Wake Up

Unlocking Your Empathic Abilities

• Douglas James Cottrell PhD • Season 1 • Episode 68

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Are you constantly absorbing other people's emotions without knowing how to handle them? Your intuitive empathic abilities may be strengthening—and you're not alone. As Dr. Douglas James Cottrell explains, empathic sensitivity appears to be on the rise collectively as we navigate an increasingly uncertain world.

The telltale signs are unmistakable: you're feeling perfectly fine, then walk into a room and suddenly experience overwhelming anxiety, sadness, or even unexpected joy that doesn't seem to originate from within you. This "cloud of emotion" as Dr. Cottrell describes it, literally envelops your energy field and affects your physical systems—nervous, glandular, and energetic—often leaving you drained and confused.

Fortunately, managing these empathic experiences doesn't require complicated spiritual practices. Simple physical actions like crossing your arms over your vulnerable energy centers (heart, solar plexus) can provide immediate relief. Visualizing protective barriers—a cocoon, plastic shield, or container—creates energetic insulation that prevents others' emotions from penetrating your space. And sometimes, the most effective strategy is simply removing yourself from emotionally charged environments.

Why are more people experiencing heightened empathy now? Dr. Cottrell suggests it's a natural evolutionary response to collective anxiety—we're all "on alert," unconsciously scanning our environments for potential threats. This heightened awareness activates dormant intuitive abilities, connecting us to ancient spiritual understandings about human energy systems described across religious traditions.

Ready to transform your empathic sensitivity from a burden into a gift? Subscribe to explore more insights on developing your intuition in practical ways that enhance your daily life. Your natural sensitivity isn't a weakness—it's an untapped power waiting to be mastered.

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Announcer:

Welcome to Wake Up with Dr Douglas James Cottrell, your source for helpful information, advice and tips to live your life in a mindful way in this increasingly chaotic world. For over four decades, dr Douglas has been teaching people how to develop their intuition and live their lives in a conscious way. His news and views of the world tomorrow, today, are always informative and revealing. To learn more about Dr Douglas, be sure to visit his website, douglasjamescottrellcom, where you can download self-help exercises you can do right in the comfort of your own home. And now here's your host, dr Douglas James Cottrell.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Hi, I'm your host, douglas James Cottrell. I've got my good friend Les Hubert here. You're in the wake up. What's on the menu for tonight, les?

Les Hubert:

Tonight, doug, we're going to be talking about empathy. Empathic people seem to be on the rise. I don't know why, but they are and they posed a question to me which they want to pose to you how to tell if you truly are an empathic person and, if you are, how to cope with it, because they seem to be having a problem. What's your take on that, doug?

Douglas James Cottrell:

Well, let's define empathy. What does that mean?

Les Hubert:

Well, to me it means you're picking up on somebody else's stuff and you don't know how you're getting lost in their stuff. You don't know how to handle it.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So we're talking sort of like stuff being your feelings, your telepathic thoughts, your reading somebody you know you're sensing them intuitively. I guess that's what you mean.

Les Hubert:

Yeah, and sometimes they don't know it. Sometimes they get so lost in it that they don't know how to differentiate between their feelings and the feelings that they're sensing Right.

Douglas James Cottrell:

I think that's probably more often true than not. The quick answer to that, or the quick understanding that would be you're feeling fine. You walk into a room and all of a sudden you feel, oh my God, I'm feeling nervous, I feel what's wrong. Oh, I'm starting to feel terrible, I'm worried about something, I'm being afraid. Or you walk into a room and you're feeling despondent and depressed and you go like what the heck happened to me? I feel really terrible, I feel sick.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Or you walk into a room and all of a sudden you start to feel angry and you've got thoughts going in your head about an argument you had with somebody the other day, or that person that cut you off in traffic and you're going to what is the matter with? Where is this coming from? So, in in the understanding of of having an empathy or having a psychic connection, or to be intuitive, it's a natural ability we've heard of, you know, uh, gut feelings, instincts, um, you know, some people have said my intuition, I'm just sensitive about things. Uh, my, my great-grandmother used to read tea leaves and so I got the gift. You know, kind of thing, I feel these things. So are we asking people, asking why is this less, or do they want to know what to do about it? What's the point?

