The Healthy Sensitive's Podcast

Embracing Your Inner Trickster: Reframing Adversity

Highly sensitive people are often more deeply affected by adversity. They feel all the feels...so it's natural they would feel pain more acutely. BUT - highly sensitive people tend to also be more creative and more resilient than the average person. They are able to take difficult circumstances and create something beautiful from the ashes.

In this episode, I'm not going to talk about stress management. Instead, I'm going to talk about how to reframe adversity so that you have an entirely different relationship with it. In honor of April Fool's Day, I am centering the conversation on how to cultivate your inner trickster. Your inner fool. Your inner beginner. 

Patriotism, Nationalism and Bias

With the aftermath of the D.C. riots, many of us are left scared, angry and eager for someone to take some accountability. In today's episode, I wanted to do a deep dive into a few areas so as to provide some context for what is currently happening and what it means for us all. 

I do a brief overview of the U.S. government and how it is structured. I talk about the concept of patriotism and how that differs from nationalism. I talk about the options those in our legislative branch of government are mulling over (and why the so-called "mulling" and pondering of next steps is as murky as it is). I also cover the concept of bias. When talking about bias, I talk about how social media plays a part, and how our own psychology plays a part. Why is it that we can spot bias in everyone else...except for ourselves? Where does that whole double-standard approach come from? Finally, I talk about the importance of looking hard at our own selves before pointing fingers at others. 

Finding Your Purpose in Dark Times

In my last episode, I talked about the importance of having a "something larger" to appeal to during difficult times. After my podcast, my boyfriend asked "but how does one go about finding their "something larger?" I promised I would think on it. A few days later, I facilitated a workshop on "navigating burnout" for HSP's. After the workshop, someone asked..."yeah...but what if I have been DOING all those things you said are good for me, and I'm STILL burned out?" I realized that while each question was asked in a separate context (and were seemingly unrelated) they were really two sides of the same coin. When we are burned out and cannot go further, that is when we need our something larger. But that same burnout will make finding our "something larger" all the more challenging (if we don't already have an idea in mind). In this episode, I cover what burnout is, and the common tools used to help ease our suffering around it. I talk about the importance of having, in particular, a "something larger"...and then I discuss the kinds of questions that might help us to find what our "something larger" is when we don't currently have on in place (or at least don't think that we do). 

Something Larger

These are strange times (understatement of the century). And many of us are feeling the strain not just of isolation or fatigue....but also the strain of feeling empty. Of feeling like the wells we are used to drawing water from are dry or blocked off. During times like these, one thing that keeps popping up in the research as being important for our wellbeing is a sense that we are connected to something larger than ourselves. In this episode I talk about faith (and the lack of it). I talk about the challenge of discerning what our "something larger" is in a world of so much cynicism. And I ask the question to each of you...what is YOUR something larger that keeps you sane during times that feel overwhelming?

What Denmark Has to Teach Us

Denmark is, apparently, one of the happiest countries in the world. What are they getting right that we could learn from? What are some of the criticisms that come up as a rebuttal? And regardless of where you live or your policy preferences or lifestyle preferences...what do YOU think a meaningful looks like? Is it more important to strive for happiness? or Meaning?

Burnout

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 as well as the biophysical elements at play. I'll also talk about practical actions we can all take to navigate it and assuage the impact of burnout. 

What Are You FOR?

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 conversations on what we stand FOR.

Having Hope

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 hope and how believing in a better future can even improve our present. And for those who are struggling to amass hope, I talk about strategies you can use to refuel it and stay afloat when the world seems to want to engulf you.  

Personal Response Ability

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 responsibility" in the sense that we have "control" over our actions, I go into a bit more nuance and talk about "personal response ability" ...as in...our ability to respond to situations. And instead of talking about free will and control, I talk about ways in which we may at least influence our lives in positive ways.

Non-Negotiable

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.