Are you highly sensitive toward sounds and are you looking for ways to deal with sound sensitivity? Discover 5 effective ways to deal with this challenge in this article.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Loud noise is never pleasant and most people tend to avoid spending too much time in an uncomfortably loud environment. However, there is a group of people that experiences common everyday sounds as too loud. People with Autism, tinnitus, William’s syndrome, and other neurological diseases, but also highly sensitive people tend to struggle with sensitivity to sound.

Especially highly sensitive people living in the city find it hard to escape the constant discomfort loud noises bring along. After all, society is not designed for silence and serenity. Loud cars, construction sites, big crowds, factories… they all tend to create noise that unconsciously exhausts the highly sensitive nervous system of an HSP.

If you find yourself struggling with noises, continue reading, because in this article I’ll share 5 effective ways to cope with sound sensitivity. You’ll learn more about the science behind sound sensitivity. Also, you’ll discover how to deal with your noise sensitivity in the future, so it does not affect your quality of life as much as it does now.

The Science Behind Sensitivity Toward Sound

Studies show that noise-sensitive individuals are more likely to feel negative feelings and emotions from unwanted sounds. About 20-40% of the population experience noise sensitivity to a certain extent. Only 12-15% of the population are highly sensitive to noise.

You may wonder why certain individuals struggle more with noise sensitivity. Listed below, you can find some of the potential reasons for increased sensitivity toward sound:

Within these individuals, noise oftentimes causes annoyance and sometimes even fear or pain. Due to this, they may avoid certain situations out of fear of the noise. Consequently, loud noise impacts their quality of life in a negative way.

This emphasizes the importance to find ways to cope with sound sensitivity. Doing so, can positively influence your daily life.

The Highly Sensitive Person and Noise Sensitivity

As a highly sensitive person, you may wonder why you are more sensitive toward sounds. Studies show that highly sensitive people show increased activity in their amygdala.

This is an important part of the brain responsible for the fight-flight-freeze reaction in dangerous situations. Consequently, the highly sensitive person is more alert for potential danger. Sensory processing plays an important part in this process.

The highly sensitive person receives sensory input through sound, light, smell, touch, or taste. Then, the amygdala processes the input and causes a reaction in your body. If your amygdala continuously is exposed to noise, this may cause your nervous system to feel overstimulated. As a result, you may feel more anxious, stressed, or exhausted.

Finding ways to cope with sound sensitivity can help the highly sensitive person to feel more relaxed and at peace. Let’s have a look at some of the best ways to do so.

How To Cope With Sound Sensitivity

Before trying the various ways to cope with sound sensitivity, please make sure to consult a doctor. After all, you want to confirm that there are no underlying health issues causing your sound sensitivity.

Once you’ve clarified that, you may want to try these 5 methods to cope with sound sensitivity:

#1 Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

A study shows that cognitive-behavioral therapy is an effective treatment for people struggling with misophonia. Misophonia is a disorder where the individual suffers from a strong dislike or hatred of specific sounds.

By using exposure techniques and teaching relaxation strategies such as mindfulness, the participants of that study experienced a significant decrease in their challenges with specific sounds.

Instead of keeping the participants away from the noise annoyances, they were exposed to loud noises and taught coping mechanisms to change their mindset around those sounds. An incredibly powerful way to train your brain to cope with sound sensitivity.

#2 White Noise

Another way you may want to cope with sound sensitivity, is to purchase a white noise machine. This is particularly helpful at home. As a highly sensitive person, you may often feel annoyed by your neighbors playing music or mowing their lawn.

Purchasing a white noise machine may help you cope with sound annoyances. Moreover, the white noise helps you relax, which is perfect for highly sensitive people who feel overstimulated.

If you’re looking for an effective white noise machine, have a look at the Housbay White Noise Machine with 31 Soothing Sounds. It can help you to cope with sound sensitivity and find more relaxation once and for all.

#3 Purchase Noise Cancellation Gear

If you’re looking for ways to cancel noise whilst on the go, make sure to invest in some proper noise cancellation gear. You may want to cancel out all noise by getting a noise cancellation headset. For instance, this noise cancellation headset from Sony is a big favorite on Amazon.

If you are like me and still prefer to be aware of everything going on around you, check out the Calmer earbuds. These earbuds create less distortion for a cleaner, more defined, and pleasant listening experience. It feels like they muffle sound that is not necessary for your listening experience. Perfect if you’re going to the mall, a concert or simply walking near a busy street.

When I wore my Calmer earbuds for the first time, I noticed a significant change while walking my dog. I could hear the birds chirping again and the loud noise from the highway was significantly less bothering. Highly recommended!

#4 Minimize Stress

Fourth on the list of tools to cope with sound sensitivity is minimizing stress. As mentioned previously in this article, highly sensitive people experience heightened activity in their amygdala. Consequently, calming your nervous system helps you to become more resilient toward sounds.

Have you ever noticed yourself feeling more stressed out by sound when you feel overstimulated? That is your nervous system telling you to slow down and retreat.

Therefore, make sure to schedule enough downtime in your daily life, so you can give your body some well-deserved rest. Ultimately, this will have a positive impact on your sensitivity toward noises.

#5 Avoid Overprotection Against Sound

One of the biggest mistakes you can make in your search for tools to cope with sound sensitivity is to overprotect yourself from sounds. Many highly sensitive people tend to avoid loud situations. As a result, this may cause them to feel more anxious when they are exposed to situations they try so hard to avoid.

While it is good to protect yourself from too much overstimulation, try to not desensitize your ears toward loud noise. In the long run, you may find yourself becoming more overwhelmed when going into these loud situations.

Rather than fully withdrawing from all loud noises, try to experiment with some coping tools as mentioned above instead. Invest in some good earplugs like the Calmer earplugs and see how it positively impacts your listening experience.

Some Final Remarks

In the end, it is easy to feel frustrated by your sound sensitivity. However, what I found incredibly helpful in my journey towards a more happy life, was to embrace my delicate hearing.

Oftentimes, I hear sounds that others so easily seem to miss out on. It is a great honor to notice the small details, like birds chirping or the sound of water in the woods. Embrace this gift, try the above-mentioned methods and see how your view on your sound experience changes.

Which sounds do you find the most challenging? And do you have any additional tips for our readers on how to cope with sound sensitivity?

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The post 5 Effective Ways To Cope With Sound Sensitivity appeared first on HiSensitives.

With the new year quickly approaching, highly sensitive people should reflect on the past year of their lives and look forward to the future. Everything you want to accomplish is within your grasp using these 23 tips to create new years resolutions in 2024.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Every new year comes with new and sometimes daunting expectations of changing your entire life around. However, highly sensitive people need not get overwhelmed or feel intimidated by the intensity of this time of year.

The important themes to keep in mind when you create your new year’s resolutions are to let go of what was, accept what is, and look to the future of who you want to be. Also, you have a lot more power and say in the future you want to create for yourself. So, learn how to take control, and perfect it using these 23 tips to create new year’s resolutions for 2024.

So, How Do You Actually Create New Years Resolutions

You may wonder how exactly you can create the perfect new year’s resolutions as a highly sensitive person. Here are ways to do that.

#1 Set Aside The Time

The absolute first thing to do is set aside the proper time to sit down and go through the process of creating new year’s resolutions. Thoughtfully, you should be able to complete this on your “reset” day of the week.

Moreover, choose a time where you feel motivated and inspired. If you choose to break into segments to make it easier to accomplish that would also be a great idea for highly sensitive people especially.

#2 Focus Your Mindset On Creating New Year’s Resolutions

What are new year’s resolutions meant for? The only true answer is your personal growth. Any other purpose for creating your new year’s resolutions will most likely contain bias or a people-pleasing initiative. Doing this process is for your personal betterment. Try your best not to forget that.

#3 Reflect On The Past

Ask yourself, what happened this year? What were the highlights and the rough times? Notably making an outline of all that has happened can remind you not to focus on either all good or all bad. These ups and downs are what contribute to your personal growth.

#4 Think About How You Feel

What emotions came up when reflecting on the things that happened this year? This can pertain to your personal life or things going on in your country or community. Often, the things happening around us can have a drastic effect on our mental and physical health. Admittedly, this step is for discernment and grounding.

#5 Write Your Thoughts Down Freely

Getting things down on paper is in your absolute best interest. Hence, place yourself in the present moment and let your brain flow freely from pen to paper. Make sure to invest in a journal where you can jot down all your thoughts.

For instance, you may like this leather journal.

#6 No Room For Judgement While Creating New Year’s Resolutions

Being vulnerable is probably not going to feel the most comfortable for you. When it comes to being honest, that is another battle to prepare for. However, judging yourself through this process will only detract from your energy.

#7 Acknowledge Your Present State

Think about where you are mentally, physically, and spiritually if this applies. Take this time. to notice every detail and bring attention to what needs improving.

How has your gut health been? Given the effects of your gut on your mental health and sleep, it is something that should take priority. Prior to thinking about the more superficial things when creating your new year’s resolutions.

#8 Did You Accomplish The New Year’s Resolutions You Created Last Year?

This question isn’t for the intention of making you feel bad about not completing everything you set out to do this past year. It is only there to place yourself at a certain point on your life path. Hence, show yourself grace and gratitude for all that you have and haven’t accomplished.

#9 Were Any Of The New Years’ Resolutions You Created Unrealistic?

Sometimes highly sensitive people overestimate their abilities and unintentionally put too much on their plate. Were your eyes bigger than your stomach this year? This honesty will benefit you long term once you adjust your personal expectations.

#10 What Can You Now Accept?

Throughout this past year, it is understandable to assume that you had at least one or two realizations about life. What limits of your highly sensitive person have you discovered? Take note of them and remind yourself of the lessons you learned.

#11 Remember To Keep Things Organized

Try out using a goal planner if that works best for you. The answers to these questions will become cluttered if you try to squeeze everything into one spread. Therefore, it’s best to just dedicate a few pages in the notebook of your choosing and give the effort to actually keep organized.

#12 Begin Creating New Year’s Resolutions By Setting Intentions

Truthfully, understand what kind of lifestyle you are seeking. What kind of feelings do you want to invite? After all, you can’t begin to create goals without first focusing on the energy you are intending to attract. New year’s resolutions need the intention behind them. Otherwise, they are just wishful thinking transformed into words on some random paper. You could also consider creating a vision board to visualize your intention in an inspiring way.

#13 Think Small

When trying to incorporate the habit of sticking to the new year’s resolutions you create, it’s imperative that you start small. although it may feel like underestimating your potential, it feels a lot better to exceed expectations rather than never meet them.

#14 Create Measurable Attainable Goals

After setting your intentions and knowing which direction to go in, you should be able to easily create measurable goals to keep track of your progress. These goals are merely a tool to act on your intentions to create new year’s resolutions that work.

#15 Try Making Your New Year’s Resolutions Quarterly

Admittedly, breaking down the new year’s resolutions you create can make them feel easier to accomplish and tackle. The more feasible you make the goal, the more motivation you will likely have. For instance, quarterly is a great division for your goals as you have 3 whole months to reach a certain accomplishment, and it’s easier to acknowledge your progress throughout the year.

