Today’s HSP Tip: Spending time with other HSPs in person or even in online courses or HSP social media groups helps to validate and normalize your experience in the world and that can lead to beautiful self-acceptance! 

In my work with HSPs all over the world I have come to see that we have a similar set of positives and challenges with having the trait of high sensitivity.  When we can learn how to reduce our challenges we get even more access to the positives! How many of these positives and challenges do you relate to? 

Common HSP Positives 

• Kind, Empathetic, Compassionate 

• Intuitive

• Genuine 

• Have a Super-computer brain 

• Work rated higher by supervisors 

• Can read microexpressions & body language up to 80% of the population miss

• Advanced awareness/consciousness

• More insightful

• Make people feel comfortable and safe

• Good listener

• See many angles and are a good problem solver

• Prepare well and generate good ideas

• Notice subtleties and can therefore read people well

• Are more in tune with others

• Feel positive emotions more than others

• Feel more love and passion

• Are more creative

• See, feel, and experience more when you hear music or see art

• Can see images in nature, such as a sunset, and be more moved by beauty

• Are a more creative parent/know child's needs

• Attentive partner, knowing their needs often before they do

• More conscientious

• You have strong insight and are deeply aware and in-tune with others.

• You are very conscientiousness, know what others need, and go out of your way to be courteous.

Common HSP Challenges:

• Overwhelm/Stress/Anxiety/burnout high

• Rate higher stress levels at work

• Often find home life more chaotic

• Crowds/Busy activities more draining

• Bright lights/loud sounds/textures tags/seams/smells may impact you more

• More reactive to emotions

• More affected by the news, violence, injustice, and other difficult events

• Feeling different/misunderstood 

• Perfectionism

  • Like to get things done right the first time & Criticism harder

• Often tend to be a people pleaser, overgive, and be at the bottom of your priority list

• Hard to say no & create boundaries

• High expectations of self and less self compassionate

• Feel guilty putting self first

• Self-blame/self-judgment high

• Resentment can be higher in relationships both personally and professionally because of overgiving and depletion

• Hard to be vulnerable, impacting connections

• Change is hard/need extra time to prep

• Reactive immune system/sensitivity to meds/chemicals food/air

• You may get headaches and/or digestive issues frequently

• Your increased empathy and compassion often leads to self-sacrifice

If you related to many of these you may find it interesting to take this sensitivity quiz. Much of my work is focused on training the sensitive brain to reduce the challenges and access more of the gifts of this trait so we can be more resilient, calm and positive. What’s fascinating about the brain is that we can activate certain calming, positive centers intentionally that deactivate the stress centers!  We can live fully as HSPs when we learn how to reduce the challenges because you have so many positives and gifts that truly allow you to bloom brilliantly in the world. If you want more access to those positives and to reduce your challenges check out all the wonderful resources created especially for the highly sensitive person. www.empoweredhsp.com. If you want to have all the tools in one place, join my highly recommended online course, 7 Steps to Embody the Gifts of Your Sensitivity, Understand Your Emotional Brain, Navigate Overwhelm, & Flourish as an HSP. You can even download replays of the video or audio teachings as well as all the transcripts! 

Here’s what HSPs are saying about their experience in the course:

Because you can download all the materials, you can still join us! It’s life changing. Learn more

Julie’s HSP Information/Resources

• Join Julie and your HSP tribe in our new Sensitive-Empowerment Community!

• Explore Julie’s website www.empoweredhsp.com dedicated to information for highly sensitive people. 

• Highly Recommended: Subscribe to the HSP newsletter at hspblog.com. Stay up to date about important information, receive special discounts and access to Julie’s events, books, HSP research, courses and more!

• New HSP Course! 7 Steps to Embody the Gifts of Your Sensitivity Understand your emotional brain, navigate overwhelm and flourish as an HSP.

• Online HSP Brain Training course hspcourse.com

• Recommended HSP books sensitivebooks.com

• Sensitivity Quiz! How Sensitive Are You? 

• HSP Podcasts/Videos/Articles

Julie’s HSP Social Media

• Subscribe to the HSP Youtube channel

• Join your HSP tribe on my HSP Facebook page for connection and my free live trainings. 

• Connect with me on Instagram and Twitter and Linkedin too.

• Are you a professional who works with HSPs? Join the HSP Panel where we share resources, research and discussions about  working with HSPs.

About Julie Bjelland, LMFT

Julie is a psychotherapist, author, and leader in the field of high sensitivity, and has helped thousands of highly sensitive people (HSP) around the world. As an HSP herself, Julie understands what it's like to live with high sensitivity and strong emotions, and is on a mission to empower HSPs to live their best lives.

Julie has developed proprietary tools and techniques to help reduce the challenges and increase the positives that HSPs experience on a daily basis. These techniques have been developed over years of working with highly sensitive people and have proven extremely successful for her clients and students.

In her free time, Julie loves being in nature, around animals, gardening, learning, and daydreaming about having a little farm one day. She shares her home with her partner, two children, and a houseful of pets and plants. www.juliebjelland.com