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The Space in Between: An Empath's Field Guide
Are you highly sensitive? Empathetic? Empathic? An empath? The Space in Between captures the essence of what it means to live as an empath—and demonstrates how an ordinary person can open up to living an extraordinary life. Longtime spiritual counselor and seasoned guide Signe Myers Hovem takes readers on a journey through her life, demystifying empathic receptivity and revealing that it is not a “gift” or “power” but a feature of one’s sensory perception and intuition, an ability that allows us to live in extended communication with nature and humanity. She elucidates the difference between having empathic traits and sensitivities and actually having the skills and abilities of an empath. And she explores the five different landscapes and fields of consciousness that provided her with insight and movement as she traveled her own path of discovery—Field of Reflection, Field of Definition, Field of Sensing, Field of Awareness and Experience, and Field of Mystery—helping readers to dismantle long-held beliefs, illuminating the intentional path towards balance and belonging, and encouraging us all to rediscover what it means to live a truly authentic life.
Written for persons who identify as highly sensitive, as empathic, or as empaths, The Space in Between is a road map to cultivating both self-awareness and connectivity with the greater world.
Written for persons who identify as highly sensitive, as empathic, or as empaths, The Space in Between is a road map to cultivating both self-awareness and connectivity with the greater world.
- GenresNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
Published October 12, 2021
31 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
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May 26, 2022
I found this book to be a breath of fresh air among the guides out there for empaths and other sensitive or intuitive people. Author Signe Myers Hovem does work as a spiritual counselor that is somewhat adjacent to my own, and I found her takes to resonate with my own worldview as someone who is particularly interested in self-trust, nature-based practices, and unlearning harmful conditioning.
Most strikingly, she doesn’t treat the empath as a “special” (read: superior) person on one side of a bright line that can be evaluated through a brief quiz, whose ability should be seen mainly in relation to others’ feelings. Instead, perhaps curious to some for a topic that is all about expanded external sensing, she invites the reader to focus inward and center their own work in becoming what she terms a functional empath. Rather than teaching esoteric techniques she offers reflections that can be meaningful to anyone, empath or not.
The title of the book is a nod to the liminal nature of the empath, sensing what lies between physical observable reality and everything else. Of course, not only an empath can experience this liminality. I found its centering deeply meaningful as an intuitive who, according to Hovem’s definition, is likely not empathic. I also really resonated with how she describes her frustration with science dismissing intuitive experiences out of hand while religious people want claim empaths for their own. The “field guide” portion of the subtitle gives a clue as to Hovem’s style: a little meandering but still organized, weaving in personal experience as our “guide” to the topic in what she also calls a “teaching memoir.”
In focusing on self-knowing, Hovem rejects the framing of empathic sensibilities as either a gift or a curse. She generally avoids a binary sense of virtue, focusing instead on teaching empaths to develop a supported neutral channel. In a lot of ways she normalizes empathic experience as not being indicative of anything, really, other than exactly what it is: an ability to sense displaced thoughts, emotions, and other energies. Her description of a functional empath—someone who has empathic sensibilities and then goes on to develop them consciously, thereby attaining inner balance—reminds me a lot of how we might describe a mindful person in more general spiritual discourse. The functional empath not only receives the displaced sensations but processes and marks them separate from her own, stays present in the moment, and offers compassion.
Although Hovem does use some New Age language (particularly with reference to dimensionality), I wasn’t as bothered by it as I am in some contexts given the explicit acknowledgment of spiritual bypassing dangers, as well as a focus on responsible use of empathic abilities. Hovem’s approach is not about avoiding or escaping the body or the planet in favor of another plane, nor is it about arming the sensitive individual to protect themselves from “invading” energies. It’s about interacting with an expanded environment as a sensory experience, being in conversation and relationship with said environment without attempting to understand the energies they perceive. As an intuitive, I find this framing both beautiful and familiar.
Hovem’s passion is for language and it shows. She distinguishes between experiences such as empathic sensing, exercising empathy (empathetic as opposed to empathic), and being a Highly Sensitive Person, but she also takes care to emphasize that our sensory experiences are very personal and that we may receive impressions in different forms, so it’s up to us to self-identify using these definitions. While I would love to see a book that specifically helps neurodivergent people detangle neurodivergence and empathetic abilities (as I often read these definitions and think “…could I be an empath that’s hard to recognize because I’m also ADHD and autistic?”) I did find this fundamental acknowledgement of difference quite affirming. I actually felt more like an HSP from Hovem’s explanations (funnily, I was less sure when I read the original book on the subject!) but that didn’t stop me from finishing this book given its broader applicability.
