Latest / Rise & Realign: Conversations for the Sensitive Soul / Ep 12 | Embracing the Depths of Your Inner World | Highly Sensitive Series

Transcript

Ep 12 | Embracing the Depths of Your Inner World | Highly Sensitive Series · Rise & Realign: Conversations for the Sensitive Soul

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  Welcome to Rise and Realign, Conversations for
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  the Sensitive Soul. I'm Melissa, and this space
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  is for those of us who feel deeply, love fiercely,
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  and sense the world in ways that are hard to
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  explain but impossible to ignore. Here, we honor
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  your sensitivity as a strength. not something
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  to fix. Well, as I connect with my heart and
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  speak to you, whether we have the high sensitivity
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  trait or not, we're all so completely unique.
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  Even though 20 % of us are up to 30 % now, you
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  know, have this high sensitivity trait, this
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  depth of processing, right? This ability to see
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  more, hear more, you know, sense more. And that's
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  not just in our external environment, right?
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  Like it also is what's going on in our inner
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  world. You know, so many have, and again, this
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  is the way I view those of us with this trait,
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  this depth of caring, right? And when we understand
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  that, you know, a key part of the trait is this
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  depth of processing. So taking in more stimuli,
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  taking in more information, right? That's, you
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  know, energetically as well. And then you're
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  processing it more deeply throughout your system.
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  And so what naturally comes is this depth of
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  caring, right? And when you're somebody who has
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  felt pain so deeply within yourself, and you
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  have more mirror neurons, so then the empathy
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  that you're experiencing, right, may be more
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  intense as well. The idea of self -care is really
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  crucial to our well -being. So I didn't always
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  understand that. And I certainly, you know, became
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  a mom after years of fear and started out as,
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  I called myself an overprotective mom, right?
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  Like I would do anything to make sure. that my
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  children were safe. But as you see from even
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  my own experience, when we don't understand,
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  you know, how our nervous system is the communicating
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  aspect of this depth of processing, we don't
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  know how to care for it and we don't know how
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  to listen to it. because I definitely, you know,
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  I was high strung. I didn't see another way to
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  be in the world, you know, and fear really was
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  a strong driving force for a big portion of my
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  life. But as we come to understand that as highly
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  sensitive individuals right like we have a sensory
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  intelligence like it we're actually receiving
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  communication in our felt sense quickly sooner
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  than those who don't have this trait That is
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  how sensitive to subtleties we are. We're not
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  only sensitive to the subtleties in our environment
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  from an external perspective, we're also more
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  sensitive to the subtleties on the interceptive
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  level. So what's going on in our inner world.
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  And so that's really an important thing to know
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  because when we've been... you know, kind of
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  pushing through, you know, what life says you
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  need to do next, right? And ignoring or pushing
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  aside your own felt sense of, you know, is this
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  best for me right now? Or is this best for my
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  child right now? Right? Like, we end up a bit
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  disconnected from our true self and our true
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  path in the sense of what could feel more aligned
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  for us. And again, this is no fault of ours,
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  right? Each of us are born and then we have this
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  high sensitivity trait. Parents might not know
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  anything about it, especially for, you know,
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  any of you in the older years, because the research
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  didn't come out until the early nineties. But,
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  you know, It's important to know that slowing
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  down and really connecting with your breath and
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  your body helps you understand the communication
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  of your own nervous system, right? Like so important
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  to understand this depth of caring that we possess.
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  often has us giving and doing, right? Because
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  we care so much about others, but it's often
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  at the expense of ourselves. So I really want
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  to just, again, raise awareness to why you taking
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  care of you is number one. And again, when I'm
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  speaking from my heart, I'm doing so with no
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  judgment because, again, I've lived my own journey
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  and have done all kinds of different things before
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  I had this awareness, before I had, you know,
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  a spiritual awakening that showed me an even
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  broader perspective of our journey, you know,
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  of life. This is an invitation for you to bring
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  things back, you know, to you, to really start
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  every day, align with what is true and best for
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  you. What's really cool about being a highly
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  sensitive individual is our environment, right?
