The Awakened Empath: 6 Paths to Powerful Enlightenment

What Is an Awakened Empath?

If you search "awakened empath" in Google, you will get almost 400,000 search results. A lot of people are interested in the concept of the awakened empath. The problem is that most of the results are garbage. You could read dozens of articles and blogs without becoming more knowledgeable or wise about an awakened empath. In this article, we will take a more disciplined look at what awakening means and, from there, provide a more specific and accurate description of the awakened empath.

An Awakening or Enlightenment Experience Is a Radical Shift in Perception

People throw around the term "awakening" or "spiritual enlightenment" casually, assuming these terms have some universal meaning. Mostly, they don't know what they are talking about. An awakening or enlightenment experience is simply a radical shift in one's perceptions. The awakening experience can be induced by meditation, breathwork, ritual, prayer, or drugs. Awakening experiences are notably idiosyncratic, which means they cannot be reliably reproduced. For this reason, a large cottage industry of spiritual teachers has arisen. Each teacher claims to have the method to achieve enlightenment, and students flock to those teachers that are the best marketers. Needless to say, there is a lot of fraud because awakening experiences are not available to everyone all of the time. People still chase the rainbow, believing that a radical shift in perception will change their life for the better.

6 Types of Awakenings

I have identified 6 types of awakenings. There may be other types, so treat this as a starter list. To qualify as an awakening experience, a person has to have the following happen:      

• A radical shift in perception
• That generally occurs rapidly, but could occur over time
• Resulting in a new ability to see reality in a non-linear, non-Newtonian way
• Such that perception is broadly expanded beyond the normal five senses
• And vast amounts of new information because accessible
• Leading to new insights about reality
• And changed beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors

In short, to be an awakened empath, one must experience some major shift in one's perception of reality.

Emotional Awakening

An emotional awakening is the most basic form of enlightenment. Emotional awakening occurs when someone shifts from being emotionally unaware (alexithymic) to becoming emotionally aware. People have lost touch with the innate human ability to know their emotions. The root cause is the mistaken belief that what makes us human is rational thinking. Over 3,000 years of philosophy and theology reinforce this myth. In the past 30 years, neuroscience established that this belief is wrong. The truth is that humans are 98% emotional and only 2% rational. However, because the pervasive myth about rationality is deeply embedded in culture, we have been severely desensitized to our emotional states. This, of course, is a leading reason for mental illness, addictive disorders, obesity, illness, crime, and general unhappiness. In fact, most people in western society have become alexithymics – people that suffer from the inability to truly know, and put into words, what they are feeling. An awakened empath is simply someone who has shifted from being alexithymic to becoming hyperaware of emotions. The awakening can be disturbing. Suddenly, the new empath is sensing all of the feelings, emotions, and even physical sensations of other people. If the new empath does receive proper training, her life can be chaotic, confusing, lonely, and difficult. Proper training teaches the awakened empath how to discern her emotions from others, how to ground herself, and how to deal with other people's emotions so as to clear her sensitivity. (If you are interested in learning about the Empowered Empath Course, click here.)

Causal Awakening

Casual awakening is similar to emotional awakening, and is slightly broader. Often, emotional and casual awakening happen together. A causal awakening gives the awakened empath the ability to see the motivations of others and to perceive why people do what they do. Many empaths report feeling extreme pain at the inner distress of others. When causally awakened, the empath experiences all of the reasons why people are the way they are. Lying to a causally awakened empath won't work because the empath can spot the lie immediately.

Nature Awakening

A nature awakening occurs when the empath receives deep and detailed information about the Nature Kingdom. This awakened empath can "commune" with animals and ecosystems. Some report an ability to sense the "needs" of plant life. These empaths are amazing gardeners. WE have one close friend who runs one of the last cattle drives up to the national forest south of Yosemite National Park. She is not just a cowboy. She is attuned to her cows and the land they graze on. During the fall mountain round-up, Diane "knows" without knowing where all of the mama cows and their babies are hiding out.

Multi-Dimensional Awakening

A multi-dimensional awakening is a radical shift in perception that floods the empath with information from dimensions other than the Euclidian 4 dimensional physical universe. Suddenly, the awakened empath sees reality as layered in many dimensions. Each dimension has its attributes, purposes, and characteristics. Awakening to a multi-dimensional reality is highly disturbing. Many people who experience this are considering insane, mentally ill, or crazy. They simply could not integrate the flood of new information and ground themselves firmly in physical reality.

Energetic Awakening

Energetic awakening occurs when the awakened empath perceives human energy fields. These people experience clairvoyance that allows them to see or perceive auras and chakras. Often, these empaths become energetic healers or medical intuitives. (Are You An Empath? 26 Powerful Indicators Will Help You Find Out) They see disturbances such as stagnation, depletion, over-activation, and discoloration that cause physical disease and illness. Traditional western (allopathic) medicine looks skeptically upon these healers because the energies cannot be detected with current scientific knowledge. As the saying goes, if you can't measure it, it mustn't be real. Nevertheless, a large number of awakened empaths have subtle energy sensitivity, which is why many are called to become energy healers.

Divine Oneness Awakening

The final basic awakening occurs when one gains the perception of divine essence. Perception of the divine essence is a spiritual awakening. The awakened empath perceives her divine line connecting to her Higher Self, which is a manifestation of the Divine. This experience seems like a spiritual ascension because, like the other awakenings, information flows as if one were standing on high. This awakening experience is always profound and life-changing. Unfortunately, there is no reliable way to create this awakening experience. Thus, people expend enormous energy and effort searching for a key that will open this door. The challenge with this awakening is that, without training, the empath becomes ungrounded. She is living in a physical reality while perceiving an exquisite spiritual reality. The awakened empath can experience severe dissonance between these realities, leading to a number of self-abusive behaviors to self-soothe.

The Gifts of Being a Balanced, Grounded, and Awakened Empath

An awakened empath can, and usually does, suffer until she receives training. The influx of new information and the perception of a new reality is simply more than most can handle. Even the strongest empaths require months or years to integrate what they perceive with their physical reality. However, the pain and effort is worth the effort. A balanced, grounded, and awakened empath is:

• Able to energetically radiate divine light and unconditional love effortlessly
• Able to comfort, help and heal others without taking on their issues, emotions or energy
• Able to intuitively sense the energies around them without being negatively affected
• Able to set healthy boundaries
• Able to pursue their greatest passion while remaining firmly grounded in physical reality

These are highly desirable traits and skills that make awakened empaths powerful healers, leaders, and change agents in the world. They are to be cherished and celebrated. And, for those on the path, there are helping hands along the way.