Les Hubert:

Well, they feel as if they are empathic. They weren't before. They have become empathic. So they wonder why they are empathic now. Is this part of our spiritual evolution? And secondly, how can they cope with it? Because they're having problems with differentiating between are these my feelings or are these the other? I'm getting lost in this other person's stuff and how do I get out of it? Or how can I differentiate between the two?

Douglas James Cottrell:

Sure, okay. Well, the first thing is to realize that you're being triggered. When you were perfectly at ease and then something came over, you first thought is to say this is not mine, I don't want to be here, this does not belong to me. That awareness comes with your intellect, that you are now realizing that something's changed. Your equilibrium, your emotional balance is now tipped or tilted. And that's the first thing Whoa, what happened? I'm under a psychic attack. I'm under some.

Douglas James Cottrell:

I've walked into a cloud of emotion and you can see, by thinking of it as a cloud of emotion, that you've walked into something, but you're independent. It's like you walked into a rain cloud that's raining, the rain is outside of you, it's not you, but you're now surrounded by this and you're getting soaking wet. So, emotionally speaking, that's what's happening. You're getting soaking wet with emotion. But the key is to have the presence of mind that this is happening to you. We all know. I mean it doesn't.

Douglas James Cottrell:

It's not like a, you know, like a long, enduring ascension to some feeling of being sick or bad or uneasy or afraid. It's almost a momentary change, or uneasy or afraid, it's almost a momentary change. So those momentary changes instantaneously change. I would sort of stay away from that, because it might take a few moments when you're in a room and you would feel this sense about something Extrasensory perception is what it used to be called and let's just say you feel this sense. It's like you walked into a cloud of emotion. Okay, walk out of it and you change back. So, by vacating the premise, the area that you're in, immediately you should change or feel, um, or not feel, I should say the emotion that you were sensing or feeling.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Right, you can also cross your arms across your chest pull your chest together and put them down around your navel, cross your legs if you're sitting in a chair and cross your arms across your body. So as you walk out of this cloud, you immediately feel a shift into that emotion or that sense that you were feeling as you cross your arms and you're actually closing yourself off, because the sensitive part of you is in your throat, your heart, your solar plexus or tummy, and the reproductive centers. That's the belly of the beast. There's no armor on there, and so you're feeling these emotions or the sensitivity more exactly and you're having an emotional response to that cloud of emotion or that intuitive energy that you've just walked into. I call it intuitive energy, but I should try to stick to it as just as a cloud. So by being aware that this has happened to you, you felt the change. This is where you start. You back out of the room, you close your arms off or close yourself off by crossing your arms, and immediately you should feel relief. Ding, you're in the wake up. Now you know that you have felt some emotion that's circulating around the room like a cloud, and you've just put the umbrella up and you're now isolated. You're in a cocoon, which is the next thing you can do? See yourself isolated in a cocoon or in a chamber of some sort you know, a plastic container or a glass one, visually creating an isolation chamber which this negative energy, if you want to call it, or this energy from wherever outside of you can't penetrate into your physical body, affecting your nervous system, the glandular systems, the chi energy that's going through your body, your circulation. All these are affected by this very real emotion, or, let let's call it, this energy around you that is more like a psychic presence, an attitude, a rain cloud, so to speak. Now, you can walk into a room and pick up on the positive stuff too, when you walk into a room and all up on the positive stuff too.

