The Healthy Sensitive's Podcast

Everywhere you turn, now, people are talking about "loneliness." Not only is it a problem...apparently it's a full blown epidemic!  In this episode I'll talk in more detail about what loneliness actually is. I'll discuss how it relates to our health and longevity. I'll talk about how this relates to HSP's in particular. Finally, I'll talk about some of the things I have tried, personally, to reduc...

You've probably heard it at least once: "You're too sensitive."  Can one actually be too sensitive?  In this episode, I discuss some of the shadow traits of many people with sensory processing sensitivity. I talk about why those traits are so common with HSP's and what we can do to offset some of those less desirable characteristics and make improvements on how we navigate the world. 

We all know the story. In our brains, we are constantly fighting between our emotions and our rationality. It's why we find instant gratification so alluring (our emotional brain is trying to win out). It's why we are enamored with characters like Spock (he's beaten out his emotions). But what if we are wrong? What if everything we thought was true about emotions and the way we express them are .....

Who are you?  That's a question that has been plaguing philosophers for years (and one that still pulls at us even now). In this episode, I talk about the kinds of labels we use to describe ourselves (gender, race, class). I invite listeners to gently challenge the idea that any label can fully encapsulate what it means to be you. This is even true for the label of "highly sensitive person." Use l...

Okay...you're an HSP. You're an introvert. Or maybe you're both. You've decided that you've got the stamina (emotional...intellectual...physical) to be an entrepreneur. Or to go after your big D "Dream" job. You've amassed all the education you need. Now if you could just find a way to get the word out... Or maybe you've simply decided that your life is lovely and mellow enough that you'd really l...

Many people (even some of us HSP's) mistakenly think that community is not as important for highly sensitive people and introverts as it might be for extroverted types. But that just isn't true. We might relish quiet time and solitude, but that doesn't mean we don't also need connection. So how do we satisfy both of these needs? How do we embrace what it means to be an introvert while also engagin...

What does it really take to lose weight and keep it off? Is it really as simple as "eat less and move more?" Is anyone ever successful at weight loss? What are the specific challenges that introverts and HSP's face with weight loss? What assets do they bring to the table? These are the questions we cover in this week's episode. 

Many self help books talk about how to get "happy," but ironically...sometimes chasing happiness leads to more of its opposite. Instead, it can be more affective to look at how to develop a meaningful life. One that is rich with purpose. One that is interesting. In this episode, I'll discuss how and why curiosity may just be the secret ingredient to having a truly rich life (and specifically why t...

Do you ever find yourself in that weird conundrum where you WANT to travel...but you just cringe at the thought of what it will require of you? Well I have good news. You don't actually have to get completely wiped out in exchange for a few days in a new place. You can even end up feeling relaxed at the end of the journey rather than merely exhausted. Come find out how (I'll also share some of the...

It's great to be open...vulnerable...available. But sometimes being too open can be a serious liability. It can lead us to feel overwhelmed. Overcommitted. Resentful. It leaves others around us feeling confused. What did they do? Why are you so upset? You never complained about doing this before...  This episode is about setting healthy boundaries so that you feel more productive, less stressed an...

We hear all the time that if you work hard, you will become successful. If you are successful, you will be happy. Well...sort of. Except that it's kinda backwards. In this episode, I cover what assets HSP bring to the workforce (and what liabilities). I also talk about why they tend to be a good fit for entrepreneurship. These are topics I've covered before (particularly in my episode on "work") B...

Highly sensitive people can do just fine in the workplace. They are fun to have as friends. But what about leadership? Are they any good at that? Could they be? Or is it something highly sensitive people would do best to steer away from? In this episode we'll talk about how highly sensitive people who want to be leaders can do it in a way that is supportive to those they are aiming to lead as well...

Highly sensitive people have some special challenges when it comes to the workforce. It's not that they aren't productive or valuable. It's just that finding a balance where one can be both emotionally satisfied with the work they do, financially stable, and sane...can be tricky. In this episode I'll talk about the unique struggles HSP contend with at work and some strategies that might help creat...

You hear this buzzword all the time. RESILIENCE. But what is it? How is it linked with success? And why is it important for highly sensitive people? In this podcast, I argue that HSP's and introverts are desperately needed in this world...but they just need to find a way to serve that doesn't zap all their vitality and energy. This podcast shares tools aimed at helping HSP's develop resilience so...

There are a lot of assumptions people have about what it means to be a "highly sensitive person." Even highly sensitive people, themselves, cary some of these mistaken assumptions. This episode is intended to debunk some of the common misconceptions people have about HSP and provide a bit of a reality check. 

We often hear that we should "trust our instincts" or "follow our intuition." But is that always true? Are there times we should challenge our instincts? As highly sensitive people, we tend to get pretty potent "intuitive" messages from our bodies. But we are a conscientious and neurotic lot. So we also have a tendency to challenge our assumptions. How might we move in a way that both honors our i...

We are often encouraged by high-performing motivational speakers to want success as badly as we want to breathe. If we are willing to sacrifice even our sleep only THEN will we be as successful as we claim to want to be. But then...maybe not. Arriana Huffington, for example, claims she did just that only to discover the importance of rest (and sleep in particular).  This is a hard equation to solv...

There are some people out there who seem to have an endless capacity for bravery in their lives. How do they do it? Are they just born with it? Or can we build it? I make the argument in this episode that just as we can engage in behaviors that build our physical strength...so too can we engage in behaviors that build on our emotional resilience and capacity. And when we do that, we are able to ma...

No matter how confident we may feel about ourselves...when it comes to romance, we can all be a little bit dumb. Something about undressing (literally and metaphorically) for a partner unstitches us. This is only MORE true for highly sensitive people and introverts. So what can we do? How do develop a healthy relationship with another person...how do we go about developing a relationship with love...

We have some assumptions about sex and sexuality - especially as it relates to how men and women are supposed to feel about their sexuality AND how they are supposed to behave. This is particularly true for heterosexual men and women. But are those assumptions true? Is it true, for example, that women aren't actually that interested in sex? For those women who ARE interested...are all those women...

Highly sensitive people are often dubbed "thin-skinned" by those with a slightly rougher hide. We are told we need to toughen up. For a long time, I have resisted (and many of those I know who are highly sensitive tend to resist this idea as well). But are we maybe missing an opportunity? Is there, perhaps, something to be gained by getting a thicker skin?

We often lament about the challenges in our lives. But it might be worth stopping to consider the possibility that a good life doesn't come without problems. Rather, a good life simply means having the right kind of problems

An instructor I was observing while leading a class gave the group a quote: "If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything." It made me think about how I, myself, tend to be really adaptable. I find that most highly sensitive people are. It's probably something we picked up while trying to blend into a not-so-sensitive world. It's a muscle I'm proud to have developed. BUT - when is...

A few years ago, Susan Cain wrote a book "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking." She researched not only what it means to be an introvert, but also what it means to be a highly sensitive person, and a sensation seeker. She covers how all these things speak to each other, and how we might better create systems to honor the gifts that each has to offer. In this podcast,...

Highly sensitive people are capable of being extremely productive. The downside? They are also more prone to both anxiety and depression. The good news is that there are tools available to help reduce the frequency (and intensity) of these experiences and live a more fulfilled life.