Sensitivity - A blessing or a curse?

I'm sure that most of us at some point have heard someone say about being sensitive that 'to be so sensitive is both a blessing and a curse." I know I have. I know I've also said this many years ago.

Being a psychic medium, intuitive mentor and reiki practitioner allows me to feel into others energy fields (with permission of course) and I can tell you from my own experience working with others this way, that being energy sensitive doesn't seem as uncommon or as rare as we may think it is. That being said, I'm totally aware that someone who leans this way may also just be more interested in what I do and therefore, I'm just attracting a higher number than average of highly sensitive people my way! Regardless, there are a TON of us around and you are not alone in our sensitivity even though it may often feel like it.

Living with Anxiety as a Highly Sensitive Person

A commonality that I've witnessed not only in my highly sensitive client base but also in the other psychic mediums, reiki practitioners, energy healers I've met in my day, is feeling overwhelmed, burdened by or anxious a little more than the average folk, at some point in our lives. I personally received a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder in my early twenties because I was struggling so much with feeling completely bombarded with anxious feelings. Anxiety felt like my baseline and it was exhausting. I know many of you can relate.

I knew I was a highly sensitive person. I knew it seemed like I felt things a little deeper than the other people in my life. I was brought to tears more. I was intensely bothered by injustice, the mistreatment of others and the corruption in the world. It would keep me up at night. And I felt alone in it. I felt othered. I felt less than or like something was wired wrong in me. I remember thinking 'I am too sensitive for this world'. I felt anything but empowered in my sensitive wiring.

The Moment Everything Changed

In my mid-thirties, something began to simmer beneath the surface. I now know that, like an onion, another layer of my awareness was being revealed. The veil of disillusionment and disconnection was thinning. My Dad passed away suddenly and unexpectedly when I was 38 years old. He and I had always had a challenging type of relationship and although I yearned for a deeper connection, I didn't think it was possible. Little did I know that deeper connection I yearned for would only come after his death. My father, the biggest skeptic, I've ever met became a Spiritual guide for me after his death. With my Dad's sudden passing, came the clarity that I was a Psychic Medium and I always had been. It wasn't some big A-Ha moment. It was experienced as a calm inner knowing and remembrance of what had always been. That realization truly felt like coming home to myself. It was there all along, just waiting for me to integrate and embrace who I was.

Learning to Separate My Energy From Everyone Else's

This integration quickly showed me how to differentiate between my own energy and that of another (living or in the Spirit world). I learned how my energy felt separately on its own for the first time in my life! It was quite a shell shock to realize that I had been blending with and picking up on 'foreign' energy since childhood. An immediate peacefulness came over me with this awareness. I finally knew who I really was and could hear my own inner voice so much more clearly. Over the years, my higher self taught me to open and close my energy field. This was of the utmost importance in feeling empowered in my sensitivity and calming my frazzled nervous system.

You see, my highly sensitive, empathetic, compassionate, lovable reader, this is key in shifting your mindset and lived experience from feeling like your sensitivity is a curse into feeling like its a gift and knowing what to do with that gift.

Sensitivity Is a Gift You Earned

As a sensitive person you have been gifted with a porous energy field that is made to receive. Like an antenna, connecting your earthly self with your higher self. This was a gift bestowed upon your Soul that you earned. You earned your sensitive nature. You graciously accepted your gifts with open arms because you vowed to use them for good - for yourself and others. When you think of your sensitive nature this way everything changes.

The key as I mentioned before is learning how to discern or differentiate between what is your energy and what is not and also what is yours to carry/feel responsible for and what is not.

A Lesson From a Red Light

Before I share a few helpful tips that help me with this, I want to share a quick little story with you. A few years back, I was driving and stopped at a red light near an encampment. I was hit with a wave of sadness, despair and overwhelming energy. I was quickly brought to tears and felt angry at a society that has allowed this to happen. When I arrived at my destination, I sat for a few moments and in my mind asked "What am I supposed to do with these feelings? I want to help but I'm only one person and the mission feels impossible." The answer I received back was 'yes, you are but one person but that is all you need to be.' I cry laughed - yeah okay Spirit, continue talking in riddles but seriously what am I supposed to do? Why do I have to feel it ALL when I can't fix it all? I received a wave of warm and loving, all encompassing energy all at once and the message I received in my heart was in the form of a visual. I saw myself, smiling at another and offering that person a small token of compassion. It felt like that token could be a smile, a conversation, a few dollars, a sandwich, a pair of mittens, anything! It wasn't about how much or how little, it was simply about the kindness and compassion. And then I saw that person's energy field become brighter. And then that person did something small for another, maybe a smile or a hug and that light grew and then was transferred to the next and so forth and so on. The light continues to spread.

This message taught me how light travels from one person to another and that as a highly sensitive person, that light is very impactful. It has the potential to continue to expand, burn brighter and spread far beyond our imagination. I learned that just because I can feel it all, doesn't mean I am responsible for it all. One by one, we can make a massive difference simply by embracing our compassionate and empathetic natures. One step at a time, one person at a time. We all have a responsibility to care for one another.

5 Tips to Feel Empowered in Your Sensitivity

Some helpful tips to help you feel more aligned with your own personal energy are:

1. Learn the difference between your intuition and anxiety - your intuition's voice feels neutral and is most often the first thing you feel or hear. Anxious thoughts feel emotional and escalating. Intuition first, anxious thoughts second is a good rule of thumb.
2. Get in the practice of sitting with yourself in silence, with as few distractions as possible once a day (or as often as you feel like it). Sensitive people have spongey energy fields that allow them to receive and perceive many layers. This means that other people, social media, tv and movies, the news, etc. may affect us more and we need to disconnect in order to come back to the clarity of our own voices.
3. Ask yourself for guidance first before you reach out for external validation or the opinions of others. What feels right and true for you outside of what you think another thinks you should do. This is similar to differentiating intuition and anxiety. Get in the habit of at first listening to and then fully trusting your own guidance. Another person can be your sounding board but not the one who makes up your mind.
4. Set your intention to 'seal your energy field'. This means that you close off from receiving and perceiving energy from others and your surroundings. It is like locking your front door before you leave your house. Energy sensitive folks tend to be energetically open and therefore you aren't learning how to open up to energy, your intuition or to Spirit but rather you are learning how to open and close at will. I open my energy field up for my clients and for my personal use. For instance, when I'm journaling, working on my book, reading my cards, asking my Spirit guides and loved ones in Spirit for guidance or insight. Otherwise, my energy field is tightly sealed. This has been the most impactful ways to feel peaceful and empowered in my sensitivity.
5. Work on setting healthy boundaries with yourself and others. Saying yes when you feel no, helps no one. Remember the light analogy? Weak boundaries weaken the light in your energy field. Saying yes when it is a true yes, strengthens your light because it's authentic and in alignment with your true self.

You Are a Gift to This World

This world needs your sensitivity. You are a gift to this world.

As my girl Joan of Arc said "I am not afraid, I was born to do this".

Amy B. x