#16 Check In Periodically

During these quarterly goal-setting periods, you should prioritize checking in with yourself as well. This way, you can try to prevent and tackle feelings of overwhelm and anxiety before they get too out of hand.

#17 Rewrite Your Goals If You Need To

If at some point during the year you realize that things aren’t working out, then change your plan around. This can happen at any time you feel inspired to do so. The sooner you allow yourself to change, the more change will feel welcome to work.

#18 Use Realistic Habits To Accomplish The New Year’s Resolutions You Create

Accomplishing resolutions for the long term starts with implementing habits in the short term. Perhaps you can pick up reading for 20 minutes every day, or simply make it a habit to make your bed every morning. Prove to yourself that you are capable of implementing smaller habits in daily routines.

#19 Half-Way Point

At this time in your life, you should sit down and take the time to reevaluate your goals, intentions, and dreams. It’s okay if you decide to change something halfway through the year as long as you give yourself grace and create a new meaningful plan for the path you want to now take. This can typically happen around summertime and before the autumn season.

#20 Create A System For Accountability

Essentially, accountability can come in many forms. You can provide consequences for yourself when you don’t commit to certain habits. On the other hand, you can also give yourself rewards for motivation. Or, you can even clue in a friend on your new year’s resolutions to create a collaborative system of accountability.

#21 Show Gratitude Often

Notably, gratitude is grounding. This technique calmly reminds you why you choose to keep going. There are things you love and appreciate and you show gratitude to them on a consistent basis. This includes showing gratitude for yourself and others.

#22 Take Vacations or Extended Breaks

You really do have all the time in the world. Absolutely, you can afford to take a week or two off from work. The art of productivity is to prioritize your downtime for its purpose as well. Consequently, if you continue on the path of always keeping busy, you may experience things like burnout.

#23 Be Kind to Yourself

Oftentimes, we tend to let go of our new years resolutions because we didn’t 100% succeed at keeping up with them. However, even the tiniest steps towards reaching your new years resolutions should be celebrated. If you forgot your routine for a day, try to pick it up again the next day, even if it only is for 10-20 minutes. Any progress is progress! Therefore, be kind to yourself in the process.

Wishing You The Best of Luck With Your New Year’s Resolutions

There is no need to rush your life path. Sometimes, things weren’t meant for you in the current moment and that’s okay. All you have to focus on is what is going on right now, be grateful for your past, and have hope for your future. Make sure to comment down below, your favorite tip for 2024.

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The post 23 Tips To Create New Years Resolutions For 2024 appeared first on HiSensitives.

Ready for some personal growth journaling? Discover eight intriguing journaling prompts that highly sensitive people love.

Hey there, lovely readers! We want to be completely transparent with you. Some of the links in this blog are affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. 😊

We only recommend products and services we genuinely believe in and have personally used or researched. Your support through these links helps us keep bringing you valuable content, so thank you for being amazing!

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

Journaling has proven to be beneficial for mental health and provides a trend for successful results.

Do you find yourself in need of motivation to achieve your goals? Try out these eight inspiring personal growth journaling prompts for highly sensitive people. Your journal and your mind await.

What If You Aren’t Good At Personal Growth Journaling?

Truthfully, it does not matter as you are the only person who will ever read your journal. This process of writing down your thoughts is simply for you to release the negativity. You might even find yourself riddled with frustration. 

Does this sound like you? If so, you should try personal growth journaling for highly sensitive people. Get these thoughts onto the paper and out of your mind. Theoretically, you could choose to burn it afterward. 

It would be most wise to become acquainted with the emotions you are currently feeling. Therefore, acknowledge them so that you may replace them with more positivity and comfort for yourself. The more you keep up with it, the better you become at getting to know yourself which is the primary goal.

#1 Set Your Intentions

Admittedly, you are sure to accomplish great things when your intentions are in the right places. For instance, think about what it is specifically that is overwhelming you or negatively affecting your life right now. It is important to discover the issue so that you may work on solving it.

The next step is to set specific intentions on the respective goals you set for yourself. For example, if you are trying to become healthier. Your intent might look something like, “ I intend on getting vegetables in all of my daily meals.” Specific and relatively easy to enact. 

Continue to do this every month, and in the end, you will be able to reflect. Did you set out what intended to do? Be firm in your intentions and you will be inspired to keep personal growth journaling. 

#2 What Are Three Things You Are Grateful For And Why?

Notably, showing gratitude is an action that many people struggle with. However, highly sensitive people can usually acknowledge things they cherish or care for pretty easily. This inspiring journal prompt should take little time. But it is completely okay if it doesn’t.

To be grateful for something is to be appreciative of the benefits it provides. For example, this could be targeted to inanimate objects, a loved one, or even yourself. If three things to be grateful for are too overwhelming, then try just one at first.

Admittedly, you should go at your own pace as this personal growth journal prompt is meant to be calming and grounding rather than anxious. Try to remember that it is okay to be vulnerable as you are presumably highly sensitive. Your journal should be treated as a safe space.

#3 Write About Yourself From Next Year 

This journal prompt has the purpose of encouraging the thoughts of short-term goals. Think about where you see yourself in exactly one year from now. Moreover, ask yourself what you imagine for yourself in a perfect world?

Begin with the date exactly one year from now. Then, continue with writing in the present tense as if you were already living your dream life. “I am a writer and a New-York Best-Selling Author. I have sold over a million copies of my book.”

The idea is to get yourself in the mindset of the person you wish to be. Moreover, you will come to the realization that you are not so far off. Inspire yourself with this personal growth journaling prompt for highly sensitive people by living in your dream future today. 

#4 What Are You Afraid Of And How Can You Overcome That Fear?

What goals have you set so far, and why haven’t you accomplished them? One of the reasons why may be due to fear of failure. This is almost always rooted in something deeper, and it is your job to discover your truth. 

Acknowledge your fears for what they are: the emotion behind your anxiety. What exactly are you fearing? Then, ponder where it is this fear originally stemmed from and why it is you feel this way. Ultimately, you will find relief and a rediscovered inspiration for personal growth.

Recognize that these fears do not consume you. Indeed, they are a part of you, however, they do not control you. Through separating yourself from emotions, you come to see the root cause and overcome them. 

#5 Things You Appreciate About Yourself And What Can You Improve On

Admittedly, self-reflection is widely known to improve your mood and inspire you. Appreciate yourself and show yourself love and kind words often. Through journaling, you might discover parts of you that usually go overlooked. 

Perhaps, you are exceptional at making art. Cherish the deliberate actions of your hands. Continuously, be grateful for your ability to be creative in your mind’s eye. In the truest form, appreciate yourself and become inspired by what makes you, you.

After you generate gratitude for yourself, you have a newfound appreciation for the quirky little things many might overlook. Then use this inspiration to continue working on yourself. You are proof that personal growth journaling is successful as a highly sensitive person, but what can you do next?

#6 What Is One New Habit You Want To Incorporate This Month

Sometimes upon reflecting, highly sensitive people might try to enact an entirely new routine. The goal may be o uproot and replace what they believe isn’t working. However, this is a one-step way to a great disaster for highly sensitive people. 

Don’t set yourself back in your personal growth journey. Start off with one new habit at a time. Perhaps once a month, and then once a week when you get used to the changes in your normal routines. Something you can do today, this week, and eventually throughout this month. 

You will develop this habit within a 30-day plan or 7-day cycle, whichever you prefer. Of course, it is recommended you take your time. Meanwhile, the bigger goal is to actually make that habit stick. After you accomplish one, the next will come easier and you will be further motivated to continue on your path to personal growth.

#7 One Piece Of Advice That Has Inspired Personal Growth

After all of the life lessons you have learned, you could choose one that allowed you to move forward or gain experience. Maybe it was something someone said to you in mid-conversation. Perhaps, you are an avid reader and the piece of advice is your favorite quote out of a book. 

To be fair, Mickey Mouse could have said it. It just has to mean something to you. Advice that made you feel emotions that inclined you to start becoming a better person. Reincite this inspiration for your personal growth by using this prompt to connect with your inner purpose. 

#8 List Out 10 Self-Care Actions You Would Like To Do This Month

This prompt is probably, by far, one of the easiest. Think of this journaling activity as a brainstorming session where the focus is on you. Therefore, jot down the activities you might enjoy to partake in some healthy self-care this month.

Some notable things for you to do can range in difficulty. Sometimes self-care is simply drinking a glass of water. Or it can also be reading a self-help book. 

For some more inspiration with this personal growth journaling prompt, think of the things you do that only benefit you. Do the things that bring you the most joy. At least try to write them down, and then you can schedule a couple every week. 

Participating In Personal Growth Journaling

If you made it all the way to the end of this article, hopefully, you found at least one of these prompts useful. Personal growth journaling for highly sensitive people can be very touchy at first and might make you nervous to continue. 

This is for you. By simply reading through, you are actively working on yourself and you should be proud. Take a moment to thank yourself, and begin your personal growth journey today. 

And if you’re ready to make the next step in your personal growth journey, make sure to check out our personal growth membership for highly sensitive people and empaths – the Ideal Self Membership.

This highly affordable membership enables you to start living life like your ideal self, by learning from certified experts and applying HSP tailored personal growth habits and practices in your daily life.

Discover the membership here!

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The post 8 Personal Growth Journaling Prompts For Highly Sensitive People appeared first on HiSensitives.

Do you want to learn how to maintain your mental health as an empath? In this article, you’ll discover the best mental health hacks to thrive as an empath.

Hey there, lovely readers! We want to be completely transparent with you. Some of the links in this blog are affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. 😊

We only recommend products and services we genuinely believe in and have personally used or researched. Your support through these links helps us keep bringing you valuable content, so thank you for being amazing!

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Empaths often find themselves becoming overwhelmed and mentally exhausted due to the influx of emotions constantly surrounding them.

Others’ negative feelings can have a drastic effect on highly sensitive people. Although sometimes difficult to navigate, these tips and techniques will help you maintain positive mental health as an empath. 

What Does It Mean To Be An Empath?

Many highly sensitive people are oftentimes also highly empathic. But what does it actually mean to be an empath?

You can either identify or be diagnosed with being an empath. As written by Jessica Greiner in her book “Empath,” this type of person will experience the pain, anxiety, and distress around them. This can also include animals and instances in nature as well. 

Characteristics of being an empath go past the concept of merely feeling emotions deeper than non-sensitive people. If you are an empath you may find yourself being in touch with your intuition, seeing past deception, and listening compassionately for anyone speaking. 

Empaths are often very artistic, creative, and free-spirited. Not only do they feel the emotions of people they care about, but they also reflect the emotions and energy of those around them. Consistently being bombarded with emotions would take a toll on anybody who was highly sensitive. This is why empaths must be successful in maintaining positive mental health.

Here are some practical ways to achieve this:

#1 Check-In With Yourself To Maintain Mental Health

To begin getting back to a healthy positive mindset, you first need to create one to maintain. This is where the empath in question would check in with themselves and start asking questions about their true state of mind.

