Back in the day when I worked in the public school system, I got asked this question more often than you might think by the parents, students, and adults I worked with: "How do I know if this is psychic capacity and not something else?" They worried that it might be an emerging mental or emotional breakdown or illness as opposed to intuition or psychic/energetic sensitivity or a spiritual awakening.
Let me tell you, it's not always a simple thing to sort, yet it's also not that hard, either. Usually with a few simple questions, we can begin to reach some clarity. You just have to know what to ask.
I've come to believe that humans are born with psychic capacity, and that upon birth, we are wide open vessels of energy flowing through and around us. Consider that as newborns, we can't see clearly and don't understand language. Without clear vision or language, nothing gets "identified" or "labeled" as anything. It's just space with lots of sounds, tastes, colors, motions, smells, and other sensations. We are wide open vessels of energy and love flowing through us, more directly connected to Source and to our infinite nature than at any other time in our human development.
As our vision clears and we begin to learn language, that changes. Social conditioning upon our senses is quick and pervasive. A great deal of focus is given to the mind and its thinking capacities, which eventually dominates our psychic and energetic senses. We are conditioned to believe that the mind is our most important faculty and ally for survival and safety.
To a certain degree, that's true because we need language and reasoning to interact properly with this reality. Yet, it is also true that thought and language create restrictions and boundaries upon the openness, flow, energy, and psychic perceptions we are born with, as well as on our notions of what's considered "okay" or normal, and what's not. Honestly, I've come to see that one of our greatest hurdles to spiritual awakening is removing all the power we give to our mind and restoring our power to its proper home in our heart—the hub of our intuition and the portal to our infinite wisdom and nature.
I've also come to see that we can usually point to at least one experience from childhood in which we had a "psychic" moment, or perhaps felt more directly connected to infinite Source energy, before we got the clear message from those around us that it was unacceptable or unbelievable. As youngsters, our priority is to feel accepted, loved, and that we belong somewhere. To speak of things that are rejected, judged, or dismissed by others puts our sense of safety and survival at risk. So we quickly learn to keep things that others don't accept (such as intuitive knowing, or psychic communication or vision) quiet or hidden, to avoid feeling embarrassed, shunned, shamed, or rejected (unless we are one of the fortunate few who have parents that get it).
Yet, that doesn't mean our capacities don't exist, aren't legit, or just disappear. We just set them aside and they get overridden as we grow up, until such a time comes when it is right or it feels safe for us to examine them and embrace them again. If you look deeply enough, I'm guessing that you can find at least one instance of something more intuitive or psychic you experienced in your childhood, and that you wound up dismissing due to social conditioning...
Maybe you had an invisible friend, ally, or guide. Maybe you communicated with trees, birds, and animals (as I did). Maybe you saw visions or felt waves of future events. Maybe you were visited by strange beings or even ghosts. Or perhaps you had powerful dream experiences. Maybe you heard other people's thoughts or voices in your head. All of these can be signs of strong intuition or inherent psychic capacity. They don't have to mean there is a psychic or emotional break, illness, or breakdown happening, though it is wise to officially rule that out rather than assume anything.
As adults, most of us can point to our intuition and psychic capacity in action, like knowing the phone is going to ring before it does, and/or knowing who's calling before we answer. Or feeling a nudge to bring an umbrella with us on a sunny day, only to get caught in a rain shower later. Or sensing that we are going to cross paths with someone from our past moments before we actually do. Or knowing that a loved one is in trouble or has died before it's confirmed.
These are intuitive, psychic experiences, not mere coincidences. Everyone I know can point to at least one in their lifetime. Yet the fact that someone can't, doesn't mean they lack the capacity. It just means they've buried it deep inside. Chances are that it will resurface when the time and conditions are right and aligned for them to embrace and honor it.
So how do you know if you are energetically sensitive, empathic, or psychic? You know because you are. You are born that way, just like everyone else is. The question to ask is, what blocks you from acknowledging it?
If you're still doubtful, examining these questions can help:
Have you been described as too sensitive?
Are you emotionally tender?
Do you wear your feelings on your sleeve?
Do you connect deeply with what's around you?
Do you feel compassion for every little thing?
Do you love fully and deeply?
Have you been told that you are overly reactive or emotional?
Have you been described as having too high of expectations when it comes to living with integrity?
Are you told that you are too serious or boring or no fun?
Do you feel uneasy in safe crowds or around groups?
Do you feel exhausted after being around people?
Do you dislike "jokes" about other living things?
Do you feel deep empathy for the pain of others around you, or in the world?
Is it hard to separate other people's struggles from your heart?
Do you have trouble releasing painful images from movies, TV shows, or in books?
These things can mean many things, and among them is that they point to a deep, inner empathy, energetic sensitivity, and/or psychic capacity.
If you experience such things, it could mean that your energy field is too permeable or vulnerable. Or that you have invisible cords connecting you to people, places, or things that need to be released. Or that you have hyper-sensitivity from a past trauma wound that is still active. Or that there are ancestral or past life energies asking for healing.
These things can be easily dealt with, using the correct techniques. If you have questions, hop over to my "Connect" tab and send me a direct message. I can help you determine what's going on and how to get a handle on it.
And remember as always, nothing changes if you change nothing.