Another area of categorization involves the subtle bodies, where Hovem uses a framework that incorporates seven energy bodies making up a field outside the physical body as well as the seven chakras. It’s always important to acknowledge when talking about chakras that this term is often used pretty broadly and that certain aspects (color associations, for example) were added on by practitioners in the US, but the general concept of energy centers and the subtle body is not only found in a wide variety of cultures but is also becoming scientifically observable (if not with the level of specificity described by spiritual teachers). I personally share Hovem’s enthusiasm around this evolving research, and I think many readers will find this framework to be a relatable tool for visualization even if they relate to it more conceptually than sensorily.
The issues Hovem brings up in discussing the importance of self development have universal relevance, particularly in modern culture. She especially emphasizes the importance of self-acceptance, self-love, and self-care when seeking a sense of security and belonging, which I personally have found in my work to be at the heart of nearly every challenge we individually face. While we may feel like we uniquely “don’t belong,” in fact this is a common human experience and the key comes in your relationship with yourself, to whom you always belong, rather than in seeking external acceptance.
For an empath in particular, “knowing what’s yours” is important not only in the sense of distinguishing “my emotion” from “your emotion,” but also in the sense of understanding what is and isn’t yours to take on, respond to, or fix. Seeking belonging through trying to hold someone else’s work never works out in the long run and inevitably leads to burnout. By contrast honoring your own boundaries, rhythms, and cycles means that you can compassionately witness displaced emotions without taking them on as your own. You can hold space, rather than holding the energy itself.
These lessons, I’d argue, are critical not only to empaths but also to people pleasers and those in imbalanced dynamics of care who might try to hold others’ stress or do the emotional work for them. The concept of projected thoughts and feelings similarly, while I may not experience it energetically per se, really got me in the gut thinking about how often I’ve experienced harm or discomfort just in response to the sense I got (often inaccurately, but it certainly felt real!) from someone else’s body language towards me.
Whether you end up identifying as empathically sensitive, a functional empath, or something else entirely after reading this book, I think you’ll enjoy and learn from the journey!
(ARC provided through NetGalley.)
Most strikingly, she doesn’t treat the empath as a “special” (read: superior) person on one side of a bright line that can be evaluated through a brief quiz, whose ability should be seen mainly in relation to others’ feelings. Instead, perhaps curious to some for a topic that is all about expanded external sensing, she invites the reader to focus inward and center their own work in becoming what she terms a functional empath. Rather than teaching esoteric techniques she offers reflections that can be meaningful to anyone, empath or not.
The title of the book is a nod to the liminal nature of the empath, sensing what lies between physical observable reality and everything else. Of course, not only an empath can experience this liminality. I found its centering deeply meaningful as an intuitive who, according to Hovem’s definition, is likely not empathic. I also really resonated with how she describes her frustration with science dismissing intuitive experiences out of hand while religious people want claim empaths for their own. The “field guide” portion of the subtitle gives a clue as to Hovem’s style: a little meandering but still organized, weaving in personal experience as our “guide” to the topic in what she also calls a “teaching memoir.”
In focusing on self-knowing, Hovem rejects the framing of empathic sensibilities as either a gift or a curse. She generally avoids a binary sense of virtue, focusing instead on teaching empaths to develop a supported neutral channel. In a lot of ways she normalizes empathic experience as not being indicative of anything, really, other than exactly what it is: an ability to sense displaced thoughts, emotions, and other energies. Her description of a functional empath—someone who has empathic sensibilities and then goes on to develop them consciously, thereby attaining inner balance—reminds me a lot of how we might describe a mindful person in more general spiritual discourse. The functional empath not only receives the displaced sensations but processes and marks them separate from her own, stays present in the moment, and offers compassion.
Although Hovem does use some New Age language (particularly with reference to dimensionality), I wasn’t as bothered by it as I am in some contexts given the explicit acknowledgment of spiritual bypassing dangers, as well as a focus on responsible use of empathic abilities. Hovem’s approach is not about avoiding or escaping the body or the planet in favor of another plane, nor is it about arming the sensitive individual to protect themselves from “invading” energies. It’s about interacting with an expanded environment as a sensory experience, being in conversation and relationship with said environment without attempting to understand the energies they perceive. As an intuitive, I find this framing both beautiful and familiar.
