As we slowly become aware of what it actually means to be an Empath, we go through several stages of growth and consciousness - up until we are ready to fully accept who we are and embrace the silver lining of this rare gift of ours. Let´s have a closer look at the 7 most common signs of every stage:
STAGE 1: THE EMPATHIC CHILD
1. Is “overly” sensitive, often considered “moody”.
2. Seems “unreasonable” amongst large crowds.
3. Struggles with friendships and competitive environments.
4. Starts a pattern of feeling worthless.
5. Is often misjudged and starts to blend (they start to “behave” and “become” like the people they want to be loved from) >> “I want you to be comfortable (at any cost) just so you like/love me”.
6. Intuition is often dismissed or shut down. When they ask their parent if they are feeling sad and the parent says no, they learn not to trust their abilities.
7. All too easily they can become the peacemakers & listeners for the adults in their lives.
STAGE 2: THE UNCONSCIOUS EMPATH
1. Keeps a happy face but suffers in silence.
2. Depressed despite “having it all”.
3. Can fit in to almost any group of people for short periods of time, although all too often, no one really knows them... including themselves. This in turn can lead to exhaustion, even with plenty of sleep.
4. Just wants everyone to be happy.
5. Changes (behavior) depending on who they are with.
6. Are not cognizant of their blending with the energies of others.
7. Isn’t aware about being an Empath and what that means.
STAGE 3: THE AWAKENING EMPATH
1. Cannot take anymore pain.
2. Experiences feelings of desperation & hopelessness. Can become depressed (still hiding).
3. Dares to test waters in the spiritual world.
4. Working to recognize when they are blending.
5. Struggling with relationships based on their prior blending and pleasing patterns. Fear of abandonment.
6. Experiences lack of feeling “understood” and “seen”.
7. Relieved to finally having an explanation after all they have experienced.
STAGE 4: THE CONSCIOUS EMPATH
1. Is willing to accept help.
2. Begins exploration of inner self.
3. Starts to set up boundaries.
4. Learns self-love and acceptance.
5. Learns tools to protect and refill their own energy.
6. Studies tools of empowerment, begins to tune in to their intuition again (perhaps for the first time).
7. Starts to “flex” the Empath muscles.
STAGE 5: THE INTEGRATED, EMPOWERED EMPATH
1. Understands and follows intuition.
2. Has developed and follows a personal energy protecting protocol, raising (and keeping up) their own vibration first.
3. Experiences new levels of (inner) peace and joy.
4. Chooses what to empath and may even gain additional knowledge in doing so.
5. Learns to change the energy in a room if needed or wants to.
6. Is able to observe and acknowledge what they need to work on healing. They also ask for help when they need it.
7. Is willing to let go of negative relationships.
Often, Empaths get stuck in Stage 3, using the “label” as an excuse and a welcomed explanation for being “special” - yet they continue suffering. At that point, they have studied energy to some degree and have become aware that they need to protect their energy. What most Empaths miss out on (which keeps them from empowerment), is that they actually have to CLEAR all the energy and frequencies they’ve taken on in the past, especially in childhood when they where just little sponges without any protection from lower frequency energies of family members, neighbors, teachers, schoolmates or even strangers in the grocery store.
What happens is they take on those low frequency energies (shame, guilt, victim-energy, anxiety, fear), incorporate them into their own nervous system and continue to broadcast througout sometimes an entire life-span, wondering why they encounter the same experiences over and over and over again, despite how much discipline and effort they put into mediation, personal development and positive thinking.
Without inner child work, an Empath will never be able to fully break through what has been holding him back. It is almost impossible do inner child work on your own, especially as an Empath, simply because it is very difficult to separate between what’s ours and what’s not.