If you ever felt that the world around you is too loud, too bright, and confusing, you might be a highly sensitive person or an HSP. So am I.

In the past, I felt that this part of me, this sensitivity I had, was something I needed to hide and toughen up as society expected me to, until I learned that my sensitivity was something to be celebrated and not be ashamed of. But as you have probably figured out by now, this gift doesn’t come without its challenges.

If you ever felt that the world around you is too loud, too bright, and confusing, you might be a highly sensitive person or an HSP.

In this article, I’m going to provide you with some self-care practices for you to navigate your sensitivity. These practices are not quick fixes, but a good starting point for you to learn how to take care of yourself in terms of your needs as a highly sensitive person for you to embrace this trait of yours, and by embracing it let it unravel its gifts.

What This Guide Covers at a Glance

Self-care as a way to create supportive routines and environments

Learning the nature of being a highly sensitive person or an HSP, made me realize the importance of how the environment around me affects me. When I’m in a noisy, crowded space, I find myself overwhelmed, but when I am in a calm environment, I thrive.

But I can also control how I react when I am in crowded spaces, by being more proactive in adjusting to my immediate environment, that I find myself in.

Learning the nature of being a highly sensitive person or an HSP, made me realize the importance of how the environment around me affects me

I have found that daily routines, practiced before leaving my house with an intention to build a more resilient constitution, helped me be less affected by the tension of everyday living and on the contrary make the most of it.

Self-care as a way to protect emotional energy and transform sensitivity into strength

I love being around people, but my sensitivity has forced me to be aware of the fact that I’m more prone in taking on emotional energies than others who are not HSPs when I am engaging with people that are in a high emotional state.

This was a wake-up call for me to my need to take care of my emotional state, either before leaving my house or after I have interacted with others when coming back home.

By engaging in practices that promote a calmer emotional state, and that help me return to my center, I can have a healthier relationship with myself without sacrificing my needs to socialize.

I love being around people, but my sensitivity has forced me to be aware of the fact that I’m more prone in taking on emotional energies than others who are not HSPs when I am engaging with people that are in a high emotional state.

I also give a lot of weight to cultivating a balanced energy state and apply protective practices that help me keep at bay heavy emotional or other types of unwanted energies.

3 Gentle Self-Care Practices for Highly Sensitive People

In the following list, I am going to show you three groups of practices that you can apply to build a self-care routine for yourself as an HSP.

As with all practices that I have presented thus far for various spiritually oriented topics in other articles, I try not to present complicated ones but simple ones, and the key to having success is by being consistent with them.

1. Shaping a Calming Environment and Daily Routines

The brains of highly sensitive people absorb more information through the senses and process it deeply. This explains why you might not be comfortable with bright lights or loud noises.

For me to remedy this I have turned my residence into a sanctuary.

In practical terms, I chose soft light lighting to illuminate my space and like to play soft music in the background from time to time when I am too stressed. I also make sure that I have insulated this space from loud noises to the best of my abilities, to promote a sense of silence so that my nervous system and brain can settle down.

The brains of highly sensitive people absorb more information through the senses and process it deeply.

I have also cultivated daily routines, like giving myself Reiki (have been attuned to the third degree of the Usui Reiki system) or doing body scans with an intention of releasing tension from my body.

2. Setting Boundaries and Renewing Emotional Energy

Another thing that you need to be aware of as an HSP is the fact that we sensitive people tend to absorb other people’s emotional energies.

In my case, I like to shield myself energetically through meditating on the visualization of a golden bubble around me.

At the same time, I like to imagine roots coming from the soles of my feet (and practice that needs to be done seated with your feet flat on the ground) going deep into the center of the earth with an intention to release any unwanted energy and connect with their soothing energies of mother earth.

Another thing that you need to be aware of as an HSP is the fact that we sensitive people tend to absorb other people’s emotional energies.

It is also important to set boundaries in terms of how much time you can give to another person who you care for and who needs to be heard on issues that bother them.

The fact that we are deeply empathetic makes us good listeners but at the same time makes us emotional sponges, something that we need to be aware of.

3. Recalibration Through Reflection and Solo Time

I really appreciate my alone time, since retreating to solitude helps me reconnect and realign with my sense of self.

Being alone is not equivalent to feeling lonely. It is an active position you take to decompress and give space to your inner life to express itself, either through creativity or quiet reflection.

I really appreciate my alone time, since retreating to solitude helps me reconnect and realign with my sense of self.

I also like, from time to time, to remove myself from screens, and either meditate or journal. And what I like to journal about is my emotional state, which helps me to process my emotions, honor them, and let them go through writing them.

Conclusion

Being a highly sensitive person does not mean that you are fragile — what it means is that you possess a personality trait, where your brain intakes more information through the senses, and processes them more deeply than the non-HSP people.

By investing in your own self-care that is targeted towards strengthening the positive parts of being an HSP, you’re building resilience, for you to thrive rather than fade into the background.

By implementing some of the techniques and practices that I mentioned above, you’re on your way to achieving that.

Being a highly sensitive person does not mean that you are fragile — what it means is that you possess a personality trait, where your brain intakes more information through the senses, and processes them more deeply than the non-HSP people.

Of course, I haven’t exhausted all the ways that you can strengthen your well-being as an HSP, but I believe this guide can become the springboard for you to explore more ways that can help you achieve the same results.

Till next time, take care.