Hovem’s passion is for language and it shows. She distinguishes between experiences such as empathic sensing, exercising empathy (empathetic as opposed to empathic), and being a Highly Sensitive Person, but she also takes care to emphasize that our sensory experiences are very personal and that we may receive impressions in different forms, so it’s up to us to self-identify using these definitions. While I would love to see a book that specifically helps neurodivergent people detangle neurodivergence and empathetic abilities (as I often read these definitions and think “…could I be an empath that’s hard to recognize because I’m also ADHD and autistic?”) I did find this fundamental acknowledgement of difference quite affirming. I actually felt more like an HSP from Hovem’s explanations (funnily, I was less sure when I read the original book on the subject!) but that didn’t stop me from finishing this book given its broader applicability.
Another area of categorization involves the subtle bodies, where Hovem uses a framework that incorporates seven energy bodies making up a field outside the physical body as well as the seven chakras. It’s always important to acknowledge when talking about chakras that this term is often used pretty broadly and that certain aspects (color associations, for example) were added on by practitioners in the US, but the general concept of energy centers and the subtle body is not only found in a wide variety of cultures but is also becoming scientifically observable (if not with the level of specificity described by spiritual teachers). I personally share Hovem’s enthusiasm around this evolving research, and I think many readers will find this framework to be a relatable tool for visualization even if they relate to it more conceptually than sensorily.
The issues Hovem brings up in discussing the importance of self development have universal relevance, particularly in modern culture. She especially emphasizes the importance of self-acceptance, self-love, and self-care when seeking a sense of security and belonging, which I personally have found in my work to be at the heart of nearly every challenge we individually face. While we may feel like we uniquely “don’t belong,” in fact this is a common human experience and the key comes in your relationship with yourself, to whom you always belong, rather than in seeking external acceptance.
For an empath in particular, “knowing what’s yours” is important not only in the sense of distinguishing “my emotion” from “your emotion,” but also in the sense of understanding what is and isn’t yours to take on, respond to, or fix. Seeking belonging through trying to hold someone else’s work never works out in the long run and inevitably leads to burnout. By contrast honoring your own boundaries, rhythms, and cycles means that you can compassionately witness displaced emotions without taking them on as your own. You can hold space, rather than holding the energy itself.
These lessons, I’d argue, are critical not only to empaths but also to people pleasers and those in imbalanced dynamics of care who might try to hold others’ stress or do the emotional work for them. The concept of projected thoughts and feelings similarly, while I may not experience it energetically per se, really got me in the gut thinking about how often I’ve experienced harm or discomfort just in response to the sense I got (often inaccurately, but it certainly felt real!) from someone else’s body language towards me.
Whether you end up identifying as empathically sensitive, a functional empath, or something else entirely after reading this book, I think you’ll enjoy and learn from the journey!
(ARC provided through NetGalley.)
September 7, 2021
Are you sensitive to the energy around you? Do you get “feelings” about people and situations that turn out to be true? Then you might be an empath. Signe Myers Hovem has written “The Space in Between: An Empath’s Field Guide,” for those who want to nurture and honor their empathic abilities. A lot of people were probably born with empathic qualities, but somewhere along the line those qualities were dismissed or shamed. Hovem asks us to get in touch with those feelings. “It’s an ever-evolving relationship that contains some of the biggest personal lessons for people like you and me: how to respect our body’s wisdom, embody self-love, and not silence the messenger,” she writes.
Hovem uses personal stories to illustrate what it means to live life as an empath. She breaks the book down into five sections: reflection, definition, sensing, experience and awareness, and mystery. Each chapter ends with a list of questions to help readers delve into their empathic qualities.
After reading the book I can’t help but to think what a lovely world this would be if people were more empathic. Books like this can help us get there.
Hovem uses personal stories to illustrate what it means to live life as an empath. She breaks the book down into five sections: reflection, definition, sensing, experience and awareness, and mystery. Each chapter ends with a list of questions to help readers delve into their empathic qualities.
After reading the book I can’t help but to think what a lovely world this would be if people were more empathic. Books like this can help us get there.
