Awareness is the Key to Wellness: Reduce Stress and Sleep Better

All of us want a state of well-being and yet many of us undermine our happiness and our balance and wellness, mostly because modern society has taught us to be constantly busy, which leads to a lack of being aware. The opposite of awareness is unconsciousness and repeating the same behavior that isn’t working is a symptom of being unaware.

If you are aware of what your body’s needs and are paying attention to the signals it gives you, you can learn to listen to the messages that clearly help you move in the right direction. If we are paying attention, symptoms reveal themselves ahead of time that signal we are out of balance. For example, being aware of fatigue, depletion, and general aches and pains are symptoms of an existing issue that may be developing. 

Your unconscious habits are part of what gets you out of balance.  For example, think of the times that you scroll through social media when you’re already feeling overwhelmed and tired and now new information is coming in rather than taking time to listen and process previous information that can is a necessary part of helping us restore. Modern living encourages us to be busy constantly, but unprocessed information builds up and if we haven’t rested we cannot restore.

Unconscious Living

• Ignoring warning signs your body is giving you. When you feel tired you push yourself to keep going and stress increases.

• Living in a state of chronic busyness and sensory overstimulation.

• You may scroll social media to distract yourself from stress, but bringing in more data when other data is unprocessed will increase stress and anxiety levels.

• Lacking boundaries, saying yes to something you want to say no to.

• Not prioritizing sleep can lead to sleep deprivation, which makes us out of balance.

Conscious Living

• Listening to your body’s messages. When you are tired you rest and restore. When you are stressed you practice tools to bring yourself back into alignment.

• Consciously spending daily quiet time in nature and through meditation to reduce sensory overload.

• Bringing an internal awareness to what you need. You may take a walk in nature, journal, meditate and rest.

• Setting healthy boundaries that support and honor your wellness and balance.

• Prioritizing good sleep, and using stress reducing tools knowing these are some of the most important factors in wellness.

We also need to look at stress levels throughout the day because this can impact your sleep.

When you go about your day are there times where you feel a sense of stress and pressure? You might notice physical symptoms like tightness or pain increasing or they could be mental like racing thoughts, rumination, worry, anxiousness or always being in a rush. Only you can be the one to monitor your stress and pay attention to the times you are aware of it. This is the reason why self-awareness training is so crucial to living well and balanced as an HSP. Unprocessed information often leads to sleep issues. Do you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep? Do you wake up restored or tired?  

Some things that can help improve sleep

• Sleep at the same time every night and at the time that allows you to wake up naturally without an alarm clock at the time, you would need to be awake.

• Avoid things that stimulate your mind near bedtime like work, screen time, or any over-stimulating activities. 

• Make your room dark, quiet, and cool if possible. 

• Avoid sleep aids and alcohol that can actually prevent the deep, restorative sleep cycle.

• Set aside time every day to process what you have taken in so it doesn’t come up when you are trying to sleep.

• Sleep at a time that allows you to naturally wake up, so you don’t have an alarm clock startling you awake.

• Slow your morning down and do not look at a screen as soon as you wake up. You can train your brain to wake up relaxed and restored.

• Practice a mindfulness presence throughout the day helps you connect to the signals telling you what you need.

• Practice regular exercise, earlier in the day, such as a restorative daily nature walk or yoga or any activity that makes you feel good.

• Spend time connecting to nature every day. It is one of the most restorative places HSPs can experience.

• Slow your internal nervous system motor with a daily meditation practice.

Meditation is crucial for HSPs to live in a state of balance

A balanced state feels like you are restful, relaxed, alert, and feel refreshed in mind, body, and spirit. Meditation can help you develop an awareness of what that state feels like and the more often you practice it the more you can expand that feeling into all parts of your day. Modern life is full of stress and demands on our time and energy. It can be full of noise and sensory overload,  especially for HSPs.

It’s natural to start to think that the high state of stress that so many people are in is a normal state of being, but it’s not and carries with it a future of unhappiness and lack of wellness that can also accelerate chronic illness. 

Our minds also become reactive when impacted by stress and that causes problems in our relationships and friendships and life in general. Being in tune and aware can help you access the optimal level of wellbeing. Where do we go to find quiet and peace? We might find it in nature and we can also access it whenever we need it through meditation. 

Inner peace can actually be accessed at any time through meditation. That was something that really amazed me when I started a regular meditation practice.  The idea that I could find a quiet place that felt peaceful at any time I needed inside my own mind, body and spirit was revolutionary! 

You need to find a balance between the stressors of modern life and the peace available inside of you. You can choose to make self-care an active conscious intentional part of your life on a daily basis to achieve balance. Self-care should not come only after you have fallen apart, are depleted or sick.  It needs to be a part of your daily regimen that helps you maintain balance and wellness and the level of energy needed.

You can intentionally find your center when you feel frazzled, extra stressed, or anxious. It only takes a few minutes and you get better at getting into that state of calm the more often you practice. I recommend a daily practice of at least 20 minutes of meditation followed by another two hours of quiet reflective time to rest and restore the sensitive nervous system. 

Before starting a meditation practice you’ll want to find a place that you can be alone without distractions or interruptions and close your eyes. I love listening to guided meditations and have created several free ones for HSPs or you can also practice with soft soothing music or silence and turning your attention to your breath.  

Here are several free meditations I have created for HSPs

Inhale for the count of four for, hold for two, and exhale for seven so that your exhale is long and slow. Entering meditation by practicing this breathing technique can be very helpful in getting you in a state of relaxation. 

Imagine that you are entering a state of quiet and peace and relaxation and with every exhale you are releasing tension. After 5 to 7 cycles like this, we can return to a normal state of breathing focusing on the area of your heart. If you can return to centering every time you are pulled out of balance your whole system will start to feel better and prefer that more relaxed and centered state. 

You also need to address the extra stressors in your life such as working too much or not sleeping enough. For some reason, modern life has incorrectly normalized a lack of sleep and overworking. 

• Pay attention to the signals such as exhaustion, irritability, pressure, anxiousness 

• Tune into the present moment 

• Tune into happiness, contentment, joy, love, and creativity that are all feelings we start to tune in to when we are in the present moment and this is restorative and renewing for the mind-body-spirit. 

• Avoid mindless distractions and staying overly busy and instead practice quiet, reflective downtime

• Pay attention to your stress signals by tuning into a deeper state of awareness.

There must be something inside of us that values a state of balance and wellness

When our life is under a lot of pressure and stress and we’re facing serious challenges it’s easy to feel a lack of control, like there are threats everywhere and we become lost in an unfulfilling existence. We are the happiest through inner fulfillment and a balanced state of wellness.

If you want some guidance on how to balance your sensitive nervous system and learn tools to cope with stress and anxiety, the online HSP courses that I have developed have proven techniques that are created especially for HSPs. I highly recommend giving yourself this gift that will transform your life. Once you develop these tools they are with you for life.

“Taking Julie’s Blooming Brilliantly course is like having a great friend take you by the hand and say, “Let me show you how to thrive.
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— Nikki Mendez

“Brain Training for the Highly Sensitive Person is a valuable support in opening to the challenges and potentials that come with high-level sensitivity.”

— Tara Brach

 P.S. Want more tips to reduce challenges and increase your resiliency as a sensitive person? I’ll send support every week. Sign up for the Sensitive Empowerment newsletter here.