[LISA LEWIS]: The Am I Ok? Podcast is part of the Practice of the Practice network, a network of podcasts seeking to help you market and grow your business and yourself. To hear other podcasts like Faith Fringes, the Holistic Counseling Podcast, and Beta Male Revolution, go to the website, www.practiceofthepractice.com/network. Welcome to the Am I Ok? Podcast, where you will discover that being highly sensitive is something to embrace and it’s actually a gift you bring to the world. We will learn together how to take ownership of your high sensitivity, so you can make positive changes in your life, in the lives of others, and it’s totally okay to feel this way. I’m your host, Lisa Lewis. I’m so glad you’re here for the journey. Welcome to today’s episode of the Am I Ok? Podcast. I’m your host, Lisa Lewis. Thank you so much for tuning in. I would like to remind my listeners that I offer a free eight-week email course titled Highly Sensitive People. My email course provides weekly tools that help you feel more whole in a world isn’t exactly made for us and I show you how your sensitivity can be seen as a unique gift and how many others are just like you. To find out more about my email course. Please go to my website, amiokpodcast.com. The month of March, I am focusing on spring and spring is about new awakenings, awakening to new insights about yourself, whether that is through therapy with a licensed mental health professional, a life coach, a mentor, physical trainer, nutritionist, health coach. I like spring out of all the seasons because I feel there’s so much growth to be discovered with new things being born and reborn, just like the trees. Trees grow new leaves each year, the buds that are underground during the winter and they start to grow out of the ground by the warming of the earth, just to bloom into beautiful flowers. And bees are attracted to all the new flowers and there are more bugs in the outdoors flying around, which can be annoying. There are longer days and warmer days out in California where I live. We have spring ahead, fall back as far as the time change. So springing into something new, to feel more hopeful, invigorated, and excited. What do you want to awaken in yourself this spring, a new job, a new relationship, a new way to understand yourself, more happiness, better mental and physical health, all of the above? So let’s look at a new way for your voice to be heard as a highly sensitive person. You may be asking, what do I mean by that? Let’s take a look. Your voice as a highly sensitive person needs to be heard just as much as anyone else. HSPs can often be the quiet ones in a large setting of people due to overstimulation of noises, lights, too many people, and that shuts down our nervous system. Then when we get over stimulated like that, usually the first thing we want to do is get out of that place as fast as possible. So don’t let quietness be mistaken for timidness. HSPs take time to think before they speak whereas non-HSPs and people who consider themselves extroverted tend to think out loud. It’s common to hear extroverts talk out loud their thought process. For example, an extrovert would say, “I like to work in person because I get energized by seeing and talking to people,” whereas an HSP would say, “I prefer to work at home where I can take time to myself to recharge.” I do like being and talking to people in person, however, with a set amount of time working in a big workspace, let’s say in cubicles makes HSPs feel exposed. They can feel naked and they have nothing to push against. People can talk and look at them at any time. HSPs prefer to have their own office space with four walls and a door where people would need to knock on the door to talk to the HSP. It’s about providing HSPs with physical space and time with boundaries, where they have control over their environment, which helps control or maintain their feelings of safety inside their body and mind. Doesn’t that feel a lot better. It all comes back to voicing our needs as HSPs to make our environments better for us to live and to work in, teaching and communicating our needs that others may not understand or want to understand. Stay firm and true to your needs, whether people believe you or not. In the United States, extroversion is definitely seen as positive and rewarded in many ways through job promotions, easier to make friends, maybe more well liked, because it’s easier to make friends and have more friends. They’re funny, they are life of the party. Introversion is not as accepted here in the US. To give you some statistics, 15 to 20% of the population are HSPs and out of that percentage, 30% are extroverted. Then that leaves 70% introverted. Some of the best places to live for HSPs is Canada, Australia, Iceland, England. So if you’re living in that country, you may agree with that. I would love to hear your feedback. When HSPs take time to notice before they speak people notice and listen to them. This is true for me. When I was taking a group class about 10 years ago for personal self growth, and this is when I was just starting out on my own healing process, I remember the group I was in there was at least 20 to 25 people. I was so nervous and uncomfortable to share anything about myself in this group, whether it was personal or not. It was easier for me to speak in a smaller breakout group, about five to six people. But what I noticed and was reflected back to me in both the large and small groups is when I spoke people stopped to listen to me because I rarely shared anything about myself. When I spoke, it was evident that I had taken a lot of time to formulate what I wanted to say because I would share deep thoughts and feelings. People would be blown away by what I said. I’m sharing this with you, not to brag about myself, but to point out that HSPs have profound things to share with others. It doesn’t always come easy for them to do that. Your voice needs to be heard as an HSP. Take as much time as you need before you speak or to make a decision. The world needs to hear you HSPs. We are listening. Thank you for tuning in today. Please let me know what you thought of the episode. Send me an email to lisa@amiokpodcast.com. And remember to subscribe, rate and review wherever you get your podcast. To find out more about highly sensitive persons, please visit my website at amiokpodcast.com. Subscribe to my free eight-week email course to help you navigate your own sensitivities and to show you that it’s okay not to take on everyone else’s problems. This is Lisa Lewis reminding each and every one of you that you are okay. Until next time be well. Thank you for listening today at Am I Ok? Podcast. If you are loving the show, please rate, review and subscribe to it on your favorite podcast platform. Also, if you’d like to learn how to manage situations as a highly sensitive person, discover your unique gift as a highly sensitive person, and learn how to be comfortable in your own skin, I offer a free eight-week email course called Highly Sensitive People. Just go to amiokpodcast.com to sign up. In addition, I love hearing from my listeners, drop me an email to let me know what is on your mind. You can reach me at lisa@amiokpodcast.com. This podcast is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regards to the subject matter covered. It is given with the understanding that neither the host, the publisher, or the guests are rendering legal, accounting, clinical, or any other professional information. If you want to professional, you should find one.