Are You a Highly Sensitive Eater?
Are you a sensitive soul?
About 20% of the population fall into the category that research psychologist and author, Elaine Aron, calls “High Sensitivity” or being a “Highly Sensitive Person.”
According to Aron, these sensitive souls align with the following 4 characteristics:
#1. Depth of Processing
natural tendency to reflect deeply on life
rich inner and spiritual life
high levels of creativity and intuition
deep empathy
indecision, getting overwhelmed trying to make the “right” decision
over-thinking, may lead to holding back in life
often feeling “too intense” or “too deep”
#2. ‘Overarousability’
champion of SLOW
lots of body signals that give helpful information
does best focusing on one thing at a time
can quickly reach overwhelm with too much going on
chronic state of “fight or flight” response
difficult time w/change of any kind
#3. Emotional Intensity
incredible compassion
prone to strong positive emotions that can often feel euphoric
emotional leadership
depth of heavy emotions
internalizing emotions, tendency toward addiction
self-judgment about sensitivity being ‘weak’
#4. Sensory Sensitivity
strong gut feelings and intuition
naturally picking up the richness sensory details provide
knowing when something doesn’t feel right
deep lovers of music, dance, art, Nature, beauty in all its forms
sensitive to medication, alcohol, and caffeine
overwhelm by strong smells, sounds, etc,
when unaware of all the sensory processing going on can lead to “checking out”
You can see each characteristic brings benefits and challenges. There are many others I have not included. You can read more by checking out Elaine Aron’s work (where I gathered much of the above information for you).
It’s important to note that this is a 100% neutral trait. It is simply the way your organism, your body & nervous system, process information and stimuli.
High Sensitivity is a trait that both extraverts and introverts share, although more introverts than extroverts have this trait.
Even if you are among the 80% of “hardier” constitutions, I encourage you to keep reading as we explore today’s topic…