Heal

As the political climate has become more desperate over the past few years, and social media has become a powerful force in all of our lives, it’s no wonder many people are left feeling confused, empty, disconnected, and lost. To avoid these feelings, we often turn to reckless or careless behavio or just plain old denial. Unfortunately, none of these strategies is effective, and we are left feeling just as bad, or worse, about the whole situation.

When I was 16, I started going to a small Buddhist temple in the city I was raised in. Across the street from the city bus stop that I was deposited at around 3:30 every week day, this small zen center had guided practice for about an hour and a half. I was young and only attended temple occasionally, but my interest in meditation was piqued. A book by thich nhat hanh taught me basic technique and practice. And then I forgot. I never finished that book and I stopped going to temple altogether.

Here we are! We made it to the third part of this series.

My hope is that you have gained insight regarding many of the physical and mental characteristics of being empathic and feel more empowered moving forward. Now we will evaluate common emotional characteristics of an empath/sensitive person.

In the first part of this series, we discussed the physical attributes that I have found in common with many empaths that I’ve worked with.

While it’s true that no one description can encompass the vast array of individuals with energetic awareness, I feel it’s important that we look at commonalities because then we may be able to learn something about the patterns and challenges that often accompany energetically sensitive people.

By this stage of the game, I’m grateful to be able to say that I’ve utilized my intuitive abilities to assess the physical and energetic bodies of thousands of people—both on the ambulance and in my private practice.

I have had countless clients come to me because they feel things very deeply, and they can’t seem to separate their own emotions from those of other people. They want to feel better, but don’t know exactly how to do it.

I spent four months in a yogic immersion course in India. We chanted mantras for an hour every evening and then twice per month we chanted the entire Bhagavad Gita—which took 6 hours to complete. There were well over 100 people chanting together at any given time, and during the final month of the course we had the entire village assembled, chanting together for 8+ hours per day. I’ll tell you: the result of all this chanting was transformative to say the least.

Forgiveness. Sometimes it seems to be the be-all and end-all of spiritual practice, the goal

of every religious seeker, the easy solution to almost every experience of abuse and trauma a person can experience. Indeed, true forgiveness is a profound state—and probably a pinnacle of spiritual evolution. However, demanding that those who are on different places on the path to healing and wholeness forgive—without even understanding what that entails—and using “forgiveness” as a way to blame victims is an act of violence itself.

Mantra work has been some of the most powerful work I have done in my lifetime. The effect mantra has on the cells of the body and the DNA is so pronounced that I can literally feel the shifts in my being after I chant. The resonant tones of chanting change the physical body forever. It is inescapable and undeniable: Chanting simply transforms you!

Imagine feeling anxious: your palms sweat, your mind races, and you feel sick to your stomach. Sometimes anxiety comes out in the form of obsessive nail biting, while other times it rears its head in avoidance. Unfortunately, dogs can also have anxiety and while their paws can’t sweat and we don’t know for sure if their minds start to race, we do know the behavior that can come out: destruction.