Helping Highly Sensitive Introverts and Therapists create a life outside the box that allows them to embrace their Sensitive Strengths.
All in Highly Sensitive Person
A highly sensitive person has more activity in parts of the brain that contribute to feelings of nostalgia. HSPs have a deep emotional connection to their memories and because we process information and experiences deeply, memories are more vivid and easier to recall. When you notice more subtle details, you’re able to pull up specific memories and the emotions that go along with them quickly.
Being highly sensitive isn’t just about being overwhelmed, you also feel deep joy, happiness, and excitement over the little details. Are you suppressing your positive emotions to protect others? Is empathy getting in the way of being your true self?
When you’re highly sensitive and feel everything deeply, it can be stressful and isolating. Others may question or criticize you for your “overblown” reactions. You then wander if you’re too emotional, fragile, or dramatic. Although it can be a burden at times, feeling this emotional is an asset in many ways.
Being more attuned to the slightest changes happening around you as a highly sensitive person, it can be a shock to your nervous system to quickly go from the hot, long, sunny days of Summer to cold days of Winter with little sunlight. The colder months are a time to recharge, a time to reflect, but as you lean into slowing down, be careful not to completely power off.
Major life changes such as moving, starting a new job, or getting into a new relationship are complex when you’re highly sensitive. You will feel so many layers of emotion such as excitement or grief, notice all the little details and nuances of your new situation, and need way more time to process it all.
Can’t fall asleep at night, finish tasks on time, or make decisions because your mind is too busy, spinning, and anxious. Overthinking can feel like torture and is most common for highly sensitive people when you’re not living in alignment with your sensitive needs. As an HSP, your brain is wired to pause and reflect. Although annoying or frustrating at times, there are amazing benefits
When you’ve been told your emotions and perceptions are wrong, you can’t help but begin to question yourself. Every instinct, feeling, thought becomes uncertain and confusing. Your feelings will often be different than others and you will often know things without knowing why. This is part of your gift of being born highly sensitive - more aware, intuitive, emotionally attuned to your environment and the people around you.
Highly sensitive folks feel everything deeply and have emotions that seem bigger than the moment. Maybe you’ve been called dramatic, thought you were “too much”, or been accused of overreacting as a result. Learn about my experience of having a big emotional response and my process of realizing I wasn’t overreacting, just having a typical human/HSP experience.
As you begin to explore your relationship to your sensitivity more deeply, it’s common to grieve a vision of yourself as a non-HSP. You may notice yourself passing through the Five Stages of Grief that were first introduced by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her book On Death and Dying.
Overwhelmed by the onset of symptoms, more side effects of medication, worried about the meaning of the illness, and longer to transition back into a normal routine. As an HSP, it’s common to be impacted differently than others when navigating health challenges.
Being highly sensitive in today’s world seems to be getting more and more difficult. The emotional toll of witnessing tragedy and suffering (mass shootings, wars, social injustice, racism, global pandemic, climate change) on a nearly daily basis is beyond heart-wrenching. It’s okay to react slowly, feel deeply, think before acting, or focus on educating rather than fighting.
Having your own timeline as a highly sensitive person is actually a gift in disguise that you can embrace! You may take fewer chances, wait longer to make big decisions, or hit those relationship and work milestones later, but your actions will be well thought out with fewer mistakes.
Whether you’re getting started or wrapping up an activity, you may notice that you feel stuck or frozen. You may also struggle with procrastination and motivation. Whether you’re getting out of bed in the mornings, trying to leave work for the day, or starting a new book, you may find yourself struggling with these changes on a subtle or more obvious level. Each time a highly sensitive person goes through a transition, your brain wants to pause and reflect on what’s about to happen. There’s nothing wrong with you!
What if you could do less and honor your needs to recharge more as a highly sensitive person? The best part is that it only takes a little something for a highly sensitive person to fill up with the same amount of joy as a non-HSP. Being so highly perceptive and a big feeler, you not only notice the little things around you, but you get to deeply experience them. It’s okay to listen inward and hibernate in bed when you need to.
Learning to put yourself first and honor your unique needs as a highly sensitive person is a process that takes time and practice. Educating yourself on what it means to be highly sensitive, practicing self-compassion and mindfulness, and surrounding yourself with people who support your growth are essential pieces of the puzzle.
How do you know if you were born with High Sensitivity, along with 20% of the population? Here are 10 signs you might be a Highly Sensitive Person who thinks and feels deeply, have higher levels of empathy, and notices the subtle details around them.
Throughout our lives many of us have been told that Sensitivity is a weakness or we have been labeled as fragile, anxious, shy or too emotional as a result of feeling deeply. The truth is being Highly Sensitive is a Strength with many advantages!