Some topics you can start thinking about include how you are feeling in this moment and noticeable causal factors for your state of mind. Are you currently mirroring what you see around you, or are you actually feeling these negative emotions personally? 

This isn’t an interrogation, this is reflecting in its truest form. You maintain your mental health with actions, so what have you done for yourself this week? Have you noticed negative feelings arriving after being around certain people in your life?

In this tip, we highly recommend you try your best not to judge your answers or try to sugar coat them. This is to help preserve your mental health, so the best way through this tip is, to be honest.

#2 Create Physical Space For A While

As difficult as it may be to admit, the people you keep around you on a daily basis can be contributing to a decline in your mental health. Maybe it’s a close friend that likes to vent to you or someone who has just been especially stressed or anxious. 

After a week or perhaps months of being there for that person and being around that energy, empaths can expect to feel emotionally burnt out. In turn, this leaves no room for working on and supporting their own mental health. Does this mean you should kick these people out of your life for good? 

If you truly care for and feel net positive energy for them, then of course not. However, you may benefit from taking some healthy space for just you to be alone with your own emotions. 

Give yourself time to just be with no one’s emotions but yours and find peace within them.

Being away will prevent you from becoming resentful towards that person. It may also give them the time to process their own emotions and work on their own mental health. Not only will your relationship be protected, but you will have successfully taken healthy steps for maintaining your mental state. 

#3 Empaths Need Fresh Air 

These days it is common knowledge exercising releases endorphins that are supposed to give you more energy and help you feel happier. But you don’t necessarily have to exercise if you are unable to. This doesn’t work for everybody and can be mentally and physically exhausting for empaths. 

Admittedly, taking a walk by yourself and taking in some fresh air can really connect you directly to the world around you. Empaths tend to be sensitive people who take this opportunity to get more connected to your spirituality if any. 

In order to maintain mental health, take a moment every once in a while to ground yourself. Practice breathing techniques in a nearby park, and the average empath will feel like they’re breathing in the trees directly. 

Empaths can use this opportunity to feel the life around them in nature and feel emotions like gratitude and belonging coming from themselves. You can also choose to meditate in this fresh air to continue elevating your mental health.  

#4 Make The Time To Prioritize Your Mental Health

Sometimes as empaths and highly sensitive people, we tend to put others’ needs above our own. If you allow this to continue for long periods of time, you won’t know what too much is until you find yourself mentally exhausted. Notice that to best maintain mental health, now is the time to start filling up your cup first.

Improve mental health habits as an empath starting with what you do in your free time. Prioritize your self-care by reading that book you have been meaning to read and tell your friends you are out of commission for the night. 

Essentially, you should take at least one night off from being everyone’s rock in exchange for doing something that makes you happy. It can actually be anything and does not have to take much time. Do a ten-minute face mask and watch your favorite comfort tv show. You deserve it!

Recognize and accept that caring for yourself does not have to come at a cost for others. As an empath, you know you have so much love to give. However maintaining a good mental state, will require you to pour that love into yourself first. 

#5 Find A Way To Release

You don’t necessarily have to vent onto a loved one in order to release the buildup of emotions. Most importantly, you should have a good source of expressing your emotions. This will perpetuate the maintenance of your mental health as an empath. 

What activities improve mental health by encouraging you to release? Some common ones not already mentioned include going to see a licensed therapist and journaling what you feel. Empaths may also like doodling, painting, or sketching if they are artistically inclined. 

For instance, you may want to try the Creative Thinking Journal. Here, you’ll receive fun, creative challenges designed to increase your creativity.

Improving your mental wellbeing is all about preventing the feeling of being overwhelmed. It is knowing your threshold for what you can or should take in. Sometimes empaths can’t help but want to relate to others and feel what they feel. 

Despite how much you may want to help the people in your environment, you cant aid the situation by also feeling depressed for them. You must find a way to release before it can get too much. With these techniques in practice, you remain successfully maintaining your mental health as an empath. 

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The post How To Maintain Your Mental Health As An Empath appeared first on HiSensitives.

Do you want to create a sensory garden that triggers your senses in all imaginable positive ways? Try these practical & easy applicable tips!

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

As a highly sensitive person you naturally feel drawn to the outdoors. Getting into nature has scientifically proven to benefit sensitive people.

A lot of people think they have to get out of their own environment to do so: they might go to a nearby forest of take a trip to the seaside, but I want to tell you that that isn’t particularly necessary.

You could use your own backyard just fine! But there are ways to get the most out of that garden, so you can really stimulate your senses and create a sensory garden. Or you could use the space to really calm down and relax yourself.

In this blog I want to show you how to create that little piece of sensory heaven, right at your doorstep.

The Eight Senses Relevant To Create A Sensory Garden

Information from the outside world (stimuli) enter through our senses. The senses are organs that pick up these stimuli and convert them into electrical energy signals that are sent to the brain through our nerves.

A couple of examples of stimuli are the awful smell of your husband’s aftershave, the red chili peppers in the curry you are eating or sunrays that shine through your window right onto your computer screen. When these signals enter our consciousness, a perception arises. 

The “classic” senses, as once described by Aristotle, are the five senses with which we can make conscious perceptions. These senses are seeing (visual), hearing (auditory), smelling (olfactory), tasting (gustatory) and touching (tactile).

But there are also important senses that people are often less aware of. That is why many scientists now prefer to use a different, somewhat broader classification. They distinguish between eight senses, which also are relevant when it comes to creating your sensory garden:

• Visual: The ability to perceive and interpret light and color stimuli.
• Auditory: The ability to perceive and interpret sound.
• Olfactory: The ability to smell and interpret odors.
• Gustatory: The feeling that perceives and interprets the properties of food and other substances in the mouth.
• Tactile: The tactile system through which touch, pressure, pain and temperature are perceived and interpreted.
• Vestibular: The vestibular system in the inner ear that senses and interprets the position and movements of the head and allows one to orientate oneself in space and time.
• Proprioception: The system that perceives and interprets the state of the muscles in the body.
• Interoception: Feeling what is happening inside your body.

What Happens In The Brain When You Spend Time In Your Sensory Garden?

Every sense is unique. Yet they share basic features and similarities in structure and function. They all use the same neural plan where the sense organs receive stimuli (such as light, sound or pressure) into electrical impulses that are carried to the brain via bundles of nerve fibers.

The Thamalus

Sensory data from spending time in your sensory garden generally goes to the thalamus. The thalamus is a switching station that sits on top of the brainstem, and from there they are directed to their own special area in the cortex.

From this primary cortex, the stimuli can reach large and diverse areas of the brain. For example, a scent can be intense evoke emotions because there are direct connections with the limbic system.

In order for people to survive in their environment, the senses must be highly responsive – to signals as weak as a single photon of light or a molecule of a dust flake in the air – and at the same time selective enough to filter information so that not everything gets immediate attention.

Stimulating A Receptor Cell

Stimulation of a receptor cell (e.g. light on the retina or sound on the eardrum) usually releases a protein that starts a biochemical reaction of messenger and energy-carrying molecules that generate electrical charges in a neuron, causing it to fire.

Sensations themselves are very fleeting: they sometimes remain in the memory for a few seconds, sometimes even shorter. The process by which our brains process and understand this incoming data is called perception. Memory, emotion and cognition are mixed to create an experience.

Perception works in a special way. Certain areas of the brain do not only respond to sensory information, but they also actively condition it. For example, they inhibit irrelevant input and supplement other input. This ensures that you can still follow a conversation at a noisy party, for instance. This is because these brain regions replenish fragments. In this case, words are made from partial sounds.

The Senses And Highly Sensitive People

When you are a highly sensitive person, your brain works differently. Highly sensitive people lack some sort of filter in their brain, which causes them to have to deal with a lot of stimuli.

That’s because that filter inhibits irrelevant input. For example, when you are in a meeting and several people are speaking at the same time, it becomes difficult to focus on the conversation you are having yourself.

It gets almost impossible to focus and you might feel really overwhelmed because of it. Because not only is the input from your conversation partner coming in, the input from the other people as well.

And it’s not only the speaking too. You also might notice the different kinds of perfume people are wearing, you might hear the traffic outside and maybe the fluorescent lighting is making a buzzing sound as well. 

Deep Processing

In addition, these stimuli are also processed more deeply than in people who are not highly sensitive. This deep stimulus processing means that highly sensitive people can quickly become overstimulated.

You can recognize an overstimulation in yourself when you notice that you start to feel a need to withdraw yourself. Perhaps, you might feel yourself getting anxious, frustrated or even angry. Also, you feel exhausted.

Moreover, you might feel your muscles cramping up. It is key to listen to your body in situations like this. If you don’t listen, you could experience extreme fatigue or become burned out.

Need For Sensory Pleasure

But not only do stimuli cause negative symptoms. Sometimes highly sensitive people might actually feel a need for certain stimuli.

Highly sensitive people can have a really intense reaction to negative stimuli, but on the other hand they could really love other perceptions.

For instance, they might want to leave a restaurant because it reeks of fish, but absolutely love a flower shop. Certain movements could help you calm down, like sitting in a rocking chair, or you sleep very well with the scent of lavender on your pillow.

If this is the case, it’s key to embrace that. Because in this busy world, you need every help to unwind that you can get.

Incorporating The Senses Into Your Sensory Garden

Enough theory for now. It’s time to talk about creating the sensory garden and how to optimize it in such a way that it helps you unwind and chill out. Or – if you are sensory seeking – how to give you optimal sensory input. They can even go hand-in-hand: sometimes adding extra sensory input gives you joy, which can feel really relaxing!

Visual

There are multiple ways to incorporate sight in your garden. Pick some colorful plants, for instance. Plants also come in a vast array of shapes and sizes and you could also consider plants with a bold leaf color.

Next to that, you could play with water pieces, like fountains, bird baths or a pond. If the sun shines on it, the (moving) water will sparkle, which can be pleasing on the eyes. If you are sensitive to that, you could choose to put it in a more shadowy side of the garden. 

Auditory

You could tickle your auditory system in different ways as well. I already mentioned water – fountains or a small waterfall – and these could also give you great auditory pleasure. You can lay in your yard and hear the water splashing and rippling.

I’m sure it will calm you down. Or it might just make you have to pee. If you are sensitive to that, ignore this paragraph. Some people might also like the sound of wind chimes. I myself prefer the bamboo ones, since they aren’t as high pitched as some others are.

Olfactory

A sensory garden is the perfect place to indulge yourself with scents. Especially in summertime! Pick some scented, blooming plants for your garden like jasmine, roses, wisteria, lilies or buddleja. And not only do they smell amazing, they will also attract butterflies and honeybees, which is great for the planet.

And planting herbs will also do a lot for your olfactory system. Lavender is a popular one, but herbs like rosemary, thyme and lemon balm will give your nose a treat. And if you’re sitting outside in the evening, a nice scented candle could really accompany the different fragrances. If you burn a lemon scented candle, it will keep mosquitos away from you too!

Gustatory

It’s also not that difficult to add something for you to taste! I mentioned herbs in the previous paragraph. These are also great for the gustatory system. But not only herbs could be added to give you some tasty stimuli, you could also go for a kitchen garden. Pick a spot to plant some vegetables and grow fruit! It could be very pleasing to walk into your sensory garden and eat some fresh strawberries or tomatoes.

