What are the Energy/Vitality drainers or boosters for HSP’s?

The downside of being highly sensitive is that you are easily energy drained, the upside is that you are also easily energy boosted! The term differential susceptibility explains how some people are more susceptible than others to both supportive and adverse experiences/exposures.

The term is usual used when describing the impact upbringing has on a highly sensitive child, but I am applying this well-researched idea of differential susceptibility to explain how HSPs of all ages are deeply affected by their environments, “for better and for worse” (hsperson.com/why-differential-susceptibility-is-so-important-for-you). HSP’s thrive in positive environments but can struggle in negative ones. Hence, HSP’s energy/vitality is rapidly boosted in certain environments, but it easily drained in others:

               “Highly sensitive individuals naturally display strong empathy, and the term ‘empath’, which has many similarities,    has become a commonly used name when referring to highly sensitive people. As psychotherapist Ilse Sand puts it: ‘Sensitive people usually don’t need to practice their empathic skills … They need to practice remembering to focus on themselves.’ HSPs often forget to focus on their own needs and feelings because they are so preoccupied with sensing and understanding [empathising with] the needs and feelings of others around them.” (from my book, Embracing the Gift of High Sensitivity (EGHS)

Some Energy/Vitality Drainers for HSP’s:

• ‘Soldiering on,’ without taking time-outs, despite feeling fatigued and overwhelmed is the worst thing for HSP’s, the cost on your energy reserves (and health) can be huge and it could take you days to recover. HSP’s can easily suffer from sensory overload because they have a harder time filtering out stimuli - noise, bright lights, strong smells, and bustling activity can often feel overpowering.
• Being part of a large family, or ‘loud’ smaller one, without your quiet room to escape, for instance.
• Highly social work environments, especially ‘open’ office spaces, easily drain the energy of an HSP.
• Groups & crowds - HSP’s have great empathy and can easily sense and feel other peoples’ emotional states, but this also makes them vulnerable. Especially in crowds, their lack of strong emotional/energetic boundaries means they are less protected against and more sensitive to the lack of personal space and any crowd hysteria. The result is often a feeling of overwhelm and, later, being drained of energy.
• Highly charged settings - if you are an HSP and work in any emergency services, psychological and social welfare services, human resources, the health industry in general, etc. (or you are a parent!!) you can easily become a ‘psychic sponge’, too easily soaking up all the emotional upheaval in others.
• Lack of Processing Time (especially in novel situations) - HSP’s need time and space to process their experiences as they go through life, otherwise they get overwhelmed and soon become exhausted. They ask themselves, “Is there something wrong with me because others don’t seem to need the same amount of time to adjust? Answer: NO, nothing is wrong with you! You just ‘see the bigger picture’ and take all of it into account when you make a decision that often saves time and hassles down the track.

                “Your [HSPs] great ability to notice things, recognise nuances and yet view everything in a larger context is also your vulnerability. With so much to process at once, when you feel overwhelmed your usual good judgement and discernment may temporarily fail you. If this happens, it is best to retreat, if you can, to a familiar and less stimulating environment and recharge (‘re-boot’ so to say).” (EGHS)

Some Energy/Vitality Boosters for HSP’s

• All highly sensitive people need regular ‘sensory time-outs’ to avoid sensory overload that leads to over-stimulation, then leads to overwhelm, and then leads to anxiety and exhaustion! These time-outs allow you to ‘recharge’ and get the energy levels back to those that help you function at your best.

Some tips:

1. Learn and practice deep breathing techniques or meditation or some creative visualisation (visualizing a white light around yourself, for instance) before entering and/or during a highly charged setting or situation.
2. Create your special retreat, a quiet and ambient space/room you can spend time with yourself.
3. Purchase some sound cancelling earphones (I’ve found them a ‘godsend’!)
4. Dwell in natural environments (see next).

• NATURE provides a sanctuary for HSPs. “Being immersed in nature restores HSPs mentally … a natural environment fosters recovery from mental fatigue caused by the overstimulation experienced by many urban residents – BUT ALL HSPs!” (EGHS) Quite simply, research confirms that even a green leafy outlook from your room or office is therapeutic. (Other research tells us that hospital patients whose beds have a view of green, growing things tend to heal faster and need less medication than those looking at a brick wall.)
  Some tips:
• Take your lunch break in a park or garden – away from your desk!
• Go for walks or do your exercise outdoors in a garden for instance.
• If you are stuck inside, bring nature to you by surrounding yourself with indoor plants, and if possible, give yourself lots of natural light exposure from a window with a ‘green’ view.
• You can also bring nature to you energetically by using natural medicines and therapies!
• Be aware of the times and situations in which you become over-stimulated and overwhelmed and either avoid them or prepare for and manage them – excuse yourself or prepare diplomatic escape plan beforehand!
• Choose small intimate groups of friends for socialising. Generally, try to spend your socialising time with people that you don’t feel drained after being with, or at least limit it.
• Educate and let those – family, friends, and work colleagues – around you know that you function best if you are allowed some space and time-outs to reflect and just be with your thoughts. Tell them that this way you work better and are even more fun to be with!
• Being with youngsters: I know that after a few hours with my young grandchildren I am tired physically from all the running, jumping, lifting, etc., however, on a deeper level, I always feel invigorated. It’s like I have been around a child with vitality in abundance and I’ve absorbed some of it!

• There are many natural therapeutics, especially among the Flower Essences **, that I have prescribed frequently over the years for my highly sensitive clients to help protect them and recover from becoming ‘energy drained.’ 

** Here are just a few flower essences I commonly prescribe to help protect clients from ‘energy drain,’ especially my highly sensitive clients:

Pink Yarrow and/or YES formula (FES); Fringed Violet (Aus. Bush); Garlic (FES); Walnut (Bach)

You will find in-depth descriptions of the above flower essences plus hundreds more in my book, “The Essential Flower Essence Book.”

The link to a Podcast re–the book: The Health Chat - REVISED edition of The Essential Flower Essence Book