By Jenna Avery, CLC,
Life Coach for Sensitive Souls
Do you often feel overwhelmed by your environment
or the people around you? Has anyone ever called you shy – or worse: “too sensitive”?
Do you care deeply about EVERYTHING? You may be a highly sensitive
soul – a person of deep empathy and high intensity, with powerful
intuition, awareness, and intelligence.
Being highly sensitive, you have a uniquely perceptive sensory system.
You are therefore more sensitive to emotions, energy, environmental
conditions such as lighting or sound, other people, excitement, and
stress. As a result of constant stimuli, you may feel easily overwhelmed
or unable to cope. Things can be particularly confusing when others
seem unperturbed by the same experiences. For example, your friends
might be able to shop all day, go out to dinner, and then head to a
loud party. For you, that would be unbearable.
Research psychologist Dr. Elaine Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive
Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You, has studied high sensitivity extensively. Her research shows
that being sensitive is a personality temperament or trait, one usually
inherited. According to Dr. Aron, up to 20% of the population is highly
sensitive.
How To Tell If You Are Highly Sensitive
Being highly sensitive comes with a number of gifts, as well as challenges.
See if any of these highly sensitive qualities resonate strongly
with you.
1. You are deeply affected by all aspects of
your life. As a sensitive soul, you have
great emotional passion, intensity, and depth. You may
have been told that your emotions are “too much.” You are
sensitive, caring, and easily affected by the energy and emotions of
others. These qualities make it easy to lose touch with your needs
and desires.
2. You have heightened perceptive skills.
A
sensitive soul is intuitive, highly aware, and keenly observant of
the subtleties of your environment,
including energy, light, noise, smell, texture, and temperature.
You may also be empathic or even psychic. Your perceptive skills
operate
in the physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual realms. You
tie together things you see into complex and original concepts. This
makes you a visionary.
3. You have a lower tolerance for stimulation
than others.
Because you receive so much
information from your surroundings, your threshold
for what’s “too much” is significantly lower than
for those around you. This means: a) You may be seen as shy or timid;
and b) You may feel uncomfortably dissimilar to others because you
respond so differently to stimulation.
4. You are highly conscientious and thorough in all your undertakings.
A
sensitive soul makes a great employee. You concentrate intensely
and process multi-source information deeply. However, you require privacy,
uninterrupted time, and little or no pressure in order to do your
best
work.
5. You have a strong relationship with aesthetics
and art.
As a highly sensitive soul, you
have a passion for beauty, art, and aesthetics.
You may be highly artistic and creative yourself. You easily create
beauty and comfort. Seeing things “out of alignment” can
actually be physically or psychically distressing.
6. Your inner life is just as intriguing and
inspiring as your outer life.
You likely
have a rich, complex inner life and are highly imaginative.
You may find it challenging to connect to “real world” priorities
and realities.
7. You absolutely require private time alone in order to feel replenished.
Up
to 70% of highly sensitive souls are introverted. But even extroverted
sensitives need downtime to rejuvenate, often in a darkened, quiet
room.
8. You have a strong spiritual connection and
depth.
If you are highly sensitive, you
experience a profound spiritual connection with the
divine and/or spiritual realm. You “see” a lot in what
appears common. Because of this you may feel impatient with the truly
mundane.
Learning To Thrive: What You Need
Learning to thrive as a highly sensitive soul presents challenges.
If you’re sensitive, you have likely accumulated years of training
in trying overcome the trait because you don’t “fit in” with
society. And yet being highly sensitive is a vital part of you.
A first step toward thriving as a sensitive soul is to understand
and accept your trait. Hear this now: There is absolutely
nothing wrong with you. You are just different. As
one of my clients says, being highly sensitive is both a gift and
a responsibility.
Sensitive souls require regular self-care,
meaningful work, and supportive relationships. Working with a sensitive
coach or therapist who helps
you tune into your own magnificent inner guidance system – your
sensitivity – is a powerful means of support.
Additionally, there are books, websites, web-based communities, and
teleconference gatherings on the subject. Connecting with like-minded
souls is often deeply healing for sensitive persons.
As you begin to manage your life in a way that truly works for you,
you will trust the power and gift of your sensitivity, and be inspired
to share your much-needed wisdom with the world.
Copyright 2004-2005, Jennifer Avery, All rights reserved.
Jenna Avery is a highly sensitive coach and intuitive who offers an original coaching program called Embrace Your Essential Self, designed to guide sensitive souls to find a deep sense of inner rightness within themselves so they are inspired to step forward and shine. Jenna is a Certified Life Coach based in Berkeley, California. She can be reached at 510.981.0697. She also offers support for sensitives in business through the Sensitive Professionals Network.You’re invited to take her free online assessment: "Is Your Sensitivity Working For You?" on her website at www.highlysensitivesouls.com.
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