“Empathy” may be an overused word, but it’s absolutely one strength that the world needs in order to heal. Feeling the pains of others is a gift that comes with lots of tough challenges.

Most often, those diagnosed with mental disorders are extra sensitive people who feel too much. Believing that what they feel are their own emotions, they carry a weight they have no knowledge how to unburden themselves of.

The other thing is, just because they feel and act differently, others judge them as someone with a “disorder”. It’s through this process that empaths often get lost.

Instead of processing the tangled emotions inside them, they tuck these emotions away into their “shadow” or unconscious mind.

But even though empaths are emotional sponges, there’s a way where they can free themselves from this confusion and still maintain their well being.

If you think or suspect that you’re an empath, use these following strategies to stop absorbing the unhealthy emotions of other people and keep your sensibility in check.

6 Strategies For Empaths To Stop Absorbing Negative Emotions:

1. Give a label to every heavy emotion that you feel.

Whenever you feel a heavy emotion, give it a name. Let’s say you feel exhausted. Say to yourself: “I am feeling exhausted”.

By labeling the emotion, you detach yourself from it. This gives you a bit of clarity that the feeling is in you but it’s not you.

When you’re truly aware, you may even realize that, at times, the emotion has nothing to do with you.

2. Recognize where the feeling is coming from.

Ask yourself whether the feeling comes from you and if there’s a reason for you to be feeling that way.

If you suspect the feeling comes from another person, recognize who this person is. Then imagine this person as happy, contented, and radiating vibrant energy.

Go back to yourself and check whether you’re still feeling the same way.

3. Focus on your inner wisdom and intuition.

Whenever you sense you’re picking up someone else’s emotions, listen and trust what your inner wisdom is telling you.

Muster your ability to be compassionate whenever you feel you need to support someone who badly needs it.

This way, you avoid being carried away by the tide of the other person’s emotions.

4. Connect to the part of your body that makes you feel grounded or calm.

When overwhelm is inevitable and you’re totally feeling it, instead of pushing it away, seek that part of your body that you feel more at peace and connected.

Bring your focus to that place and gather strength from that center force as you process and release the unhealthy emotions you just picked up.

For example, if your breath relaxes you, then focus on your lungs as air passes through it.

5. Give back the emotions to the one who sends it.

The emotions of other people are for them to process. It’s through processing their own emotions that they grow and learn.

While you can help them heal, you can’t deprive them of the lessons they can get from the process. Besides, it’s not your responsibility to carry the emotional baggage of the other people.

As much as you can, try to return to the other person the emotions that come from them.

6. Release the emotions through visualizations.

There are many visualization techniques you can use in releasing negative emotions. One is visualizing a waterfall that flows through your body.

See all the negative emotions being carried away by the water as it flows through you and returns back to earth.

All the above strategies can help you use your empathic gift in a wise and noble way. Use them and take control of your empath journey as you help the world and the people in it heal themselves.