Six months ago, I realized I am a highly-sensitive person (HSP). My 8-year yoga journey feels more empowering as I discover the connection between HSP and regular embodiment practices.
Rose van Ooijen, psychologist and yoga teacher, describes yoga as the “perfect balm for the highly sensitive.”
“Especially with gentle and restorative practices, the poses have a deeply calming effect on our nervous system. Relaxed muscles invite a relaxed mind. We get out of our heads and into our bodies. Much needed for most people,” writes Ooijen.
Dr. Elaine Aron, clinical research psychologist and author of “The Highly Sensitive Person,” helps me understand my experiences as an HSP.
“If you are an HSP, it’s hard to grasp that you have some remarkable ability. Mostly, you know you seem unable to tolerate as much as other people. You forget that you belong to a group that has often demonstrated great creativity, insight, passion, and caring — all highly valued by society,” writes Dr. Aron.
Releasing numbing patterns to feel more nuances in my body has been a long, challenging journey. The more I understand high sensitivity, the more I can distinguish between fear and arousal. I take more intentional breaks and monitor stimulation levels regularly.
Having supportive practices in place helps me feel safer in my body. I feel more courage to experience all of my big emotions and thoughts.
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Seeking more inspiration, I recently interviewed Jess Stephenson, a yoga teacher, pilates studio owner, and HSP. I asked her about her experience of high sensitivity.
“It’s a lot of empathy, not just compassion but the felt experience of others. Sensitive can range from emotional to physical to mental sensitivities to spiritual. It’s that stimuli feel very stimulating. Scents, sounds, and basic sensory perception is felt greater. I feel feelings really big. I experience other people’s hurt, sometimes as my own,” shared Stephenson.
Stephenson used to feel itchy about stillness and meditation. Then in 2017, she took a yoga teacher training and felt awakened by these deep healing practices.
I take her yin yoga classes weekly and enjoy her emphasis on self-acceptance and safe expression. She shared how regular somatic practices support her sensitivity.
“Yin yoga helped me to own my feelings, not just being outside of myself doing, feeling other people’s feelings, and trying to manage and control around me. Yoga is a somatic spiritual embodiment practice and therapy. Those are big resources (for HSP),” said Stephenson.
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Discovering high sensitivity feels like cultivating a superpower. I feel everything more, and that’s a good thing, usually. Having nurturing practices in place, like classes at my local yoga studio, helps me feel grounded.
Yin yoga always feels therapeutic for me. It’s like taking a deep dive into your inner world with a chaperone and encouragement to focus on the felt sensations rather than mental stories. Yin yoga calms my nervous system noticeably.
Several psychologists are exploring the connection between HSP and spirituality.
“You may feel annoyed as you learn that you are a minority whose rights to have less stimulation are generally ignored. It would help if we were enlightened and detached from all of these associations so nothing could arouse us. No wonder so many HSPs become interested in spiritual paths,” writes Dr. Aron.
Spirituality has become a priority for me, and I imagine being highly sensitive led me to seek spiritual practices sooner. Similar to yoga, meditation has become a key daily habit.
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In her article, “How yoga has helped me as a highly sensitive person,” Oijen notes some key ingredients: the stillness in the room, time for introspection, relaxing into a pose, conscious focused breathing, and collective energy.
“For me, yoga and meditation have been the tools that have completely healed my panic attacks and anxiety. I’m still highly-sensitive, and always will be (this is not something to be cured, it is simply a biological reality), but I now know exactly what to do when I feel overwhelmed,” writes Ooijen.
If you think you might be highly sensitive, I recommend starting with Dr. Aron’s self-test. While the test will not diagnose you with this trait, learning more about it is a great place to start.
Photo Credit: Unsplash, Patrick McGregor
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I publish inspiring, empowering content on self-actualization topics once a week. I include insights from personal experience, research, expert advice, and others’ stories. I use my professional journalism and research background to keep posts concise, empathic, and trustworthy.
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