Yes. They are linked.
Most doctors and psychologist focus on the ‘depression’ aspect of 
uncontrollable weight gain, but the connection with extreme sensitivity to other people’s emotions is often overlooked.
In the “spiritual community” there’s a permeating false idea floating around that to be spiritual means to look like a supermodel. Maybe it’s the frenzy with social media spirituality (who’s the most popular and 100% raw?!), but it seems our societal obsession with perfection has lead us to believe that if we don’t look a certain way, we’re just not spiritual enough (as if women need one more thing to feel guilty about).
Some of the most tuned-in, loving, wise, altruistic people I know carry a few extra pounds. Many of my clients who have extreme empathic/psychic abilities almost universally struggle with weight gain and/or health issues. This is due to the way their body translates the energy of others around them.
Often, this over-sensitivity to environment/people stems from a childhood of abuse. In order to compensate for the overhaul of energy felt by those with empathic abilities, their bodies will often carry extra weight as a type of insulation between themselves and others (it’s a form of self- protection).
Even after they’ve worked through their emotional issues/past abuse, many empaths find the extra weight is the last adaptive mechanism remaining with them. Because the excess physical insulation has been so psychologically useful to them in dealing with others’ emotions (and their own), it is often difficult to build the neuropath ways to other soothing forms of self-comfort. Learning to self-sooth is one of the most important healing modalities an empath can learn.
What’s interesting about weight gain caused by empathic abilities, 
is that often those carrying the extra pounds do not over eat (though some do). Many overweight empaths eat extremely healthy vegan and/or raw food diets. It can be frustrating for these people to lose weight because the issue is emotional/psychological, not an eating obsession or lack of self-control.
The most self-aware empaths are conscious about their body’s tendency to hold on to weight and learn to accept/love themselves as they are. But I find so often that they (women in particular) carry an enormous sense of guilt and shame when it comes to their weight, constantly feeling the need to “fix” themselves. This added stress often leads to additional weight gain.
I personally have dealt with this issue my entire life, often going on extreme (and potentially harmful) deprivation diets in an effort to rid myself of my body’s natural response to processing an overabundance of energy.
Through much therapy and emotional awareness, I’m learning how to have balance and control over how my empathic abilities affect me, and I find that the more I accept my body as it is, the more grounded and powerful I become.
As I’ve learned to love myself unconditionally, I’ve notice my body 
holds on to less and less weight, because it feels safe with me. It feels loved. Self loves soothes the body and helps it feel less vulnerable in this chaotic world of emotions.
I wanted to send this out for any of you empaths out there who struggle with your weight and feel guilty because of it. Don’t.
Carrying extra weight does not make you any less spiritual or less valuable than anyone else on the planet. Learn to love and accept yourself. Thank your body for how it protects and takes care of you. I promise it will do wonders in your overall health and sense of well-being!
Self-acceptance is always the first step to self-love (which is the ultimate state of enlightenment).
Much love, family!
Chakra Center 
Reblogged this on L&L Photography.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!! Validation, at last!! Sending you cyber hugs….
Thank you, I could not understand where this was coming from. Just heard Brett Butler explain this and looked it up on Google.
Thank you…The more spiritual work that I give, the more weight that I seem to hold. After reading your words, it’s very clear what I need to do..As I release the session, I will also add another step and release for myself again .
❤
I’m glad anything I said helped! Much love! ❤
I’m very young, teenager, and the more my abilities strengthen the more I appear to put on weight, when the thoughts and emotions get to much I eat to distract myself when music isn’t enough or available like in school.
Reblogged this on The Spiritual Intellect.
This is exactly me. I am a 37 year old trilingual white male HPS, empath, and healer. My business is translation & interpreting. Our whole mission is geared around linking cultures and bridging linguistic gaps. Our team has been abhorred with the 2016 election year rhetoric on immigrants, building walls, and putting brown people in camps. So much bile, anger, and hate channeled towards families who have been on journeys that the average American has absolutely no clue about. A piece of paper defining citizenship is not the measure of a human being and while my business respects the laws of the USA 100%, we advocate for immigrants as full and complete people with all the same rights as US citizens. Instead of get to know the brown people in our society, we demonize them. This is not the way. The way is peace, togetherness, and fellowship through working honestly side by side.
My extra weight comes in large part from channeling all the hatred around the international people I interact with that is directed at them by the mainstream culture. I can feel the damage that the white population has done to their psyches.
I am 6′ tall and weight 300 pounds. There is a lot of muscle in my arms, shoulders, and legs, but I have a big round belly. I go to the gym 4x per week and do 100 crunches per visit plus weights and cardio twice per week for 45 min. That’s 1600 crunches per month.
I eat kale, salad, salmon, steak, chicken, eggs, everything healthy I can. I lost 50 pounds. Used to weigh 350. But try as I might, I cannot seem to get lower than 295. Right now, I am 305. It fluctuates almost daily by 10 pounds in some cases.
However, I would not trade my healing abilities for looking like a super model or famous actor like Brad Pitt. The world is in pain and more and more healers are waking up.
My theory is that we have extra weight as healers because it is all the more impacting to others to see the healing light shine through people who you would not expect to have that kind of light inside them. The The weight makes people think in stereotypical manners. So, most folks see a heavy person and conclude that big people are unhealthy by nature.
I can bench press 260 pounds and run a mile in 15 minutes. I am gasping for air at the end, but I can do it. On the elliptical machine, I can go for an hour or more easily.
I can play on the ground with kids, mow the lawn, and do anything else I put my mind to physically except maybe dunk a basketball.
It is a shame how so many people superficially pre-judge a heavy person without getting to know them. I guess the same happens with the immigrants my company serves.
To all my fellow HSPs, empaths, healers, shamans, and dreamers out there bringing light to a dark world who may be a heavy…. don’t worry.
You are loved. You are bringing major change to the planet. And you make a HUGE difference. (No pun intended! Hahahah!!!)
I love this! Thank you for sharing (and for all the love shout-outs!). ❤
Thank You Amanda❤
I so appreciate you and your site. I am still struggling to find a balance between not suppressing my abilities and being able to function in the outside world. My physical health suffers when try to suppress my intuitions. I seek all suggestions to assist in my learning to better allow my true self and the unfortunate need for a public self to exist together.