When a person says they are exhausted, the majority of people immediately think that it is probably because they’ve had a difficult and busy day at work, an intense football match, a long hike, or a demanding day at the gym. However, many people don’t realize that a person can be spiritually and emotionally exhausted as well and this type of exhaustion is even worse because it cannot be cured with a lengthy nap.
The kind of people who suffer the most from being emotionally and spiritually exhausted are empaths.
An empath is a person who is very sensitive to other people’s feelings and the energies around them. They can sense others’ emotions as their own while also being greatly attuned to their mood and their energy. Empaths are like sponges that absorb everything – both positive and negative. Therefore, they often get overwhelmed and overloaded with feelings that they feel incredibly drained and exhausted.
Being an empath is both a blessing and a curse. As Judith Orloff, MD, and a member of the UCLA psychiatric clinical faculty and the author of The Empath’s Survival Guide: Life Strategies for Sensitive People, explains that empaths tend to find deep compassion for everything in their life and therefore they become susceptible to be negatively affected by the pessimistic energies that are around them.
Constantly absorbing the emotions and the energies from everyone around them causes a lot of stress to the empath and it leads to adrenal fatigue, exhaustion, and insomnia.
If you are an empath and you are suffering from these symptoms, here are Dr. Orloff’s recommendations to help you reduce and deal with your exhaustion in a healthy way:
Meditate. Meditation is one of the best ways to calm down and process all the absorbed energy. Therefore, always make time for meditation. It takes only a few minutes to feel better and let go of the stress. Close your eyes, take deep breaths and center yourself to find the peace within you.
Set clear boundaries. It is often hard for empaths to say ‘no.’ Therefore, it is crucial for an empath to give themselves limits and set clear boundaries in order to protect themselves and their energy. Try reducing the time you spend with stressful people to a bare minimum and you’ll immediately notice a difference.
Visualize a protective shield. Stressful situations can be avoided. You can do so by visualizing a protective shield that is around you and protects you from anything negative that comes your way. This may seem simple, but visualization actually helps a lot when it comes to healing your body and your mind.
And remember taking care of yourself is the most important thing for empaths. If you don’t take care of yourself, then you won’t be able to help others and that is unfortunate because everyone needs an empath’s healing energy.
