Something is happening to me

I've been meditating on and off for a few years now, but recently things have been changing within me. I've believed for a long time now that I can feel other's energy and have many traits of what one would call an 'empath' but lately my sensitivity to other's energy has increased. I can feel very strong emotions from others as if they were mine.

For example, I am a department manager at a health facility and the administrator and I got into a disagreement regarding something she had planned out. In our morning meeting she became pretty upset and I stood my ground. As she became more upset, I could feel my chest (heart chakra) turn into a rock and my hands and arms started shaking. I could hardly breathe or speak! The thing is, I feel that this was HER anger/energy and not mine. I just absorbed it. This also happened the other night when my girlfriend freaked out about running out of gas in her car. I could feel her high anxiety level and asked her to calm down because I could feel what she was feeling. Those are just two examples, but it has been happening a lot more and has been a lot stronger lately. I know some will say to put a protective shield around myself. The thing is, I don't think that is what I should do at all. I believe I have been angry with others and negative in the past and this is allowing me to better understand how those people are affected at a deeper level. We are all connected. If I have to absorb negative karma to understand the negative karma I created in others, so be it.

Other things I have noticed include having serious spells of allergies. I have never been allergic to anything really that I can think of (well, outside of poison ivy). I also notice the food that I eat and if it is unhealthy food I can no longer handle it. There was a time I could eat nothing but awful food and feel relatively fine, but now my body rejects it. I changed my diet about a month ago to mostly fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. I still eat meat every great once in a while, but not much. Not sure if that has anything to do with it or not.

I have heightened sensitivity to sounds as well. Certain things sound much louder than before. I also have moments where my head feels completely clear and I feel like I'm almost floating instead of walking. I bring my attention to my breathing and steps as I walk to remain grounded. Overall, I feel more 'natural' than I ever have, if that makes sense. The allergies can be annoying, but overall I feel pretty good. I can get into very deep meditative states as well, and very fast.

Finally, I do ask for answers to questions about life and spirituality and often get a tingling sensation that feels very nice and loving. It is like I'm vibrating at times. I had a very intense tingling/vibration session tonight during meditation which finally prompted me to write to you guys on here because many of you can relate to these type of conversations.

What the heck is happening here? Am I going crazy?

No your just a cool person, like me.

Meditation for 8 hours

If you go to a meditation spa or workshop you may be able to find soneone that can see what's off and causing you discomfort.

a reply to: Subconsciously Correct

Crazy? Sure why not...there is now way to prove or disprove you are going through something but I'm sure some members an ATS will acknowledge what you are going through and congratulate you or silently read your past and call you crazy..I'm going for crazy and I mean that in the nicest way possible

Speaking to the empathy part of your post, you only mention two negative-type energies (anger and anxiety) - and by negative I mean draining or unproductive. How can you be sure these are not your own emotional responses to the situations you describe? What prompts you to ascribe these emotional states to the other people?

When meditating (and I don't know your 'method') do you ever experience these, or any other, negative emotional states? You mention bringing your attention to your breathing and steps while you walk. I think this is very good.

As you focus your attention on the 'simple' (automatic) things, more and more, it can have the effect of growing out into more complex experiences such as emotional states. Maintaining that sense of self when confronted with anxiety, anger, or any other 'negative' emotion is a challenging obstacle.

The allergies I can't speak to other than to say - everything is connected. Perhaps your meditations have brought out your own negative emotions (please don't take that as an attack - we all have them) to your direct attention/observation. This is a good thing - it allows you to work with them.

Remember, meditation in a room by yourself is quite easy (and a good start) - meditation while in the midst of our day-to-day lives is very difficult.

I don't have all the answers for you, but I don't think you're going crazy.

a reply to: Subconsciously Correct

no. you are not going crazy.
you only become crazier, or should i say you are realizing that you are already crazy.
and then you realize that everyone on this planet is crazy.
and most don't realize that nature and only few will realize that.
imho only the craziests are the freests.

a good video about madness: m.youtube.com...

peace

a reply to: Subconsciously Correct

You're not crazy at all , it's completely natural.
As to why it's heightened , good question.
I can't even tolerate my own sister due to her elevated level of anxiety most of the time and the way I absorb some of it , I stay away from
bars and larger crowds and when I meet people with really good vibes it's pretty obvious right then and there.
It's really fun sometimes , but a lot of negativity can just wear you out , you have to learn how to tune some people out , and when you figure that out , let us know. I haven't mastered it either and I don't like being a recluse due to it.
Think about what's changed , has this period of heightened sensitivity happened before?
Anything at all can have an effect on you.
Best of luck !!

