If you’re feeling constantly frazzled or like everything is getting on your nerves you could be highly sensitive. Here, you will discover the signs to know for sure! In addition you’ll also learn some tips to help you manage your high sensitivity.
I’m a highly sensitive person and I know exactly what it feels like to think that you’re going crazy or that something’s the matter with you and I want to share with you my top strategies to help you manage this sensitive side of you which is actually a gift.
You can watch the video I made about the signs of being highly sensitive and my top tips to cope here.
What does being a highly sensitive person mean?
Chances are you landed on this page because you probably already suspect that you are highly sensitive. Let me then start by saying that there’s nothing wrong with you!
You don’t have a condition, you don’t have an illness or a disease. It’s not something that’s broken about you. You don’t have anything that needs to be fixed.
Being a highly sensitive person simply means that we experience the things that happen to us in our outside world and in our inner world a little, or a lot, more differently to other people.
Also, and not all HSPs are shy and introverted some of us are extroverted and outgoing.
The thing with being highly sensitive though is, because we feel everything so intensely, we are more prone to shutting ourselves off. We easily disconnect from the world and close our hearts to protect ourselves from feeling pain.
However there is a better way, and I want to show you how.
Common signs of highly sensitive people
There are 4 main traits or signs that HSPs have in common and the first is the way that we process information so we process information very deeply and this is something that happens in our brain.
Depth of processing
Imagine there is a volume button that is in your brain and everything that you experience through your five senses is really amplified
Because we process information so deeply and so intensely we also end up spending a lot of time in our heads and we tend to overanalyze everything, such as the things that people say and the things that happen to us
We spend a lot of time analyzing this and we can also become self-critical and afraid of making mistakes, so we turn into perfectionists.
We don’t want to make any decisions, or we take a long time to make decisions because we don’t want to make the wrong decision because we think about it too much!.
Now, because we think about all these things too much (because our brain amplifies everything) we end up becoming easily overstimulated.
Overstimulation
And we really get overstimulated by almost everything it’s like our brain doesn’t have a filter and because we take in so much information.
This can lead to us easily becoming ungrounded or feeling spacey.
Emotional reactivity
A highly sensitive person has high emotional responses and we’re usually also very empathetic so what this means is that we feel things very strongly.
We have a very strong emotional reaction to other people’s words, to their actions, to the things that happen in the world. We also react strongly to the things that we think about ourselves and the conversations that we have with ourselves.
We can also pick up information from other people because we are so sensitive and so reactive, and then we can easily think that we’ve upset other people if we feel their moods
The challenge is, because you’re taking on so much energy from other people, that it can make you feel exhausted and it can even leave you feeling burnt out.
Sensing the subtle
The fourth sign of being a highly sensitive person is that we are really good at sensing things.
We can pick up on the things that are not said, you can read between the lines you can also pick up on intentions of people.
The downside again of this is often we assume the things that we pick up on is a reflection of us and we make it our own and that then affects us emotionally.
These traits don’t stand in isolation. They all interact with each other and if any one of these aren’t managed, or if you’re not aware that this is something that could potentially upset you, it really can have a negative effect on you.
It can make you feel like you are going crazy or that no one understands you or that there’s something wrong with you that needs to be fixed.
Tips to cope as a highly sensitive person
Here are some techniques that I regularly use myself ever since I found out that I was a highly sensitive person.
You can use them on a daily basis and they really will help you to understand your sensitivity trait but not only that, they will help you to cope so that instead of you being controlled by this way that your brain has been designed you can take back that control and you can decide how you want to show up in the world.
Develop awareness around your triggers
The first thing is to develop your awareness around your triggers.
All highly sensitive people differ from each other in that we have different response to stimulus.
That means that which is very arousing for you might not be so arousing for me and different things have different effects on us.
That’s why, on this journey of discovering how you can manage this sensitivity trait it’s important for you to identify what are your triggers so that you can then start taking control of that and you can start managing that.
Alone time is one of the crucial things that’s going to help you build your resilience so that you can react more positively to these triggers. When you manage your triggers you also manage these things that make you feel overwhelmed.
It doesn’t really matter at what time of day you choose to have this alone time, but it’s vital that you make this a daily practice.
The best time of day for me have alone time, since we have a young family, is before anyone else gets up in the morning.
I treasure this time, and it really has made such a big difference in my life since I started doing this daily.
I use this time to do yoga, I meditate and journal and I journal and I do whatever else I need in this space to help me feel anchored and grounded.
Ground yourself
Because we spend so much time in our heads, it’s easy for us to disconnect from our bodies. By grounding yourself you literally bring yourself back into your body.
You connect with the earth so that you don’t feel so spacey. Feeling spacey is actually one of the signs that you are not grounded. Also when you feel floaty, or when you become clumsy.
As you start developing your awareness around your triggers, you’ll also begin to notice when you are ungrounded.
Protect yourself energetically
The third tip that I have for you is something which I’ve noticed not many people speak about and that is to protect yourself energetically.
In my experience, as much as I get affected on a physical or an emotional level by being highly sensitive, I also get affected energetically.
Protecting yourself energetically will strengthen your resilience and it would also help to protect you against this onslaught and this battering that we sometimes feel because of all the information that we’re getting from external sources.
Step 1
Imagine or visualize or feel a white light shining down on your energy body. Let this light heal all the bumps, holes, tears and the hooks that you have on your energy body because of your exposure to the world.
Also let it wash off all of the negative and heavy energy that you don’t need anymore.
Step 2
Take a deep breath in, and as you breathe in you imagine that you are pushing your energy body or your aura a few feet away from you. Hold the intention that it is strong and powerful.
Step 3
Imagine a bubble of light surrounding you. This can be a golden light, it can be a pink light it can be a white light that doesn’t really matter. Imagine that this light is all around you covering you from the top of your head to underneath your feet.
It is protecting you and it’s stopping anything from coming inside that you don’t want to enter into your energy field.
You can do this when you have a shower in the mornings or before you leave your house or even before you go into a meeting.
Do this anytime throughout the day when you feel that you need some protection and that your energy is feeling a little bit ragged.
Daily energy balance
Doing a daily energy healing and energy balancing make a difference in your inner strength and mastery.
I love the work of Donna Eden, and you will find her five-minute morning routine on youtube.
Setting boundaries
The final tip that I have for you that’s going to help you cope with your high sensitivity is to create strong boundaries.
We don’t want to erect a wall and disconnect instead we want to open our hearts with boundaries!
Setting strong boundaries means that, because you know yourself and you know what your triggers are, you can decide what you want to let into your world. Also, you decide how you’re going to manage that when you let it in.