The Gifts of Being a Highly Sensitive Person
There is no such thing as being "too sensitive," we simply live in a world that doesn't honor the gifts of sensitivity. This week we're diving into the various ways we can feel "too sensitive" or reactive to the world around us - emotionally, physically, or spiritually, and the ways in which highly sensitive people often get labeled as mentally ill. We discuss finding the balance between desiring resilience and honoring the crucial messages of our bodies are trying to give us. When we honor these messages and work with the body, we have an opportunity to make the changes necessary for a more sustainable life.
“Those in society who are designated as “crazy” sick, ill, reactive, disabled, socially unacceptable, or who are cast out from family and social systems, are often the ones who are the “canaries in the coal mine” for society. Those who are “highly sensitive” physically, mentally, or emotionally, are often the ones picking up on and reacting to the very real problems our society has created.”
Also in this episode
Types of sensitivity and how they can be strengths
How the trauma response of hypervigilance and empathic feeling can be adaptive but also requires boundaries
How highly sensitive people get labelled and scapegoated within the family or social system
The metaphor of "Dangerous Gifts" and the ways in which highly sensitive people can act as the "canary in the coalmine" in society
“While we can’t always control aspects of our environment, we can choose how we relate to our body’s physical cues and needs. The gift of sensitivity is that our physical being will no longer allow us to do anything out of integrity or out of alignment with our values. When we honor these messages and work with the body, we have an opportunity to make the changes necessary for a more sustainable life.”
Depth Work - A Holistic Mental Health Podcast
This is a space for those who love to dive into the underbelly, to revel in the mystery, question assumptions about what is normal, play in both/and, and honour the wide range of human emotions.
As a complex trauma survivor, holistic counsellor and co-founder of a mental health institute, I learned that there is immense wisdom in our pain and what we call crazy is just what we are yet not willing to understand and explore. Let’s dive in!