If this isn’t really your thing (because it does mean you have to maintain it), edible flowers might be more your cup of tea. Citrus blossom, clover, daisies, dandelions, honeysuckle, lavender, pansies and violets are a couple of them. Pick them and eat them, or add them in your salad!

Tactile

One of my favorite senses is touch. I’m very sensitive to it, but absolutely love certain feels. My feet are delicate, but I love to walk on grass bare feet. If you are like me, you could add some grass to your garden.

Moreover, if you are more sensory seeking in this department, you might want to opt for some pavement which has some textured patterns in it (like cobblestone, for instance). If you walk on it with your shoes of, it serves as a great reflexology exercise.

However, if this is too big of a step for you, you could go for textured plants which feel great to your fingertips. And again, adding water to your garden is also a great way to pleasure your tactile system. 

Vestibular, Proprioceptive And Interoceptive

To please these senses, you can add movement into your sensory garden. Adding a rocking chair or a swing to your garden furniture is a good idea if you love relaxing with the feeling of being swayed. A trampoline could also give a nice feeling if you are sensory seeking.

Another way of incorporating these senses into your garden is to add a place to lay down your yoga mat. If you have space for it, it might be a really nice feeling to do your exercises in your sensory garden.

When You Don’t Have A Garden

This article is written for highly sensitive people who have a garden. But I can imagine that you don’t have access to one, but still want to make the most of, for example, your balcony.

Most of the items I mentioned are also available for balconies. Deliciously tasting herbs and aromatic plants can be planted in pots, a bird bath doesn’t have to be big and maybe you even have space for a rocking chair on your balcony.

If you don’t have a balcony either, you could incorporate some of these tips inside your home. If that’s not an option, you can try to find if outside of your home.

Maybe there is a park nearby, or maybe you can dip your feet into the soil of a forest that’s close to your home. Another way is to visit a “barefoot path”. These paths or trails are specifically made for sensory means.

If you go to such path, be ready to throw those shoes off and walk across a trail which has all kinds of different textures. These often include pebbles, bark, soil and even mud. Don’t worry about dirty feet, you can wash them at the end of the path.

You May Also Enjoy Reading These Articles

• 100 Ways To Have Fun While Being Stuck At Home
• How To Deal With Sensory Overload When You Are Highly Sensitive
• Discovering Your Sense Of Identity and Belonging In This World

The post How To Create A Sensory Garden To Indulge Your Senses appeared first on HiSensitives.

In this book review, I share my thoughts on Tamara S. Graham’s children’s book ‘Sunshine and The Power of Words’. A book that is perfect for HSP children to learn how to deal with the effects of name calling and learn compassion.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

I am so excited to be sharing this book review with you! This book was written for HSP children. However, I believe that every highly sensitive person who wants to heal their inner child should get this book.

When I first read the book, I cried. Or to be more specific, my inner child cried, because it finally felt heard. Therefore I knew how important it was to get the word about this beautiful piece of art and knowledge for HSP children out there.

This book (series) will revolutionize parenting of HSP children. In this book review you will discover why I think that.

What To Expect From The Sunshine Book Series For HSP Children

Tamara S. Graham is the brilliant author behind the ‘Sunshine’-series. With her book series, she is creating the stories many of us craved back when we were HSP children ourselves.

Sunshine, the main character, is a highly sensitive child. In the different books, Sunshine’s experience of being an HSP child is described and illustrated in a fun, playful and meaningful manner.

Consequently, these book series help highly sensitive children to understand important aspects such as how to deal with social anxiety, environmental awareness, dealing with separation anxiety, embracing their sensitivity and many more!

In her debut novel ‘Sunshine and The Power of Words’, Tamara S. Graham elegantly created a story about coping with the effects of name calling and learning compassion.

Below, I briefly summarized the plot. However, don’t let this stop you from purchasing the book, because this is just a brief description of what you can expect for your HSP children.

The Plot

Sunshine, the main character, had a bad day at school. Other kids were being mean to her and calling her cruel things. Things that were not true and hurtful. Therefore, Sunshine goes home to find comfort in the kind and loving words of her grandma and the support of her dear cat – her safe haven.

Throughout the story ‘Sunshine and The Power of Words’, Sunshine works through her emotions in a kind, loving and warm way together with her grandma. First, she explains how her day at school went and what experiences upset her.

Then her grandma lovingly listens to her experience, before starting to use specific techniques, metaphors and language to make her granddaughter feel better. Throughout the story, grandma shares her wise thoughts to help Sunshine feel better and cope with the power of words and hurtful experiences in life through a lens of compassion.

For instance, she talks about useful ways to tackle tough situations at school. The two have a deep, meaningful and touching conversation about how Sunshine can work through the experience. Also, she learns how to deal with these challenges in the future.

Ultimately, Sunshine feels better and decides to spread her love and newly gained knowledge with other HSP children – the readers of this book.

My Thoughts On ‘Sunshine and The Power of Words’

As I mentioned, this book truly touched me, because I still have some inner child healing to work on. This book contributed to making my inner child feel validated, loved and seen. Therefore, it was a beautiful experience to read this book, even as an adult.

Below, I am sharing some small fragments from the book, that particularly touched my soul.

“Grandma, sometimes I can feel what the other kids at school are feeling”. – Sunshine

“It might be easy to mix up which feelings are yours or the other person’s. We might feel like we are sad or angry when it isn’t even our own emotion. We could get confused about how we really feel.” – Grandma

This part of the book truly touched my heart and I could not stop bawling my eyes out, because my inner child felt so comforted. Tamara S. Graham beautifully incorporates the empathic characteristics of HSP children in this story.

With this story line, she validates the experiences many HSP children have regarding their empathy. Moreover, she uses unique metaphors to help the young readers understand the messages in a child-friendly, easy comprehendible way.

“Grandma touched the wind chime above the kitchen table. She knew it would help her granddaughter relax. Sunshine loved that twinkling sound which inspired her to take a calming, deep breath.”

What I really liked about this book, is that it is not only valuable for HSP children, but also their parents. It provides parents with examples on how to support their beautiful HSP children in a way that resonates with them.

Language & Illustration

Author Tamara S. Graham uses soft, loving language to get across her message.

For instance, she works with many inspiring and comprehendible metaphors to get across the wisdom of the story. Moreover, the metaphors of this book are easily applicable in daily life for HSP children.

The author managed to translate adult wisdom into child-friendly, fun and interesting language. As a result, I am sure that these wisdoms will help many HSP children to thrive in life.

Also, the illustrations that go along with the story are spot on! The Sunshine series are illustrated by Gaspar D. Sabater. He managed to support the powerful messages of this book with his accurate, playful and beautiful artwork.

To summarize, the story combined with the colorful art create a beautiful book for HSP children.

Some Final Thoughts On This Book For HSP Children

After reading this book, I can highly recommend it to others looking for a good HSP children’s book! Even if you don’t have children, but have some inner child healing to do, this is a powerful tool to validate your inner child.

If your child is struggling with dealing with hurtful words, this book will help your child understand these situations. Moreover, this book also offers valuable tools to you as a parent or grandparent to help your highly sensitive child when it is struggling with hurtful words.

I believe that one of the main struggles for parents who are not highly sensitive is to understand what their highly sensitive child needs. Therefore, this book is a true lifesaver! It helps parents and other caretakers of HSP children to grasp the concepts of high sensitivity in a simple way.

To summarize, I believe that this book series will create a better future for highly sensitive people, providing HSP children and their parents with the right methods to thrive in life. It will soon be available in Spanish as well and I cannot wait for it to be translated for the Dutch market, so I can purchase it for my nephew and niece!

Would you like to purchase the book? You won’t regret it. You can order it straight from Amazon via this link!

You May Also Enjoy Reading These Articles

• Is My Extroverted Kid A Highly Sensitive Child
• Do You Know Your Self Care Love Language?

The post ‘Sunshine And The Power Of Words’: A Powerful Book For HSP Children appeared first on HiSensitives.

In this article, sensory interior designer Carolyn Feder Gold shares her seven secrets to help you transform your home spaces into a sensory haven!

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Imagine standing in the middle of a gorgeous hotel lobby. You love everything about it, especially the one week stay. It gets better when the door to your suite, opens. You smile before checking out the ocean view. Dreams of extending your vacation indefinitely, cross your mind. If only you could capture this feeling, all that accumulated stress would vanish in an instant. If only…

Luxury hotels excel at making guests feel welcome and special, enticing us to return. We can’t wait to share the great experience with others. Moreover, high end restaurants make it easy to order dessert and after-dinner drinks. How do they do this?

The chocolate on your hotel pillow, the fresh flowers in a vase on the dining table, the furniture and the lights, the scents and the colors, are all highly effective methods of subliminal messaging.

Do You Want To Transform Your Home Spaces? Start With Evaluating Your Current Situation!

But before we go any further, let me ask: Do you…
…ever walk through your front door at home and delight in what you see?
…enjoy lingering at your table or lounging in your den?
…walk into your bedroom, take a deep breath, exhale and smile?

If you’ve answered yes to any or all of these questions, that’s wonderful! If not, you’re definitely in the majority. Most people are so busy living life that they often neglect treating themselves to daily doses of sensory TLC.

Many may not even realize what it means to have a sensory healthy environment. However, for everyone whose lives have changed drastically by having to home school or work from home or both, living within a sensory haven is vital.

Nevertheless, as human beings, we are masterful at pushing aside what we don’t want to deal with, placing ‘it’ in the deepest recesses of our minds. Eventually, ‘it’ will surface, usually at night, when we’re trying to fall asleep.

Thoughts may be invisible, but they sure do occupy space and make lots of noise in our minds, don’t they?

Chaos In Your Home Creates Noise In Your Mind

‘Stuff’ in our homes also creates noise in our brain. It’s not uncommon for people to avoid certain rooms or areas and not know why.

From a sensory standpoint, things don’t have to be messy to create a distraction. Moreover, they don’t have to be chaotic to make us feel uncomfortable, annoyed or anxious.

Lighting, color, pattern, texture, scent, sound, etc., affects us all, in some way or another. Therefore, too much of something or the wrong kind of something, can set us off and disrupt our existence.

By removing what makes us react negatively and incorporating what makes us respond positively, we can control our environment to our own benefit. Moreover, doing so results in a more balanced and peaceful life. This emphasizes the importance to transform your home spaces.

Uncovering our sensory language is a fun and interesting journey which provides tools that aid in recreating that hotel or fancy bistro experience, year round.

These techniques developed after years of me being a classically trained interior designer. How I perceived surroundings and designed for clients made perfect sense once I discovered I had synaesthesia.

Moreover, being an HSP/Empath with this sensory ‘gift’ has allowed me to expand my practice. Staging homes and transforming spaces became a favorite because properties tend to sell faster when potential buyers’ have an enhanced experience. For example, it can happen even before entering through the front door.

Many a client has been tempted to renege on selling, after seeing their home through a new and refreshing lens.

