Do you often feel overwhelmed by your environment or the people around you?
Has anyone ever called you shy - or worse: "too sensitive"?
Do you care deeply about EVERYTHING? You may be a Highly Sensitive
Soul - a
person of deep empathy and high intensity, with powerful intuition, awareness,
and intelligence.
Being Highly Sensitive, you have a uniquely perceptive sensory system.
You are therefore more sensitive to emotions, energy, environmental conditions
such as lighting or sound, other people, excitement, and stress. As a
result of constant stimuli, you may feel easily overwhelmed or unable
to cope. Things can be particularly confusing when others seem unperturbed
by the same experiences. For example, your friends might be able to shop
all day, go out to dinner, and then head to a loud party. For you, that
would be unbearable.
Research psychologist Dr. Elaine Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive
Person, has studied high sensitivity extensively. Her research shows
that being sensitive is a personality temperament or trait, one usually
inherited. According to Dr. Aron, up to 20% of the population is Highly
Sensitive.
How To Tell If You Are Highly Sensitive
Being Highly Sensitive comes with a number of gifts, as well as challenges.
See if any of these Highly Sensitive qualities resonate strongly with
you.
1. You are deeply affected by all aspects of your life. As a Sensitive
Soul, you have great emotional passion, intensity, and depth. You may
have been told that your emotions are "too much." You are
sensitive, caring, and easily affected by the energy and emotions of
others. These qualities make it easy to lose touch with your needs and
desires.
2. You have heightened perceptive skills. A Sensitive Soul is intuitive,
highly aware, and keenly observant of the subtleties of your environment,
including energy, light, noise, smell, texture, and temperature. You
may also be empathic or even psychic. Your perceptive skills operate
in the physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual realms. You tie
together things you see into complex and original concepts. This makes
you a visionary.
3. You have a lower tolerance for stimulation than others. Because you
receive so much information from your surroundings, your threshold for
what's "too much" is significantly lower than for those
around you. This means: a) You may be seen as shy or timid; and b) You
may feel uncomfortably dissimilar to others because you respond so differently
to stimulation.
4. You are highly conscientious and thorough in all your undertakings.
A Sensitive Soul makes a great employee. You concentrate intensely and
process multi-source information. However, you require privacy, uninterrupted
time, and little or no pressure in order to do your best work.
5. You have a strong relationship with aesthetics and art. As a Highly
Sensitive Soul, you have a passion for beauty, art, and aesthetics. You
may be highly artistic and creative yourself. You easily create beauty
and comfort. Seeing things "out of alignment" can actually
be physically or psychically distressing.
6. Your inner life is just as intriguing and inspiring as your outer
life. You likely have a rich, complex inner life and are highly imaginative.
You may find it challenging to connect to "real world" priorities
and realities.
7. You absolutely require private time alone in order to feel replenished.
Up to 70% of Highly Sensitive Souls are introverted. But even extroverted
sensitives need downtime to rejuvenate, often in a darkened, quiet room.
8. You have a strong spiritual connection and depth. If you are Highly
Sensitive, you experience a profound spiritual connection with the divine
and/or spiritual realm. You "see" a lot in what appears common.
Because of this you may feel impatient with the truly mundane.
Learning To Thrive: What You Need
Learning to thrive as a Highly Sensitive Soul presents challenges. If
you're sensitive, you have likely accumulated years of training
in trying overcome the trait because you don't "fit in" with
society. And yet being Highly Sensitive is a vital part of you.
A first step toward thriving as a Sensitive Soul is to understand and
accept your trait. Hear this now: There is absolutely nothing wrong with
you. You are just different. As one of my clients says, being Highly
Sensitive is both a gift and a responsibility.
Sensitive Souls require regular self-care, meaningful work, and supportive
relationships. Working with a sensitive coach or therapist who helps
you tune into your own magnificent inner guidance system - your
sensitivity - is a powerful means of support.
Additionally, there are books, websites, web-based communities, and teleconference
gatherings on the subject. Connecting with like-minded souls is often
deeply healing for sensitive persons.
As you begin to manage your life in a way that truly works for you, you
will trust the power and gift of your sensitivity, and be inspired to
share your much-needed wisdom with the world.
Jenna Avery, Certified Life Coach, is the Life Coach for Sensitive Souls.
It is her purpose and vision to support Highly Sensitive Souls to find
their power and to change the world with their wisdom, beauty, and depth.
She offers individual and group coaching for Highly Sensitive Souls,
free monthly TeleGatherings, and TeleClasses, and other events specifically
designed to support sensitive beings to find their voice and share their
gifts with the world. For details, please visit http://www.highlysensitivesouls.com or call 510.528.1696.
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