Are You an Empath? 20 Question Self-Assessment Test

Are You an Empath? 20 Question Self-Assessment Test

In this blog post I’m sharing information from the Art of Living Retreat Centre’s page written by psychiatrist, Dr Judith Orloff. Many of my clients tell me that they are an empath and feel so drained and anxious as a result of this. If you suspect that you are then take the quiz below to find out to what extent and then read my tips below to find out how you can use a simple method of Qigong for empaths to help you rid any negative energy you may have absorbed from someone else.

Here’s the article below (for the full article click here)….

Have you ever been told that you’re “too sensitive” or need to toughen up?  Do you feel exhausted and anxious after being in crowds or around certain people?  Do you have a sensitivity to light, sound, and smells?  Or perhaps it takes you longer to wind down after a long day at work?  If you answered, “yes” to these questions you may be an empath.

To determine how empathic you are take the following self assessment test.

Empath Self Assessment

1. Have I’ve been labeled as “overly sensitive,” shy, or introverted?
2. Do I frequently get overwhelmed or anxious?
3. Do arguments or yelling make me ill?
4. Do I often feel like I don’t fit in?
5. Am I drained by crowds and need alone time to revive myself?
6. Am I over stimulated by noise, odors, or non-stop talkers?
7. Do I have chemical sensitivities or can’t tolerate scratchy clothes?
8. Do I prefer taking my own car places so I can leave early if I need to?
9. Do I overeat to cope with stress?
10. Am I afraid of becoming suffocated by intimate relationships?
11. Do I startle easily?
12. Do I react strongly to caffeine or medications?
13. Do I have a low pain threshold?
14. Do I tend to socially isolate?
15. Do I absorb other people’s stress, emotions, or symptoms?
16. Am I overwhelmed by multitasking and prefer doing one thing at a time?
17. Do I replenish myself in nature?
18. Do I need a long time to recuperate after being with difficult people or energy vampires?
19. Do I feel better in small cities or the country than large cities?
20. Do I prefer one-to-one interactions or small groups rather than large gatherings?

To calculate your results:

  • If you answered yes to one to five questions, you’re at least partially an empath.
  • Responding yes to six to ten questions means you have moderate empathic tendencies.
  • Responding yes to eleven to fifteen means you have strong empathic tendencies.
  • Answering yes to more than fifteen questions means that you are a full blown empath.

More Information About Empaths

Being an empath is different from being empathetic.  Being empathetic is when your heart goes out to someone else.  Being an empath means you can actually feel another person’s happiness or sadness in your own body.

In empaths, the brain’s mirror neuron system – a specialized group of cells that are responsible for compassion- is thought to be hyperactive.  As a result, empaths can absorb other people’s energies (both positive and negative) into their own bodies. At times it may even be difficult to tell if your are feeling your own emotions or someone else’s.

There are different types of sensitivities an empath may experience.  Physical empaths, for example, are especially attuned to other people’s physical symptoms and absorb them into their own bodies.  Emotional empaths pick up on people’s emotions and become a sponge for their feelings, both happy and sad.  Food empaths are another type of empath who is attuned to the energy of food and may even experience sensitivities to certain foods.

Being empathic has incredible benefits such as greater intuition, compassion, creativity and a deeper connection to other people.  But living in this state of high sensitivity also comes with its challenges such as becoming easily overwhelmed, over-stimulated, exhausted, or absorbing the stress and negativity of others.

If a person isn’t aware that he or she is an empath, everyday interactions that others find tolerable could be causing and empath stress.  Those who are not aware of their empathic abilities may be inclined to use food, alcohol, and drugs to unconsciously numb their emotions.

Empaths are the medicine the world needs and they can have a profound impact on humanity with their compassion and understanding.  As you learn to identify your special talents, you will find that you not only enrich your life but you can enrich the lives of others too.  The key skill is to learn how to take charge of your sensitivities and learn specific strategies to prevent empathy overload.

To learn more about being an empath and strategies on how to stay grounded and centered purchase Dr Orloff’s book The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People

Qigong For Empaths-How To Discharge Negative Energy You May Have Absorbed

Click here to read how to perform a simple 5 minute method of Qigong for empaths whereby you can rid any negative energy you may have absorbed from someone else due to your empathetic nature.

By discharging waste Qi in this way you will feel:

-much more energised

-relaxed

-able to sleep much better at night

This Qigong (Chi Kung) method feels almost like you are “taking a shower on the inside”.  The removal of waste Qi from deep down makes you feel much cleaner on the inside which makes this the perfect method of Qigong for empaths.

This is a short extract from the full exercise of “Discharge Waste Qi With Vibration”.  If you are interested in learning the full exercise then click on my Space To Relax homepage. At the top of the page you can sign up for a free 3 part Qigong video course which will be delivered to your e-mail. The exercise featured here is Exercise 3 in the FREE course. The first exercise shows you how to breathe much more efficiently so that your mind becomes instantly calmer and more focused.  The second exercise shows you how to quickly increase your energy levels in the space of only 5 minutes!

Also, if you head over to my free group on Facebook, “Space To Relax Free Group” you can leave any questions for me there and I’ll be happy to answer them.

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking the red “Subscribe” button when you head over there.  When you do that you will receive my videos which are packed full of useful health enhancing tips and some additional useful methods of Qigong for empaths. Also, please give this video a “Like” if you learned something new here today.  Got questions? Just pop them in the box below and I’ll be happy to answer.