Use Spa My Space To Create Your Sensory Haven At Home

Transforming a space into a sensory haven doesn’t necessarily require remolding, just being open to remove what doesn’t work and incorporate only what’s healthy.

Use our signature phrase SPA MY SPACE* as a guideline:
Serene Pampering Alluring
Mine Yours
Simple Purposeful Accessible Comfortable Engaging
(* Spa My Space is a proprietary term)

Like treatments at a fancy spa, following these guidelines will motivate you to maintain your new health regime.

Contrary to a spa, ‘Spa My Space’ treatments are long lasting and won’t wash away after the first night. Moreover, removing impurities and invisible sensory irritants in our surroundings allows the mind and body to recalibrate and nurture our soul.

These principles are equally effective on children and adults, especially HSP/Empaths and On The Spectrum with sensory overload issues.

7 Tips To Transform Spaces In Your Home

Start transforming your space in this order and the difference will be palpable. For instance, these 7 tips will help reduce sensory overload, immediately.

#1 Lighting: avoid fluorescents, they contain mercury, distort colors, create mental disruption. Full spectrum bulbs and warmer tones of LEDs replicate sunlight. They bring out true colors and on cloudy days they give our brain a much needed boost. We don’t do well on gloomy days.

#2 Color: avoid using pure white, light grays and bright colors. Red, orange and yellow are used like hot cooking spices— a little goes a long way. For instance, blues, greens and purples are healthy and soothing, you’ll never tire from them. Keep schemes to six colors max, distributing some here and others there. Beige, charcoal, black and brown go with everything. Medium to darker wood stains are best on floors vs lighter.

#3 Materials: avoid artificial anything such as plastics, vinyls, etc. Favor plant based textiles, such as cotton, bamboo, linen. They take on color beautifully and are soft to the touch. For flooring, natural wood absorbs sound and feels great, barefooted. Moreover, opt for larger planks vs narrow. Wood and natural stone on flooring offer grounding properties.

#4 Finishes: avoid shiny/highly reflective surfaces, including tile and bare bulbs. Select matte or satin finishes on furniture and metals for bath and kitchen fixtures.

#5 Scents: avoid spray aerosols, plugs-ins and scented candles, they’re HIGHLY toxic. Focus on pure essential oils instead. Display fresh fruits, flowers and plants, they’re uplifting to have around and help purify the air.

#6 Shapes: avoid or cover sharp corners and the many lines created by shades, wood and tile floors.

#7 Artwork: avoid spikes and angles, choose natural shapes, irregular lines, curves and spirals. Also, when framing, request nonglare glass and canvas wrapped images.

Have Fun Transforming Your Home Spaces Into A Sensory Haven

Are you ready to take your home to the next level, but not sure where to start? Me and my partner would love to help you out!

Our virtual services address everything from restorative sleep, improved focus in learning and working areas and much more. Consultations and personalized prescriptions, ages 5 & above.

We would love to connect with you to help you create a sensory haven in your home.

You May Also Enjoy Reading These Articles

• How To Deal With Sensory Overload When You Are Highly Sensitive
• Human Design 101 For Highly Sensitive People And Empaths
• How To Create A Sensory Garden To Indulge Your Senses
• How To De-Stress With Relaxing Baths As A Highly Sensitive Person

The post Seven Secrets To Transform Spaces Into Sensory Havens appeared first on HiSensitives.

Are you often being called too sensitive or too soft? In this blog, we talk about the 60 signs that you are a highly sensitive person.

Hey there, lovely readers! We want to be completely transparent with you. Some of the links in this blog are affiliate links, which means if you click on them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. 😊

We only recommend products and services we genuinely believe in and have personally used or researched. Your support through these links helps us keep bringing you valuable content, so thank you for being amazing!

Estimated reading time: 29 minutes

I am so excited to share this blog with you! HSP coach Tiara from HSPeace coaching and I have combined our strengths to put together this extensive list of signs that you are a highly sensitive person. Based on our own insights from working with and for HSP’s and input from scientific studies we have created this massive list.

If you are anything like me, you have felt like an outsider or different from others for most part of your life. For a long time, you couldn’t make sense of it and perhaps you still can’t. Therefore, I hope that after reading this blog you will be able to understand why you are feeling the way you feel. Perhaps you will discover that you are highly sensitive. Find out by browsing through this extensive list of signs that you are a highly sensitive person.

The 60 Signs That You Are A Highly Sensitive Person

Below, you can find the 60 signs that you might be a highly sensitive person. In the table below, you can directly navigate to the sections that intrigue you.

1. Overthinking

Because of their depth of processing external stimuli, highly sensitive people have a tendency to overthink a lot. Therefore, at times it might feel like you can’t turn off your thoughts. 

Moreover, you might struggle to fall asleep in the evening because your thoughts won’t shut off. 

Oftentimes, highly sensitive people also lay awake in the middle of the night because of their thoughts. These can be thoughts about the past day, thoughts about the future or even thoughts where you obsess about tiny details from the far past.

Hence, overthinking is one of the common sights that you are a highly sensitive person. If you are struggling with a loud and busy mind, you may want to read the book ‘Get Out of Your Head: Stopping the Spiral of Toxic Thoughts‘.

2. Often Tired

One of the consequences of deep processing and overthinking everything, is that you might feel tired and exhausted all the time. 

Even after 8 full hours of sleep you might wake up and wonder what is wrong with you. Actually, I do this all the time.

Because you process everything so very deeply, you also need more time to rest during the night and throughout the day. This can be challenging for many highly sensitive people in this fast-paced society.

3. Easily Stressed

One of the signs that you are a highly sensitive person is that you tend to feel easily stressed.

As mentioned, highly sensitive people need more rest compared to less sensitive people. Accordingly, packed schedules and many tasks on the to do-list tend to stress out the highly sensitive person easily.

In addition, highly sensitive people are known to be conflict-avoiding and they care deeply about the expectations of others. As a consequence, they hate letting others down and when they sense that this is the case, this can cause great stress within them.

Finally, because of their ability to pick up the tiniest changes in their environment, this can cause great stress when their senses are stimulated in a non-pleasing way. For instance, think about sudden changes in noise levels or brighter lights.

Struggling with stress? The book ‘The Self Care Prescription: Powerful Solutions to Manage Stress, Reduce Anxiety & Increase Wellbeing’ may help you to cope with stress and increase your overall wellbeing as a highly sensitive person.

4. Not Functioning Well When Being Observed

Highly sensitive people are some of the most productive and capable employees you can find. 

While they are performing amazingly when working in a HSP-friendly, calm environment – preferably on their own-, they might function poorly when being observed.

Being observed causes them to feel stressed by the expectations of the others and as you may know, one of the worst fears of an HSP is to let others down. 

Accordingly, this fear for disappointing others causes highly sensitive people to actually perform worse while being observed.

5. Emotional Intensity

Do you sometimes feel that you experience certain emotions more deeply than others? This is one of the signs that you are a highly sensitive person.

In fact, studies show that highly sensitive people are known to process emotions more deeply. Accordingly, they feel emotions more intensely.

This can be a true gift in good times and feel like a curse in bad times. Therefore, it is incredibly important for highly sensitive people to manage emotional regulation.

For example, you might consider to try EFT tapping (emotional freedom therapy). Here is an interesting video upon EFT tapping:

6. Feeling Out Of Place

Because highly sensitive people experience the world differently compared to less sensitive people, they might feel out of place many times.

Society is mostly fast and busy, as less sensitive people seem to have less problems with that pace. However, highly sensitive people might feel out of place and the desire to slow down more often.

Consequently, this different need can cause them to feel different and like ‘the weird kid’. Know that it is completely normal to be highly sensitive and that there is nothing wrong with wanting to live a slower lifestyle.

7. Self-Conscious

Highly sensitive people have a tendency to overthink everything around them – including themselves and their own actions. Hence, the common highly sensitive person is rather self-conscious.

Because of their strong sense of self-consciousness, highly sensitive people often look at ways to improve themselves and grow on a personal level. Also, they tend to reflect in-depth about how they come across to other people.

Therefore, that is why I started HiSensitives together with my fiancé Riny; to support highly sensitive people’s need for personal growth.

8. Extremely Empathic

Highly sensitive people have a heightened amount of mirror neurons in their brain. Mirror neurons enable people to emphasize and feel the pain of others more deeply. 

Accordingly, highly sensitive people often are extremely empathic. As a result, they care deeply about everyone and everything around them and feel other people’s emotions as if they were their own.

If you’d like to learn more about empathy, here’s an interesting video for you:

9. Fear Of Rejection

Due to their extremely empathic nature, highly sensitive people might experience a strong fear of being rejected by others. Especially highly sensitive introverts, who often are labelled as shy, might experience this fear strongly. 

This fear can show itself in the strangest ways: for example by being afraid to raise your hand and speak up – even if you know you have the right answer.

Another way this fear of rejection can show itself is when you are afraid to share your opinion with someone you disagree with, out of fear of being rejected by them.

If you are struggling with a strong fear of rejection, this book may be an inspiring read for you: ‘Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection’

10. Fear Of Failure

Another common fear amongst highly sensitive people is the fear of failure. Because they have a tendency to care so very deeply about everything they take on, the fear of it failing can truly eat us up.

In worst cases, the fear of failure within a highly sensitive person is so strong, that they don’t even dare to take on new projects or give their new dream a chance. To elaborate, the idea that it might fail horrifies a highly sensitive person.

11. Feeling Misunderstood By Others

Do you have a tendency to feel misunderstood by others? Either in relation to how you perceive your environment or how you feel about certain situations? This is one of the common signs that you are a highly sensitive person. 

One thing I recognize often in the HSP community is that before highly sensitive people understand that they are highly sensitive, they feel like ‘the weird kid’. For example, they might feel like they are the only ones in the world experiencing things intensely or different.

However, once you know for sure that you are part of the HSP club, the feeling of being misunderstood will decrease. Finally you will find your people who get it. Who are the same. It will feel like a true relief to you. I know I felt that way.

12. Disliking Loud Noises

Studies show that highly sensitive people process sensory stimulation more intensely. Hence, their senses are heightened and they are more easily overwhelmed by sensory input.

For instance, one type of sensory input that can feel overwhelming to highly sensitive people, are loud noises. Or even worse: loud, unexpected noises. 

Highly sensitive people struggle to function when they are in a noisy environment. Therefore, noise cancelling earbuds (affiliate link) are a highly sensitive person’s best friend.

13. Preferring Dim Lighting

Another result of being easily overwhelmed by sensory input, is that many highly sensitive people prefer dim lighting.

Because it is less overwhelming to their senses, dim lighting is a pleasant and cozy light source to the typical HSP.

14. Loving Art And Music

One of the signs that you are a highly sensitive person, is that you truly appreciate art and music. 

Consequently, you could just sit and listen to (calm) music for hours and feel the words and sounds in every fibre of your body.

The same goes for art; due to their deep sensory processing, beautiful art can trigger wonderful emotions within a highly sensitive person.

15. Loving Animals

A positive side effect of being highly empathic, is that highly sensitive people often love animals. 

