17 Ways to Handle Being an Extremely Sensitive Person

“The people who are sensitive in life may suffer much more than those who are insensitive; but if they understand and go beyond their suffering they will discover extraordinary things.”

Jiddu Krishnamurti, Think on These Things

You may notice yourself feeling especially affected by violence, cruelty, racism, prejudice, wars or the negative emotions of people around you.

Extremely sensitive people are known as empaths. 

If you are a highly sensitive person, you have to become strong enough to handle your sensitivity or you may find yourself becoming physically, mentally or spiritually sick. 

I understand this predicament very well myself.

Being a medical intuitive healer, I am able to feel the pain other people feel, see incidents from their past and present, hear unkind words that have been spoken to them and know why, how and where they are suffering.

I could not do what I do unless I was exquisitely sensitive.

In the past, processing this tremendous amount of energy and emotion overwhelmed me. 

I experienced physical, mental and spiritual pain as a result.

Indeed I have spent decades learning how to function while also using my sensitivity for the benefit of myself and others.

If you recognize that you are also a highly sensitive person here are a few suggestions how you can handle your sensitivity better:

1. Ground yourself to the earth.
2. Recognize that all living beings have free will.
3. Understand that you can not know another person’s spiritual path.
4. Be the lighthouse.
5. Connect to spirit throughout the day.
6. Let go of perceived wrongs.
7. Set your intention to serve God for the highest good of all.
8. Listen to your angels daily.
9. Cocoon yourself.
10. Recognize that everyone and everything including you has a shadow.
11. Choose to live in the light.
12. Recognize when you are operating out of your pain body.
13. Repeat forgiveness mantras.
14. Clear your energy regularly.
15. Be the space that love flows through.
16. Be still and know that I am God.
17. Invoke the shield of Archangel Michael.

Ground yourself to the earth. When you are grounded, you are connected to your body and deeply rooted into the earth itself. Think of a tree. A tree that has strong roots can sway in the wind. When you are not grounded to the earth or deeply connected to your body, your energy and emotions may shift from moment to moment depending on what other people are feeling around you. Spend time in nature. Walk barefoot. In meditation visualize yourself as a tree and imagine growing deep roots.

Recognize that all living beings have free will. I recall years ago there was a drought in Atlanta one summer. I literally felt all the trees and shrubs dying. It was a very hard summer for me. At the end of the summer, I consulted a few spiritual friends and they reminded me that all living beings have free will. When we think of the precious souls who lost their lives in the twin towers on 9/11, we have to remind ourselves that perhaps their souls chose to make the journey that day. Allow all living beings around you to follow their own soul path.

Understand that you can not know another person’s spiritual path. Because your soul journey is different from mine, it’s not my place to judge how you are living your life. The more we can trust other people’s spiritual path, the more  peace we can find inside ourselves. There is nothing to fix, correct, preach about, warn against or prohibit. Other people are simply living out their own karma just as you are living yours.

Be the lighthouse. As you practice grounding yourself to the earth, you can shine your light so that other people can find their way. Don’t go in and out with the tide. Don’t go up and down with other people’s emotions. Just stay steady in yourself and shine from the depths of your soul, being the best you that you can be. Your example will speak more strongly than any words you can ever speak.

Connect to spirit  throughout the day. Because you are a soul having a human experience, if you take your time to connect with your soul throughout your day – saying little prayers, taking time to meditate for a few minutes here and there – you can stay out of the tumult of other people’s energy and emotions. You can read my article about The Inner Habit of Prayer at this link.

Let go of perceived wrongs – both those done supposedly against you or others. Recognize when you perceive something as “wrong” you are going into judgment. Trust me, I can recall once seeing an image on social media of extreme animal abuse that took me a week of meditation to get over. It’s so easy to fall into labeling everything and everyone around us as “right” or “wrong,” “good” or “bad.” Once again, I may not understand the soul agreements people have with each other, why this person abused that other person, why this person thinks they can get away with lying, cheating or stealing. And I don’t have to understand anything. I can simply choose to stop labeling everything and everyone and by doing so stay out of the suffering. 