August 12, 2021
I was fascinated to read The Space In Between when I saw the subtitle: An Empath’s Field Guide. I wondered, what is an empath and do I know one? Hovem’s “field guide” introduced me to the concept: “From my experience, there’s an evolutionary arc from being an overly sensitive person who tries to survive in their environment by feeling separate, to that of being an engaged and functional empath who witnesses what’s out of balance and honors that connection.” Hovem carefully takes us through twenty-one chapters, adding Questions for Reflection after each piece which ask us to reflect on everything from our childhood to our current relationships and spiritual beliefs.
Reading the book stimulated me to check in with various friends on their knowledge/understanding of what an empath is. Several friends had never heard of the term and I was happy to enlighten them. But others immediately named their empath, describing the qualities I’d just read about. This book will particularly appeal to those who want to learn more about themselves as an empath but also to those of us who feel empathic and would like to know more about the difference between the two terms.
Reading the book stimulated me to check in with various friends on their knowledge/understanding of what an empath is. Several friends had never heard of the term and I was happy to enlighten them. But others immediately named their empath, describing the qualities I’d just read about. This book will particularly appeal to those who want to learn more about themselves as an empath but also to those of us who feel empathic and would like to know more about the difference between the two terms.
August 11, 2021
It is an intimate and thoughtful book that offers hope and great resources for people who are sensitive and don't perhaps know who they are, or if they do, it helps them to know themselves better. I took my time reading this book to give me time for contemplation and journal work, which is suggested at the end of each chapter. It is certainly a book that one can return to and reread, for there is much wisdom in these pages.
March 23, 2022
I listened on audiobook to Signe Hovem’s powerful and enlightening book, "The Space In Between," and before I even finished, I recommended it to my writing group. This book is filled with scientific research coupled with personal stories to illustrate what it means to be an empath. There were moments as I read when I thought, Hey, I’ve had that happen to me too! I love the way Hovem guides her readers to understand their own unique sensitivities. She asks, How do your words taste? Do you feel crowded and congested? And, How are you showing up in your various relationships? This is a wonderful, thought-provoking book that asks important questions and provides practical advice, one that I could read again and again, and learn something new each time.
September 18, 2021
I found this to be enlightening and informative and it came at the perfect time in my own personal journey. It’s well written, accessible, and deepened my understanding of the ways in which we are connected to one another. The glimpse into Signe’s life and evolution helped me understand myself in a new way.
November 1, 2021
Signe Myers Hovem’s The Space in Between is masterfully written and wonderfully engaging. By sharing her personal experience, Hovem guides the readers towards a deep understanding of who they are and how they can connect with the world in a meaningful way. This book is a beautiful gift to those who seek to explore their personal sensitivities and be empowered.
July 12, 2022
As a student of the study of consciousness and yoga therapeutics, The Space in Between is a rich addition to my lifelong exploration of the inner and outer lives we inhabit but so often fail to fully understand. The author, a spiritual counselor and energy practitioner presents a richly absorbing story of her experiences as an empath, a person who is keenly aware of the energies that spin around and through us, offering clues to the motivations and mysteries that lie within. The author starts by diving deeply into examining our sixth sense, intuition. Have you ever had a sense of knowing about an individual, perhaps assessing character before said person has spoken a single word? Through touch, smell, and feeling, we learn about embodiment and why it matters. In later chapters, Hovem’s work takes us beyond the level of intuition, beyond all of our cultural conditioning to explore the characteristics of highly sensitive, spiritually attentive people. With practice, all of us share the potential to tap into these energy systems.
Do you consider yourself an empath? Would you like to learn how to become more emotionally present? Throughout the book, Hovem provides a road map to increase one’s empathy by providing a series of thoughtful questions for reflection that truly examine matters of the heart in a warm and intelligent manner. The final reward for growing more empathic to ourselves and others is a blooming of compassion so desperately needed in our world.
Hovem peppers her intellectual pursuits with many of her own life stories of self-awareness. On one occasion, she describes a moment of expanded awareness, what some would call enlightenment, during an ordinary event at her daughter’s swim lesson. She was elevated from both time and space, and experienced a feeling of unity with everything and everyone around her. This feeling of being present in another dimension did not last, and there is futility in chasing such experiences, but what it did afford was a glance beyond human vicissitudes and a step into the great Mystery of life. She enjoyed an exposure into the mystic, an open window to something greater than our known physical world.