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Qigong For The Heart And Mind

Qigong For The Heart And Mind

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by the lovely Josie at The Art Of Living Retreat Centre, Boone, North Carolina, USA with a suggestion that I might like to share some of their articles to do with Qigong and health. As most of you already know, I love sharing knowledge so how could I resist? Here’s the first article from them, written by Dr Roger Janke about Qigong for the heart and mind……

At the Nine Clouds Mountain Qigong Sanatorium near the Six Harmonies Pagoda in Hangzhou, Zhu Hui, a medical doctor and master teacher of Qigong from Tian Tai Mountain, told this Three Treasures story one morning during a tea break. Master Zhu had been practicing Chinese medicine for nearly 50 years, and his teaching was always a rich mix of medical, Daoist and Buddhist influences.

The Road To Unity

A young monk felt he was prepared to deepen his cultivation practice and his master gave the assignment to cultivate inner quiet and discover the secret of the source of life and its application to the preservation of health and vitality. He gave the suggestion to focus on the Earth Elixir Field (Di Dan Tian). After some months of practice, the young monk reported to the master that he felt sure that the most practical answer regarding the secret was nourishment, rest and the conservation of Qi and inner resources. The master encouraged the young monk, “You have found the secret to preserve the Jing and sustain the body, but you have not found the source of life.” The master teacher asked the young monk if he was still interested in pursuing the deeper secret. The monk nodded and the elder gave him the suggestion to focus on the Heart-Mind Elixir Field (Xin Dan Tian).

This time it was considerably longer before the monk visited the elder. When he returned, now older, he responded that the secret of the source of life and its preservation were associated with accepting what naturally arises and bringing love and compassion into the world. The master agreed and encouraged the monk to continue his good work of compassionate service. The monk said to the master, “I know that I have penetrated to the secret of highly refined interactions of the Qi and the opening of the Heart-Mind. It has inspired me to be of service to my fellow humans. It is clear that this sustains life, my own and others. But I have not determined the secret of the source of life.” The master suggested, “Focus on the Celestial Elixir Field (Ling Dan Tian), the entry place of Heaven in the living human being.”

Some years passed. When the younger monk returned he was older. The elder monk said, “Tell me in one word”. The younger monk said, “Unity”. They both smiled quietly, knowing their was nothing more to say. They parted, both knowing that even though they would not meet again, they were always together at the Source.

The Power Of Qi

When people turn to Qi cultivation, like the young monk, the focus is usually on health and the preservation of the body. When people discover the magnitude of the power of the Qi (after all it is the energy that runs the entire universe), body health and longevity frequently become secondary benefits of attaining peace of mind and heart.

In the tradition of Qigong, it is believed that once you taste or experience one of the treasures that you are destined to pursue the cultivation of that treasure. As you begin to deeply understand and experience your Body Essence (Jing), your Heart-Mind (Xin) or your Spirit (Shen), you will likely be inspired to cultivate them because the promise is so great. When we cultivate Body Essence it leads to vitality and physical healing. When we purposefully access the Heart-Mind and cultivate the treasure of Heart-Mind Elixir it nourishes peace of mind and emotional healing. It is a rare person who does not become attracted to having peace of mind once they have begun to experience it.

What If You Were Already Whole?

The Spirit does not require healing; Shen is inherently and supremely well. Shen resides with in the Heart-Mind longing to be revealed, expressed, and radiated. When the Heart-Mind is cleared of its typical restraints including fear, judgement and all sorts of trauma, Shen expresses as radiance. The cultivation of the treasure of Spirit can trigger the release of miracles.

The Heart-Mind is the secret gate through which thoughts, feelings, emotions and attitudes are cleansed and purified. The sincere deepening of Qi cultivation practice requires that intention and will become major focus areas in practice and in life. In ancient traditions, retiring to a cave in the mountains or going to the desert, to disassociate from the material world were primary ways to pass through this secret gate. That is why it is often called the “Mysterious Pass”. It was also called the “dark feminine” in many translations because the Heart-Mind gate operates more on surrender communication and collaboration than on conquest or control. The legendary Bodhidarmha, who many revere for having brought Buddhism to China and who was legendary founder of the Shaolin Temple, faced the wall of a cave in deep meditation for nine years. The intensity of his Heart-Mind purification burned his image into the cave wall.

Clearing The Heart-Mind

In modern times, however, most people find it difficult to clear the Heart-Mind, even with years of meditation practice. The intensity of the busy and confused world constantly challenges and activates the nervous system, the heart and the mind. If distraction, busy-ness, constant list making or worry and judgment (of self and others) challenge your Qi cultivation, consider integrating holistic mind/body medicine and group support or counseling along with Qigong and Tai Chi, as complementary tools for helping to clear the Heart-Mind.

In other words the fire of intent that is required to change Heart-Mind integrity (behavior) is so dynamic that it radiates a profound heat. This suggests that changing the habits of the personality (Heart-Mind) will require rigor and discipline – Heart-Mind fire.

Purifying The Heart-Mind Qi

Intentful mind leads the Qi. You can combine Qigong practice with meditation, purposeful declaration, and visualization into powerful imagery and focus that can be used in either stillness or movement. In the relaxed state, mind (intent) with directed visualization or inner affirmation combined with the body movement and purposeful breath practice purify the Heart-Mind Qi.

When you make the choice to “let go” of a grudge or forgive someone who has been unfair, you are removing a factor that may have been depleting or stagnating your Qi — inner resources. The grudge or withheld forgiveness is not hurting the begrudged or the unforgiven one. Instead, the damage is done to the one who holds the grudge or withholds forgiveness. Holding these kinds of feelings constrains the Heart-Mind, exhausts the Qi and overshadows the incredible but buried splendor of the radiant Shen spirit.

Click here for the full article on The Art Of Living Retreat Center’s website from Dr Roger Janke.

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