Healing as a sensitive person (whether you identify as an HSP, empath or just sensitive) asks us to acknowledge that our nervous system has boundaries too.
What do I mean?
A sensitive nervous system gets overstimulated, oversaturated, and overwhelmed more easily than the average nervous system.
As sensitives, we are wired differently and because we are wired differently, our healing path asks us to process and move forward at a different pace that lovingly honors where the edges of our resilience are.
I’ve seen sensitive people:
💥Unintentionally re-trigger themselves by pushing too far, too fast in their healing path.
💥Burn out in their inner work and throw all of their supportive routines out the window.
💥Buy into a story that constant peaks of inspiration and crashes of pain are part of the challenging nature of inner healing, spiritual initiation, and growth.
And I get it. Because I used to approach my own inner healing like it was time to go big or go home. And it was exhausting! This meant that I would:
Try to access my truth to make a decision when I was feeling shut down.
Use every tool under the sun that I could find to process a fear that was keeping me revved up.
Judge myself harshly every time I felt stuck.
Put a lot of unnecessary pressure on myself to be “done” with a piece of my healing.
Is inner healing work challenging? Yes. Is it uncomfortable at times? Yes. AND
There is a way we can approach our healing that honors rather than runs over our sensitive nature so that our healing path is more self-loving, gentle, and empowering.
Over time I learned that my sensitive nature and personal history of complex trauma required me to tend to my nervous system in a very special way to honor my sensitive nature so I could bloom in my healing. This sensitive-centered approach means that I:
Put my body and my nervous system first in my process.
Need a combination of cognitive, somatic, and intuitive tools to cultivate whole-self healing.
Move at a pace that is right for me rather than comparing myself to the perceived pace of others.
Let go of the need to be “done” healing and embracing a spiral/circular experience of healing that is iterative, gentle, and incremental.
I’m leading a live online workshop Wednesday, March 4th at 7:30 ET exploring how to do shadow work (deep inner work) as a sensitive person.
We will cover:
💛The unique inner healing needs of highly sensitive people and empaths.
💛Simple techniques to prepare your nervous system for inner healing work each time.
💛Signs that it’s time to take a break, pause, and reset before doing more inner healing work.
💛And techniques for grounding your system when you find yourself edging towards levels of discomfort that move you towards overwhelm.
Sign up at HERE. If you can't make the workshop live, you can register and you will receive a recording of the workshop within 24 hours of the live event.
So tell me below, have you considered cultivating healthy boundaries with your nervous system as you do inner work?