Set your intention to serve God for the highest good. When you set your intention to align your will with divine will, you can trust that everything that happens is for not only your own highest good but the benefit of all living beings around you. It may be days, weeks or even years later before any of it makes sense to you. You get your ego mind out of the way and allow your soul to be divinely guided.

Listen to your angels daily. You have a team of angels who have been with you since the day you were born. They love you unconditionally. They understand your soul purpose. They are here to help guide you and protect you. As you learn how to communicate with your angels, you can ask for help when you think you need it and will be sure to receive it.

Cocoon yourself daily. Years ago, I wrote an article explaining how to protect your energy field. You can read the article at this link. Here’s the short version. Every morning when you open your eyes, visualize the white light of protection all the way around you. Around this sphere of white light, visualize the blue light of healing. Around the sphere of blue light, visualize the golden light of transformation. As you cocoon yourself daily, you will notice yourself less bothered by the energy and emotions  and even environmental stress fluctuating around you.

Recognize that everyone and everything including you  has a shadow. Because you and other people around you are human beings, we all have an ego. The negative aspect of our ego is called your shadow. You can read an article I wrote about how not to be ruled by your shadow at this link.When you remember that we all have a shadow, you can be more compassionate when other people operate more from their shadow and less from their own soul. 

Choose to live in the light. Carl Jung said it simply – the only way to live in the light is to know where your shadow is. As you compassionately understand your own shadow and recognize when other people are operating from their shadow selves, you can make a conscious choice to live from the light of your own soul. 

Recognize when you are operating out of your pain body. Your pain body is the part of your energy field where you store physical pain and emotional suffering. Just like your shadow, trust me, you have one. You are living from your pain body when you focus your mind on everything that hurts – and I’m talking physically, mentally or spiritually. Although we all go there sometimes, you don’t want to live out of your pain body because you simply became a magnet resonating with all the pain all around you. Rather than helping yourself or others, the more you focus on your own pain or the suffering of others, the more the pain simply expands.

Repeat forgiveness mantras. I have written numerous articles explaining how to use forgiveness mantras. You can read these articles at this link, another one at this link and yet another one at this other link. When you recognize you have gone into judgment against yourself or another person, organization, country or institution, you can begin to clear the negativity between you by repeating forgiveness mantras. And how often should you forgive? If you read the Bible at all, you may recall that Jesus said 70 times 7. In other words, never stop forgiving. Just like vacuuming your house, you are never totally done.

Clear your energy regularly. Whenever you notice yourself weighed down by pain and suffering, you can clear your energy. A simple way to do this is to rub your hands together, gathering chi, then pass your hands over your head, setting your intention to clear your energy. I use this silent prayer: “I clear my energy in the name of God, the Father, Jesus, the Son, and in the name of the Holy Ghost.” As you clear your energy release any unwanted negativity.

Be the space that love flows through. Years ago I had the privilege of taking not just one but two yoga teacher trainings with Erich Schiffman. One of Erich’s favorite sayings was, “Be the space that love flows through. It’s good for others and good for you.” I also like to use the affirmation, “Nothing comes in and nothing goes out except unconditional love.” If all you ever give or receive is unconditional love, you are not just good you are wonderful!

Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10, “He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’” When you feel overwhelmed by energy and emotions, simply take time to be still and feel your deep connection with the God within. 

Invoke the shield of Archangel Michael. When I was writing my 10th book, Reading the Soul, I woke up every morning and prayed and meditated with Archangel Michael. By meditating with Archangel Michael, I was able to write this book in a month – the fastest book I have ever written! This archangel is known as the leader of all angels. You can visualize his shining sword, surround yourself with his cobalt blue healing light and visualize his shield all around you. 

Are you an extremely sensitive person? 

As you take time throughout your day to practice shielding your own energy and staying out of pain and suffering, you can maintain your inner peace while using your sensitivity to discern what’s really going on with the world around you.

In so doing, you will feel less fragile, more centered and better capable of using your innate sensitivity as a useful tool.

Of course, there are many other methods of shielding your energy. 

When I am working with clients, I can identify which methods will work best for you. 

What is healing? Healing happens when you learn to ground and shield your energy.

To set up an appointment for a medical intuitive reading or healing work, please email catherine@catherinecarrigan or call 678-612-8816. If you are calling internationally, please call me at the same number through WhatsApp so I can return your call toll free!