t have to be that way.

As a Spiritual Medium, I personally feel the energy of the people around me as if it’s my own energy. It allows me to balance and align your energy BUT I’m always on. I have to be able to function in society and so do you.

If I’m always on and have found a way to stop absorbing all the energies of everyone and everything around me - so can you. 

If you’re busy absorbing and feeling all the feels of everyone around you - then you don’t have the energy to make yourself a priority and this video is for you.

First of all, YES. You are an empath. Every single person is an empath. Some people are just more open than others. Some people have shut off their empathic abilities because they were too overwhelming to deal with or because of something that has happened and they don’t want to feel it all anymore.

Now that you know that you ARE an empath, What is an empath?

The definition of an empath from Oxford Languages is: a person with the paranormal ability to apprehend the mental or emotional state of another individual.

An empath has the intuitive ability to pick up on the energy of others that are around you. You’ll know how they’re feeling, what energy they’re giving off and if you want to be around them or not. Every living thing on the Earth gives off energy and as humans, you have the ability to read that energy.

The best examples of being an empath are when you can meet someone and know if you like them or not. You can walk into a room of strangers and know who you want to sit with and who you don’t. You can look at someone and know if they’re in a good space or if they’re in a bad space.

You are an energetic being reading the energy around you. But just because you can read it doesn’t mean you have to take it on. You can just read it.

As an empath, You do not have to personally take on all the energy and let it affect you.

Remember this - you are made up of energy. And because you are made up of energy, you are able to read the energy of every living thing and the energy every living thing has given off. Even though you can read the energy, that doesn’t mean you have to do anything with the energy. 

As you know, I’m a Spiritual Medium and I LIVE in energy all day, everyday. I have no off switch. Everywhere I go, I’m able to read people’s energy, their past lives, their fears, patterns, beliefs and so much more and I’ve been doing this my whole entire life. I know that what I experience is even more heightened than most people but you won’t ever see me ever walking around saying, “Oh my gosh, I’m so exhausted I’m an empath and I take on all the energy around me.” 

I learned a long time ago that just because I can read someone’s energy, doesn’t mean I should. Especially if I'm not working with them and I don’t have their permission to help them. Most people don’t want to be helped. They want to be as they are, even if they’re complaining.

I realized decades ago that if I take on someone else’s energy, I just doubled the energy. Let that sink in. When have you picked up on someone’s energy and still had it after seeing them?

If you take on someone else’s energy, you’re carrying that weight for them. You took on their energy. They will get out of your energy by leaving your space and they’ll actually look around for their baggage - the stuff you just picked up from them to “help them out”. They’ll realize something is missing and they want their baggage back. It’s theirs. It’s like a comfy sweater to them - until it’s not and they’re ready to let it go. The moment they put their baggage back on, the energy has now DOUBLED. You have it and they have it.

How did the energy double?

This is really important for you to be aware of.

When they took their energy back, you were still carrying it. You took it on as your own to “help” them without their permission. You didn’t consciously give the energy back to them. Most likely, you didn’t do a thing with the energy except pick it up and carry it and now you’re just feeling the weight of it. So in that moment, the energy doubled. You made a conscious choice to hold the energy for them for whatever reason. They wanted it back so they pulled the energy back to them instantly. Instantly. But you’re not aware of this and so you’re also still holding it because you made a decision to carry that energy for them.

Now, both of you are carrying this energy unconsciously. They’re fine with the weight of the energy they’re carrying but you’re not. You struggle carrying it because it isn’t yours. You have your own weight that you carry, that you think of as your own comfy sweater. From an energy standpoint, your baggage is your sweater and the baggage you just took on from someone else is a backpack that sits on top of your sweater.

It’s too much. You will feel the weight of the energy. It will lead you to feeling overwhelmed, exhausted and stuck. And this is an example of your encounter with just one person. 

Imagine going into Costco the week of a major holiday and all the backpacks you carry unintentionally. Or think about the energy you’d pick up after a day at an amusement park or a crowded venue. It’s too much. You cannot keep picking up other people’s baggage. It doesn’t serve you. It actually slows you down and holds you back.

You can READ the energy without picking up and carrying the energy. You can notice that they feel off, sad or that they’re struggling. Most people are struggling and that’s ok. That is what they are choosing to do and until they choose to do something differently, you cannot help them.

Being an empath does not mean you have to be exhausted. It means that you have to be consciously aware of the energy you are allowing into your energy space. You have to be picky. You can’t just allow any energy into your space and if you do, you have to know how to not let it affect you.

Being an empath is not new. 

What is new is talking about energy and that you can pick up on or read someone else’s energy.

Yes you are an empath. You have the ability to sense energy. Everybody does. What’s important is are you picking up everyone’s energy just because you can? When you do this, you want to ask yourself, why are you allowing your energy to get entangled and pulled down with the energy around you. Remember - this does not support you or help them. It hurts you.

Start paying attention to what you’re allowing into your energy space.

I cannot tell you how many people come up to me telling me they are exhausted and overwhelmed from everyone else’s energy. But what this tells me is that you need boundaries around HOW you’re using your energy.

Here are some good boundaries for you going forward:

1. You can read other’s energy and not do anything with it. It isn’t yours to handle anyhow.

2. If someone doesn’t ask you for help, they probably don’t want help. If you offer to help someone and they don’t want it, that’s fine. Respect that they don’t need help and you can let them be in their experience as they would like to be.

3. Do NOT carry other people’s energy. It doesn’t help them and it hurts you. It doubles the energy and you don’t want to double negative energy anymore.

Focusing on other people’s energy is a distraction for you. It keeps you from having the time and energy to do the things you really want to do.

How do you KNOW if you are taking on someone else’s energy?

The key is to catch it in the moment. To feel yourself FEELING their energy. It will lower your energy vibration. It’s like using any of your devices, when you start to drain the device, the energy will lower. The same is true for you.

Instead of saying I’m an empath, I feel all the feels and it’s exhausting. Know that you can be an empath and be grounded and balanced no matter what is happening around you. You can be better at your work and relationships because you can tell that someone is off or in a good place. You can read the energy without having to do anything with the energy. This will allow you to stay focused on what you need to do.

I hope you will listen to the tips I gave you in this to help you reclaim your energy as an empath. If you are committed to honoring your time and energy, please comment boundary below. I’d love to see it! You can watch this on video here if you'd like.

About Lisa Gornall

Lisa is a Spiritual Medium, Reiki Master, Author and Mindset & Energy Coach.

She provides intuitive coaching, energy healing and community support for you as you reach your personal and professional goals while navigating all the things that try to hold you back. Her clients say her work is special, custom, unlike anything they’ve experienced with another healer and makes them feel amazing while reaching their goals. Lisa LOVES to create community, share her skills and be REAL.

Her programs are high touch and focus on helping you reclaim your time, relationships, mindset and energy so you can have it ALL.

Apply to work with Lisa here