I have been wanting to write this post for a while! I would consider myself a HIGHLY sensitive person and I have lots of stories to prove it lol.
Storytime:
Nevermind the fact that I can feel the vibration coming off crystals (I know a lot of sensitive people can feel a physical vibration from crystals)…I also will feel strange sensations during reiki treatments.
I went for a reiki session once and while she was working on me I would feel this pricking sensation on my fingers and toes and would kinda move my hands and feet because it was so uncomfortable (I was face-down on a massage table with my eyes closed so I couldn’t see what she was doing).
Afterwards, the practitioner said that whenever she would hover over my fingers and toes I would move them and I was like “ya because they were prickly!”.
So I was basically able to feel the reiki energy going into my hands/feet (I guess this is proof that reiki is legit?!).
There have been other times where I will feel the energy from crystals…or feel the EMF waves from technology. If I hold my phone too long I feel this light vibration coming off of it that vibrates down my arm 😳.
So…how do I survive?! How do I manage as a highly sensitive person in this crazy…crazy world…
This is how we do it:
1. Magnesium oil / swimming in the ocean / salt baths
I’m putting this first because it combines multiple calming methods into one: “grounding” and “minerals”.
- Swimming in the ocean
When I was in Mexico for 6 months, I found that the days I spent long periods in the ocean was when I would have the deepest sleep.
I felt this deep calmness in my body like I had taken an anti-anxiety pill and like my energy field had been cleansed.
Think about it…if you can cleanse crystals with salt water…why not your own energy field? (by the way…when I was in Mexico a shaman showed me how to cleanse heavy energy from obsidian by soaking it in salt water! So…there’s something about salt water and cleaning energy I think…)
Note: I find that I need to be swimming in salt water for 30-40 minutes to get optimal relaxing effects.
- Magnesium spray
If you can’t swim in the ocean everyday, then magnesium spray (or lotion) can be a good replacement.
I grabbed a bottle of magnesium oil from a shop in Mexico City (this was the brand). It was magnesium chloride hexahydrate and was only 6 dollars for a big spray bottle!
I will spray it liberally on my legs and arms before bed. It honestly kind of stings…sometimes it really stings when you just shaved your legs 🤫 (salt water would also sting if you just shaved) but it goes away after a few minutes.
I swear, I have the deepest sleep and will even feel the calming affects well into the next day.
I learned about magnesium lotion/oil from another blogger named KikiMancy. She has a lot of resources on calming down your nervous system and her advice really does work.
- Sea salt bath
You could also replace the ocean experience with a sea salt bath or a bath with magnesium flakes. I’ve never tried the magnesium flakes, but I find bathing in salt water not only makes you more calm, but it kind of…scrubs your energy field of any darkness 🙏🏻.
Here is a podcast episode on the importance of salt and minerals. The host talks about taking large amounts of magnesium chloride at the recommendation of his shaman because your mineral levels can have an affect on your “energetic body” and your body’s electrical charge. It’s really interesting!
And in my experience, minerals and salt really do make your energy field stronger.
They also talked about certain waters (like San Pellegrino) being really good for supplementing minerals as well as raw spinach. My guides push me to eat spinach ALL the time (and green veggies in general) I think because of the mineral content.
It could also be beneficial to supplement with magnesium pills. I’ve started taking this magnesium bisglycinate at the recommendation of @nutrition.elements (she’s a naturopath on Instagram and is very knowledgable about magnesium!).
2. Centering meditation on a daily basis
This is the bedrock of your highly sensitive person survival. If you haven’t already, read my post that outlines my meditation routine.
***I also wrote a book: “Heart-Focused Meditation” which goes in depth on how to connect deeply to your heart space which, IMO, is the best form of meditation you can do.
When I do heart-focused meditation I will start seeing angel numbers everywhere (1111, 2222, 3333 etc…), I will run into soulmates, channeling will become clearer. It’s very powerful 😮.
And I don’t mean meditate for 5 minutes on a mindfulness app. I mean at least 20 minutes straight! The energy you “go into” becomes sticky when you do it for that long, this is why you need to do it for 20-30 minutes to feel good for the rest of the day.
I could go on and on about the magical things that manifest in your reality when you’re meditating regularly (meditating in a deep way). You really do become “magnetic”.
Aside from changing your reality, meditation helps with sensitivity because it trains you to feel safe in your body.
Highly sensitive people NEED to meditate to protect themselves. After doing it for awhile (a week or so), your nervous system will reach a new level of calmness. It’s so key 🙏🏻.
3. Stay hot
No, this isn’t 2006 and I am not Paris Hilton lol. I really mean stay hot!
When I am in a country with a really hot climate, I notice a difference in the people there. They walk a little slower, they’re looking around, saying hello to each other, they’re just in a more relaxed state.
Compare this to countries like Canada, Russia, Norway…the temperature is cold so the people are cold too, more serious and uptight.