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  Those we're with and the environment that we're
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  in has such a strong positive influence on us.
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  Not only the negative, right? So when I say like
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  in the past, I learned, you know, watching the
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  news was not healthy for me. So I learned to
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  say, that's not for me, I will learn what I need
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  to know about in other ways. Because again, that
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  is just feeding fear in the way that news gets
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  presented in some places. The beautiful thing
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  is understanding that as highly sensitive individuals,
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  a positive environment, right? So being around
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  other loving, caring, kind individuals, that
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  has a huge impact on our felt experience and
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  therefore our life, right? And so when we think
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  about positive environments, like nature. Nature
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  is so healing, right? And it's peaceful. And
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  again, depending on where you are and what you're
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  doing, you know, because obviously you can go
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  into nature and be surrounded by a lot of people
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  that, you know, may not be your vibe. But that's
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  okay. Nature, I mean, Wide open spaces, going
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  for a hike, you know, in a forest or, you know,
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  relaxing at a beach or a lake. Like just knowing
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  that the more you bring yourself into natural
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  environments, you know, that helps your nervous
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  system to feel that sense of safety. you know,
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  or at least a sense of calmness or more relaxation,
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  right? And this is something that's really important
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  to understand. As highly sensitive individuals,
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  if we are only going to give time and attention
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  to ourself and relaxing here and there, that's
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  not going to be as supportive as making sure
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  we're tending to it. every day and I'm really
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  a big proponent of how you start your day is
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  how the rest of the day is going to unfold because
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  you know the moment we're waking up if we're
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  not choosing what to give our attention to then
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  yesterday's information right? We'll just come
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  gliding right back in and keeping us in the same
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  patterns. So I just really want you to know,
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  like, it's never too late. It's never too late
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  for us to learn this information. It's never
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  too late for us to start choosing ourselves and
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  still being kind and caring, right? Like, we
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  don't need to abandon ourselves, exclude ourselves.
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  um in any way so just know that if you sense
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  that you are a highly sensitive person right
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  you've got this depth of processing where you
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  notice more than most people right you um notice
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  that your nervous system right you might get
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  overwhelmed more quickly right you might be the
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  person who um you know needs to cry more because
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  again that's in response to an overwhelmed system
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  so you know there can be again that emotional
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  responsivity whether that's getting angry you
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  know whether that's um Just having a quick response
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  because of how your nervous system is attuning
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  to your environment. These things are important
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  to understand because when we don't address that
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  and care for ourselves, then these things, they
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  don't stop happening. They just become chronic.
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  And that's when we deal with more. more patterns,
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  right, that we really wish we could just get
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  a break from. And sometimes that's when people
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  may choose to use, you know, substances or some
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  other approach that is more of a short -term
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  band -aid, but it is not addressing, you know,
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  why it's happening to begin with. So I really,
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  really invite you to, you know, just take a moment,
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  you know, connect with your breath, connect with
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  your body, even just allowing your breath to
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  be what it is, but tuning into it and just noticing.
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  What is your breath doing? Is it moving slow
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  and deep? Do you feel a sense of flow moving
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  within you? Or were you holding your breath?
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  Are you feeling contracted? Right? Is your nervous
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  system bracing? You know, this is really important
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  to notice because having a more finely tuned
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  central nervous system, you know, again, it's
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  more responsive to your environment. It's more
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  responsive to how you're living. And we can make
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  different choices. And oftentimes, you know,
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  one small choice can have the biggest influence
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  on positive change. So I invite you to consider
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  You know, how often are you connecting with your
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  breath and making sure that you're inhaling through
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  your nose and then exhaling nice and slow out
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  your mouth? How often are you stepping outside
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  first thing in the morning to greet the day,
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  to see the sun? Whether the clouds are there
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  or not, believe me, you will still get the benefits.
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  The sun is so healing. But I invite you to consider,
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  you know, how do you start your day? I mean,
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  from the moment your consciousness comes back
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  into the form and you're aware that you're in
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  bed. What are the first things you are doing?