You might want to try a different site for help on this, but I assure you plenty of people have gone through it. As your mind clears of all the physical/mental bulls*** due to meditation, every sense will become clearer and every emotion deeper.
Of course, as you become more "Natural" your body will reject the seemingly unnoticeable little poisons in everything we use in modern life. You've experienced this both with digestion and your immune system.
I sure haven't reached this point yet, but I've meditated on and off for years now. You're not going crazy. I've always been heavy on empathy and feel other peoples emotions stronger than they do themselves, and i'm also conflicted on whether to shield myself or absorb it all. It seems unnatural to simply ignore it.
As to the vibrations you're feeling, that's energy buzzing through your "chakras". I've had meditation sessions so strong all i could feel was golden light and incredible, indescribable, vibrating, beyond orgasmic pleasure, filling me with peace and joy.
a reply to: Subconsciously Correct

These all sound like side effect from meditation to me. I have also been meditating for years and can relate to what you are feeling.

In my opinion the tingling feeling you are getting when meditating is your energy body expanding past your physical body. It is your nerve fibers expanding past the boundaries of your skin. The more you meditate and feel these fibers tingle the more you will start to feel past your body. You are becoming conscious of the electromagnetic toroidal field your heart is projecting, and with each meditation it gets stronger. Eventually the tingling will stop and it will start to feel like a strong electromagnetic flux.

Another tingling I get in mediation is when i astral project. Its more than a tingling though it feels like being shocked by electricity through my whole body and head. It doesn't hurt it just feels very intense. Then if i increase these vibrating shocking tingles i start hearing a high pitched noise in my head. Then I increase the sound and the feeling more and I pop out of my body.

I also am very empathetic and can feel others emotions. You can allow this to happen if you want and go deeper into the feelings. Or you can block them out by knowing that they are others feelings your are picking up on and going back into your own feelings. You can also project your feelings into the person to try to cheer them up if possible.

As for the allergies it could be something as simple as the water your drinking. I never drink tap water, due the the fluoridation and other inorganic minerals in it. I've been drinking distilled water for about 2 years now and never get sick. I've notice such an improvement in health overall. It is also good for decalcifying your pineal gland which will help in meditation. Heres an interview with a man named Andrew Norton Weber. He claims that distilled water can cure many diseases.

originally posted by: kalunom
Speaking to the empathy part of your post, you only mention two negative-type energies (anger and anxiety) - and by negative I mean draining or unproductive. How can you be sure these are not your own emotional responses to the situations you describe? What prompts you to ascribe these emotional states to the other people?

When meditating (and I don't know your 'method') do you ever experience these, or any other, negative emotional states? You mention bringing your attention to your breathing and steps while you walk. I think this is very good.

I appreciate your reply. No, I don't think it is my emotions at all. They become mine, but I am aware it is from others around me. A good example would be my girlfriend's 13 year old niece who was having a fight with her boyfriend. She was worried he could like another girl and started getting upset. I could feel myself become tense and my eyes started to almost tear up.

This couldn't be from me because honestly, she is 13. It is highly unlikely that guy will mean anything to her getting older. I think it's not a big deal at all yet when she got upset I could feel it intensely as well. As for the running out of gas story, it didn't bother me like it did my girlfriend. I was irritated more than anxious because I was going to have to walk, but the gas station wasn't terribly far. Her anxiety though started stressing me out and once I got her calmed down I relaxed. The key is letting the feeling to through you without attaching to it. "This too, shall pass" so to speak.

I also experience happy emotions from others in the same manner. Don't get me wrong, I have my own positive and negative thoughts, but it's different. It's hard to explain all of this in just plain text.

Thanks to others for their replies as well.

a reply to: Subconsciously Correct
Wait until you start getting sick or feel pain when others do.

Someone will hurt their leg and you will get a cramp in that spot.
You won't even have to be around them, they will just be important people in your life,
and maybe not in the ways one would think.

You can shield yourself against this somewhat by just acknowledging what it is,
and mentally pushing it away.

It is a part of opening up yourself to the universe.
It will also teach you compassion in ways almost no one else can learn it.

Just see it for what it is though, not your "stuff" and push the feelings away with a smile,
knowing that you understand a bit clearer.

a reply to: Subconsciously Correct

You're right in saying this is a difficult thing to explain in plain text.

If I may give a suggestion... Staying grounded in your physical meditations (the focusing on breathing, without trying to alter it, and focusing on your walking or other 'automatic' movements), I think, will help keep you grounded in your 'self' and help to sort what is your own emotional experiencings and those of others.

Our physical bodies are the most excellent tool, being ours and ours alone. When things begin to grow out into the emotional 'plane' - we need this 'grounding' so as not to lose ourselves in the maelstrom (especially 13 year old girls!)

Best of luck to you!

Perhaps you're an empath, with the ability to absorb emotions from other people. I'm not sure whether it is related to meditation, could be though. There is some advice on this wiki-how website which describes emotion as an energy:

How to stop absorbing other people's emotions

I tend to see this phenomena not as a person become more sensitive exactly- more that they become more consciously aware of what is happening inside themselves.

Because when the biological processes are measured, it turnes out that being in the presence of another causes mirroring of their emotional state physiologically... even if you are unaware of it.