I really noticed when I came back from Mexico, people in Canada walk in a very hurried, uptight way and they keep to themselves.
Being in the cold, I feel, activates a survival switch in the brain. It’s like you don’t have the energy to be friendly, so of course you won’t do it.
When you can’t be in a hot climate, you need to prioritize your temperature levels. One of the best ways to warm yourself up is to sleep with a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel at your feet.
In the olden times 😋 people used to sleep with a pot of hot water at the foot of their bed. I find keeping your feet warm is the best way to heat up your whole body.
I will drink tea sometimes, but it only helps while I’m drinking it, afterwards I’m back to shivering 🥶.
I would imagine that hot baths and saunas would be good to heat up your body, but I don’t have access to a sauna or bathtub right now.
I would also recommend that you simply invest in warm clothes. Super warm socks, fleece sweaters, comfy fleece pants.
Also…sunbathing! Sitting under the sun for a few hours not only nourishes your spirit body by connecting you to the quantum field (see my “healing” highlight on Instagram for the message I received in my dream about that…) but it calms your nerves too 🙂.
4. Avoid sugar…caffeine…alcohol…you know…
You’ve definitely heard this before, but avoid high amounts of sugar, caffeine and alcohol.
I think small amounts are 100% ok but for example…if you have a donut for breakfast…a milkshake at lunch and ice cream cake for dessert, your body is going to be buzzing from the sugar!
I find I feel really anxious when I eat too much sugar. I control this by eating sugar in moderation (even fruit) and sticking with blood sugar balancing foods…whole grains…veggies…beans…meat…nuts.
I feel so calm when I barely eat any sugar and stick with savory foods. Same goes with caffeine and alcohol (although the anxiety from alcohol happens more the next day rather than while I’m drinking it).
Also kind of a random suggestion, but I find when I eat sharp foods, like really crusty bread or tortilla chips, I will have a very light sleep and my heart will pound harder. I am convinced it’s because the food is scraping my digestive tract and irritating my nerves (remember how sensitive I am?!)
If you’ve ever done a juice or smoothie cleanse, you will see how calm you feel when there isn’t anything in your digestive tract irritating you.
So…be careful with tortilla chips and other sharp food items lol ask an adult.
5. Stop doom scrolling
My guides are always on me about this. Phone use, like sugar, needs to be in moderation especially if you are a highly sensitive person.
Scrolling for long periods can activate an adrenaline circuit in your body and that adrenaline can make you feel kinda anxious and unfocused. Remember, adrenaline is a chemical!
Do not release this adrenaline! I got a one year subscription to this app called Freedom that lets me block certain apps on my phone (Twitter, Instagram etc…).
The blocking session will run a full 24 hours and then when it ends, I will hop on my apps, post what I need to post, respond to messages and then start another 24 hour session.
Just a note…anything that releases adrenaline can be overwhelming for a highly sensitive person. So this includes addictive activities (you could be addicted to video games…online shopping…gambling…online dating apps…anything that gets your heart racing).
I swear that it’s those days where I don’t look at a screen at all where I feel so calm…so grounded and so spiritually attuned.
I’m convinced that if I spent a week out in the wilderness with no screens, I would be channeling louder and clearer than I ever had.
6. Be SUPER careful with supplements / healing tools
Remember you’re a highly sensitive person with HSP traits…this means that you can’t just take the typical health advice.
If you see people online doing parasite cleanses…or using electrical devices to ground their energy or micro-dosing mushrooms…proceed with caution.
It’s not that your health isn’t as good as theirs, it’s just that you will experience more intense physical and mental sensations from whatever supplement they are taking or healing practice they are engaging in.
I find that I need to be cautious with herbs and detoxing because some of them will let off a toxic substance that makes my nerves go cookoo (I don’t mean herbs like peppermint and lavender, I mean detoxifying herbs like wormwood).
Also, I found that when I first started taking CBD oil, I felt great, but then overtime I started to feel wired from it. My nerves would get shaky whenever I would take it, not sure why, maybe it’s one of those things that should only be taken for a short period.
Also, I tried using a grounding mat for a while but I felt that there was an electric energy coming from it that was too strong for me (sorry, I really am sensitive!). So I had to return it.
Also…you already know certain crystals can be too overwhelming for me. I tend to get too ungrounded from amethyst, blue calcite and any crystal that opens the crown and third eye.
I am ok with it for a week or so, but then I get “too open” up there and I have to put it away. I guess this is more of an issue of chakra balancing than being sensitive, but…maybe some other HSPs have the same issue?
When I see people with the giant amethysts in their house I’m like, how?! That would send me through the roof 😅.
In Conclusion…
So those are my go-to tips for staying calm as a highly sensitive person. I have learned that I feel most calm in super hot climates…magnesium oil/swimming in the ocean really is comparable to taking a sleeping pill for me…and I need to not go overboard with phone use 👌.
If I could recommend one thing from the list…it’s the magnesium spray! You seriously have to try it 😭.
