28. The Blessing/Burden of Being a Highly Sensitive Person

Image: Brooke Didonato

Episode 28- Are you (or someone you know) highly intuitive, always physically uncomfortable and emotionally overwhelmed? You could be a HSP (Highly Sensitive Person), and  be in good company. Jenna talks about her own experiences as a HSP, and Amber discusses discovering this quality in her child. The most psychic and intuitively advanced empaths are HSPs, but it is also a challenge to feel things so deeply in a dark and troubled world. How can we help and better understand ourselves, our children, our friends and family who fall under the category of Highly Sensitive Person?

Show notes

​DEFINITION of HIGHLY SENSITIVE PERSON: Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is a personality trait characterized by a high level of sensitivity to external stimuli. The trait tends to correlate with a greater depth of cognitive processing and high emotional reactivity. A human with a particularly high measure of SPS is considered to be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). These definitions were coined in the mid-1990s by psychologists Elaine Aron and husband Arthur Aron.

MAIN POINTS:

• Your sensory system is more sensitive than normal.
• This is a BLESSING because you are able to have a heightened awareness, compassion, intuition, empathy, connection to animals and plants, the Earth, and subtle/psychic/spiritual energies.
• This is a BURDEN because it is overwhelming to feel SO MUCH in a desensitized world, and you will be often misunderstood.
• Hard for HSP to be understood in the world because the systems in this world are built by desensitized people. 
• Highly Sensitive People often feel guilt and shame. 
• HSPs have often a high sense of morality.
• HSPs are wonderful friends because they feel your pain and emotions.
• HSPs are more psychic because they are able to perceive the subtle energies of the multiverse.
• Starseeds and Indigos will often be HSP's
• HSPs will often try to "numb themselves out" through distractions, addictions or escapes because life is just too much.
• The Bucket Metaphor: HSPs can be thought of as having a bucket, and each sensory stimulation a drop in the bucket. When there are too many sensory stimulations within a given period of time, this "fills up their bucket" and then they become overwhelmed and anxious and start freaking out. That is why HSPs sometimes can tolerate stimuli and sometimes the same stimuli will push them over the edge. 

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• ​TIPS for HSPs: 1.) Invest in your own comfort 2.) Focus on something beautiful or something that feels good 3.) Do what resonates for YOU and don't feel bad about it

• QUALITIES OF HIGHLY SENSITIVE PERSONS
  1. They become overwhelmed when they have a lot to do.
  2. They find noisy environments chaotic.
  3. They get "hangry."
  4. They choke when they're under observation.
  5. They're deeply moved by the arts.
  6. They recognize other people's discomfort.
  7. They retreat when things become too overwhelming.
  8. They grow uncomfortable when there are loud noises.
  9. They avoid violent media.​

Check out Dr. Elaine Aron's iconic book about The Highly Sensitive Person

And The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When The World Overwhelms Them

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​CHALLENGE/INVITATION: Are you or someone you know highly sensitive? Give this person the respect and compassion they need and deserve but probably don't; get in their life. And if you fall into this category, give yourself the amount of compassion and understanding that you give to others. 

TELL US EVERYTHING about your experiences as a HSP (or with a HSP) in the comments..!