The Healthy Sensitive's Podcast

Everyone I know is saying basically the same thing: I'm tired. Not just that...but everyone I know is telling me that everyone they know is running on fumes. From loneliness. From not enough time alone. From too much stimulation. From boredom. We are all losing it (and all secretly wondering what it is, exactly, that we lost). In this episode, I'll talk about what burnout is, both its definition a...

We are living in really contentious times right now. There is a pandemic, an election, ecological disruptions, and civil unrest. It's tempting to spend the bulk of our time to talking about what we are against. But in this episode, I want to move away from that. I talk about why only speaking to what we are against isn't effective, and I talk about what it might look like to, instead, center our c...

Hope is the sense that we are moving toward something better. It is the belief or expectation that things will get better if only we can hang on.... But when the world feels like it's falling apart...it can be challenging to stay hopeful. It might even feel like a superfluous luxury for children.  In this podcast, I talk about the importance of having hope. I talk about the tangible benefits of ho...

We often talk about the idea of responsibility. We need to take "personal responsibility" for our lives and improve them on our own. The thing is, though...that sort of assumes we have free will. Research on how our systems work indicates we might not actually have free will. If that is the case...can we really be held responsible for our actions? In this podcast, rather than talk about "personal...

Highly sensitive people have a tendency to be adaptable. Copacetic. Harmonious. Why? Because we hate conflict. Duh. But sometimes, in life, we really need to be able to stand firm and be clear about what our needs are. This podcast is about identifying what our non-negotiable are and finding ways to articulate them effectively. 

Highly sensitive people and introverts tend to like harmony. Calm. Pleasant and low-stimulus environments. Friction and conflict? No thanks. But might there be value in being willing to stand firm and endure the discomfort of friction? Is it possible that friction is a necessary ingredient for a meaningful life? For meaningful relationships? In this episode I'll talk about how friction benefits ou...

Honesty is the best policy. That's what we are told. Except...is it? People who are honest appear to have better relationships and better health outcomes. But are there occasions when honesty is not the best policy? Should we all just be saying what we think at all times? Unfiltered? In this episode, we'll cover the benefits of being honest...with ourselves and with others. We'll also talk about t...

Many highly sensitive people I have met have said they are extremely uncomfortable with angry (uncomfortable when others express it and even more uncomfortable expressing it themselves). I find that intriguing. So when I recently experienced an episode of anger, I thought it a perfect opportunity to explore it. Anger, it turns out, is extremely useful and healthy...so long as it is expressed appro...

With a world trying to acclimate to a new normal with Covid, economic concerns, and in the case of the United States...an election...it's tempting to keep hitting the "refresh" button on our news feed. But to what degree is that helpful? Is it better to just avoid the news altogether? Or is there a sweet spot we can reach where we are informed enough to do what we need to do...but not so inundated...

Did you know that the trait "sensory processing sensitivity" is found in both women AND men? Not just that...it's found in equal numbers. Sensitivity is not linked with our sex. I talk a lot about the challenge of being a highly sensitive person, but I thought it might be useful to highlight this fact (that it's not correlated with either sex). I thought it especially important given the climate w...

We all seem to be in agreement in this country that what we need is to stop pointing fingers and start being willing to have hard conversations and compromise. But...are we willing to walk our talk? Highly sensitive people often struggle with this very thing - the willingness to be assertive and have difficult conversations. In this episode, I'll divulge some of my personal challenges in this area...

As we close the month of May (Mental Health Awareness Month) It feels fitting to do a summary of strategies (evidence based, of course) that are known to help foster contentment (irrespective of what may be going on around us). In this episode, I cover specific, actionable steps we can all take to cultivate our best selves. 

When I say I work with "highly sensitive people" I often get one of two responses. I either get "oooohhh...that's super cool! You mean those super special people that are unique and awesome?" OR I get "Eewwwwwe. That sounds gross. Is it contagious?"  My aim with this podcast is to simply create a conversation about what it is to have a more vigilant nervous system...one that NEUTRALIZES the trait....

