What does following your own truth actually mean? And why can owning your truth be hard at times especially when you are highly empathic or sensitive.
Living Your Own Truth
Well to live your truth is about living a life full of authenticity and openness. To me it is also one that is guided and supported by good spiritual guidance. But why is not always easy, why do so many of us live most of our lives trying to live up to other people’s expectations or definitions of truth than our own truth.
As a highly sensitive empath I was a big people pleaser who struggled to own my truth. I have spent most of my life enmeshed in other peoples emotions I struggled to know my own. I’ve struggled to own and express my truth because of a distorted perception that owning my truth would hurt someone else.
Following Your Own Truth
For me following your truth has to start by recognising and owning what is true to you, no one else. From infanthood, we are exposed to other people’s beliefs, conditioning, values and wounding. Other people’s perceptions of life or truth is based on their beliefs, personal experiences, and what feels true for them.
Every single one of us is uniquely different in our own unique soul’s essence and our purpose. That essence is part of a bigger picture, the jigsaw of life. And to do that in the healthiest authentic way we need to be able to follow what is true in our heart. In many ways I mean to follow our spiritual truth, not our egoic truth. So it is about getting out of our head, our fear, and into the heart and soul.
Identifying Your Truth When Your Highly Empathic
We are all exposed to other people’s beliefs and ideologies on a daily basis. But at a core level your soul craves the need to follow your own path. Your spirit wants to live a life that is based on your integral values, your inner compass.
One thing I was taught early on from my father was to trust my intuition. But to be honest being a bit of an unruly empath my energy can easily be dominated by much stronger personalities or their views. Like many empaths I am very easily entangled by the emotional pain and needs of others. So I have to identify, own and step into my truth, know what is is my energy and what is not.
Moving Into What Is True For You
Believe me moving into your own truth isn’t easy if you have strong characters or strong views around you. But finding your truth is so important when trying to live a more healthy authentic life. If you don’t it is too easy to be living everyone else’s truth rather than your own.
Why It Is Easy To Lose Your Truth
So many people struggle to know their truth never mind follow their truth. It’s easy to lose yourself, lose your truth, your voice in relationships, within family dynamics or at work. In jobs and careers where you have to live by other people’s policies, rules, core ethics, and values it is easy to lose or forget your truth. Many work environment actually encourage suppression of truth and core values so much so you barely recognise yourself. Modern society programs us and gaslights us to question our reality and question what is morally right.
This is especially true for those of you who are highly empathic with unhealthy boundaries. But believe me I know if you don’t get behind your truth, your inner guidance, you lose you. It can lead to anxiety, stress become you have moved out of alignment with yourself.
Of course, on a spiritual level, everyone’s truth is just a story, just a perception. But to maintain a healthy relationship with ourselves and to have direction we need to know ourselves. We need to know what feels right and fits with our values and what doesn’t. Suppressing or denying what feels true for you, can lead to all sorts of internal chaos, confusion even dis-ease. So start owning your truth today.
How To Start Owning What is True To You
When you start to own your truth it can be very freeing, expressing it can bring up very strong fear. Learning how to express that truth in a clear and concise way can take time especially if you struggle with assertiveness. Building more clear and honest communication between you and others can take a lot of courage, self-compassion and patience.
Top Tips To Start Owning And Expressing Your Truth
How Can You Reduce Stress As A Highly Sensitive Person
The Highly Sensitive Person
is so much more sensitive to external and internal stimuli they need to be more pro-active to reduce stress levels. Anxiety and stress are high in our western busy and over-stimulated way of life. But that doesn’t mean just because you are a highly sensitive person or highly empathic that you need to suffer from chronic anxiety or chronic stress.
Chronic Stress As A Highly Sensitive Person
Chronic stress is triggered by our fears, it is our reaction to the world around us, the way we psychologically and physiologically respond to situations, people, and the things around us. The biggest cause of stress today is our mental thoughts; our conditioning, what we attach and give power to.
But external stimuli such as environmental noise, information overload can certainly play their part so can environmental and internal toxins. But the way we view the world, situations, very much represents how we show up in the world.
If you are an HSP, a highly sensitive person who views the world as a highly harsh, uncaring, and dangerous place. You will show up in the world as a very fearful, highly anxious, sensitive soul. Who struggles to survive never mind find their way in the world.
