Hello

[moonraingirl]

Hi everyone, this is my first visit here.
I'm 28 years old and I live in Europe. I've always been interested in spirituality and I've tried many things from reiki, chakra healing, I was an evangelical for a very short time, studied Islam and finally became a Catholic at the age of 25, than went through a VERY stressful period with lots of anxiety and I believe that I developed a religious form of OCD. For the fear of my mental health I abandoned religion (Catholic) and became a sceptic. But I still feel positive towards it.
I studied social anthropology and environmental science at the university so I feel inclined to alternative spirituality that is close to nature.
I guess one might say I'm still searching for myself. My "curse" is that I'm naturally sensitive to energies, I used to see auras as a child and I had answered prayers, I am a rational person who tries to see logic and rational explanations whenever possible. And that's caused me trouble in all spiritual paths I tried.
Anyway, I'm glad to be here and I hope I can learn a lot from you all!

[Natascha90]

Welcome:)

[SpiritTalker]

Hi-ho and welcome to the forum. I hope you find it helpful and fun from time to time.

[jimhanoverfist]

The more you read, the more you know.

[TwilightDancer]

Welcome to the forum!

Take your time and breathe when necessary. The knowledge isn't going anywhere. It's important to not overwhelm yourself.

[moonraingirl]

Thank you

[moonraingirl]

@Bychan Wulf, answering your question here.
We emigrated from former Yugoslavia to Slovakia in 1992. It was during the civil war. My parents have Slovak roots and my father worked as a secretary at the Slovak national club there. Both of my parents went to Slovak schools. So it was natural for them to move to Slovakia.

However, it was very shortly after the Velvet revolution here and people had no experience with foreigners here. So we were not welcomed as Slovaks, but we were "those Yugoslavians". My parents faced many obstacles both legislatively and financially. Eg we would often have to pay higher price in the shop or higher entrance fees to cultural events, tourist destinations, hotel rooms (they didn't know us in other towns, but they had to show their ID card at the hotel and the clerk would see they are foreigners), etc. It was normal during socialism that foreigners paid more and it was still practised in the early 90s here.

Fortunately, it's all over now and times and people have changed a lot.

You see Bychan, someone is pouring their heart to you once again!

Do you feel drained when you listen to someone? What do you do to protect yourself?

[Bychan Wulf]

I never knew this could happen after such a revolution. I mean,yes I knew about the way Eastern Europeans are seen in Western Europe or Hispanics in America,but had no idea this has also happened here.
I'm glad it's over and people became more open minded now.

I love when people pour their hearts to me. It's sort of my hobby;together with giving advice.(I don't want to brag,but gave some good advice in a few situationseconds;-) )

It depends on my mood. If I am in a good mood,which is technically my natural state,I feel either recharged or if the person's feelings are too confusing and overwhelming,maybe just a little drained,but still happy I could help.
If I have a bad day or already empathised with more than 4 people,then I feel drained.
I just started using protection: for now just shielding(I made a silver layer-not sure if it is "legal" but it felt right at the moment),grounding and periodically aura cleansing.

You said you're an empath too. What do you feel when you empathise? Do you feel how the energy is taken from you or how you receive any?

[moonraingirl]

I'm an empath in the sense that I feel emotions and intentions of others. Sometimes I feel țhem myself and they stick to me like a glue.
Other times I'm able to remain calm /neutral.
As I think about it, I would say that in cases when someone talks openly about their situation I can cope with the energy much better. I am happy to listen to people for a long time.
It's draining when they feel bad but don't say anything and try to act normally or when they are nervous in everyday situations that I become irritated or drained.

Did you notice something similar?

On the other hand, I easily absorb positive emotions, too. When I met someone happy for only a few minutes, I have a good mood for the rest of the day.

[Bychan Wulf]

It's draining when they feel bad but don't say anything and try to act normally or when they are nervous in everyday situations that I become irritated or drained.

I couldn't explain it better,even if I tried! Keeping all to themselves makeso me going crazy: knowing/feeling what they feel and not being able to pinpoint the problem and solve it or only giving advice,so that the person starts feeling better. ..Ach,torture!...so I guess I feel something similar.

