Very strange. Very powerful feelings.

[MoonDust]

Ok. so.
I’ve never experienced empathy through anything other than standing right next or near to the person.
Well… there was this one time when I was about 17 or so and got this very powerful feeling from a radio news report….

Ok back to what happened a few moments ago.

I was flipping through the channels watching TV with my mom. I have to admit I was a bit keyed up because my sister’s going through some stuff and my mom’s been worrying about her and I really haven’t been able to block it all from touching me.
So I’m flipping through the channels and I stop on this report on… I don’t know what… it was about children & child development it had a vibe about helping children with special needs.
so I stopped to watch a little more.
The child the story was on a little girl who had some sort of birth defect. They were talking about her language & cognitive development.
This next part may come out sounding a bit superficial and I’m sorry if it does
There was something about her face, but it didn’t really click. The little girls face was disfigured.
I’m not one of those people who gets all stupid with things like this. I work with children. I love them ad honestly in my eyes they’re all beautiful. Her face didn’t bother me.
But something came over me.
I don’t know what it was, but it was powerful. All of a sudden I was having trouble breathing. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t focus on anything.
I felt pain.
It was as if my heart was being squeezed. I changed the channel, but it still wouldn’t pass. I had to get up and go outside.
I couldn’t control myself. I was sobbing, gasping for air. I tried to get a hold of myself and finally managed to ground myself. I then dropped everything back in to the earth. I sent energies to the girl and her family.

Has anyone ever gone through something like this? What did you feel? How did you handle it?

[Sage WindMoon]

I don't remember ever having a reaction as severe as yours, but TV programs of this sort always make me feel terrible. I actually saw the first few minutes of the show you're talking about, and I quickly changed channels.

This sort of thing can give me a lingering feeling of unease and unhappiness, so my usual strategy is to avoid it as much as I can. I try not to watch programs of that sort. If I hear or see something that disturbs me, I just try to push it out of my mind as much as I can - although it's hard not to dwell on it sometimes.

[MoonDust]

It wasn't because of the way she looked or even the topic. If it has to do with Child Development I watch it. It hurts of course, but never anything like this. It wasn't the usual reaction of "oh the poor girl."

It was raw. Very strong.

[Pesha]

As we have discussed, alot of you are new to this gift and some are coming into it now more strongly. This is what I can see with what happened to you hun. Nothing to be afraid of. Keep a small journal of the times when you feel stronger than other times. And what the situation is. IT may help you to figure out when you are strongest and when not so strong and help you with sheilding. :hugz:

BB
DS.

[Sage WindMoon]

Okay, I'm new to the empathy topic, but I remember even as a small child being adversely affected by stuff that didn't seem to bother anyone else. For example, I would watch the old Lucille Ball show, and even though it was a comedy program I would feel miserable every time she got into an awkward predicament. So while others were laughing, I was worried about how she would get herself out of whatever socially embarrassing situation she was in. I mean I actually felt PHYSICALLY uncomfortable until it was resolved. And this was a fictional program!

Is that weird or what?

[MoonDust]

:hugz: Dragon thanks for that. I'll try the journal idea.

Sage! I still feel that way. I hate watching people in those types of situations. My breath literally shortens when I watch a cartoon and someone's stuck in/on something and can't get free (like Pluto getting stuck in a slinky -Freaks me OUT!)

[SammieAnn]

I dont know but I also had a weird experience 2 days ago. I was reading a magazine and i got to a page with a cologne page and as soon as I smelled it, my body went very tense and electricity shot through me and I swear my blood presure went up. my body temp seamed to go up and even had to go outside to cool down

[Pesha]

Sounds like you had a real "ooyzooy" experience. What I call that is a smell or taste really getr to you and on an emotional level you get ooyzooy.

I cannot watch or hear certain things as they give me the jumping fits. I jerk about and it does not stop till I get away. Watching tv can do that to you.
The emotions the writer wrote down and the actors are portarying is felt strongly.

BB
DS.

[MoonDust]

she's so smart

[SammieAnn]

Sounds like you had a real "ooyzooy" experience. What I call that is a smell or taste really getr to you and on an emotional level you get oooyzooy.

I cannot watch or hear certain things as they give me the jumping fits. I jerk about and it does not stop till I get away. Watchinh tv can do that to you.
The emotions the writer wrote down and the actors are portarying is felt strongly.

BB
DS.
do you have any idea what may couse it to happen?

[LostSheep]

Smells can have a very powerful effect on us emotionally; maybe we subconsciously associate it with something we remember that had had a powerful effect on us and we 'feel' that experience again?

[Pesha]

do you have any idea what may couse it to happen?

The best I can figure is that being empathic strengthens your emotional contact with things. So We feel everything more strongly. Empaths must have something in us, a chemical or something that triggers our reception of a particular smell or taste or veiw of something. some feel it more than others. Using your gift is the best thing, because you make yout emapthy stronger. Like a muscle. Use it and it becomes better.

BB
DS.

[Pesha]

Smells can have a very powerful effect on us emotionally; maybe we subconsciously associate it with something we remember that had had a powerful effect on us and we 'feel' that experience again?

Yes inded, this is so true. :fpraiseyo

We probably have deeper memories as well.

BB
DS.

[Bethra]

Yes inded, this is so true. :fpraiseyo

We probably have deeper memories as well.

BB
DS.

I feel that deeper memories in empaths are often caused by the fact that situations are imprinted on our memories by so many different senses. When we are reciving the information it's simulating much more than just the regular visual memory as we smell, feel, taste and so on the whole situation. This stimulation of so many of the senses alows us to access the memories from all the senses rather than just the regular visual sense. Thus when we recall it the memory is multi dimentional. It's not that we have better memories just that the memory is imprinted on so many different parts of the receptive brain. There is also reason to believe that we can all work to improve our memories by alowing both sides of our brain to be active when learning something.

Actors often stimulate the more passive right hand side of the brain by absentmindedly bouncing a ball against a wall as they learn their lines. The stimulation of both sides of the brain helps increase the ability to recall something later.