Tips against hypersensitivity

Recently, I shared an article with you about hypersensitivity: what it exactly means and what the signs are that indicate you might be highly sensitive. For me, it has become more than clear that I am. Although it is not a disorder or something you can get rid of, it can be quite disruptive in daily life. Because I personally experience it with some regularity, I have been looking for tips that can help if you are hypersensitive. This led me to the website of HSP Practice, which offers professional guidance for high sensitivity.

Besides the fact that it can already help enormously to be aware of it, there are a number of tips from HSP Practice that I would like to share with you:

Learn to accept it
Believe me: resisting this sensitivity is of little use and mainly causes more frustration. It is therefore important to accept and acknowledge that you are simply more quickly fatigued than others and that you are sometimes forced to withdraw. An evening alone on the couch is not so bad after all.

Set clear boundaries for yourself and others
Highly sensitive people tend to want to help everyone and sacrifice themselves for it. In this way, you (and others) quickly go beyond your limits. Other people do not do this consciously, and therefore it is important to hold yourself responsible for this and to guard your own boundaries. I am going to sound like a very annoying mother now, but learning to say ‘no’ is a requirement.

Listen to your body
Stomach pain from stress or headaches from fatigue? Do not ignore your physical complaints and take them seriously. Schedule some extra rest (a massage or just reading a book works wonders) and be kind to yourself until you feel relaxed again.

Ensure peace in your mind
This tip sounds so incredibly obvious, but is easier said than done. Try to avoid busy and cluttered environments; a tidy house is after all a tidy mind. Additionally, you create this peace by getting enough sleep and having enough alone time. Give yourself enough time and space to calmly process all the information and stimuli you have received.

Relaxation
I cannot say this often enough, and yet I do it far too little myself. Meditation, yoga, walking in nature, breathing exercises: all things that really help with relaxation. Not only ‘spiritual’ activities can help enormously, but also creative (and slightly more exciting) activities like painting, making clothes, writing, skating in the park, and so on. In other words: schedule enough moments each week with things that make you happy.

Release
I often have a great need for this, as release ultimately also leads to relaxation. Due to all the stimuli and impressions that sometimes become too much for me, I often feel the urge for peace, but also the need to hit a punching bag hard and smash my racket in a squash court. These short, intense movements help you actively reduce the built-up adrenaline, allowing you to relax again afterwards.

Learn to deal with your emotions
If you are highly sensitive, you often take on emotions from others. This can be incredibly exhausting at times, as if it is not enough to feel your own emotions a hundredfold and to be unable to let them go. Mindfulness, talking about it with others, and learning to understand yourself can help with this. But sometimes it also works well to just completely surrender to it. That annoying cloud will eventually pass on its own; you just have to trust that.

Source: hsppraktijk.nl