
Clairsentience is the most natural, grounding, and enriching intuitive sense I’ve worked with. Perhaps because it is so helpful in fostering relationships with others in daily life, as well as connecting us to other unseen energy frequencies. At its heart, clairsentience is very human.
Of all the clairs, this psychic sense is one of the simpler ones to access.
However, it’s important to remember that when developing your psychic skills, energy follows the path of least resistance. (So, it may not be for everyone.)
What is clairsentience?
Clairsentience in psychic circles is defined as “clear feeling.” In my book that’s both a physical sensation and an emotional feeling. Some folks may separate the two, but in my experience clairsentience can be defined as when I feel physiological reactions in my body and in my emotions, to things that are unseen and outside of myself.
Let’s take that a step further. Someone who experiences clairsentience is known as a clairsentient. They may also call themselves an empath. This means they are incredibly empathetic, a big feeler, and probably a huge softie at heart. Empaths or clairsentients can feel energies outside of themselves through emotions and sensations in their physical bodies.
Picture this

You’re at a scary movie. Mirror neuron activity triggers goosebumps, your heart pounds, palms sweat, you grip the chair (or the person’s hand next to you), pupils dilate. You may even get the shakes from adrenaline- your autonomic nervous system is getting your body ready for fight, flight or freeze-these reactions are a built-in response to fear. As an empath, you may experience all of the above, but to an extreme degree. Even though the movie is already over, it may take a long time to shake the images from your mind, but your body and emotional state don’t know the difference.
Once empaths learn this is an example of something that causes pretty extreme feelings and responses, they tend to avoid repeating the experience. Many clairsentients dodge scary, violent, or dramatic movies or television. They may also have a difficult time watching or reading the news.
Connection

Clairsentients can literally feel energy coming from outside sources- people’s sorrow for example.
Many of us need to grab a box of Kleenex if we see something tearful, but again, for empaths, this is kicked up a notch. Energy flows the path of least resistance- so someone with clairsentient abilities will predominantly feel energies of sadness from photos or videos (versus a clairvoyant who may see additional information about the sad situation).
Clairsentients may need a lot of tissue, but being able to connect to and sit with others as they go through difficult times is a gift.
Someone recently posted about their beloved pet passing away. The touching photo of the animal resting peacefully was overwhelmed by the emotion coming from the owner who was out of the frame. Grief was so palpable, that it not only made me cry, (and ugly cry at that) but, I could feel the heartbreak coming through my phone.
Physically, it felt like a hairdryer on a super low setting- just pulling air through and blowing it gently in my head space, my face, and heart. It also had a pulsing-tingly energy to it. If I sit with this type of feeling too long, it will spread throughout the entire body. Because it was such a devastating loss for the pet’s owner, it was also accompanied by a bowling ball heaviness in the chest and a tightness in my throat. When I left the couch where I’d been scrolling through my feed, and returned, I could still feel something off about the couch. It wasn’t so much grief as just a feeling of something wrong. A tearing or misalignment of energy in the area.
Horror and grief aren’t the only thing a clairsentient feels strongly. Powerful emotions of any kind are very palpable. Positive feelings included!
Dialing In

Because clairsentience is all about feeling, it can make it difficult to distinguish and interpret the finer nuances of a psychic or mediumistic situation, because there are so many variables at play. It can be challenging to know where the feelings are coming from.
In the photo example, the physical feeling of heaviness may be the result of the sorrow of the pet’s owner (even if he isn’t in the photo, but taking it). Clairsentients may also pick up the energy of the area the photo was taken in, the land, the building, the clothing the subjects are wearing, etc. There are so many layers to this. I’ve even picked up on deceased pets who are outside a photo, but were in the area when the photo was taken. (to the right, by the chair!) By developing other clairs, clairsentients can get a more full picture of what is happening in visual records.
Touch- or why I don’t go in antique stores

Objects also hold energy that clairsentients can pick up on. This includes some of the items referred to in the original clairs post, like crystals, trees, plants, animals, etc. Also, everyday household objects, kitchen utensils, jewelry, toys, even larger structures like barns or apartment buildings, etc. Each of these items or structures has its own unique vibration and has probably collected the energy of other people. Reading objects is a psychic practice called psychometry. Some clairsentients are very gifted in this area. They may get feelings off of these things, (and if other clairs are developed, may hear information about the object or its owners, see it, or information will flow in other ways).
On occasion I have cleared properties, and sometimes objects. At home, I have acquired items that will have to be carefully disposed of or cleared because of their heavy energy. Recently, I had a friend ask me to clear some inherited items for her children. When I laid eyes on them, I felt the heaviness without even making physical contact. I knew I couldn’t touch them.
I had her put them into a plastic bag, and by the time I had carried them down the hall, into my old classroom, I nearly threw up from the negativity that was pushing its way out of my chest. It was this heavy, queasy feeling that came from the solar plexus area. There was an ice cold creeping, deep into the bones of my hand, and that spread up my arm from the items, even though they were encased in plastic. It took about 15 minutes for the sickness to stop. The cold and heavy arm feeling had a lingering effect for half a day!
I’m not sick, but I’m not well

