5 Self-Care Practices for the Highly Sensitive Person
*This post is an excerpt from my HSP Self-Care Journal
How often do you truly feel energized and fulfilled? If you’re a highly sensitive person (HSP), you’re more likely to feel overwhelmed, stressed, and exhausted most of the time. Most HSPs don’t get the self-care and quiet downtime they need to survive, let alone thrive. Instead, they believe the messages from society, the media, or their own social circles that it’s selfish or shows a lack of ambition to take time for themselves, and they feel guilty whenever they do. Trying to live up to the expectations of those who are not highly sensitive will only leave you feeling depleted - or worse - because stress can have a large impact on your physical, emotional, and mental health.
Because highly sensitive folks notice everything, feel deeply, and process their thoughts and experiences at length, you use a lot of emotional and physical energy that needs to be replenished every day. This means that the typical self-care routine of a massage here or a night out there doesn’t even come close to meeting your needs. Instead, self-care is more about getting quiet on a daily basis and deeply nurturing your emotional, spiritual, intellectual, social, and physical needs.
Below are five practices to help you deepen your self-care routine...
Emotional Self-Care
Affirmation: “Feeling deeply is a gift that allows me to experience great joy and connection.”
Practice: Many HSPs have learned to push away, or repress, their “big” feelings because others don’t understand them or are uncomfortable with them, but feeling deeply has the hidden advantage of giving you the ability to make well-informed decisions, experience immense joy, and connect deeply with others. For the next week, notice every time you have the urge to minimize or criticize your emotions. Then, instead of pushing away your feelings, practice this week’s affirmation to remind yourself that whatever you’re feeling makes sense and is valid.
Journal Prompts:
What messages have I received about feeling deeply or having “big” emotions?
What would I like others to know about the complexity of my emotions?
How does being more emotionally expressive benefit me?
Spiritual Self-Care
Affirmation: “I trust my intuition in times of uncertainty.”
Practice: Highly sensitive people are very perceptive and intuitive, but will often doubt themselves because others will miss the cues HSPs so easily pick up on. Begin to notice when you have hunches, gut instincts, or other sensations about a situation, person, or decision you have to make. Reflect on your relationship with trusting or not trusting your intuition in the past, in order to better help you understand this experience.
Journal Prompts:
Reflecting back, when have my instincts been accurate?
What happens when I ignore my intuition?
How about when I trust my inner wisdom?
Mental Self-Care
Affirmation: “I pause to rest between tasks to allow my mind space to process.”
Practice: Over the next week, practice pausing after each activity and taking a short break every one or two hours. You can take a few deep breaths, close your eyes for a moment, do a few stretches, or whatever else would feel energizing and soothing. The longer you have been focused, the longer the break. For instance, you may only need a few minutes after checking email for an hour, but may desire a longer break if you’ve been cleaning the house for two hours.
Journal Prompts:
The most difficult part of hitting pause is…
When I allow myself space to pause and reflect between tasks, I notice…
The benefit of slowing down between activities is...
Social Self-Care
Affirmation: “Connecting deeply brings meaning and fulfillment to my relationships.”
Practice: During your next conversation, ask a more specific question about topics you’re interested in instead of the usual small talk. This could include inquiring about someone’s pet, favorite author, travels, or movie preferences. Use open-ended questions that require more than a “Yes” or “No” answer, starting off with phrases such as “Tell me about . . .” or “What is your opinion on . . . ?” Notice what feels different about the exchange compared to more superficial connections.
Journal Prompts:
The thought of having a shallow conversation with someone makes me feel...
When I give myself permission to skip the small talk, I notice…
How do others respond when I ask more complex, engaging questions?
Physical Self-Care
Affirmation: “By taking care of my body, I take care of my mind and emotions.”
Practice: Whenever you’re feeling scattered, stressed, or upset over the next week, try adding gentle back-and-forth movement to help you process. This could look like going on a midday walk to de-stress from work, tapping back and forth on the kitchen counter while you wait for dinner to cook and think about your day, or inviting your loved ones to take a five-minute dance break to bring levity after an argument. Whether practicing alone or with a friend, imagine releasing the stress from your body as you move and use the affirmation to remind yourself why it’s important to include physical movement to support your emotional and mental health.
Journal Prompts:
I tried in the past that helped clear my mind or boost my mood?
On a typical day, when could I find time to increase my physical activity?
When I incorporate movement into my self-care practice, the impact I notice is . . .
Instead of the usual self-care practices, HSPs need to go a few steps deeper in not only frequency but also content. Examples of appropriate self-care practices for HSPs include:
Getting into nature
Connecting with animals
Self-reflection through journaling or psychotherapy
Emotionally rich connections with others
Reading engaging and inspirational books
Engaging in a spiritual or religious practice
Creating art, music, or poetry
The actual self-care practice isn’t as important as how you feel when you’re engaged with it. In addition to daily quiet time to reflect, what activities help you feel recharged, nourished, and inspired? Make sure you’re practicing these weekly to clear away the noise of your busy life and recharge your inner battery. When you practice self-care on a regular basis as an HSP, you’ll notice that the feeling of being overwhelmed or stressed you’ve become accustomed to living with starts to fade away. In its place, you’ll be able to access your sensitive gifts (creativity, empathy, intuition, etc.) and have more energy to engage in all areas of your life, work, and relationships.
