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Two clients this month presented with very different stories and symptoms, yet the same root cause. One young woman was very physically sick and the other woman was depressed bordering on despairing. Both were seriously depleted on every level. What if I told you that much of what they were experiencing was not even theirs?

When I taught them just one of my energy alchemy techniques to strengthen their energy boundaries, they instantly felt better, both physically and emotionally clearer and lighter.

Do you ever feel like you are suddenly drained, disoriented, or depressed for no apparent reason? Have you been labeled by coworkers or family members as “too sensitive” or “overly emotional”? Do you often feel overwhelmed when

Are you a Highly Sensitive Person?

Many times we may not understand why we are feeling so overwhelmed by things that other people don’t seem to be impacted by. You may be what some are now calling a “Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) and/or an empath. What is more, you may be picking up and feeling emotions and thoughts that may not even be yours!

Dr. Elaine Aron has coined the term “Highly Sensitive Person or HSP” and states they make up 15-20% of the population, both human and animal. You can check out the full Self-Test at www.hsperson.com, but here are some key features:

• easily overwhelmed and stressed by outer stimuli, like loud noises, strong smells, chaotic environments
• extremely perceptive
• very sensitive to pain
• have rich and often intense internal lives
• need plenty of quiet time to maintain their equilibrium

Oh how I wish Dr. Aron was around when I was growing up! I certainly fit the category, to a T, and it has been a blessing and a curse. As a child, I was often labeled as too sensitive, too emotional, and too introverted or “shy” as I needed lots of alone time. I even took to hiding in the bathroom so I could lock the door!

I compensated by stuffing my emotions and toughening up my skin. I was so good at repressing emotions, once in an argument with a boyfriend in my twenties, when he was demanding I tell him how I feel that I couldn’t even respond! My feelings were so buried I had no clue how to unearth them.

Unraveling this pattern of repressing my  overwhelming emotions and managing my inexplicable sensitivity has been the focus of much of my personal healing journey, and is very often the main (and hidden) struggle for many of my clients.

On the positive side, my own personal challenges of learning how to manage being a highly sensitive empath has led me to develop and refine energy tools to help many healers, bodyworkers,  therapists, coaches and intuitives stay balanced and centered. Through my own trials, I have learned many great ways to decipher what is happening on the subtle level, and then manage and clear energy so you can become more detached when other people’s thoughts and emotions are bombarding you.

The good news—you can do this without shutting down your own feelings, or cutting off your connections and relationships. I am now able to clearly identify and voice my feelings as they are happening in present time—quite an achievement for me. In addition, I don’t even get drained in New York City with 10,000 people crammed into a conference center for 3 days, which was the ultimate test.

Heightened sensitivity or heightened awareness?

But now comes the tricky part. Is it heightened sensitivity or heightened awareness? Or both?

Now that we have defined what a “highly sensitive person” is, you need to distinguish that not everything you are feeling is yours! As your awareness grows, so does your sensitivity, and this can be both very helpful and extremely challenging.

Several times in my spiritual journey I have experienced extreme states which are marked first by tremendous expansion and opening to higher levels of awareness or consciousness. It is as if an old cloudy layer peels away, and everything seems to scintillate with a diamond-like clarity, and a great sense of deep peace, overflowing love and enormous well-being engulfs me.

Then the other shoe falls quickly afterward. My already extreme sensitivity climbs to a new high—every day happenings feel like nails on a chalkboard. I feel like one big raw nerve, and everyone is on it with broken glass. I am unusually exhausted and want to be hiding out in a cave. Even worse, some people feel like they are vampires, draining my energy.

The last time I recall this huge transformational upgrade, I was at a fire ceremony about 15 years ago. We were chanting and I felt something like a peeling layer of saran wrap from my skin. Then everything felt exquisite—like I could “see with new eyes and hear with new ears”.

Only a few moments later however, someone left the circle and sang separately, with a bit of attitude. I literally felt his energy like a butcher knife in my heart! I had to leave the circle and walk away as I could barely breathe. I even knew it was nothing aimed at me personally but it didn’t matter. The energy was unbelievably sharp and cutting and took a while to soften and release.

Later on I queried my spiritual teacher about it and she explained: “Whenever you reach a new level of awareness, you have heightened sensitivity to both positive and negative experiences, until you acclimate.”

While it took several weeks to “acclimate”, it helped to know that ultimately I would learn to breathe easier in the upper stratospheres.

Stay tuned: Next I will discuss How to recognize when you are being affected by other people’s energies

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