The Space in Between is a book of self-inquiry, a meditation in part, a thesis, and a travelogue on the road to the discovery of the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of our humanness. I was deeply moved by the author’s curiosity and commitment to self-awareness and the eloquent descriptions of her journey to wholeness. Hovem expertly shares her insights and intelligence on how we are all connected, and how we are stronger and more insightful than we ever imagined. This is a book to be read slowly and thoughtfully in order to fully appreciate the vast wisdom, life experience and heartfelt love this author brings to the page, and it stands as an important contribution to the existing body of psychosocial and spiritual literature.
Do you consider yourself an empath? Would you like to learn how to become more emotionally present? Throughout the book, Hovem provides a road map to increase one’s empathy by providing a series of thoughtful questions for reflection that truly examine matters of the heart in a warm and intelligent manner. The final reward for growing more empathic to ourselves and others is a blooming of compassion so desperately needed in our world.
Hovem peppers her intellectual pursuits with many of her own life stories of self-awareness. On one occasion, she describes a moment of expanded awareness, what some would call enlightenment, during an ordinary event at her daughter’s swim lesson. She was elevated from both time and space, and experienced a feeling of unity with everything and everyone around her. This feeling of being present in another dimension did not last, and there is futility in chasing such experiences, but what it did afford was a glance beyond human vicissitudes and a step into the great Mystery of life. She enjoyed an exposure into the mystic, an open window to something greater than our known physical world.
The Space in Between is a book of self-inquiry, a meditation in part, a thesis, and a travelogue on the road to the discovery of the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of our humanness. I was deeply moved by the author’s curiosity and commitment to self-awareness and the eloquent descriptions of her journey to wholeness. Hovem expertly shares her insights and intelligence on how we are all connected, and how we are stronger and more insightful than we ever imagined. This is a book to be read slowly and thoughtfully in order to fully appreciate the vast wisdom, life experience and heartfelt love this author brings to the page, and it stands as an important contribution to the existing body of psychosocial and spiritual literature.
October 18, 2021
This has never happened before. I completed my first read of "The Space in Between" and immediately returned to page one to start reading again. Signe's writing demystifies what needs to become required reading around the globe. She does it with a gentle touch. Her explanation for "how to bridge these two aspects of inside (empathy) and outside (nature)" offers encouragement to all of us. That includes multiple identifications: Empath, Empathetic, or Highly Sensitive. It's comforting to know there's a wide spectrum of humanity here! Signe's naming a "knowing sense" (intuition) called out to me because I reside there. But she deepens that beginning by expanding then exploring six sections - or "fields," as she calls them. Each examine the inherent richness held by a fully-developed Empath and her/his path. Each section ends with a 'questions for reflection' page that facilitates individual exploration and growth by anyone. Awareness, expansion, and growth - awaiting each of us willing to pick up this field guide and explore the brilliantly-named "Space In Between."
January 8, 2022
THE SPACE IN BETWEEN: An Empath’s Field Guide is not a book you breeze through in a weekend, and that’s a good thing. There are so many pages I’ve dog-eared, so many phrases I’ve underlined, and so many ideas I’ve made notes on: This is a book that will stay with me for a long, long time.
This guide is not just for empaths, but for anyone who identifies as highly sensitive, empathetic, or empathic, as well. The author’s ideas, explanations and analogies are so accessible that anyone wishing a deeper connection with themselves and to the world could benefit from reading this book. Each chapter ends with “Questions for Reflection,” and offers practical suggestions about self-care, including guided meditations and intentional breathing exercises, all with the intent of strengthening the reader’s empathic nature—something we could all use assistance with, especially in these troubled times.
This guide is not just for empaths, but for anyone who identifies as highly sensitive, empathetic, or empathic, as well. The author’s ideas, explanations and analogies are so accessible that anyone wishing a deeper connection with themselves and to the world could benefit from reading this book. Each chapter ends with “Questions for Reflection,” and offers practical suggestions about self-care, including guided meditations and intentional breathing exercises, all with the intent of strengthening the reader’s empathic nature—something we could all use assistance with, especially in these troubled times.