The highly sensitive person or highly empathic person has tremendous gifts to share with the world. They have tremendous compassion and huge insight into those around them. Especially highly sensitive empaths because they are highly intuitive and highly sensitive to the psyche, the energy and emotions of the people, places and situations around them.
But this can make the sensitive person more vulnerable to other’s anxiety and stress, to mass consciousness, and to many other things that most people can comprehend.
Some famous people who have been regarded as HSP a highly sensitive person include Albert Einstein, Carl Jung, Diana- The Princess Of Wales, Judy Garland, Mother Theresa.
6 Simple Ways You Can Deal With Stress As A Highly Sensitive Person
Assertiveness- learn how to say NO, one of the biggest challenges many HSP’s and particular empaths have a challenge with. Is the ability to say NO. Empaths feel others’ pain and fears so deeply they often struggle to identify their own needs. So struggle to set healthy boundaries.
Be Yourself – trying to fit in, comparing yourself to other’s, judging yourself on other’s ideas of what you should and shouldn’t be like. Is a huge source of distress. You are more than enough, even in within your vulnerability, your physical, emotional, and even mental sensitivity, you are enough. You are unique, special, wonderful and here to be you.
Get Soul Connected – Develop a strong soul connection, build a deeper spiritual connection within yourself, your heart and soul. Become more soul-aligned in our spiritual path, to follow our own soul’s guidance and own truth.
Grounded – become more grounded physically, mentally, and emotionally get out of your head, and get connected to your body and the earth around and underneath you. I find the essential oil blend On Guard a great aid. When you are more grounded your energetic field is much stronger so you have healthier boundaries to other people’s negativity and emotions.
Be In The Moment– learn how to be more present, more in the moment, take each step, each day as it comes, let go of yesterday’s and tomorrow’s, see below as meditation and mindfulness can help. You tend to be more grounded and find it easier to naturally assert your own needs when you live in the moment.
Meditate – meditation is a powerful way to connect with the self, that space where stillness and calm resides, where wisdom, true insight and guidance evolves from. Meditation helps quieten the mind and helps develop a powerful connection with our inner wisdom.
Unplug- a highly sensitive person or highly empathic person usually needs to unplug and switch off more frequently than other’s do. HSP’s tend to have sensory processing issues which affects the autonomic nervous system. So the slightest over stimulation can trigger the “fight or flight” stress response. Leaving the HSP highly wired, anxious, stressed, and exhausted.
Cushioning – is a stress management strategy that helps cushion you from the impact of a stressor or stressors. It involves using any practical, therapeutic, or strategical strategy that will help you reduce stress and become more resilient to the stressors of everyday life. It can involve taking action, managing or reducing the stressor in question but also includes an aspect of balance into your life. It involves having a more healthier approach to your everyday life, so you are generally more stress-resilient.
Overcoming Chronic Stress As A Highly Sensitive Person
No matter how long you have suffered chronic anxiety or chronic stress as a highly sensitive person or an empath. You don’t just have to live with it, your life as an HSP doesn’t have to be stressful.
I was a highly anxious, stressed out teenager, who suffered chronic unworthiness, who tried to relentlessly to deny and resist my empathic traits and highly sensitive traits.
I started to suffer extreme health challenges including burn-out from the age of 19. And spent a large part of my twenties extremely ill, exhausted, and isolated. Out of this experience, I became a meditation teacher, healer, coach, and stress management expert.
I have helped many people including many highly sensitive people and highly sensitive children move from a chronic anxious or stress state of being to a more calm confident way of being.
No matter how challenging life may feel at the moment believe me your life as a highly sensitive person can be far richer, peaceful, lighter, and free than you can imagine with the right tools, the right healing and support.
You can learn turn to your sensitivity into your super power gifts, your super powers I share more in my Lightworkers Portal and my 👇 Free 6 Day Stress Resilience Course For Lightworkers 👇
More and more people are starting to realise they are a highly sensitive person. According to various research 15-20% of the population are a highly sensitive person. Dr Elaine Aaron a HSP Expert, states that a lot more people think they are highly sensitive when they are not.
Now more and more studies are demonstrating being highly sensitive which is also known as hypersensitivity is not a dis-order or a weakness. Highly sensitive people are not emotionally unstable or emotionally immature in many ways they are simply more energetically conscious. Their nervous system is more fine tuned to their surroundings.
