You are too sensitive. Don’t be so sensitive! Many people on the spiritual path have heard this criticism over and over again. It is usually meant as a put-down to someone who has a high sense of intuition and a sixth sense ‘knowing’. This comment is usually stated with disdain and contempt as a major flaw in an individual’s personality. In fact many lightworkers have heard these words, especially as children and it has caused them to close down this gift. “Toughen up..you need thicker skin”, usually follows as a comment quickly after to shame and dismiss the individuals’ perceptions.

Sensitives are usually quite gifted intuitive spirits as they pick up the less perceived sensations of life. Lightworkers on the planet have heard this comment a lot because they are generally trying to raise their vibrations as they evolve towards spiritual mastery. If you are on a conscious spiritual path you become more intuitive. Intuition, I believe, is God’s voice. To hear it you must be sensitive. Spirit speaks to us daily in quiet synchronistic whispers. Sensitives have the ability to perceive the subtle nuances of truth in the physical plane. Hopefully they pick these signals up, follow them and begin to connect to their soul’s conscious growth and begin to live more fulfilling and abundant lives.

Lightworkers, who are Spiritual teachers and healers, or those seeking truth, have a conscious plan to raise the vibration of the planet and bring in more positive qualities of kindness, goodness, love and compassion. They also have to balance the warring yin and yang energies that are on the planet. Yin, the more feminine principle is receptive, intuitive, nurturing and healing. Yang the more active principle is assertive, pioneering, instinctual and creative. When harmonious, these energies dance together manifesting birth and death, darkness and light. In conflict they create, evil, abuse, terror and chaos. You must have both energies co-creating to move toward wholeness in the physical realm.

As a psychotherapist and healer for the last ten years, I have noticed that sensitive people are often the ones who are emotionally abused by others. Their sensitivity is viewed as a weakness. Intuitive sensitives are sometimes the kinder spirits who fight for animals’ rights, want to spread peace or speak out against child abuse. Since they have been criticized for just being who they are, they often close down and lead sad isolated lives of denying emotions in their soul. The bullies and the abusers, entities that are heralding the dark energies, don’t want to lose their ego oriented existence, so they harass the sensitives so they can keep the veil of darkness alive. The ego thrives on chaos. The sensitives are here to pull the curtain back on the wizard, to reveal the trickster and shine a light on the darkness. Mother Earth and Father God are asking us to start speaking the truth to restore heaven on earth. It is the mission of many, you have heard the call, now it is time to honor your gift of sensitivity. Sensitive people will bring this planet towards a higher vibration. So we need the armies of sensitives to trust their guts, create their dreams, fulfill their missions and listen to the intuitive voice of God and not the abusive voice of the darkness. You were made sensitive for reason, be proud of it!

The universe is supporting you, but sensitives must protect themselves from the harsh energies on the planet. Here are some easy ways to do this.

1) Trust your Gut and start to believe the still small voice that is inside of you. Praise yourself when you intuit something and you were right. Always honor your spirit.

2) Speak your truth. Sensitives must not hold in their emotions. It becomes toxic to their bodies as negative feelings lay dormant in the body temple. Let out the negativity in constructive healing ways.

3) Protect yourself from negative energies. This can be removing toxic people from your life. Getting out of abusive relationships or situations. Trying to be more positive and inspiring to others instead of critical and pessimistic.

4) Meditate regularly, with grounding exercises. Meditation raises your vibrations and heightens your intuition. You begin to get stronger with your gut instincts and receive more messages on how to create your life purpose. As you live your life purpose, you feel less tired and depressed and more uplifted. Your sensitivity becomes a gift as you now have a focus and reason for being here.

5) Connect with God. Say prayers and ask God questions. What do you want me to learn today? What is the higher purpose of this? How can I serve? God likes to hear us speak to him/her. I believe he created us so she could see his/her own expression and become more inspired… so don’t leave him hanging!

6) Receive energy work. Reiki, pranic healing, acupuncture, or massage. Sensitives must work with their energies and remove toxins that build up in their energy fields. It is like a shower for your auric field. Sage and incense also clears energy in your home, since sensitives have a tendency to be psychic sponges, you need to remove the maladaptive energies. Don’t forget about getting into nature, a great energy clearer.

7) Find your life purpose. You are sensitive for one reason..to hear the source. God has a plan for everyone on this planet and it mostly coincides with yours. The more sensitive you are the more likely you have a heightened antennae to the source. Don’t cloud that transmission. Tune in to KGOD- Keep Good Open Dialogue. It’s a great Radio station that can help you feel fulfilled -. receive your daily inspirational messages.

Keep the Yin and Yang Balanced, especially the qualities of Gratitude and Forgiveness. Gratitude, puts you in a positive space to attract better outcomes. And like the Yin energy, pulls in better life outcomes. Forgiveness is about actively releasing negative energy. To give forth. The yang is about actively releasing stagnant emotions. Energy must be in balance for lightworkers and sensitives. There has to be a flow. Leave the swamps for the egoic alligators of the world. Stuck in their own muck.