Douglas James Cottrell:

When you walk into a room and all of a sudden you're feeling aroused or you're feeling happy, and you know, gee, I'm kind of drunk on this emotion here. Wow, what happened to me? Oh, I feel like, you know, I'm in love. That's because you just walked into the same environment. And this is cloud of energy. Only it's favorable, it's pleasurable, and you're picking up on it, the same.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Now, of course, if you don't want to feel that way, well, by all means, put your arms across your chest, you know. Cross your legs, shut yourself off and instantly you should be back to normal. Maybe you're just in the presence of two people that are on their honeymoon and you're picking up that loving energy. Maybe somebody in the room is looking at you and thinking, wow, what a good looking person that is. Or maybe you've walked into a room where people who know you are admiring you and they're complimenting you. You're picking that up.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Okay, so those are some indications of this energy you can pick up and how you can shut yourself off from it. Now Again, leave, cross your arms, cross your open, vulnerable chest and the intuitive centers or the glands in the body, or three. Put yourself in an isolation chamber or you're insulated by something, a cocoon of what the heck tinfoil, you know. Stop the race, put yourself in a white light or something. People do that all the time, but I'm more like let's do something constructive, like a plastic cocoon or a plastic container or chamber that works. That stops you.

Les Hubert:

Now, the first part of the question you asked was basically how to tell if you are empathic and then also how to cope with it if you realize that you are.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Well, the idea. How do you realize you are Well by feeling these sensations and by not comprehending these things as real things, as real energy, as real emotion, emotion like a cloud. Emotion is a real thing then, until you hear my voice or our voice in the wake up, or somebody else's has offered, uh, such a similar explanation, or you've read a book about it, you wouldn't know. It's like you've walked into a room and you're feeling bad and you first think what did I eat?

Les Hubert:

What's wrong with me, did I?

Douglas James Cottrell:

take my medication. What happened? You know you're lost. So you need to be aware and by coming to the wake up and hearing the wonderful information we have to offer and the great questions you ask me all the time, Les, this is the beginning point of somebody to expand upon the notion that there is a mystical side to you. You do have an aura, you do have energy radiating out from your body and people can see it and they can see the shapes and the colors. And then you can say, okay, I have these life organs which are radiating energy. In the bible they're called the churches okay, the seven churches and the one in your the pineal gland is called the church of philadelphia which do some more research on the seek in the seven churches in your temple of your body. And so you become more.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Now you're getting into the jargon, you're getting into understanding that you're a spiritual being and you're intuitively feeling things. And, oh my gosh, you have a soul and this mystical side of you. There's all the spiritual gifts and they're in the book of Corinthians in the Bible, and there are other great texts of other world religions as well, talking about your spiritual centers and developments. And so, all of a sudden, when you walk into a room next time and you begin to feel a little chilly or cool, you're going to say, hmm, somebody in the room has a problem and if you walk around the room, you will come to the person who is really chilly and say this is the source, this is the person who's got the real issue or problem that I'm feeling. So if you really want to play with this energy less and you want to be clever, what do you think you do to that person that you suppose is the cause of some disruptive, negative energy? Yep, you put them in a chamber.

Les Hubert:

Oh.

Douglas James Cottrell:

And instantly the temperature of their room will change. Everybody else in their room will go from pouting to smiling, to giggling and they'll be relieved. Interesting. That's how you know that you're empathetic with people. You are intuitively connected with people, as we are all one, as we are all connected but, you don't have to lay down and take it.

Douglas James Cottrell:

