Empaths are individuals who can feel and perceive the emotions of others. They can be highly sensitive to the feelings of those around them. While this is a wonderful trait in many ways, it can also be exhausting, and they are not always aware of how they should care for themselves.
Here are tips to practice self-care as an empath:
1. Find a Community of Like-Minded Individuals
It’s not easy for an empath to find a community of like-minded individuals because they tend to get shunned by most people. This is why they should consider joining online communities that cater to their specific needs, such as an online community for empaths who want to connect with other empaths to share their experiences and learn more about themselves.
These groups provide a safe space for people with similar experiences or viewpoints. They also provide opportunities for members to connect in person with one another and form friendships offline. Connecting with similar people can help an empath feel more confident in themselves which is something many empaths need a good dose of.
Empaths, spend time with people who understand and support you. You need to be surrounded by people who have positive energy and can remind you that often what you are feeling is not your own so you can remember to step into your resources and psychic protecting and clearing tools to release the energy.
2. Understand when you need to be around others and when you need to be on your own
Empaths have huge hearts and therefore love to be social and connected to others. However, due to the nature of their spiritual gift this can be a bit of a problem as sensing people’s feelings can be overwhelming thus pushing the empath into isolation. An empath needs to have a good balance of both. Get out amongst the right people, people who are responsible for their own life and feelings and are generally not projecting their unowned parts onto others (particularly empaths!).
Good doses of healthy contact is crucial for your well-being and then know when it is time to step away and come into you time alone to rest and recharge.
Empaths should also avoid being around people who make them feel worse or drain their energy and avoid toxic people, environments, and relationships.
3. Practice Self-Care and Take Time for Yourself
Empaths must practice self-care and make time to maintain their mental health. They must make sure they take time for themselves to avoid burnout and keep up with their daily responsibilities.
Some of the ways that an empath can practice self-care are by:
- Taking time for themselves (being in nature is great!)
- Getting enough sleep
- Exercising regularly
Journaling and meditating
They should also be mindful of their thoughts, feelings, and actions so they don’t over-extend themselves.
One way to avoid over-extending yourself is to have a support system. This can be friends, family, or a coach or therapist who can help you process your feelings when you’re overwhelmed or struggling.
Many empaths find it difficult to practice self-care because they focus on caring for everyone else. Empaths must take time and practice self-care to feel better and more balanced.
Self-care allows empaths to balance their feelings and emotions and become better at knowing what is their own thoughts and feelings and when they are picking up on someone else’s.
Find time each day to relax and recharge. This may mean taking a bath, reading a book, or spending time in nature.
4. Be Consistent with Your Boundaries and Communicate Them Clearly
In today’s world, we must be consistent with our boundaries. This includes not only being consistent with our time and attention but also with the expectations we have of ourselves.
You must know what is out of bounds and within your limits.
These boundaries should include:
- What kind of people they want in their lives
- How and when you spend time with what people;
- How you want to be treated by people;
Many empaths struggle with being assertive and putting up boundaries as they care deeply for others and don’t want to hurt their feelings. They feel if they do so they are being rude. This ends up causing further problems with communication issues and confusion from others.
Communicating your boundaries will help you feel secure and in control and others will be clearer about who you are and what is and isn’t acceptable for you. It will also keep you from feeling overwhelmed by other people’s emotions.
It’s easy to get caught up in that “I’m a good person” mindset as an excuse not to be courageous and establish some boundaries or say no to others when you know you should.
5. Work on Internal Boundaries That Protect You from Harmful Energy
Internal boundaries are the ones that you create within your own Self by using your thoughts, emotions, beliefs and actions. They can help shield you from harmful energy that might come from people or places but also have a different mindset towards things. Some examples can include:
- Changing the way you perceive someone or a situation; not everyone is out to get you;
- Speaking your truth rather than not speaking up and then victimising yourself;
- Have strong and healthy thoughts about yourself and know you can decide what you want to think and believe at any time;
- Emotional balance; as an empath you don’t want to close off because this is spiritually unhealthy for you when you close off your spiritual gift; however you don’t want to be super open with oversharing or over-emotional reactions to things. Find a balance. As an empath you have to learn to be super honest with yourself and check in and say first and foremost “I’m having an strong emotional feeling right now, is this mine? Am I responding to something? Or is this someone else’s. You will learn how to do this very quickly with time and practice;
- Physical boundaries are ones where you take yourself out of situations; lock the door and pretend you are not home when you need to; turn off your phone and give yourself the physical space you need. This also includes saying no to things you know you don’t want to do or are not up for.
If you would like to learn more about your spiritual gifts and or be mentored by Rebecca-Lee in awakening and managing your empathy and other spiritual gifts you can sign up at the website www.rebecca-lee.com