Moreover, they can emphasize with their pure, innocent nature and often find comfort in their pets. Comfort, which they sometimes struggle to find within other people.

16. Loving Nature

Similar to being around animals, highly sensitive people seem to truly thrive when being in nature. For instance, a walk in the forest, on the beach or in the mountains can do wonders for their physical and mental health.

Why? Perhaps because the external stimuli from nature is more pleasant to them. No loud car sounds, construction sites and crowds of people. Paradise!

17. Deeply Caring

The empathic nature of a highly sensitive person often results in them caring deeply about everyone and everything around them.

Because of their caring personality, they sometimes struggle to realize that not everyone around them cares as deeply about things as they do. Hence, this can result in frustration and disappointment.

18. Perfectionistic

Highly sensitive people are known to have an incredible eye for detail. Because of that, they tend to be rather perfectionistic. 

Their perfectionism can be a strength in relation to their work, as it causes them to deliver projects of high quality. However, it can also slow them down and sometimes even result in unrealistic expectations towards themselves and never being satisfied with the outcome.

Here’s an incredible podcast upon the topic perfectionism.

19. Strong Inner Critic

Due to their overthinking tendencies, highly sensitive people often struggle with a strong inner critic. In addition, their challenges regarding dealing with criticism, causes their inner critic to remember every tiny bit of criticism they’ve ever received.

As a result, many highly sensitive people often are their own worst critic and almost bully themselves over the tiniest mistakes in their lives. If you struggle with a strong inner critic, this video might be interesting for you:

20. Wanting A Higher Purpose In Life (In Career)

Have you ever found yourself dreading to go to work, because you don’t see the point in doing that job? Most likely, that job was not meaningful enough to you. 

Studies have shown that highly sensitive people can’t just have a job to make money. Hence, their career must be meaningful and support their higher purpose in life.

21. Enjoying Small Things In Life Nobody Else Seems To Notice

One of the other signs that you are a highly sensitive person, is that you enjoy the small things in life which nobody else around you seems to take notice of.

Because highly sensitive people process and notice every tiny detail around them, they are able to notice these seemingly small and simple things.

Have you ever found yourself appreciating the smell of the rain, a light breeze on your skin or the sound of the wind whispering through the trees, while the person you were with was looking at you like you were crazy? Welcome to the world of a highly sensitive person.

Do you want to embrace the small things in life even more? This ’52 Week Guide To Cultivate An Attitude Of Gratitude’ may help you with that!

22. Thinking How The World Operates Right Now Is Too Fast, Competitive, And Multi-task Driven

One of the most common thoughts we notice in our community for highly sensitive people and empaths, is that they are struggling with the pace of (Western) society. For instance, they find it too fast, too focused on competition and struggle with the ideal of working on multiple tasks at the same time.

To demonstrate, ask a highly sensitive person about their dream life and they will most likely talk about a calm home (in nature), with a job that is stress-free and can be performed at their own pace.

23. Often Feeling Guilty

Feeling guilty about things that you say or do is one of the signs that you are a highly sensitive person. Most likely, this origins from the overthinking tendencies of the typical highly sensitive person.

Small discussions or signs that another person is displeased with a certain behavior might be overanalyzed by a highly sensitive person and hence result in feelings of guilt. 

Oftentimes, when you check in with the other person and tell them about your guilt, you will realize that there was no reason to feel guilty about anything in the first place.

If you have been struggling with feelings of guilt your entire life, the book ‘Let Go of the Guilt’ may be a good read for you.

24. Feeling ‘High Maintenance’

Because there are certain things that can result in overwhelm and overstimulation within a highly sensitive person, they might avoid specific situations.

Things that less sensitive people don’t seem to struggle with at all, might feel like a big deal to a highly sensitive person. For instance, think about the yearly weekend getaway with your husband’s entire family. All these people under one roof without a space to find silence, might be incredibly overstimulating for a highly sensitive person. 

Not being able to deal with these types of situations ‘normally’, can cause a highly sensitive person to feel high maintenance. 

However, know that being overwhelmed by certain situations is completely normal when you are highly sensitive and that there is no reason to be ashamed of it.

25. Hearing Phrases Such As “You Are Too Sensitive”

If you are highly sensitive, you most likely have heard one of the following phrases sooner or later in your life:

• “You are so needy”
• “You are too emotional”
• “Just get over it” 
• “Let it go”
• “You are taking things too personal”
• “You are too sensitive”

Do these sound familiar to you? If they do, chances are likely that they were said to you by less sensitive people and that you in fact are highly sensitive. 

Oftentimes, when highly sensitive people don’t know about their trait, they struggle to set healthy boundaries for themselves. Moreover, they push themselves to a level of emotional exhaustion and might occasionally experience ‘emotional overload’. It is often in those situations, when people feel justified to make one of those statements towards an HSP.

While it is not okay at all to be criticised like this, know that you will hear these types of statements less, once you find out how to set healthy boundaries for yourself and learn how to thrive as a highly sensitive person.

26. Very Creative

While no studies currently prove that highly sensitive people are more creative than less sensitive people, their depth of processing external input might result in creative output. However, this is only the case if the highly sensitive person has enough confidence to do so. 

So if you find that you are very creative, this might be a sign that you are highly sensitive. Therefore, once you join a couple of communities for highly sensitive people, you will realize that being creative is a common shared interest among HSP’s.

For instance, if you want to embrace your creativity as a highly sensitive person, the creativity journal ‘Creative Thinking Journal: fun, creative challenges designed to increase your creativity‘ may be what you are looking for!

27. Eye For Detail

Highly sensitive people are known to pay attention to detail. Therefore, they will notice the tiniest, most subtle changes in their environment or in the behavior of a person. 

Oftentimes, they see things which others tend to pass by without noticing.

28. Trying Hard To Be A Good Friend

One of the common signs that you are a highly sensitive person, is that you are trying hard to be a good friend. Oftentimes, you tend to remember the things that others seem to forget. 

When your friend is feeling down, you are doing everything to comfort them in a way that makes them happy. Due to your empathic nature, this comes naturally to you.

29. Worrying About What Others Think Of You

Because you are a highly sensitive empath who feels emotions of others rather easily, you preferably want to be liked by everyone. Therefore you care deeply about what others think of you.

Oftentimes, you might overthink the signals you receive from others and start worrying about whether you did something to upset them or to like you less. If you recognize this behaviour within yourself, this might be an interesting video for you:

30. Feeling Better After Time Alone In Your Own “Sacred” Space

Another sign that you are a highly sensitive person is that you feel like a new person after recharging in your ‘sacred’ space. This could be a cozy living room, your bathroom or your bedroom, depending on where you can relax the most.

This is not only the case for highly sensitive introverts, who prefer downtime alone. Also highly sensitive extroverts need to retreat to their own space to recharge their energy.

31. Preferring Your Own Bed And Home

One of the signs that you are a highly sensitive person, is that you prefer your home above anything else. Why? Because you have (hopefully) adapted your home to your needs. 

Dim lighting, cozy furniture, silent rooms and pleasant smells are one of the main reasons why you prefer your home above a fancy hotel room or staying at a friends house. In addition, a bed that fits your sleeping needs makes you prefer to sleep at home.

Even if you are a high sensation seeker and HSP, nothing beats coming home to your own four walls to recharge after a fun experience.

32. Feeling Better When You Are In Control Of Your Environment

Highly sensitive people might prefer to know what is going to happen around them, as they are easily startled by surprising sounds, lights or experiences. Therefore, they tend to prefer being in an environment which they know well. 

Of course a highly sensitive person is able to adapt to new situations too, but these will most likely overwhelm them greatly due to all the new external input. Hence, they might feel the need to recharge after such an experience.

33. Preferring Your Own Mode Of Transportation Instead Of Public Transport

Another subtle sign that you might be a highly sensitive person, is that you prefer your own transport above public transport. The reason is simple: public transport craves more of your energy.

All the people, the sounds and the smells can feel quite overwhelming to a highly sensitive person. External stimuli, which can be avoided by commuting on your own.

34. Easily Overwhelmed

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were easily overwhelmed? Chances are likely that this situation involved unpredictable, loud sounds, bright lights or too many people around you. 

This is a lot to take in for a highly sensitive person. Due to their depth of processing, the high amount of external stimulation can cause an HSP to feel overwhelmed more easily. 

Accordingly, highly sensitive people might not be the biggest fans of large crowds and events, simply because it overwhelms them to the max.

If overwhelm is a common struggle for you, you may want to discover the book ‘The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You’.

35. Relationships Can Be Intense And Challenging

Highly sensitive people and relationships can be a challenge if the partner, friend or relative does not understand what being a highly sensitive person means. Also, somebody close who does not acknowledge the trait can feel challenging for a highly sensitive person. How?

However, when your partner, friend or relative isn’t aware of the trait or does not want to acknowledge it, you constantly find yourself in situations that overwhelm you and they won’t understand why. 

Accordingly, it is important to talk with them about your sensitivity and your needs and to set healthy boundaries in relationships. This can be an intense progress, as you might face resistance from them. However, be patient and try to show them scientific data to back up what you are trying to tell them. Perhaps you could show them this video:

36. Very Uncomfortable With Violence And Obscenity On Television

One of the common signs that you are a highly sensitive person is that you can’t stand violence and obscenity on television and in movies. For instance, seeing such scenes might even cause you to feel nauseous or to have bad nightmares. 

Accordingly, you might prefer to avoid these types of media.

37. Mood Is Affected Easily

Because of their heightened amount of mirror neurons, empathy and depth of processing, the mood of a highly sensitive person is easily affected by external input. 

Their mood can change due to the mood of others around them, scenes from the news, watching a specific movie, listening to certain music and the list goes on. While this is wonderful with regards to positive energy, it can feel like a true curse when encountering negative input. 

Therefore, it is important for highly sensitive people to spend time to properly ground their energy and stand with both feet steady on the ground. This can for example be achieved by protecting your energy. In this blog, we talk about it with regards to toxic people.

And if you are looking for a great way to manage your mood, this book may be a good place to start: ‘The Book of Moods: How I Turned My Worst Emotions Into My Best Life’

38. In Extreme Cases: Using Drugs Or Alcohol To Numb Emotions

A highly sensitive person who is not aware of their trait and/or is not able to set healthy boundaries for themselves might feel continuous exhaustion and emotional overload. In extreme cases, some might even find temporary relief in alcohol or drugs. However, this is not the perfect solution, as it affects your physical and mental health deeply. 

If you recognize this behavior within yourself, know that there are other ways to learn how to tackle your daily challenges as a highly sensitive person. After all, you do not want to become addicted to alcohol and/or drugs.

For example, you might want to consider seeing an HSP coach. HSP coach Tiara might be able to help you with your struggles and on Dr. Elaine Aron’s website you can find an extensive overview of other HSP experts across the world. Also on our website, you can discover reputable personal growth experts to help you with your challenges.

39. Crying Easily

One of the common signs that you are a highly sensitive person, is that you seem to cry more easily compared to less sensitive people.

As you process external input more deeply both bodily and emotionally, an emotional overload might express itself in a good crying session. When you learn how to ground yourself more properly and set healthy boundaries, you will most likely notice that you will cry less in the future.