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  And how is that nurturing you? Because you deserve
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  love and kindness and care. And depending on
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  what you've lived through, That may not have
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  been how your mornings began. And we're all creatures
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  of habit. We all develop different coping mechanisms.
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  But it doesn't mean that it's good for us to
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  continue. You know, I remember times I was never
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  a morning person. School was not my favorite
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  place. It's actually a place where I experienced,
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  you know, the most anxiety. I almost didn't graduate
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  from high school because of how much school I
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  was missing because of gut issues. Of course,
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  back then, I did not know about the vagus nerve.
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  telling me um about the importance of slowing
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  my breathing right about nasal breathing about
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  slow exhale out my mouth to calm my nervous system
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  right doctors would give medication and order
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  all kinds of tests But we know a lot more these
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  days about what it means to be highly sensitive
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  and what naturally nourishes us, right? So I
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  really invite you to consider how the breath
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  is nourishing. Inhaling through your nose, you
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  know, you're oxygenating your body. You're hydrating
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  your body through inhaling through your nose.
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  And when you exhale out your mouth, that's signaling
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  to your nervous system that it's okay to relax.
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  It's okay. You're safe. You know, that's not
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  something that many of us felt. was true. To
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  feel safe. You know, that depth of processing
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  has us thinking about our experiences, right?
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  So we process our experiences more deeply and
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  it helps us prepare. for a future experience
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  so that we can make, quote unquote, a better
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  decision, right? But better is not a judgment
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  of the last experience, right? It's more of how
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  do I ensure the outcome or what I experience?
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  feels less intense, right? Less disruptive, less
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  uncomfortable, less painful. Again, this is an
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  innate survival strategy. So there's a lot of
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  strategizing in our everyday experiences. But
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  when that's been happening repeatedly, and we
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  don't... actually get to a place where we feel
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  that we can relax, that we feel safe, right?
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  That maybe we're staying on high alert because
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  we're afraid, right? We want to avoid any kind
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  of painful experiences because of the depth of
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  emotions that we feel. So again, I really invite
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  your reflecting, you know, how are you starting
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  each day so that you can come home to yourself
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  where you can feel loved, where you can feel
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  safe, where you can feel supported. And where
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  you can remember that you are not alone. So I
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  did reference this blog, Highly Sensitive Series,
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  and I certainly invite you to explore You know,
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  the first part. I'll put the link in the notes.
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  And I just want you to know that having walked
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  the path of a highly sensitive woman with health
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  challenges, anxiety, fear, miscarriages, you
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  know, traumatic births with children and just
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  having my life turned upside down to really help
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  me understand the gifts within being a highly
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  sensitive person. This truly is a sensory intelligence
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  and When we start tuning inward and developing
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  a relationship with ourself, so much can be transformed.
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  There really are infinite possibilities. So this
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  spring equinox, I'm opening a small intimate
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  spiral. of the realigned journey. And I'm hosting
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  a moment to pause and a space to inquire. If,
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  you know, any of what I'm sharing resonates with
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  you, you know, you're welcome to join and ask
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  any questions. Because being highly sensitive
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  has a lot of challenges, not only gifts and strengths
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  and superpowers, you know, there's a lot that
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  we've been carrying forward that has kept us
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  more in that stress response, more reactive to
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  life than creative. And being highly sensitive
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  individuals, there is absolutely enormous creativity
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  within you in a variety of ways, not one way.
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  We're all unique, right? But I would love for
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  you to join me and bring any questions. And I
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  will put the information in the show notes. But
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  you can always go to realignwithmelissa .com
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  slash links and you will see any of my offerings
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  there. So as a reminder, we're here together
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  to rise, reclaim, remember. Where the heart leads,
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  the body remembers, and the soul awakens. Before
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  we close, I invite you to return to your breath,
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  to your body, to what feels true for you right
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  now. There's nothing you need to fix. Just notice
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  what's here. So take good care of you. Much love
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  and light.