Public places can be difficult because of the sheer multitude of people around. Once, in a restaurant, I thought I was having heart palpitations, and was going to go into cardiac arrest. My heart fluttered in my chest. Sweaty and pale, I couldn’t get a breath. I soon saw an older man at a table nearby was having an episode and he needed his medication. He was fine after, and things calmed down on the receiving end too.
While the older man was thankfully better with his medication, clairsentients may not tolerate prescriptions the same way that other people can. Your body may react more strongly to medications. You may experience more side effects.
On the flipside, some empaths self-medicate in order not to feel so deeply. Or, if you abstain from drugs or drinking, if someone nearby is tipsy, you might feel dizzy or giddy yourself.
This is one of the major issues with clairsentience. What’s your stuff, and what’s mine?
Rats

If this is your primary clair, you may actually be picking up on other people’s physical and mental ailments. You have to be careful with your energy. Clairsentients are natural sponges and will pick up others’ astral debris without realizing it. And if you don’t know how to keep your energy clear, these energies will stick around and muddy up your perception. Boundaries are key.
In addition to what other people are putting out into the environment (physical ailments or emotions), clairsentience is a unique gift where you can sense others’ intentions.
You can smell a rat from a mile away.
It may be because you are so sensitive to what others put out, (and many folks are natural projectors of energy- you will know it when you meet them. Projectors feel like a bowling ball has been launched your way.)
You are able to tell when someone’s energy and their words don’t match. You will sense that disconnect, whether it’s because they don’t feel like sharing what’s bothering them, or they may not realize they are leaning into a little white lie. Or, if they are just outright out of sync with their words, deeds, and emotions. You will be able to tell. It might be a little niggle. It might feel like a short circuit in your brain.
Trust that feeling. You may feel squicky around inauthentic people. You may be someone who gets a bit stuck on the feeling of misalignment or lack of integrity. But remember, sometimes folks aren’t even aware this is going on. Most don’t know that they are doing it! And it isn’t our job to fix that; something that clairsentients may struggle with. This gift can be useful in business, or other types of relationships-honor your feelings, and trust your gut! However, clairsentients can also misread situations and people if they aren’t in tune with their own emotions, or aren’t keeping their energy clean.
The Unseen

And what about things that aren’t there? Yes, as we often hear, clairsentients can pick up on the leftover energy in a room after a fight- but what about people who are no longer there?
Yup. You can feel that too. There is a wide array of the good and the not so good energies that many people cannot feel. You may be able to feel entities from other realms, Divine- or otherwise. The energy I associate with angels, archangels, ascended masters and other high level beings feels tingly, it is a lifting in the solar plexus, warm, and expansive. Some of my clairsentient friends report feeling a bit light headed in the presence of angels.
The most beautiful moment I experienced as an empath dealing with the unseen, was when an archangel stepped into my auric field and opened themselves up. I remember smiling, tears streaming down my face, and this feeling of coming home, just pure love. The experience lasted maybe five minutes, but the aftereffect lingered for hours. I’ve never felt so at peace. This was early on in my awakening, and it was the experience that made me believe in heaven.
On the other end of the spectrum, I helped an angry and stuck ghost cross over. His energy hit me in the path of least resistance-which at the time was clairsentience. I’m not going to lie, he was absolutely terrifying!
I felt him before I saw him, and it was sheer rage and bone-deep terror. It hit all the physiological responses to horror-my heart rate was through the roof. But, when he did cross, there was the most transformative and beautiful release. It was that instant of letting go that felt the most expansive in my chest and heart space.
It was unforgettable.
The Nudge

Because clairsentience was the first clair I began working with, we’ve become close. I truly believe this is the gut instinct, and the clair that is most related to our past animal selves. I’d wager that most developed mediums and psychics probably have this clair down pat.
Suspect that you are clairsentient? It is a relatively easy psychic skill to foster.
Even if you aren’t planning to use this to communicate with the dead, or to get to know guides – this psychic sense is incredibly useful in helping us connect to and communicate with others. I know my life path has been completely altered by my gift of sensitivity, and in the most phenomenal ways.
Feeling nudged to learn more? In the next clairs post I’ll share some tips for identifying if you are a clairsentient.