gum chewing incident.....

Yesterday I went to a meeting and the lady sitting behind me was chewing gum. At first I didn't notice, but then the sound grew louder and louder...and she chewed faster and faster. It was starting to get to me....just like the sound of someone clicking the button on their pen...on & off.. on & off...on & off....

The sound of her chewing got so loud it penetrated my body. I couldn't believe no one else in the room was affected by it. I felt like I wanted to leave the room.....

Then all of a sudden I remembered about absorbing other peoples energy (Empathy 101). I realized that it wasn't the sound of this lady's chewing that agitated me....it was HER ENERGY. I realized that I took on her energy of feeling nervous and anxious. I felt it all through my body.

This realization and using a few tools I have learned from reading "Empowered by Empathy" by Rose Rosetree, I was able to subdue this intense feeling. It didn't dissappear altogether, but maybe with more skill and practice I will be successful to turn it off completely (when I want).

It amazes me that when you are learning something new, the universe provides opportunities for you to practice what you have learned. Another thing that is interesting, is that after I was able to shift this nervous, gum chewing energy....the lady got up and moved into a different seat that was across the room from me!

I am still reading this book (ya I know...slow at reading...absorbing each page)....but so far I have determined that the type of empathy I experience is:

"Emotional Oneness" - taking on on the emotions / feelings / energy of someone as if they were my own.

Sometimes I have experienced other types of empathy like:

"Physical Oneness " - taking on someone elses aches and pains as if they were my own.

There are several different forms of empathy that the author lists in the book, some of which are Physical, Emotional, Intellectual Shape Shifter, Spiritual and rare forms of empathy like Animal empath (ie. Monty Roberts - the horse whisperer) or like a Medical Intuitive like Caroline Myss.

The other thing that I learned about myself is that being an "unskilled" empath, I wasn't aware of energy I was absorbing and was just left feeling uncomfortable for the most part. I would turn to food and try to eat my way out of feeling weird. But now I am starting to identify these experiences and that is half the battle.

My goal is to master the skill of being an empath and turn it on and off at will.