Gwen Stefani was a “shy girl who spent most of her time in a bedroom plastered with Marilyn Monroe posters, who nevertheless assumed she was destined for greatness,” according to a UK newspaper profile. [From Gwen Stefani: Blonde with extra bottle, by Liz Hoggard, The Independent on Sunday, Nov 6, 2005. Photo: as Jean Harlow [...]
A number of people claim to have had an idyllic or happy early life, the sort evoked by this photo: The Walk to Paradise Garden [1946] by W. Eugene Smith. But for many of us who have been highly sensitive all our lives, or had especially challenging experiences as children, that image does not feel [...]
Julie Christie “I found films to be turbulent and stressful. They have caused me an enormous amount of anxiety, because I do not have a lot of confidence. You are working, intellectually and mentally, and you are having to be with people and socialize all the time. Actors like it, on the whole, but I [...]
“Highly sensitive people are all creative by definition.” Elaine Aron, PhD adds that it is “because we process things so thoroughly and notice so many subtleties and emotional meanings that we can easily put two unusual things together.” Sensory sensitivity also comes into play in many creative endeavors. When Therese Borchard of Beliefnet interviewed me [...]
Psychologist Susan Meindl writes: Highly sensitive people…have nervous systems and minds which permit more stimulation to enter without automatically and unconsciously shutting it out, and further, that they then cognitively process the stimulation that they receive in more detail than others do. Stimulation comes in on all sensory channels: sights, sounds, smells, vibrations, touch. HSP’s [...]
Jenna Avery writes: As a sensitive soul, good energy-management skills are a must. This means tuning in to yourself on a regular basis and continually reassessing and adjusting what you take on. It’s a real balancing act. And sometimes, despite your best intentions, your energy gets drained and you feel out of balance. The key, [...]
By Ane Axford, MS, LFMT I have often heard an analogy in the psychology field that creative geniuses and those who experience mental disorder are in the same water. The difference is that one is swimming and the other is drowning. Let’s talk about this water. These fluid, intangible, ever-changing emotions. Sensations. All that arises [...]
Author and coach Cheryl Richardson points out, “We all have varying levels of sensitivity. “It’s the fundamental part of us that allows us to be touched by beauty, signs of grace, or intimate moments with others.” She adds that it is also “the mechanism that provides us with an internal warning signal that lets us [...]
Jenna Forrest is a coach who offers “energy healing, intuitive coaching and spiritual apprenticeships to help sensitives experience inner peace, higher consciousness, and life transformation” and writes in her memoir Help Is On Its Way about growing up with the trait of high sensitivity. In our podcast interview, she talks about empowering and transcending sensitivity. [...]
Rue Hass, M.A. is a counselor and Intuitive Mentor – and a Highly Sensitive Person. An EFT Master therapist, she uses Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) with a variety of clients, including HSP individuals to “help them see what they and others might view as a ‘flaw’ as a ‘blessing’ or gift.” A blog post on [...]
Dr. Ted Zeff summarizes his research on highly sensitive males, based on interviews with thirty highly sensitive men from five countries: The North American (U.S. and Canada) HSMs (highly sensitive males) who reported that they had supportive parents as boys and who played group sports as a boy were “never” or “rarely” teased for being [...]
Are creative people unusually sensitive? Clinical and research reports confirm that is often true – as well as comments by many creative people about their own experience. > Excerpt read by Assoc. Editor Cat Robson: For example, therapist Lisa A. Riley, LMFT comments: Throughout my practice, I have encountered a connection between highly sensitive people [...]
Guest Post – By Cliff Harwin, Author of Making Sense of Your High Sensitivity. How very little we know about ourselves…but how much we could know if we took the time to do so. So much of our personal happiness depends on knowing ourselves. We know ourselves better than others do, and yet we don’t [...]
“It goes beyond the senses, as we know it. It’s our ability to intuit the mystery.” Judith Orloff, MD In the new Clint Eastwood-directed movie “Hereafter,” the character George Lonegan (Matt Damon) seems to be able to communicate with people beyond the grave. Reviewer Roger Ebert notes the movie “believes most psychics are frauds” but [...]
Interactions with others and just being in social situations can be challenging for those of us who are highly sensitive. Although sensitivity is not the same thing, it often goes along with introversion or even shyness. [See my post: Shyness, Introversion, Sensitivity – What’s the Difference?] Actor Scarlett Johansson has commented: “I think I was [...]
Energy psychiatrist Judith Orloff, MD explains: “An intuitive empath is someone who not only senses energy but also absorbs it from others and the environment. Their body takes on the angst of the world. It can be very draining. “I’ve been an intuitive empath since childhood which prompted my exploration of this phenomena. I couldn’t [...]
From the BioElectric Shield site: A large number of people who come to us are suffering as highly sensitive people. … This sensitivity can dramatically impact your ability to cope with the ever increasing chaos and energy in the world today. I get on the phone many days and the person on the other end [...]
Jenna Avery writes: Have people always called you “too sensitive?” Do you try to hide it, pretend it doesn’t exist, or work around it as much as possible? Many Highly Sensitive Souls believe that our sensitivity makes us weak, weird, or different. Actually, being sensitive makes us highly aware, caring, and perceptive. In the workplace, [...]
Shyness and introversion may seem to be the same in some ways, at least on the surface.
They can overlap, and we may have both traits – but they are not the same thing. And they are not the same as the trait of high sensitivity.
Follow the link to my post with more, including a video.Self-Study Classes for Sensitive Souls – by Jenna Avery: “These self-study classes are the product of my many efforts to find ways to be a happy, healthy, highly sensitive soul. I investigated everything I could about energy skills, energetic boundary strengthening, interpersonal boundaries and more."
is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.