What Does it Mean to be Sensitive?

Words like “sensitive,” “intuitive,” and “empath” seem to be gaining in popularity recently and rightfully so! This small segment of the population possesses many magical attributes that are needed nowadays more than ever.

A highly sensitive person differs from simply having the quality of sensitivity or empathy. While humans at their core, in my opinion, are inherently loving and good and possess qualities of empathy and compassion, a highly sensitive person goes beyond simply possessing a quality. A highly sensitive person’s entire system on all levels – physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and energetically – is just completely different.

Highly sensitive people, and to a certain degree the other introverted, intuitive, empathic types, simply have highly sensitive nervous systems that require a simpler, slower, Nature-based way of living to safeguard their energy and health.

This post serves as a highly sensitive person’s guide to help you better understand your gifts!

What are the differences between highly sensitive people and…?

In all honesty, I find labels to be limiting and self-fulfilling. The labels of “highly sensitive person,” “introvert,” “empath,” etc. can be helpful for people to learn more about themselves and the needs of their bodies and energy systems. Beyond that, I think it’s imperative to remember that all humxn beings are innately highly sensitive. It’s our nature.

As we move farther away from a more Nature-based way of living, many of us are simply numbed and disconnected. Those of us whose highly sensitive systems scream at us are blessed. We simply can’t tolerate a modern world’s hurried ways and through self-knowledge, we can be the desperately-needed change agents.

Roots of Sensitivity: What causes a person to be highly sensitive?

There are many reasons why someone is a highly sensitive person, and it is believed that we are simply born this way. However, many times the extent to which our traits develop and whether or not we’re able to view them as gifts stems from early life trauma.

Our heightened sensory abilities, innate to each human, were hyper-aroused in response to trauma and therefore, developed more keenly. However, these abilities, the gifts of sensitivity, are meant to be used for creative, healing, magic-making purposes. The sensitive aspect of us is most connected to our inner child – read all about the inner child and re-accessing her here.

What Does it Mean to Be A Sensitive? 15 Ways to Tell

What are the signs of a highly sensitive person? How do you know if you are a highly sensitive person?  If you’ve ever been shamed for your emotions, feel like you see everything, are bothered more by sounds, smells, certain media, etc. than those around you, been projected upon for speaking truth and addressing elephants in the room, or have a deep well of love and compassion in your heart that longs to be expressed, read on, babe.

• A highly sensitive person is often riddled with shame, particularly Feminine Shame (regardless of gender or physical anatomy – Feminine Shame impacts us all!)
• A highly sensitive person feels drained and overwhelmed in crowds, loud environments, and very stimulating situations – sometimes even if they’re only experiencing it through a screen.
• A highly sensitive person is often quite intolerant of stimulants such as caffeine, sugar, nicotine, and the like.
• A highly sensitive person is incredibly creative and feels deeply connected to artful expressions.
• A highly sensitive person can “read” another like a book and pick up on the subtlest cues about their current state through their body language, facial expressions, voice tones, etc.
• A highly sensitive person often feels quite spiritual and more comfortable in the liminal or “otherworlds” than they do in the physical, Earthly world.
• A highly sensitive person often struggles with anxiety and physical health challenges such as autoimmune disorders, hormonal imbalances, digestive disturbances, and “mystery symptoms” that involve physical discomfort and pain.
• A highly sensitive person feels incredibly deeply and finds themselves getting very involved in situations outside of themselves due to weak boundaries.
• A highly sensitive person often feels overwhelmed by many stimuli happening simultaneously. A gathering of people conversing while simultaneously watching television and listening to music is their idea of hell.
• A highly sensitive person can feel impacted by others’ moods.
• A highly sensitive person has heightened sensory perceptions, meaning that some or all of their physical senses are picking up signals and cues more frequently.
• A highly sensitive person feels things – emotions, energies, weather changes, arrangements of items in a room, EMFs from electronics, etc. – so deeply that they have visceral reactions.
• A highly sensitive person cannot consume certain types of media because the imprints from these will also create unfavorable conditions in their system. Violent images may stick with them for days or appear in dreams, for example.
• Due to heightened senses, they may experience highly sensitive hearing and they may be highly sensitive to music, highly sensitive to sound, and highly sensitive to noise and manage their environment as best they can and know that ear buds, noice canceling headphones, etc. can work wonders!
• They may be highly sensitive to smells, especially chemicals and other synthetic materials. Learning to make personal care and cleaning products can help many reactions, is more cost-effective, and is much friendlier for the Earth.
• A highly sensitive mind can mean trouble sleeping, trouble settling, overthinking and over analyzing. Practices like meditation, yin and restorative yoga, time away from electronics, time in nature, and exercise can soothe the mind.

What are the challenges and gifts?

Combine having this incredibly porous system with living in a culture that shames sensitivity, this population is more prone to challenges. Physical health challenges, anxiety, settling for mediocrity, staying small and quiet, not living one’s dreams and potential, and more can plague the sensitive. However, that doesn’t have to be your fate.

Feminine Shame + High Sensitivity

Highly sensitive, introverted, empathic people come in all shapes and sizes, of every culture, background, class, race, ethnicity, or gender. This trait is certainly more “feminine” (in my work, referred to as the Spiral Principle), which makes it more of a target for shaming and ridicule. The collective doesn’t necessarily want to face its gross misuse of vitality and face that fact that our unnatural ways of living are taking its toll on all beings and the Earth, too. Highly sensitive men arguably may have more of a challenge than highly sensitive women in our culture. Overall, this is an issue of Feminine Shame, which is discussed in great detail here.

How to Strengthen The Highly Sensitive Person

You are the way you are for a very special, specific purpose. It’s time to rise. Every single trait about you is a gift and rather than falling into the shame and resentment trap and trying to “fix” yourself and get the sensitivity out, I invite you to work with these qualities as gifts.

Beloved, please come into right relationship with the totality of your being and the truth of yourself. Your uniqueness is a gift. These qualities are possessed by such a small percentage of the population and it’s time for us to live by example of what true strength, power, and purpose look like as a human BEING. Is your sensitivity an asset or a burden? Please share with me below!