Studies show that we respond to sensual input that it is on subtle levels, beyond our awareness (the way we respond to pheromones, for example).

Meditation, from my experience, simply turns the conscious awareness to focus more upon internal states and processes, which makes you more CONSCIOUS of the way emotions are shared, and the more subtle levels of sensual input.

I found that empathic responses had always been going on in me; I was always picking up emotions from others, and my physiology would respond with a mirror reaction.... except that I was not aware that was happening. I began to observe a process of my mind actually looking for a an "excuse" or explanation to associate the emotion with.

Like standing next to someone angry, my heart rate goes up, my blood pressure, the blood flooding my muscles.... and my mind starts flicking through possible events or persons that could be the "source" of this anger- then chooses one (perhaps something that happened earlier, with a specific person) and I begin to weave a story about how and why that event made me pissed off.

It was because of meditation that I became capable of observing these processes happening throughout the day. Often the emotion is there before my claimed reason for it.

I stopped needing to attribute reason to the emotions that pass through me. I began to repeat often, "emotions aren't yours or mine- they just ARE" . Because attributing responsibility to one person or another becomes a sticky business full of traps- who is projecting? Who is stimulating or cuing the other to feel a certain way? Is this in fact becoming a perpetuating cycle? (you feel bad, it makes me feel bad, which makes you feel bad, and on and on....).


But it is exactly the act of trying to pin down the cause and reason which makes it LAST. That is what reproduces the emotion over time, long after the exterior stimulus is gone.

Don't worry about who or why the emotion is there- acknowledge it, observe it, feel it, and allow it to change and pass on it's own when it will.

That is just my own personal experience and choice of reaction.

I haven't been meditating recently, but when I was on a retreat, I experienced something similar.

Sensations were very amplified, what normally would be subtle sensations were very intense. Experience in general was very intense, so understandably, observations of people and their emotions will be.

As far as allergies, things can change depending on age. I used to be allergic to apples, now I can eat certain kinds of apples and other fruits I was allergic to.

To feel other peoples feelings is a great gift, but you must learn to understand what are your feelings and what are the other persons feelings, if you dont learn this you will become ill and depressed. If you do not know who you are then who are you ? Take small steps, look at your feelings think is this my feeling or someones else, learn to understand your feelings. It can be very exciting to feel others feelings but my advice to you is stop now, take time for knowledge to catch up with your ability, then take small steps forward from there. One important thing you must learn is to respect other peoples feelings not just use them for yourself.
Take care

a reply to: Subconsciously Correct

You need to stop meditating. There are better ways to control stress and they are less dangerous. Try exercise.

And don't listen to meditation tapes - nothing but new age crap!

Research meditation online and look at both sides of the issue.

Good luck

originally posted by: Subconsciously Correct

originally posted by: kalunom
Speaking to the empathy part of your post, you only mention two negative-type energies (anger and anxiety) - and by negative I mean draining or unproductive. How can you be sure these are not your own emotional responses to the situations you describe? What prompts you to ascribe these emotional states to the other people?

When meditating (and I don't know your 'method') do you ever experience these, or any other, negative emotional states? You mention bringing your attention to your breathing and steps while you walk. I think this is very good.

I appreciate your reply. No, I don't think it is my emotions at all. They become mine, but I am aware it is from others around me. A good example would be my girlfriend's 13 year old niece who was having a fight with her boyfriend. She was worried he could like another girl and started getting upset. I could feel myself become tense and my eyes started to almost tear up.

This couldn't be from me because honestly, she is 13. It is highly unlikely that guy will mean anything to her getting older. I think it's not a big deal at all yet when she got upset I could feel it intensely as well. As for the running out of gas story, it didn't bother me like it did my girlfriend. I was irritated more than anxious because I was going to have to walk, but the gas station wasn't terribly far. Her anxiety though started stressing me out and once I got her calmed down I relaxed. The key is letting the feeling to through you without attaching to it. "This too, shall pass" so to speak.

I also experience happy emotions from others in the same manner. Don't get me wrong, I have my own positive and negative thoughts, but it's different. It's hard to explain all of this in just plain text.

Thanks to others for their replies as well.

You could have the gift of "discernment of the spirit". If you do, then you need to learn how to control it.

originally posted by: IseeyourBS
a reply to: Subconsciously Correct

You need to stop meditating. There are better ways to control stress and they are less dangerous. Try exercise.

And don't listen to meditation tapes - nothing but new age crap!

Research meditation online and look at both sides of the issue.

Good luck

I appreciate your reply, but that is probably not going to happen. Meditating has helped me out tremendously. I've seen negative affects listed but it's usually people saying it's demonic or false hope. I disagree.

I don't listen to tapes most of the time, but the phrase "New Age" to me is just people trying to label/name something that isn't a religion. There isn't much that is new about it. Most stuff is ancient, in fact. Guided meditations have occurred for thousands of years.