In-fact an FMRI study of the Highly Sensitive Brain demonstrated sensory processing sensitivity and response to others’ emotions. The highly sensitive person is shown to be physiologically affected by others moods and the environment that surrounds them.
An explanation why many HSP’s struggle with the harsh energy of modern day living. Especially sensory processing; for example noise and busyness. Which can lead to an increased risk of highly sensitive people suffering from chronic anxiety, stress and some other health related issues.
The Gifts And Challenges Of A Highly Sensitive Person
Being a highly sensitive person has tremendous gifts and challenges. In many ways being highly sensitive is a powerful needed trait in society. Especially when so many people block, deflect or suppress their emotions, their pain, their fear, their compassion. A highly sensitive person usually has much greater compassion, wisdom and awareness of the inner world of those around them.
Probably the reason many HSP’s are the Drs, nurses, healers, therapists, counsellors, carers, nursery nurses…But also the reason why many in these careers suffer from burn out and other chronic health challenges like CFS or depression. As they often have many challenges around grounding and having healthy boundaries.
Common Traits Of A Highly Sensitive Person
Here are some of the more common and easy to wide range of traits of a HSP
You can often recognise a HSP as they care for others very deeply. They are extremely compassionate it simply oozes out of them. And very giving to the extent they often put them self last. Self care is often last on their list.
Highly sensitive people tend to be highly intuitive and at least a bit psychic. Though many block their psychic abilities from a young age because of others perceptions and their own fear. But they have a strong inner knowing, especially about people they meet and those around them.
Highly Empathic
a highly sensitive person is usually highly empathic, easily affected by other people’s emotional and mental pain, fear or negativity.
Struggle With Violence And Strong Negativity
hypersensitivity usually comes with a strong aversion to negative or violent media such as the news and tv.
Highly Emotional
a highly sensitive person tends to appear more emotional, they cry more easily especially to situations, things and events not affected by others.
they are usually naturally attracted to various aspects of spirituality.
Struggle To Function in Busy Environments
many HSP’s struggle to function or work in busy environments like call centres, busy office, factory even at school, college. So they need to take time out away from their desk or work environment to become re-focused and re-energised.
Need More Time Out
a highly sensitive person tends to need more time out and time away from others. They need more time to unplug, switch off, relax, even sleep. As being a HSP means you tend to have a lot more sensory processing over load.
Many HSP’s Freeze Or Shutdown To Serious Overstimulation
Due to the degree of their sensitivity many HSP’s can become very shut off emotionally especially those that are empaths. Often life, their surroundings can feel quite traumatic so they become quite shut off emotionally. Most are very ungrounded and not fully in their body in an energetic way. Many suffer from chronic anxiety and stress even if they are unaware of it. That it is why it is important to heal inner child trauma.
So How Can A Highly Sensitive Person Become More Resilient To Modern Day Living?
One of the big challenges a HSP has is balancing the scales of their gifts with the harsher energies of modern day living. So it is important a highly sensitive person learns effective anxiety and stress management skills.They also need to learn how to ground and set healthy boundaries. Because HSP’s are often more in their heart and head than the rest of their body. Their energy fields tends to be a lot more scattered and porous so they are easy target to the energies around them.
Meditation
I know as a HSP how important it is to become more resilient to modern day life. One of the most powerful things I started to study over 30 years ago was meditation.
Meditation is one of the most powerful skills everyone should learn especially someone who takes on other’s emotional thoughts, feelings and physical symptoms.
Daily Meditation can give us instant access to inner stillness, inner peace. It can helps us become more centred within in our own space. Rather than expanded out into everyone else’s energetic field. You can start learning how to meditate more easily today.
is extremely helpful for most HSP’s and Empaths because it can help not just heal old trauma, but unhealthy beliefs or distortions that have arisen from their gifts. Unhealthy views or fears that have arisen because of other people’s views of their sensitivity.
As well as unhealthy patterns that are keeping their level of sensitivity to an unhealthy degree.
As a highly sensitive empath who has been studying in the holistic and spiritual field for over 30 years. I was very fortunate to learn many strategies to help me remain more mentally and emotionally resilient to life’s stressors. To access a plethora of tools and techniques, healing and coaching to help you, check out the Lightworkers Portal.