January 7, 2022
I am privileged and delighted to own a copy of "The Space In Between - An Empath's Field Guide" by Signe Myers Hovem. This offering is a true guide for those of us who are highly sensitive, empathic in nature and often question "how, why, when" as we journey through life. It is clear from the beginning that this publication is brilliantly designed to take us by the hand and guide us through the field in a gentle, inspiring manner. At the end of each chapter are questions for reflection that provide opportunity to ponder even more deeply and receive guidance along the way. Signe also shares many of her personal stories to insure we are not alone in our exploration of our deeper/true selves.
August 16, 2022
This is a fascinating book that examines what it means to be an empath and how anyone can embrace their intuition and be more attuned to the energies around them. Hovem shares her personal experiences as well as scientific research as she recounts her journey from overly sensitive child to engaged, functional empath. I found the questions at the end of each chapter especially helpful, as they prompted me to reflect on my own sensitive nature and how it has shaped my life experiences. While I don't consider myself an empath, this beautifully written book taught me some valuable life lessons and gave me a new appreciation for those who feel a deep connection to their environment and the people around them.
December 30, 2021
In Signe Myers Hovem’s beautifully crafted book, The Space In Between: An Empath’s Field Guide, she explores how “…Empathic people are drawn beneath the surface and into a sensory experience of life.” Through invitations to explore the differences from empathic feelings to becoming an empath, she illuminates the empath’s sensory connections to others which cannot always be explained but always can be felt. Hovem encourages empaths to respect where they are on their path and be open to the teachings that they will uncover. And along this path “…there will be moments that feel so profound it’s as if the ground beneath … and the sky above … have shifted.”
For anyone who lives with a heightened sensory connection to humanity and nature, The Space In Between is a must read.
For anyone who lives with a heightened sensory connection to humanity and nature, The Space In Between is a must read.
January 7, 2022
This book took me on a deep and soulful journey into more compassion and understanding of what it is to be connected with everything and everyone. The real stories of what it's like to receive and emit impressions and energetic influences, and how we can learn to manage it, really spoke to me and my own experiences. Some of my favourite parts are the personal stories. It is truly a compassionate book full of wisdom and personal warmth, applicable to how we live our lives as sensitive people. Reading it was like a rolling and gentle ride that always felt full, rich and deep. Like it alleviates loneliness. This book will be a classic in its genre.
December 7, 2021
I learned so much from this book! I love how the author explains in great detail every nuance and trait of an empath. I realize I hadn’t really understood exactly what an empath was before I read this book! So many great insights. The author is clearly an expert in her field and has done a thorough amount of research. Highly enjoyable and educational. Strongly recommend.
December 4, 2021
Sharing fascinating glimpses of her own journey, Signe Myers Hovem gently but persuasively illustrates that the path from sensitivity to functioning as an empath entails deep introspection and willingness to untangle impressions from projections. The reader is invited into the depths, appreciating the energy anatomy of empathic awareness as well as the ways in which our experiences along life’s path can block the crucial sense of belonging. The author’s courage and determination in undertaking and describing her own journey serves both as inspiration and instruction.
December 31, 2021
An accessible and relatable guide to understanding highly empathetic sensitive people. Ms Hoven takes us on her journey of learning how to live comfortably in her own skin and of finding connection. A wonderful read to start the new year.
October 12, 2021
With a unique format and lovely weaving of personal experience, useful information, and tools for further exploration, this book is for everyone. It can be read from cover to cover or explored in a do-it-yourself fashion, following the concepts that are of most interest to you.
Whether you identify as highly sensitive and want to understand the unique capacities of an empath, or are seeking to understand the way our “energy anatomy” works and informs our interactions, this book will leave you feeling like you just walked through a door into a deeper understanding of how to live more consciously with the fields of energy that are part of our lives.
Whether you identify as highly sensitive and want to understand the unique capacities of an empath, or are seeking to understand the way our “energy anatomy” works and informs our interactions, this book will leave you feeling like you just walked through a door into a deeper understanding of how to live more consciously with the fields of energy that are part of our lives.
December 25, 2021
A fascinating and beautifully written book about an empath’s journey. Interwoven with personal experience and scientific research (of which there is not enough) the author recounts her struggles and final triumph in finding the balance within herself. I found the suggested activities in each chapter super helpful and encouraging, even for non-empaths. It helped tap into my own empathic and intuitive qualities and apply it to my own life experiences. Whether you’re an empath or not, this book will resonate with you, especially those of us who recognize that we are all energy and therefore all connected on some level. A highly recommended read.
