5 ways these elite climbers taught me how to push my limits
Being highly sensitive means you have to push your limits sometimes. I keep my eye out for inspirational examples. And the more extreme they are—as in this movie—the more vivid the lessons I take away. Special note: As I finish this article, the Covid-19 situation...
Is it time to take your Inner Critic to obedience school?
If you’ve taken time to work with your self-critical thoughts, yet they still plague you, then it may be time to take your Inner Critic to obedience school. Old habits are hard to break, and self-criticism is no exception. Fortunately, we can tap into powerful...
How to use your sensitive awareness to get big results from small changes
Some changes require a dramatic, decisive action, like quitting smoking or leaving a relationship for good. But small changes can bring big results, too. With your HSP sensitivity to subtlety, you are ideally suited to capitalize on small changes—but only if you stay...
Why is it so hard just to be yourself?
Is it OK just to be yourself? Reflecting deeply on this question can reveal the next steps on your path to healing anxiety and shame. Last October, I published a post called I can only relax when I’m alone. That article got more responses than any other I had ever...
Do you back down to avoid conflict?
Many sensitive people back down to avoid conflict, fearing the intense overarousal conflict can cause. But avoiding conflict takes its own toll on you and your relationships. Is there a better way? Elaine Aron says overarousal is the biggest relationship challenge...
In 2020, claim your sensitive power to create sacred space
To my dear readers: Today’s newsletter about how to create sacred space takes the place of the January 7 issue, as I’ll be traveling next week to see family. I’ll be back on a regular Tuesday schedule on January 21. I send you my heartfelt wishes for a joyful,...
Why mess equals stress for sensitive people
For many sensitive people, mess equals stress. We can't change our temperament, and we can't avoid making messes. What's a person to do? My friend, who is also a highly sensitive person (HSP), called to say the chaos in her apartment was driving her crazy. She had...
How do you handle an emotional shock?
Most of us have our ways of recovering from every-day relationship “bumps”….but how do you handle an emotional shock? Talking yourself out of it unfortunately doesn't work, as I was reminded last week. One night not long ago I walked full-force into a wall. I had...
6 relationship benefits of deliberate forgetting
In our closest relationships, attentiveness and memory are key…but forgetting has benefits too. The venerable Alexander Pope rightfully declared that “To err is human; to forgive, divine.”So I hope he'll forgive me for offering you my own version of his famous line:...
“Being inside my body is so difficult”
Silvia wrote me to say, “Being inside my body is so difficult.” She wondered if Focusing might help. Yes. Focusing can help a lot—by shifting the inner relationship between our ill body and our inner parts that (understandably) hate feeling sickness or pain. Thanks...