40. Anxiety

Because highly sensitive people have heightened activity in the part of their brain responsible for fear – the amygdala -, they also might experience more anxiety compared to less sensitive people. Hence, they come across as more careful and sometimes even nervous to other people. 

Experiencing anxiety might be one of the biggest frustrations of being a highly sensitive person. Anxiety in combination with overthinking can greatly affect one’s feeling of happiness. Accordingly, it might be wise to spend time on learning more about your brain and its patterns and how you can prevent certain destructive thought patterns effectively.

If you struggle with anxiety often, this technique might be interesting for you to try out:

41. Being Told That You Are ‘Too Soft’ And Need To Grow A ‘Thicker Skin’

Has someone ever told you that you are being ‘too soft’ and that you need to grow a ‘thicker skin’? That you need to toughen up? 

These are common things that highly sensitive people hear from their parents, relatives or even their partner. They may mean well when they say those things, but for highly sensitive people this can come across as incredibly hurtful.

Their sensitive nature is something that deserves to be seen and that is needed in the world. Hiding away their trait would mean hiding away who they truly are. 

Therefore, please don’t take these comments too serious and embrace your sensitive side.

42. Strong Intuition And Gut Feeling

Highly sensitive people tend to have a strong intuition, because they notice tiny details that others may not. In addition, their depth of processing this input enables them to connect the dots easily. 

A highly sensitive person can oftentimes sense when someone is struggling, even when that person isn’t saying a word about it. 

Do you want to learn how to understand your intuition better? In the book ‘Radical Intuition: A Revolutionary Guide to Using Your Inner Power‘ you will find useful tips.

43. Few Deep Connections With Others

Another typical sign that you are a highly sensitive person is that you may have few truly deep connections with people around you. Due to your depth of processing certain input, you might find it hard to find people who are able to ‘reach that depth’ with you.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you talked enthusiastically about for example the endless possibilities of the Universe and spirituality, and your conversation partner looked at you with empty eyes, wondering how on earth you could think about those things?

This is quite common for highly sensitive people and might even cause them to feel alone. Know that there are many other people out there who experience it just the same way you do. You can connect with them through HSP communities like this one.

44. People-pleaser

Due to their empathic character, highly sensitive people often are people-pleasers. Since they feel the mood of others and don’t want to disrupt their mood by displeasing them, they often go out of their way to please them.

While pleasing others can be a wonderful characteristic, it is important to make sure that you are not being used by the other person. Ensure to set healthy boundaries in relationships and to know when enough is enough.

If people-pleasing is something you struggle with occasionally, this book may be life changing for you: ‘Not Nice: Stop People Pleasing, Staying Silent, & Feeling Guilty… And Start Speaking Up, Saying No, Asking Boldly, And Unapologetically Being Yourself’

45. Feeling Energies

Have you ever found yourself walking into a room and feeling that something was ‘off’ with it? Seconds later, you found out that the people in that room just had a conflict. 

Being able to feel energies in a room or amongst people can be related to your heightened amount of mirror neurons. Because you notice subtle changes in the behaviour if others, feeling these energy shifts comes natural to you.

46. Sensitive To Caffeine

Another typical sign that you are a highly sensitive person, is that you are sensitive to caffeine. This is not strange, as caffeine acts as a stimulant to the central nervous system of our brains.

A study shows that there was a significant increase in amygdala activity when caffeine was combined with a threatening situation. 

Actually, highly sensitive people already happen to have a higher amount of amygdala activity. Therefore, adding caffeine to that surely can’t be good. This explains why many highly sensitive people react strongly when consuming caffeine.

47. Easily Getting Distracted During A Conversation

While you love having deep conversations with others, you might often find yourself distracted during those conversations. Usually, this occurs when there is too much external stimuli going on around you.

Loud noises, crowds of people and strong smells might distract you from your conversation. Therefore, it might be wise to look for calm places when you intend to have a deep conversation with someone (without being distracted all the time).

48. Getting Scared Easily

One of the typical signs that you are a highly sensitive person, is that you easily get scared. Because your amygdala – the part of the brain responsible for fear and the fight-, flight- and freeze reaction – already is more active, being scared by someone pushes it over the top.

49. Performing Worse Under Time Pressure

Highly sensitive people prefer slow living and focusing on one task at a time. Because they are perfectionists and pay close attention to detail, they become very stressed when they don’t have the time to practice those skills.

This in combination with their fear of failure results in great stress within them, which again might limit them in performing as well as usually.

50. Becoming ‘Hangry’ Very Easily

Have you ever found yourself binge eating after a rough day? Do you get ‘hangry’ easily on those days? According to this article, highly sensitive people often experience binge eating and weight gaining. This occurs due to their body’s reaction to negative influences from the environment they find themselves in.

By adding a layer of fat to our body, our body attempts to shield itself as protection against negative circumstances and energies. Hence, the eating. 

Therefore, make sure to eat nutritional food that is good for you if you feel hangry. However, the best solution is to find other ways to protect yourself from negative influences by setting healthy boundaries, taking a step back or avoiding negative influences that don’t serve you or your life.

51. Struggling To Deal With Change

Another common sign that you are a highly sensitive person, is that you struggle to deal with changes. Changes often have a major influence on our daily rhythms and the tendency to bring us out of balance.

As highly sensitive people do their best to remain balanced in a rather fast paced world, that is not suited well towards the needs of an HSP, change can be truly frustrating. However, while you’re trying to prepare yourself the best you can for change, unforeseen situations still happen to occur. 

I remember when we moved to our new, beautiful home and it took me 4 (!) months to truly get used to this change. Although we had planned the move for quite a while and made sure to not stress too much, it still was an incredibly stressful event.

If change is one of your biggest struggles, you may want to have a look at this book: ‘Life Is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age’

52. You Were Labeled As Sensitive Or Shy As A Kid

Highly sensitive people were often labeled as shy or ‘too sensitive’ when they were children. Oftentimes, this shyness simply was a coping mechanism for the highly sensitive child, who most likely was overwhelmed and overstimulated. 

Because many people and especially the older generations weren’t aware of the HSP trait, these were common labels to refer to. Nowadays, the HSP trait is recognized more easily in children and more and more people are learning about the trait. 

53. Struggling To Stay Concentrated

Highly sensitive people might have difficulties to stay concentrated and focused while working. For example, when there are unexpected noises or smells in their environment, chances are likely that they will be distracted by it.

These distractions might annoy them so much that their head feels ‘cluttered’ by it and they might feel a spontaneous need to get rid of the disturbance. First when it is cleared, they can continue to focus.

Are you having serious concentration issues? This book may offer some useful insights: ’10-Minute Focus: 25 Habits for Mastering Your Concentration and Eliminating Distractions’

54. Feeling Like You Don’t Fit In The “9 to 5”-Rhythm Of Society

The standard society truly isn’t made for highly sensitive people. Moreover, the idea to work for 8 hours straight with almost no rest, while preferably performing as many tasks as possible at the same time before a certain deadline, was certainly not created by a highly sensitive person.

Highly sensitive people tend to prefer working hours stretched out throughout the day, so they have enough time to rest in between working sessions and recharge their energy. Thankfully, big companies are acknowledging the benefits of this working structure more and more.

55. You Are Very Sensitive To Pain

Questionnaires have shown that highly sensitive people are more affected by pain than less sensitive people.

Due to them processing external stimuli more intensely, it is logical that also internal stimuli such as pain can affect a highly sensitive person deeply.

56. Worrying about the future and the past

If you find yourself worrying much about the future and the past, this might be one of the signs that you are a highly sensitive person. 

Because you might tend towards overthinking things and processing them deeply, it is logical that worrying about the future and the past are part of it as well.

For the ‘worriers’ amongst you, here’s an interesting video:

57. People Easily Open Up To You

Have you ever found yourself walking in public and suddenly being approached by strangers telling you their entire life story? Actually, this is a common experience for highly sensitive empaths.

People sense the sensitive and empathic nature of an HSP and know that they most likely will be able to receive the support that they need. Hence, this is one of the typical signs that you are a highly sensitive person.

58. Feeling When People Aren’t Telling The Truth Or Hiding Something

Because of the heightened amount of mirror neurons, highly sensitive people are able to read the emotions of others exceptionally well. Hence, they also often have the skill to feel when somebody is lying or hiding something.

They notice the subtle changes in body language and tone of voice, which others might seem to look past.

59. Smelling Things Others Can’t Smell

As a result of their heightened processing of external stimuli, highly sensitive people are more sensitive towards smell. Accordingly, they might notice the tiniest changes in the smell of their surroundings.

While this is a wonderful gift when for example smelling pleasant smells like flower fragrances, this can be truly frustrating. Especially when someone in your surroundings has an unpleasant perfume which others don’t seem to be bothered by.

60. Getting Overwhelmed By Doing Too Many Things At Once

Finally, one of the signs that you are a highly sensitive person is that you easily get overwhelmed when doing too many things at once. 

Because you prefer to pay attention to detail and perhaps even are perfectionistic, doing too many tasks at the same time disables you from practicing those skills. Hence, it can become a rather overwhelming experience to multitask.

Am I Highly Sensitive?

If you would like to confirm that you are a highly sensitive person after reading this article, you can take the official self test here. 

I hope that you found this extensive list of signs that you are a highly sensitive person useful and that you’ll share it with your friends, family and partner.

Do you think that you are highly sensitive after reading this article? Feel free to share your opinion in the comments below!

And if you want to deep dive into the HSP trait, I highly recommend you to start with the book ‘The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You’. It is a great, informative book based on scientific research, that introduces you to the concept of being a highly sensitive person and provides you with valuable tips on how to thrive.

You May Also Enjoy Reading These Articles

• Am I Highly Sensitive? The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To HSP!
• 5 Tips On How To Create A Solid Personal Growth Plan
• 20 Signs That Indicate That You’re An Empath
• Reconnecting with My Past: The Power of Inner Child Healing
• How The Law Of Attraction Influenced My Career

The post 60 Signs That You Are A Highly Sensitive Person appeared first on HiSensitives.

Do you struggle with overstimulated senses and experience sensory overload? You might be a highly sensitive person and want to try out these methods.

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

• Burned out
• Exhausted
• Overwhelmed
• Easily annoyed by your surroundings
• Out of balance

Does this describe you? You might struggle from sensory overload. Highly sensitive people are more prone towards external stimuli. As a result, they feel more easily overwhelmed by their surroundings. In this article, we’ll dive into sensory overload and how you can deal with it.

What Is Sensory Overload?

Sensory overload, or sensory overwhelm, is a term that most highly sensitive people are familiar with.

As the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for memory, decision-making and emotional reactions, is more active within highly sensitive people, they are more prone to sensory overload. You could compare it to an alarm system that is incredibly sensitive and reacts to every tiny movement in the house.

Therefore, on days where a HSP has much on their plate and interacts in a busy environment, sensory overwhelm often is a result. Their brain registered all the input and now needs time to progress it.

What Happens When You Keep Pushing Yourself?