With the light acceleration on the planet, sensitivity is absolutely necessary to listen and pull down the higher vibrations. These vibrations are full of light and love and of beautiful qualities .To be an open channel to divine expression, whether it be art, music, writing or inspiration you must be sensitive. So next time, someone criticizes you by saying, “You are so sensitive!” Say yes, I need to be to hear God’s voice, it is the quiet whisper on the planet and I don’t want to miss my loving instructions. Unlike you I don’t want to mute the sound! Okay you can be a little nicer than that, but they will get the point. Yes I am soo sensitive that I hear and live the truth. Much love and blessings lightworkers!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carolyn Coleridge, MSW, is a Spiritual Intuitive Counselor and Healer, with 10 years experience. She is available for Counseling Sessions, readings and healing work. She is a member of The Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP) and Healing Consultant @UCLA Pediatric Pain Clinic. Contact her at 323-954-6895 or visit her website at http://lavendarlite.tripod.com/.

As a sensitive soul, you face unique challenges in the world of work. Among these is standing out amongst the crowd, helping you to promote yourself. Regardless of how you work, whether for yourself or someone else, you must also find a unique niche or specialty that aligns with who you really are.

Unfortunately, many people fear that specializing will result in losing business or becoming less appealing to prospective employers. But what’s interesting about a niche is that it makes it easier for you to stand out, and to command higher rates of pay.

The key is to “get slightly famous,” as author Steven Van Yoder (http://www.getslightlyfamous.com/) recommends. When you position yourself as an expert in your specialty, people have a way to find you and will come to rely on your knowledge. For instance, among a sea of life coaches — with more and more appearing daily — I stand out as the “Life Coach for Sensitive Souls.”

You can discover your unique niche by combining your passions, talents, qualities, and life purpose. Don’t be afraid to create unusual or untested combinations of products and services. For example, I know an animal homeopath in Berkeley who has launched a natural pet store called “Holistic Hound.” (http://www.holistichound.com/) She has created a unique and successful business that’s tied into her values, talents, and passions.

As you consider these things, “don’t let your big buts stop you.” One of the tragic mistakes people make about career is to quickly rule out ideas because of their “Yeah, but” statements, before considering the notion. These may sound like, “Yeah, but I won’t make enough money,” or “Yeah, but I don’t have enough training.” I encourage you to put the buts aside for now and be open to possibilities.

To find your niche, consider these aspects:

1. Your Qualities, Values, and Needs
It’s critically important to know who you are. Most sensitives have spent many years trying not to be themselves, so we get downright confused about this issue. Make time to learn more about who you are, what makes you tick, and why you are special. Each of us has our own specific formula for feeling fulfilled. The formula’s ingredients are your own qualities, values, and needs.

Consider these questions broadly, not just focusing on careers:

• What is unique about me, both now and as a child?
• What do others love about me?
• What makes me feel happy?
• What’s most important to me?

The answers will point you toward your potential market — people like you or people who’d like to be like you.

2. Your Life Purpose
Another component is your life purpose. Remember that a specific career, vocation, or profession is simply one possible outlet for your life purpose. However, for sensitive souls to be optimally satisfied with work, our careers must be tied to our purpose.

Identifying your purpose can seem daunting. A guiding principle I use is that if it feels over-reaching or humbling, you are on the right track. In other words, if you are thinking, “It would be incredible to achieve something like that, but there’s no way that I’m the one to do it,” you’ve most likely hit it.

To begin to identify your life purpose, consider these questions:

• What great obstacle(s) have I overcome in my life?
• What troubled me most about myself as a child?
• How am I naturally drawn to help others?
• What do I feel most called to learn?

The answers will lead you toward who you might work with — people who are dealing with similar life issues.

3. Your Talents
Your talents are the natural, innate skills you excel with. They reach beyond the traditional work setting, and can inform you about possible specialties. Having a sense of what you are capable of gives you confidence to pursue your true work. We are also drawn to areas we naturally have an aptitude for, by our inclinations and longings. Go ahead and include the talents you long to use, as well as your already developed strengths. They will point you toward places you can grow into.

Again, as you consider these questions, stay broad-brushed:

• What am I good at?
• What do others acknowledge me for?
• In my most pleasurable life experiences, what talents was I using?
• What talents do I long to have?

Your talents will guide you toward specific ways you might specialize.

4. Your Passions
When sensitive souls try to do work that lacks meaning for them, they become sick or despondent. Finding meaningful work is the key to shifting toward a satisfying and healthy life. Focus on getting in touch with what you care deeply about — what you’re drawn to and what you love. These will be clues about your passions.

Consider these questions:

• What do I love?
• What excites me?
• What injustices in the world do I believe must be corrected?

