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Are You An Empath?

What an empath is, how it differs from being highly sensitive, the common signs, and where to go if you recognize yourself.

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Written by Liezl Marin

An empath takes in more information than most people do. Not only what is said, but the mood underneath it, the state of a room, and the energy of the people in it.

Desiree is an empath herself, and empaths and highly sensitive people are who her work is built for.

Empath, Or Highly Sensitive?

These are related but they are not the same thing, and the difference is worth knowing because it changes what helps.

Highly sensitive people are attuned to what is in front of them. The room, the noise, the people, the day. Desiree puts this at around 20% of the population.

Empaths pick up on things well beyond their immediate surroundings, including people and situations they are nowhere near. She puts this at 1 to 2%.

Every empath is highly sensitive. Not every highly sensitive person is an empath.

Common Signs

You will not have all of these, and having a few does not settle it. Look for how many you recognize.

  • The ordinary senses are turned up. Sound, smell, taste, light, texture

  • You absorb the mood of a room or a person without being told what it is

  • Crowds and busy places take more out of you than they seem to take out of others

  • Boundaries are hard, and you often end up carrying what someone else set down

  • You read what is underneath what people say, and you are rarely wrong

  • You are drawn to creative, healing or caretaking work

  • You pick up other people's pain, sometimes physically

  • Exhaustion arrives out of proportion to what you actually did

  • Solitude, nature, music or art are not luxuries. They are how you reset

  • When you are overstimulated, you reach for something to take the edge off

Watch The Full Video

Desiree covers all of this properly, including what it means day to day: Are You An Empath?

What Actually Helps

The short version, and the video goes into each one.

Recharge on purpose. Work out what genuinely refills you, and protect that time rather than fitting it around everything else. It changes with the season.

Boundaries, practical and energetic. In your schedule and in your relationships, not only in the moment.

Nature and solitude. For most empaths these are the fastest way back to baseline.

Your physical health. Hydration, whole food, moving your body. The processing runs on the machinery.

Where To Go Next

Awake Yourself is Desiree's 12-module course, working with essential oils on acupuncture points. It is the deepest thing she offers for this constitution. Our guide is here: The Awake Yourself Course

Rise & Thrive is the ongoing community, with new blends, meditations and workshops each month. Our guide is here: What Is Included In Your Rise & Thrive Membership

Still Have Questions?

Start a live chat, or email [email protected].

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