November 19, 2021
The Space in Between is an incredible resource for those wanting a deep understanding of their own or another’s life as an empath. Kudos to Signe Myers Hovem for examining her own empathic development closely and reflecting with clarity so that we can come to know and honor our unique experience here.
November 21, 2021
Signe Myers Hovem, Author
The Space In Between
She Writes Press, ISBN 978-1- 64742-301-8
Non-Fiction –empath, sensory perceptions, communication, self-help, insight, balance, belonging
321 pages
November 2021 Review
Reviewer-Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM
Review
Signe Myers Hovem, author of The Space In Between, is a multi-faceted woman. (2021, p.321) She is a pioneer of sorts. She is a mother, an advocate, a volunteer, spiritual counselor, and empath. For more insight into this interesting woman please visit www.smhovem.com
This book is largely about Hovem’s quest to understanding her unique talents as an empath. She says, “Being empathic is a personal journey that challenges what you sense and feel, as well as your sense of belonging.” (2021, preface)
“From the moment we’re born, our eyes look outward and try to make sense of our world. We continually update our unique perceptions of how we fit in based on how our environment responds or reacts to us…” (2021, p.3)
To which she asks, “Do you find that good/bad thinking is your default stance whenever you encounter unfamiliar and vague sensations from a person or place? It takes practice to stay heart-centered when you receive information and not wobble into fear of the unknown.” (2021, p.27) This she says is the path of an empath.
“Empathic receptivity is a subset of the sixth sense—or what I like to call our “knowing senses”. For most people, this sounds like the stuff of science fiction and fantasy. And as I’ve said. That’s indeed the origin that most dictionaries associate with “empath”.” (2021, p.47) To which she deftly adds, “The dictionary’s definition of an empath reveals more about the collective mainstream beliefs and biases than it defines what an empath is.” (p.57)
“Our heightened sense of smell, taste, touch, and balance grounds us in the physical world in a manner that that can seem all a bit too much, even at times as if we are being compressed and weighted down.” (2021, p.73) Remember that being an empathic isn’t a condition or an ailment. It’s an invitation to embody a deep level of self-awareness and connection to yourself, humanity, and the natural world. And, yes, it’s pretty much a heuristic process—hands-on, learning through experience. Your personal understanding of what your body feels like in different environments becomes useful information to build your own sensory index to assist you in the future.” (p.93)
“Self-awareness, of course, is a lifelong endeavor and doesn’t happen overnight with one fell swoop.” (2021, p. 107) “Humanity is a team effort.” (p.113) “Our subtle sensing informs us, even guides us—often without our conscious awareness….We can impact the land and the environment, but the land can also influence us—even so subtly that we don’t recognize it.” (p,193)
Are you an empath struggling to understand your gifts? Or a curious person who seeks to comprehend the plight of an empath? Either way, this was an interesting read.
The Space In Between
She Writes Press, ISBN 978-1- 64742-301-8
Non-Fiction –empath, sensory perceptions, communication, self-help, insight, balance, belonging
321 pages
November 2021 Review
Reviewer-Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM
Review
Signe Myers Hovem, author of The Space In Between, is a multi-faceted woman. (2021, p.321) She is a pioneer of sorts. She is a mother, an advocate, a volunteer, spiritual counselor, and empath. For more insight into this interesting woman please visit www.smhovem.com
This book is largely about Hovem’s quest to understanding her unique talents as an empath. She says, “Being empathic is a personal journey that challenges what you sense and feel, as well as your sense of belonging.” (2021, preface)
“From the moment we’re born, our eyes look outward and try to make sense of our world. We continually update our unique perceptions of how we fit in based on how our environment responds or reacts to us…” (2021, p.3)
To which she asks, “Do you find that good/bad thinking is your default stance whenever you encounter unfamiliar and vague sensations from a person or place? It takes practice to stay heart-centered when you receive information and not wobble into fear of the unknown.” (2021, p.27) This she says is the path of an empath.
