Highly Sensitive and Strong

As a highly sensitive person do you ever feel invisible? Or maybe you feel only seen and appreciated for what you can do for others and how you make them feel about themselves, instead of for who you truly are.

When we feel overlooked or dismissed on a regular basis it can increase our emotional distress and manifest in unhealthy ways through feelings of sadness, anger, envy and shame, it can affect our sleep, eating habits, and energy levels. 

Feeling rejected and ignored can lead us down a lonely path as HSPs, leaving us more isolated and disconnected and this is something we must be mindful of when it comes to our mental health.

Resources:

SAMHSA’s National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (USA)

International Links: International Mental Health Resources and Helpful Links

Mental health resource hub: ‍This page contains a wide range of mental health services around the world.

Welcome to your 5 minute Highly Sensitive body scan meditation practice.

In this short practice, we’ll focus on centering and calming ourselves when we only have a few minutes to spare… but sometimes that's all we need to reduce our stress and overwhelm.

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Remember that mediation isn’t always appropriate for everyone. If you experience any discomfort emotionally or physically it is perfectly fine to just stop, and remove yourself from the practice. The whole point is to feel better and peaceful. If you become uncomfortable at any time, you may open your eyes, or shift your attention to something else.

Please do not use this meditation while driving or during any other activity where you need to be alert.

This meditation may not be appropriate for some trauma survivors.

In this practice, we will explore different sensations in our body through body scan meditation.

The purpose of this meditation is to connect to our physical self while noticing any sensations, sensitivities, or stress we're experiencing without judgement.

***

Remember that mediation isn’t always appropriate for everyone. If you experience any discomfort emotionally or physically it is perfectly fine to just stop, and remove yourself from the practice. The whole point is to feel better and peaceful. If you become uncomfortable at any time, you may open your eyes, or shift your attention to something else.

• Please do not use this meditation while driving or during any other activity where you need to be alert.
• This meditation may not be appropriate for some trauma survivors.

As HSPs too often we can feel isolated and misunderstood and this can leave us feeling lonely and can affect our self esteem and how we view ourselves and our place in the world.

Researchers are beginning to understand more about how yoga benefits our mental health and because we’re highly sensitive we need yoga teachers and other healers to be supportive of our unique needs as Highly Sensitive People.

Cindy Beers is an experienced yoga teacher, reiki healer, and author who specializes in the fields of Anxiety, Depression, PTSD, and Stress.

She is committed to destigmatizing mental health and encourages us to talk about our mental well-being: our emotions, our thoughts and feelings, so we can improve our ability to solve problems and overcome difficulties, increase our social connections, and have the tools we need to cope with world around us.

Her published works include “Mindful Yoga for Teen Anxiety” and “Mindful Yoga for Adult Anxiety”  and is currently writing her next book, "Yoga for Mental Health."

Cindy's recommended resources:

Mental Health Test: https://screening.mhanational.org/screening-tools/

(NAMI) National Alliance on Mental Illness: https://nami.org/Home

You can find Cindy here:

Yoga for Mental Health & Wellness

https://cindybeers.com/

https://cindybeers.com/appointments/

https://cindybeers.com/workshops-trainings/

IG: @redheadyoga

In this episode we’re talking about apologizing- more specifically the habit of OVER apologizing. This may seem like a harmless thing on the surface but if we dig a little deeper we start to see that frequently saying sorry begins to affect our confidence and undermine our authority and when we say it too often it can make the necessary apologies we need to make seem insincere.

Many of us can suffer from a lack of confidence and self-esteem because we’re taught that our sensitivity is wrong, that we’re being difficult and unreasonable and that our sensitivity is causing problems for others… so we fall into the habit of apologizing for things when it's completely unnecessary. 

So how do we start to stop over-apologizing?

Join us in the Highly Sensitive Healing Circle! Highly Sensitive Healing Circle (mn.co)

I read article about HSPs and happiness and the author stated that HSPs need "permission to get emotional and have a good cry."

As Highly Sensitive People we already often feel powerless to process all the emotions, sensations, thoughts and  sensibilities that are pulsing through our bodies, hearts and minds day and night. All the while we’re trying to self-regulate all of these things as we navigate the expectations of others and cultural norms that consistently reprimand us when we can’t push all of our sensitivities down any more until they finally break through the surface. 

In this episode we’re chatting about feeling the need for permission or approval as HSPs to express our feelings and emotions.

Join us inside the Highly Sensitive Healing Circle! Highly Sensitive Healing Circle (mn.co)

In this bonus episode I share a story about my recent adventure when I decided to climb a mountain. ♥♥♥

Excerpt:

"As my hands rested on the tree a lightness came over me, as if I was being comforted by an old friend, who knew me better than I knew myself. A feeling of being rooted and at home there in that moment, telling me that I was welcome, that I belonged, that I was accepted, that I was loved. 

There were so many times, I could never count how many now , when it was all too much, the rejection, the criticism of family, the judgement of friends, the betrayal of broken relationships, the disappointments, the heartaches, the sounds, the smells, the overwhelm, the stress...the loneliness of being an HSP.

Here I was almost at the end of a steep trail that wasn’t meant for me, close to the top of a mountain that I hadn’t known at all before today and I felt? Pure love. I felt acceptance. I felt at peace."

Saying yes to new things can be really scary. But saying no can sometimes hurt us more than help us. Comfort zones aren’t really about comfort at all, they’re about fear of the unknown.

Saying yes in a healthy way is about being brave when we want to try something new for ourselves and taking a risk in order to improve our lives in some way. 

More Info Here: https://linktr.ee/highly.sensitive.healing

It can be hard to say NO to someone and even harder to say no when we want to be liked and included.

And as HSPs we very often feel overwhelming guilt when saying no to someone so we end up saying yes and we put others needs before our own, even when it's not the best choice for our mental health. 

Today we’ll chat about 6 reasons to say NO and how to make it just a little bit easier!  

More Info Here: https://linktr.ee/highly.sensitive.healing

Are you afraid of being judged by others? Are you very self-conscious in everyday social situations? Do you go out of your way to avoid meeting new people? 

In this episode we’re talking about social anxiety which can be a big reason for why we worry about what others think of us. And I’ll share with you a simple tool I use that can give you more social confidence in just a few minutes a day!

More Info Here: https://linktr.ee/highly.sensitive.healing