Your passions will help you identify possible niches.

5. Pull the Pieces Together
Finally, brainstorm about possible combinations of your qualities, purpose, talents, and passions, to discover potential niches.

For example, as someone who is passionate about personal development and growth, I knew I wanted to be a coach. But I wasn’t clear about whom my clients would be until I started examining who I am and the issues I had struggled with as a child — being highly sensitive and not fitting in! The concept of working with sensitive souls then fell quickly into place.

Or, if you are an artist, look at what you are passionate about as a way to focus your art. Heather O’Neill of Angels By Heather (http://www.angelsbyheather.com/) has done just that. Her market is people who admire her qualities, and are drawn to the ethereal realms she has a natural connection to.

The key is to be creative, unusual, and willing to explore. Pull all of the pieces together and see what you discover.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Information:
Copyright 2006, Jennifer Avery, All rights reserved.
Originally published June 2, 2006 in The Art of Sensitive Living E-zine.

Jenna Avery is a highly sensitive coach and intuitive who offers an original coaching program called Embrace Your Essential Self, designed to guide sensitive souls to find a deep sense of inner rightness within themselves so they are inspired to step forward and shine. Jenna is a Certified Life Coach based in Berkeley, California. She can be reached at 510.981.0697. You’re invited to take her free online assessment: “Is Your Sensitivity Working For You?” on her website at http://www.highlysensitivesouls.com/.

Being a Highly Sensitive Person herself, Jane offers:

Animal Communication (a custom blend of active listening, telepathy, & gentle coaching); and Energy Healing (another custom blend of techniques including Healing Touch for Animals & master-level Reiki) to assist animals and people to resolve issues that sometimes arise in their relationship. The dialog and energy healing have consistently fostered a deeper understanding and bond between animals and their people.

~*~*~

Jane lives in Laurel, MD (Washington, DC Metro area), frequently travels to Chicago, and predominately offers her services via distance (connecting energetically and following up by email and/or phone). For more information, please see:

Websites: holistichealthpractice.net (under practitioners & staff); and/or animalfriendforever.com
Email: jbsmith@holistichealthpractice.net

~*~*~

Sharon is located just outside of Louisville, Kentucky. You may reach Sharon at 502-541-3106 or on her website at http://www.thegiftlifecoach.net to arrange for an initial get acquainted session.

Body Well-Being Sessions
Energy balancing for relaxation, stress reduction and rejuvenation
Essential oils for health

Personal Coaching
Assistance in achieving goals: put your energy behind your heart’s desires

Counseling: Body-Oriented
In-depth work with and exploration of life issues: body, psyche and soul

Spiritual Healing
Major transitions, birth and death, passages, ritual planning, space clearing

Family Constellations
See and understand how hidden family dynamics are behind unresolved life issues

~*~*~

Mary Kay is located in Silver Spring, Maryland. You may reach Mary Kay at 301-648-2836 or through her website at http://www.marykayparkinson.com to arrange for a free initial 30 minute get-acquainted session.

Regardless of the modality, my work with HSP clients is always geared toward creating tools and treatments adapted to the individual that optimize their own capacity to fully embrace their passions, creativity & relationships.

~*~*~

Deborah is located in Portland, Oregon (SW Portland, Multnomah Village/Hillsdale) and may be contacted at: http://www.selfawarenesscounseling.com or (503)729-9662.

* Manage your stress…
* Resolve conflict in a relationship…
* Feel happier and more confident…

Change is so much easier with support!

Counselling can help you resolve uncomfortable feelings and create a more peaceful, joyous way of being in the world.

I am a fellow HSP and use a holistic approach that incorporates the mind, body, emotions, and spirit, helping you have more access to your own inner strength and wisdom.

I love supporting people in their healing and growth, and I look forward to hearing from you.

~*~*~

Tamara is located in Victoria, BC, Canada, and works by phone, e-mail, and in person. To book a free 20-minute consultation, call 1 (888) 504-4111 or visit www.inessencecounselling.com.

I am an HSP with an HSP husband and two HSP children!

I’m devoted to the study of sensitivity and creativity and ways of bringing our gifts to the world. My passion is to educate HSPs about their brain, coach them in optimizing this exquisite mind, body, spirit — and get them back in the world at full capacity as parents, partners, workers, and artists.

The foundation of my psychotherapy work is Mindfulness — using mindfulness to interrupt our automatic patterns and then working with and beyond those patterns to heal and grow. I look forward to connecting with you!

~*~*~

Catherine is located in Seattle, Washington and offers her work by e-mail, phone, and in person. You may reach her at (206) 715-0831 or through her website at http://www.CatherineFollett.com.

Please call 802-224-6295 (Eastern Standard Time) to arrange an initial appointment for consultation and connection.

Cost of sessions: $40/30min, $65/hour, $90/90min
(Other types of energy exchange options may also be possible.)