Highly sensitive people, contrary to what others might think, tend to be extremely productive. They are creative, intuitive, and capable homo-sapiens, I can assure you. The catch is that they really need to find systems for organizing themselves and their time that honors their specific needs and temperament. In this episode, I'll cover a wide variety of examples that highly productive people have...

What makes a country...GREAT.  In looking at this pandemic meets economic question mark, I've definitely been preoccupied with that idea. It's easy for some of us to look to countries like China and say "daaaang. They really know how to pandemic. Why can't we do that?!?" But does that mean China is the best country in general? I would argue not...but I'm also biased.  But shifting gears, is Americ...

There is no doubt that we are in uncertain times right now...but the thing is - WE ALWAYS WERE. It's just that now it is being presented to us directly. So how can we navigate these times effectively (not just surviving it, but being a part of the solution). And beyond that, how can we carry the lessons we learn from this experience into the future so that we can navigate uncertainty in ANY situat...

I'm sure everyone is feeling saturated with information about the coronavirus. But is anyone talking about the impact all this is having on us in our everyday lives? In this episode, I'll discuss a bit of information regarding the virus, and why everyone is so worried about it (but also trying not to incite any panic around it). I'll spend an even GREATER amount of time talking about how navigatin...

David Whyte, in his book The Three Marriages, talks about how there are three commitments we hold as central in our lives: our work, a relationship to a significant other, and the relationship we foster within ourselves. In this episode, we will talk about that first one - our work. I invite you to consider what it is you love doing enough that you're willing to put up with all the crap that comes...

When we think about being "mindful" we often think about being calm. Kind. Compassionate. All that might be a byproduct of mindfulness but that isn't mindfulness, itself. In fact, sometimes being mindful might require being assertive. Sharp. Even cruel on the surface of things. Come as I turn some of our most beloved assumptions about mindfulness on their head. 

If you want to run a marathon, you can't do it by sprinting all 26.2 miles of it. You need to know how to pace yourself. You need to know when you can push, and when you need to dial back. You need to know when you have to stop at the rest table and get a sip of water, and when you can push past them and get to the next rest stop.  It turns out the same applies to our work. Even (perhaps especiall...

So often when we see people going off and daring greatly...we only see the fruits of their labor LOOOONG after they are a big success. We don't see the long process it took to get there. We don't see the trials and errors. In this episode, Katie Hodges (an entrepreneur, coach, mother, and bold leader in her community) jumps on the podcast with me to talk about living a creative life, being brave,...

I'm all about supporting my fellow HSP's and Introverts who want to live BIG...live their BEST lives (the trick being finding a way to do it that doesn't drive your health to the pavement). But there is one complication that needs discussion: failure. As in...what if I put myself out there and fail?  Avoiding failure doesn't really seem like a viable option. Any time you take a risk, you're going...

Resolutions. Goals. Achievements. Dreams.  It's lovely to talk about them and imagine what it might be like to bring them to life. But what does it really take to make it happen? And what if you work and toil only to discover that the goals you put in motion don't manifest the way you thought they would? Or what if they don't provide the joy you thought they would?  In this episode I'll talk about...

It's not only a new year, but a whole new decade...not to mention an election year. It seems like a great opportunity to try new challenges. There is just one problem...did you know that 80 percent of people who have New Years fail to maintain them by February of that same year?  Sooo...what is that other 20 percent doing differently? How might you learn from their success?  Come and find out!

Many highly sensitive people report feeling ambivalent during the Christmas holiday. This is true regardless of whether one actually celebrates it. It makes sense. It's an awful lot of sensory overload. Music and lights and traffic and shopping extravaganzas. It can feel a bit much. In this episode, I fess up to my personal ambivalence about Christmas. I also speak to the history of Christmas. You...