If you neglect the signals your body is sending out and continue overstimulating your amygdala every single day, you might face the following consequences:

• Increased anxiety, as the amygdala is responsible for feeling anxious;
• You will feel more stressed, as your anxiety triggers your fight-flight-freeze-mode more frequently;
• Exhaustion: your brain needs a break every now and then;
• Overthinking and worrying.

As you can see, the consequences of not taking care of yourself are serious. Therefore, break this pattern and start taking care of yourself by implementing these techniques against sensory overload:

Ways To Tackle Sensory Overload

There are many ways to tackle sensory overload. Below, you will find proven activities that help you to decrease the overwhelm and get back to your happy place.

1. Withdraw From The Situation

If you find yourself in a situation where you are incredibly overstimulated, do one thing: WITHDRAW!

It is easier said than done, as we often have obligations that we need to attend. However, the best thing you can do when you feel overwhelmed, is to clear your schedule. Look at everything that is not obligatory (work etc.) and reschedule those appointments. Preferably, even take a few days off to retreat. 

Since you are reading this article, it is likely that you have been pushing yourself for far too long. Therefore, take the upcoming days or weeks to retreat. Invest time in self-care and do things that give you energy.

2. Meditation

One of the best ways to tackle sensory overload, is to meditate. Many people underestimate the power of meditation. However, this technique offers a great set of benefits.

Meditation:

• Decreases stress;
• Reduces anxiety;
• Increases self-awareness;
• Improves your attention span;
• Generates kindness;
• Improves your sleep;
• Decreases pain.

As you can see, this long list of benefits can be useful when it comes to decreasing sensory overload. As sensory overload often goes hand in hand with anxiety and stress, meditation is a wonderful method to reduce these symptoms. In fact, research has shown that meditation reduces amygdala activity. Consequently, it can help you to become more resistant against becoming overwhelmed in the future.

Would you like to learn more about how to meditate? You might want to have a look at Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation – A 28 day program.

3. Create Rituals

Not rituals in a spiritual sense, but rituals in the form of daily habits for your well-being. Most of us go through our days, doing everything that we need to do, but not investing time in things that are good for our well-being. Therefore, it is wise to consciously make time every day to have fun.

In this blog, you can read more about the power of rituals. For example, you could try to create an effective morning routine. Start your day off with the right energy, so that nothing can knock you off your feet!

If you’d like to read more about powerful morning rituals, you might want to read ‘The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM)‘

4. Invest In A Good Set Of Ear Buds

You might be surprised how many manmade noises you unconsciously are dealing with throughout the day. Highly sensitive people register the tiniest sound and their brain has to process all this input in the evening. No wonder you struggle with sensory overload, right?

However, there are ways to reduce the noises from the outside world. Did you know that there are specific ear buds that reduce the noise from the outside world? If you are noise-sensitive, this will change your life! Why not try these wireless, industry-leading noise-canceling earbuds?

5. Walk In Nature

Highly sensitive people truly recharge in nature. Therefore, once you feel overwhelmed and like your senses have been overstimulated, retreat into nature. In the calm of nature, focus on your breathing. Try this breathing exercise:

• Breathe in for 4 seconds
• Hold your breath for 2 seconds
• Breathe out for 4 seconds

Repeat this until you feel more calm. Preferably, do this exercise while sitting on a bench and listening to the sounds of nature. Inner peace guaranteed!

If These Activities Don’t Work For You…

…try to find an activity that provides you with peace and fun. In the end, fun and pleasure are the key to a happy mind. Therefore, if you feel more comfortable with a different activity, try to do that when you feel overstimulated. 

Maintenance Is The Key To Less Sensory Overload

If you want to avoid feeling overwhelmed in the future, the best way to do so is to take care of yourself and your need for recharging every single day. When you listen to the boundaries of your body and act upon them, you are much less likely to get yourself into a situation of overwhelm in first place. Therefore, maintenance through self-care is the key to avoid sensory overload in the future.

Good luck with trying these techniques! 

Join Our Personal Growth Community

Do you want to invest more time in your personal growth?
Would you like to do that with likeminded people?

HiSensitives Community is a personal growth Facebook-community for highly sensitive people and empaths. Through fun challenges, a close community and a book club, you can invest in your personal growth in a fun, casual and (of course) free way! 

You May Also Enjoy Reading These Articles

• How To Tackle Your Inner Critic With ‘The Work’
• Tips To Invest In Yourself
• How Do Personality Traits Affect Relationships?
• How Powerful Rituals Can Transform Your Life

The post How To Deal With Sensory Overload When You Are Highly Sensitive appeared first on HiSensitives.

Are you always feeling sad when the fall season starts and the days become shorter and more cold? In this blog, we provide tips on how to avoid this.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Are you highly sensitive and do you experience changes in your mental health once it becomes September? Do you struggle to understand why you are feeling sad? Perhaps, you are suffering from something many people struggle with during this time of the year; the seasonal dip. 

The seasonal dip is this gigantic monster that enters your life once the days become darker and more cold. It makes you feel miserable, while everything in your life seems perfectly fine. Accordingly, you cannot put a finger on why you are feeling sad all. the. time. 

Time to kick the seasonal dip in the b***! In this blog, I’ll explain why most people feel more sad once summer has ended and how you can tackle this year’s seasonal dip.

What Is A Seasonal Dip?

In order to know how to fight your ‘enemy’, it is important to know what we’re dealing with here.

There is a more scientific term for a seasonal dip, which is called ‘seasonal affective disorder (SAD)’. This is a seasonal depression, where the person suffering from it struggles to function properly, has low energy and shows a large amount of other symptoms related to depression. In this blog, we are not addressing people suffering from a severe form of SAD, as this is a serious health condition that should be addressed by a health professional.

However, if you have a tendency to feel less cheerful once summer is over, wish to stabilize your energy levels all year round and desire to prevent feeling sad this fall, keep reading. Chances are high that you use to experience a mild form of SAD each fall and winter. Let’s have a look at why you are feeling this way:

What Causes A Seasonal Dip?

According to the NHS, SAD is a result of a lack of sunlight, which affects the part of the brain (hypothalamus) responsible for:

• Melatonin production: this is the hormone responsible for making you feel sleepy. People suffering from SAD produce it in higher levels than normal.
• Serotonin production: this hormone affects your mood, sleep and appetite. A lack of sunlight results in lower serotonin levels, which can cause feelings of depression or feeling sad.
• Body’s natural rhythm: sunlight helps your body to time functions such as waking up. Less sunlight disrupts your body clock which might result in symptopms of SAD.

How To Avoid Feeling Sad During Fall?

Now that we know what causes symptoms of SAD, we can look at ways in which to decrease these symptoms. In the extensive list below, you will find tips on how to avoid feeling sad this fall!

1. Bathe In Sunlight

As mentioned above, the main cause for seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a lack of sunlight. Therefore, the number one technique to fight your seasonal dip, is to get out in the sun whenever it is there. Every single time you have the chance to go out in the sunlight, grab it. Bathe in the sunlight and recharge your energy with its powerful beams. Additionally, the colours of the fall are so beautiful! Enjoy them while you are out and feel instant happiness!

If you’d like to bring in the sunlight on a rainy day, have a look at this light therapy lamp to help you feel happier!

2. Meditation

When you are feeling sad, try to meditate to relieve some of your sadness. Not only does meditation help you to feel less sad, but science proved that it also reduces stress, increases your sense of well-being, improves your focus and enhances your immune system. If these aren’t reasons to immediately sit down and go into your zen-zone?

You might want to give this meditation a try:

3. Gratitude

If you are feeling sad and experiencing negative thoughts, gratitude might be your lifesaver. Gratitude is a simple practice; grab a pen and paper and write down everything you are grateful for. Do this when waking up and/or when going to bed and try to make it a daily habit. Most likely, you will soon notice a shift in your mind and the negative thoughts will decrease.

Science proves that gratitude has multiple benefits. For example, gratitude increases positive emotions such as happiness, improves our social network and helps to improve sleep quality and reduce blood pressure.

If you’d like to start your gratitude journey in a fun way, have a look at ‘The 5-Minute Gratitude Journal: Give Thanks, Practice Positivity, Find Joy’.

4. Fall Bucket List

Highly sensitive people are known to notice subtleties and are therefore able to enjoy even the most simple beauty of life. Therefore, another way for highly sensitive people to prevent a fall dip, might be to create a ‘fall bucket list’. Fill up your bucket list with tons of wonderful fall activities such as dressing up for Halloween, carving a pumpkin, creating a boo basket, trying new fall recipes or simply walking through the forest on a warm fall day. Lots of fun and relaxation guaranteed!

5. Nutrition

You are what you eat, literally! Therefore, if you feel sad, low on energy and exhausted, you might want to consider switching up your diet. Try to eat more food that gives long-term energy and cut down on the sugar. Once you take care of your diet, you will definitely feel more energized!

6. Exercise

Besides nutrition, exercising is great in order to feel more energetic. Most of us have a tendency to become one with our couch in the cold months. As a result, exercising isn’t on top of many people’s priority lists. However, exercising is the key towards feeling more fit and energetic in the long term. Besides that, exercising makes you feel happier, helps you to lose weight and reduces pain.

7. Self care

If self care isn’t a daily habit of yours yet, try to make it one asap. Especially for highly sensitive people, who become exhausted and overwhelmed more easily, it is important to have a steady self-care routine. It helps you to recharge your energy and increases your self-value. You deserve to put yourself first.

Self-care can be performed on many levels. If you need inspiration, you might try one of these 111 self care ideas.

8. Go On A Vacation

If you really, really, really want to escape your fall dip, you might want to book a vacation in fall time instead of during summer. Find a destination that is offering tons of sunlight, relaxation and fun and escape the fall madness for a while! 

Not only will you give your body the boost it needs, but you will also have something to look forward to on cold days.

9. Personal Development

“Whenever I am sad, I stop feeling sad, and start feeling awesome instead” – Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother

This quote is definitely a great way to look at life. Looking at the positive aspects of your life is such a great approach to stay healthy. Along with this comes personal development. When you continuously work on improving yourself and growing, you will feel more happy about who you are. Moreover, you will be more resistant towards thinking negative thoughts.

Try ordering books that you think will inspire you for fall and dive into them once the days become darker.

10. Wake Up Lights

Did you know that there are wake up lights to help you regulate your normal sleep pattern? During summer, waking up early is much easier compared to in the dark winter months. For this issue, you might want to buy a wake up light.

A wake up light wakes you up with a gentle natural light that simulates sunlight. In this way, waking up will become much easier! Awesome, right?

Ready To Tackle The Seasonal Dip?

After reading this article, you are all set to prevent feeling sad this fall. Try to implement these techniques as soon as possible. It is easier to prevent a seasonal dip than to cure one, remember that!

You May Also Enjoy Reading These Articles

• 7 Cozy Self-Care Activities For A Happy Fall
• Boost Your Energy This Fall With These 10 Self Care Activities
• 6 Powerful Time Management Tips For Highly Sensitive People
• How To Be Your Own BFF: A Journey To Become Self-Reliant

The post Affected By Seasonal Changes? How To Avoid Feeling Sad This Fall! appeared first on HiSensitives.