“Empathic receptivity is a subset of the sixth sense—or what I like to call our “knowing senses”. For most people, this sounds like the stuff of science fiction and fantasy. And as I’ve said. That’s indeed the origin that most dictionaries associate with “empath”.” (2021, p.47) To which she deftly adds, “The dictionary’s definition of an empath reveals more about the collective mainstream beliefs and biases than it defines what an empath is.” (p.57)
“Our heightened sense of smell, taste, touch, and balance grounds us in the physical world in a manner that that can seem all a bit too much, even at times as if we are being compressed and weighted down.” (2021, p.73) Remember that being an empathic isn’t a condition or an ailment. It’s an invitation to embody a deep level of self-awareness and connection to yourself, humanity, and the natural world. And, yes, it’s pretty much a heuristic process—hands-on, learning through experience. Your personal understanding of what your body feels like in different environments becomes useful information to build your own sensory index to assist you in the future.” (p.93)
“Self-awareness, of course, is a lifelong endeavor and doesn’t happen overnight with one fell swoop.” (2021, p. 107) “Humanity is a team effort.” (p.113) “Our subtle sensing informs us, even guides us—often without our conscious awareness….We can impact the land and the environment, but the land can also influence us—even so subtly that we don’t recognize it.” (p,193)
Are you an empath struggling to understand your gifts? Or a curious person who seeks to comprehend the plight of an empath? Either way, this was an interesting read.
November 15, 2022
DNF at 60%. Preachy, Pretentious, Pedantic. I was lured here by a talk I saw Signe Myers Hovem give and thought the idea of the empath continuum was interesting. But for someone who is apparently a highly sensitive empath, the author appears incredibly self-involved, obsessed with literal semantics, and has very little to offer outside of her own personal perspective, which in my opinion limits its value since we empaths/empathic/sensitive folks are all so different. Couldn't stand the navel gazing after trying really hard to finish it and finally threw in the towel. I did take her empath continuum test though before reading the book and apparently I'm a functional empath with HSP qualities - which was a lot more informative than anything I had gotten out of what I've read in this book. 🤷🏻♀️
October 31, 2021
The Space in between: an empath's field guide
By Signe Myers Hovem
Is a very personal diary of sorts of her life and its influences on her character. She evaluates from the scientific to the science fiction portrait of empathy. She looks how her life formed her belief system from the characters in TV she connected to, to the portrayal in books of the empathic nature.
Many stories of her family and friends. And her connections to her world. Thought provoking reflections as the reader to look into their experiences and see the connections.
By Signe Myers Hovem
Is a very personal diary of sorts of her life and its influences on her character. She evaluates from the scientific to the science fiction portrait of empathy. She looks how her life formed her belief system from the characters in TV she connected to, to the portrayal in books of the empathic nature.
Many stories of her family and friends. And her connections to her world. Thought provoking reflections as the reader to look into their experiences and see the connections.
March 18, 2022
In Hovem's book, The Space Between, she writes from personal experience and in fields; reflection, definition, sensing, experience, awareness, and mystery with each one ending with 'questions for reflection'.
Hovem uses stories to enhance understanding and help us identify with one another. I appreciate that she speaks of the value of setting boundaries and using coping skills such as journaling.
This ARC was made available through the generosity of Anna Sacca, Senior Publicity and Branding anager, at FSB Associates
Hovem uses stories to enhance understanding and help us identify with one another. I appreciate that she speaks of the value of setting boundaries and using coping skills such as journaling.
This ARC was made available through the generosity of Anna Sacca, Senior Publicity and Branding anager, at FSB Associates
April 11, 2022
I am an empathic person, but I don't consider myself an empath. I picked up this book because my youngest son is very sensitive and does seem to really feel other peoples' feelings. This book was so interesting and the author really did give me insight into her own journey and how she sees the world. She is a beautiful writer, and this is a book will be one not only I think so many people would enjoy, but also will read more than once.
November 16, 2021
Written for people who already identify as empaths or highly sensitive people, this is a guide to help them understand and cope with their abilities. It encourages journaling, self-discovery, and awareness.
My Review
My Review
October 22, 2022
After reading this book, I started paying close attention to my own empath journey. I never described myself as an empath, but now I see that every empath experiences sensations differently. I didn’t realize that not everyone gets a tingling down their legs like I do when hearing or seeing someone get hurt! Its called pain empathy. Mind-blown. I thank the author for bringing awareness to empaths and empathy.
I had the honor of speaking with Signe on my Soulful Series podcast. You can check it out here;
https://youtu.be/UW0cgS4hCrI
I had the honor of speaking with Signe on my Soulful Series podcast. You can check it out here;
https://youtu.be/UW0cgS4hCrI
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