Take Care of Your Highly Sensitive Self, Part 2
So how’s your list coming along? You might remember that in my last post, I asked you to list what rattled you from each of your five senses. For instance, I’ve found that too many things jumping in front of my eyes, continual loud sounds (like crowd noise), scratchy clothes, foul smells along with many foods cause me distress. Your list likely looks similar.
One main key to success with your sensitivity is to manage or adjust what you take in. Don’t get me wrong here: this is NOT mean you create an impermeable barrier or seal yourself off. It does mean you tone down or moderate the amount of sensory stimuli you are exposed to. With that in mind, let’s move on to the 4 steps I promised you.
Which sense(s) is (are) your most sensitive? From your list, you can tell which sense or senses most affect you. They are the ones with the longer lists of what rattles you. You’ll want to work on these first to get the most benefit in a short time. You’ll get to everything else in time.
Locate specifically what irritates you. Let me give you a personal example. When we moved into our current home 5 years ago, it had an ancient dishwasher. With the room arrangement, I could hear it nearly everywhere when it was running. So imagine after dinner, it was running and that you want to watch television or read. The cacophony was nearly deafening.
Discover what you can do about it. Some things we simply have to accept because we cannot change them, like being stuck in traffic behind a big truck or bus belching noxious fumes. That’s why it is best to be aware of your stimuli and soothing your senses all the time. That means when you run into something you cannot do something about, you will be in a better spot to take it.
With everything else, you really have several choices– to eliminate it (which is best) or to adjust it. For me, I decided to purchase a new dishwasher. You bet I was looking at the decibel rating on each model I considered.
Continue to experiment from your discoveries about how to soothe your senses even more. This can be the fun step. Here’s where you really get to fine tune your experiences of your senses. You can indulge them, such as by eating your favorite food, listening to pleasurable music or sniffing a much loved fragrance.
Ahhhhh, can you see that you’ve come full circle – from annoyance to enjoyment? Wonderful, huh?
What the biggest benefit I’ve found from using these methods? It’s not having a horrible experience of being in your body. Chances are that before now you haven’t liked being highly sensitive. Me neither, because I was at odds with my sensitive body. Once I learned how it needed to be treated, the distress released, allowing my sensitivity to blossom into a part of me that I now cherish. You can have it that way, too.
Soothing your senses and calm down your body. Your emotions will naturally follow.
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