Self-Care for the Self-Aware: A Guide for Highly Sensitive People, Empaths, Intuitives, and Healers

by Dave Markowitz

For example, if you carry your mother’s sadness (or any physical results that may arise from repressing the sadness; examples may include digestive disorders, skin problems, lung issues, what’s called depression, fatigue, etc.), she no longer has the impetus to go within and see what it’s about. Her grief is a message, a challenge, and an opportunity for her to look at an aspect of her life that has not yet been examined. By you taking that from her, she will likely feel fine and may continue her unhealthy behavior. To use a motor vehicle analogy, she no longer has the dashboard warning light to tell her that something is in need of attention. She will likely feel better in your presence, but you will likely feel worse. Even if you decide to consciously be a sponge, the end results are the same; you feel burdened and she’s still incomplete.