A Highly Sensitive Person on Overwhelm
None of us are immune from overwhelm. It’s everywhere and it affects nearly everyone in some way. However, hold onto your hat if you are a highly sensitive person (HSP). It can be a totally gripping experience.
Yesterday for me was just one of those days that wouldn’t quit. I did my usual Thursday hike with friends, went to lunch with them, came home to work for just an hour or so and then got ready to share dinner with East Coast friends who were in town. When I got back from dinner, I had to tidy up, shut down the computer and do a few other things before bedtime. Needless to say, I missed my usual routine before bed of restful relaxing and letting go of all that happened during the day.
So I finally got to bed, yet not to sleep for about 2 more hours. As I felt my weary body, my heart was pounding. I could feel my whole circulatory system throbbing with heartbeat. Boom. Boom. Boom. My frazzled nervous system was showing me it had taken enough.
Now, some of you may think that what I did wasn’t much at all. Everything is relative, though. For the highly sensitive person, even a little can upset their nervous system. It all depends on how much we are used to doing and how we take it all in.
No whining or complaining about it from me. I know my sensitivity brings me much pleasure and so many gifts. It’s all worth these more difficult moments that are inevitable. I just like to make them as far apart as possible.
Knowing how to cope with their body’s reactions is essential for any HSP to thrive. So I started into some of my techniques to release what my body was holding onto so I could slip off into sleep. What I’ve discovered is to use the present moment to get to sleep. The process I’ve been using has three parts:
First, I contract my energy field. Perhaps you haven’t noticed this for yourself, but most of us tend to focus our attention outside of our bodies. We are most sensitive to that “personal space” within 4 feet of our skin. [One of my energetically connected friends even has an exercise to expand your energy as big as the entire cosmos. Now that’s BIG!]
So, to get to sleep, I pull in my energy to limits of my body. I feel cozy and comfortable between the sheets with my energy focus only going as far as my skin. There is no world beyond that.
Next, I tune into my senses. I feel my face on the pillowcase. I take in the smell of my hand cream or the scent of the fabric softener in the sheets. I listen to the crickets chirping in constant rhythm. My eyes sense on the inside of my eyelids and that helps center me within my contracted energy field.
Finally, I repeat a phrase to settle my active mind. Sometimes, I’ll concentrate on my breathing and repeat “Sleep” with each exhale. Other times, I say Louise Hay’s affirmation for insomnia from her famous book, You Can Heal Your Life, which goes “I lovingly release the day and slip into peaceful sleep, knowing tomorrow will take care of itself.” How beautiful and accepting!
Notice how this statement puts you in the present moment. You release whatever has happened and let the future be unto itself. What will be, will be. It puts you in the here and now, ready to get to sleep.
Slowly, I drifted off to sleep and woke up early, feeling refreshed and nearly normal. I wouldn’t trade my sensitivity for the world!
Inner Adventurers are often highly sensitive, too. Learning to make peace with your body is essential to enjoying life. Soothing and calming practices, like what I’ve described here, certainly help to ease your body’s burden when you can’t stop the onslaught of life.
What practices have you discovered to help you cope?
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Valuable thoughts and advices. I read your topic with great interest.