Hello everyone! Ive been around beliefnet for several years, but for some odd reason never officially joined. Ah well, such is life.


I was wondering if anyone on these boards might be able to help me with something as well...

Im fairly empathic, to the point where too many unrestrained emotions of those around me will begin to affect me. Its not something that ever bothered me before going to a large college, indeed i view it as a wonderful gift. The problem is, now im surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of people each day and i cant block that many people out all day. The real issue comes when i am too tired to adequately expend focus on gently diverting unrestrained feelings, and when those around me are too tired or otherwise impaired to keep from broadcasting themselves. The "simple" solution that i used to turn to is an alternative i dont care for, which is to shut everything out. i did that for a long while, but then subsequently developed acute insomnia and was on the verge of depression. i've been trying to take different approaches, but as of yet nothing has really "done the trick" as it were.

i guess that would mean my question is, are there any other empaths here that have had to deal with trying to block people? or anyone with any type of advice or suggestions at all?

cheers, :) <3

Firstly I suggest you work on gettin yerself as happy in yerself as possible because I know that if a person is feeling depressed in someway they are going to feel vulnerable and oversensitive, empath or not.

I can relate to wat you mention and i find shielding does the trick,
there is a good thread on shielding techniques Here

best of luck with it!

[QUOTE=Gandalf_Parker;480927]--
Excuse me... but could you spare a little emotion for a starving empath?[/QUOTE]

hehehhe i like that GP :)

[QUOTE=BearHeart;480751]Hello everyone! Ive been around beliefnet for several years, but for some odd reason never officially joined. Ah well, such is life.


I was wondering if anyone on these boards might be able to help me with something as well...

Im fairly empathic, to the point where too many unrestrained emotions of those around me will begin to affect me. Its not something that ever bothered me before going to a large college, indeed i view it as a wonderful gift. The problem is, now im surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of people each day and i cant block that many people out all day. The real issue comes when i am too tired to adequately expend focus on gently diverting unrestrained feelings, and when those around me are too tired or otherwise impaired to keep from broadcasting themselves. The "simple" solution that i used to turn to is an alternative i dont care for, which is to shut everything out. i did that for a long while, but then subsequently developed acute insomnia and was on the verge of depression. i've been trying to take different approaches, but as of yet nothing has really "done the trick" as it were.

i guess that would mean my question is, are there any other empaths here that have had to deal with trying to block people? or anyone with any type of advice or suggestions at all?

cheers, :) <3[/QUOTE]
I have a similar issue though not quite the same. For me, it is the mental auras of others that can be intrusive, this being the outermost auric layer of the three that also tends to be the largest. My own mental aura has been measured to almost twenty feet wide so I get a lot of traffic through it from others, physically and aurically. (I live in a large city and move around in congested areas typically). I can sense the colors and textures of the emotional aura (typically 2-3 wide) though not actually see the aura itself. 

I have learned to cope by shielding myself. My shield is a flexible mirror-like membrane between the second and third auric layers. People still move through my outermost layer but their impact now typically bounces off the shield. I can thin the shield if needed or even strengthen it in crowds or sitting in a meeting room (where the auras all overlap) but mostly I leave the shield on autopilot. A shield is normally created starting with visualization. I started with visualizing my shield for a minute and then working up to longer periods, then doing so in every day life. Eventually it became so normal having it up that I could go to autopilot.

Your simple solution I suspect has had the effect of shutting down your emotions rather than shutting everyone else out. Given that you have a strong empathic gift, this has only complicated the issue, hence the side-effects you described. When we dream at night (IMO) our mind casts up random flashes of memory and our resting conscious mind seems to use emotional linkages to build images to make sense of those flashes drawn from the brain’s memory banks (of conscious and unconscious experiences). If you are hampering your emotions, then you may be short-circuiting the dream process. Or there could be other reasons for insomnia including medical, which you might want to check out with a medical practitioner.

Hope something is helpful,

C.H.

Try the Spirituality & Mental Health forum.