You need to be aware, wake up and control the environment by using your mind and also complimenting, by putting your hands across your body to shut yourself off. If you're in a really intense situation, you can't get out of it Like you're in court. You're up in front of your employer, you're applying for a job or you're in an environment where a lot of people are angry with each other. There's a conflict going on here, a family situation, a conflict resolution meeting, something like that. The court's a good example when you go to court because everybody's scared, everybody's worried and everybody's afraid. So you shut yourself off and, oh my gosh, you're full of good stuff, good energy, and when it comes time for you to speak, you're naturally calm, in control, and you know I should add that this negative energy wears you down. It's like somebody poking a hole in a bag of water and a small hole dribbles out and the bag empties. That's your life force going away, or that intuitive energy that's radiating out from you. Or maybe, instead of just a little brick of a, of a small hole, maybe they take a snip out of it into the big hole and you just feel collapsed and that's happened. People walked in a place and just it's almost like they're going to pass out. There is a serious problem in that room that somebody has. They might be a good person, but they're having a serious problem I that room that somebody has. They might be a good person, but they're having a serious problem. They just found out that they were getting divorced or somebody's died in their life or there's a problem with their child or something, and that emotion is just like not a rainstorm, not a cloud, rather it's a thunderstorm, it's a tornado. So, best case scenario scenario leave, if you can.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Anyway. That's why that's how you do it, unless I mean we, we are sentient beings and that sensitivity radiates out from us and uh, it's like, if you want to picture this, everybody has a little cloud around them, you know, like a cocoon, and when you walk up close to somebody, you're bumping into their energy and the energy is intermingling and that's called clairsentience, when you clearly feel what's going on. But that's how you do it If you will see in your mind's eye, see six people in a room and everybody's got a big cocoon around them, and then when they all come together, the cocoons are sticking together, they're intermingling. That's how you can read. People intuitively get feelings of hot and cold, good and bad, because that sensitivity is a natural form of communication and information. You're in the wake up.

Les Hubert:

And just wrap it up, doug. The final question is why is empathy on the rise these days?

Douglas James Cottrell:

Well, good point, because everybody's afraid, everybody's aware, everybody's looking out. You're looking over your shoulder. Now, when you go into the bank, you look inside the bank to see if there's bad things going on. If you're looking at a grocery store, you're looking over your shoulder. If you send your kids to school, you're on the prowl. You're looking out. Who's in that car? Is that man standing under the tree there? Do we know him? You are looking, you're looking outward, you're looking forward and you're looking through time, if you will. When I get to school, how are things going to be? You know.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So why is it on the increase? Because it's natural, we're alerted, we are alarmed and we are attempting to perceive some threat. So, so, naturally, our natural intuitive abilities, which are pre-cognition, premonition, telepathy, clairvoyance, clairsentience, clairaudience, etc. These are all now heightened because we're alarmed, we're looking to know something that has yet to happen, and that's why we are increasing our awareness, increasing our experiences, if you will, of what's going on in the moment. You know it used to be, you know woman's intuition, where somebody said I got to go home, there's a problem at home, home, and sure enough, somebody was sick, or there's a fire in the house, or the dog got run over something. Well, that subtle intuition which comes to you out of the blue, it's still there. Pay attention to it and it will help you avoid situations or circumstances.

Douglas James Cottrell:

For instance, you're driving to school and you feel like I shouldn't go down that street.

Douglas James Cottrell:

I get a queasy feeling and you're hesitating should I or shouldn't? I Don't willfully force the issue, say okay, on a hunch, I'll go around the block, and it turns out to be that there was something happening on that street, an accident or a situation that you would have been right in the middle of had you proceeded. Tuition forearms you and forewarns you and foretells what's going to happen. And if you learn to work with that, slowly and surely you will know that you have this extra sensory perception on how to stay safe, on what's about to happen. You know premonition, precognition, those are things that are about to happen. They're not exactly clear, but you have a feeling or a sense and if you listen to that sense for instance, get out of the way, get out of the place by all means, wait and see you more likely will be a little happy as you begin to see that, oh my God, I really can see and perceive what's about to happen. I must be psychic. You're in, wake up.

Announcer:

Thank you very much for listening to Wake Up. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you'll be notified when a new episode is posted, and we'd greatly appreciate your review of our show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts to let others know about the great content we're producing. For more about Dr Douglas' self-development classes, books and other related products, please visit his website douglasjamescartrellcom. Until next time, we wish you all of God's blessings health, wealth and peace of mind.