It's great that you can also absorb positive energy. It is really helpful and empowering.

My question was primarily about the exact feeling when you empathise.
For example,when I do it consciously,my ever cold hands,feet and sometimes wholeg body provide heat. After talking ando feeling better,they all say they feel warmth from me,like if I was a fire source. Hugging people with the purpose of warming them up also works no matter what. I was curious if it happens to you too or if it's a common empath thing.
Giving heat away while feeling and being physically cold doesn't make much sense..

[moonraingirl]

The fact that you feel warmth is something new to me. Maybe it means that your ability is on an advanced level. Have you always felt it or did it appear as you matured?
I don't feel a physical sensation that could be registered by 5 senses. Perhaps, in the case that drives both of us crazy, when someone is hiding their true feelings, I sense something energetically. It's like when you try to join two magnets with the same pole. You can feel repulsion in your hands and while there's no visible barrier, you simply can't make the magnets touch. That's the feeling I sometimes get. I don't feel it with my physical senses, it's on an energetic level, if that makes sense. That feeling is located around my spine/back area and solar plexus. In the solar plexus I also feel irritation and tension.
It is in these situations when I usually absorb their negative emotions and it affects me psychologically.

In cases when people openly talk about their feelings, I can't sense anything disturbing and I am usually able to listen calmly and give advice. I'm not usually affected by negative feelings. But I still can reflect the positive ones and become joyful.

Maybe I'm an energetic vampire sometimes. I got mixed feedbacks. Many people have told me that they feel my calmness and ease, that I can make them relax. I've gotten these remarks since childhood. However when I went through a serious personal crisis, I was told the opposite, that people find it difficult to be in my presence even when I wasn't complaining and was trying to act normally. I suppose that was the time when I unknowingly took their energy.

I would love to hear more about your physical sensations and how others feel them, too. Is it something comparable to feelings during reiki sessions? is the amount of heat proportional to intensity of feelings? is it stronger with people who are close to you or do you feel it with strangers equally? Are there any differences in feeling when it comes to different emotions- happiness, sadness, anger, fear?

[Bychan Wulf]

I think you are a more developed empath. Being able to control what you take or give,is a great skill.

It's funny that the heat is not felt by me,but by the others. They never complained,the feedback I received was that is was a good feeling;like the one of a child being protected by the mother (citing 2 of my friends).

Personally,I feel relief when someone starts opening himself up and stomach aches when someone has a physical injury,a lot of negative energy or is mentally troubled. If people try to fake their feelings,your comparation with the magnets fits best. It gives me the feeling that I want...need to leave that room ASAP.

I am usually the happy/optimistic person and let people "feed" of it. They feel better and happier and I go to sleep haha.

About comparing it to reiki,I will have to do some additional research. I only had it done to me 5 or 6 times.

[moonraingirl]

I can't control it, the energy exchange is subconscious for me.
I find it extremely interesting that both of us have the same feelings. That suggests that what is happening is real.
Have you thought about the possibility that you are a natural healer? The experience that others in your presence describe sound like you are giving them your healing energy.
I was attuned to reiki when I was 18 and that is when both I and my "patients" felt a very pleasant warm and tingling sensations on my hands and they in the area that I was healing. The negative was that sometimes i absorbed their pain. For example, once I was healing my father's painful hip which got better, but I couldn't sleep at night because of pain in my hip.

[Bychan Wulf]

Yeah,it's good not to feel crazy any more! I was told by a reiki practitioner that I am capable of healing others. At the time I spoke to him,I didn't know much about the energy work and thought he meant my future profession.

I had a simmilar experience a few weeks ago. I tried to heal my mom's stomach and while she was talking(she can talk for a long time without asking for more than a nod or a "yes"). I couldn't keep focused so I did it in short energy impulses,or that's how it felt like. I did this for like half an hour untill I felt a stab in my stomach and couldn't breathe any more.
I freaked out for a bit and felt like vibrating the entire night(despite grounding and aura cleansing) and I'm a little bit afraid to try it again without some more practice.

[moonraingirl]

Bychan, I see that we have a lot in common.
It is certainly not an accident that we have met on this forum.