​​STRATEGIES.  As sensitive people, we must take charge of our health, and that includes creating workplaces where we can thrive.  

Here are some ideas that can get you started:

1. Take time to listen to that quiet voice deep inside - your gut feelings. Even if it's 1 minute first thing in the morning, 5 minutes for a breathing-break at lunch, or 8 minutes at your 10-minute break, do it regularly. As you listen regularly, this voice will become louder, consistent, and dependable. 
2. Learn ways to share your intuition. It may be with an open-minded colleague at first, but it's important to get started. This shows your intuitive self that you honor and trust it, so the information will continue to flow to you.
3. When you are questioned about your intuitive hits, don't back down. Explain that it's a hunch, and will not be qualifiable in the typical ways - yet. Stick by it! Believe in the genius of it.
4. Give an example of when someone used an intuitive sense that turned into a profitable venture, like Steve Jobs, the renowned cofounder of Apple Computers. When I read his quote to the right, it seems to me that he always felt different, like a "round peg in a square hole", a misfit, a troublemaker, a rebel. And look at what his tuition created for the world! He had ideas and saw things that most other people didn't; he clearly was a sensitive person. He was highly intuitive and followed that information. He left this earth as one of the greatest geniuses of all time.
5. And most importantly, support your intuition - take your rest breaks and lunches. You are entitled to them - by law. Schedule down time regularly through your day. You can go out to your car during lunch, or sit under an oak tree and soak in the quieter surroundings. Sneak into an unoccupied conference room, close the door, and take a break. Whatever you need to do to get space, and have quiet alone time each day - do it!
6. Take vacations - they are given to you to rejuvenate. This is vitally important self-care to keep you balanced and thriving. Without it, it'll be much harder to tap that intuition and bring it into the world. 
7. Trust yourself. Trust your gut. It won't let you down.

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​And if you've tried all of these ideas, and find that your workplace continues to be too stressful, you may need to create a better job! 

As a teenager growing up in an alcoholic home, I never learned to relax. With seven (7) brothers and sisters running around the house on a Saturday morning, I used to think "Ugh, can't it just be quiet!" By the time I graduated college, I began to experience anxiety attacks. The normal stress of being a teenager, going to college, and approaching graduating had taken a toll on my physical body.

However, I thought it was emotional, you know, the stress of graduating and going out on my own to find a job. So I did therapy and saw a doctor, leaving with a prescription of muscle relaxers to keep from hyperventilating, and prescription antacids to calm my stomach. After several years of therapy, changing my thinking, taking these prescriptions, and gaining confidence in my new life, I stopped the xanax (with many unpleasant and weird withdrawal symptoms.)

Yet, I have struggled with anxiety my entire life. I did biofeedback (highly recommend) to help me learn how to relax. Yet there were times when the anxiety seemed to just take over. I wasn't aware of having a thought or worry that caused it, but I felt like my body pumped up my heart rate and adrenaline for no reason. 

Five (5) years ago, I joined Food Addictions Anonymous (FA) for two (2) years to eliminate flour, sugar, and alcohol. I felt so much better and lost my excess weight. Yet I still felt craving on a physical level. I wasn't sure why. The rigidity of the FA program, which called for you to follow someone else's guidelines instead of your body's needs, also left me feeling like there had to be a better way. So my search led me to work with a spiritual health coach.

This decision began my journey into the mineral world. At first, I didn't want to do anything that had to do with taking vitamins or supplements. I had tried them many times based on recommendations from professionals, and it didn't feel helpful. So it took me several months of coaching to be open to getting a mineral test. 

Once I did, I really started to get heal.

Minerals ground our bodies. When important minerals are too low or too high - out of balance - our bodies experience physical highs and lows. Since each person is an experiment of one (we all eat, think, move, drink, medicate, and rest differently), it's important to listen closely to our bodies for guidance in finding our optimal health.

So my journey began. 

As part of my work, I did  a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA), a screening test that measures the levels of 21+ minerals in hair tissue. I found out that my minerals were out of balance. And, not surprising, magnesium, which is like an ambassador in our cells, was very low for me.

Low magnesium is the source of many of today's health issues. You can look at the stages of low magnesium and the typical symptoms associated with it on Morley Robbins' website. It is full of research about and resources for magnesium and how it works with other minerals (cofactors) to keep our bodies running (or not) like a healthy (or not) machine.  You can even find out About Morley, and his partner, Dr. Liz, and how they got involved in helping others discover their mineral imbalances and how to correct them.

What I discovered: Even though I eat organic, whole foods, they aren't full of minerals like those of our ancestors. It's almost impossible to get the required minerals from our industrialized farmlands. And with our fast-paced lifestyles filled with processed foods, prescriptions drugs, sugar/flour/alcohol, electronics and magnetic fields, plane travel, and more, our minerals get depleted faster than we can ingest them.

As I corrected my magnesium and other base minerals over several months, my anxiety attacks WENT AWAY - totally. My heart palpitations resolved. My mind calmed and I worried less. I became less susceptible to energy disturbances.  At almost 60 years of age, I have a secure, solid feeling inside of me because I now know how to physically ground my body. I no longer fear panick attacks because I don't get them anymore. If only I'd known that I could feel this physically grounded when I was 20!

I'm not one to put out there much what I believe and how I feel. I thought I'd change that today as I feel called to address the wave of uncertainty in the United States of America today.

I can totally understand people's feelings of dismay and concern today about politics as usual. I share many of your concerns. Even if some of the events that are happening could be good for our country, the administration is moving way too quickly, and not listening to the diversity of ideas outside of their closed circles. They are shutting out a lot of good people who can help them move forward in amazing ways. They even want to silence the media!

It seems like the legislature has their own agenda and they don't want to entertain any diversity of opinions. They aren't open to listening. They think they are right. They are a cabinet of white, rich people that are taking too much power into their hands, and not representing who hired/elected them. I don't feel they have the average American's perspectives at heart because they haven't walked in our shoes.

CHANGE IS GOOD.  I'm all for progressive change. I've been changing myself since I landed on the planet. And I am a life-long learner. But I don't have confidence that the current administration cares about We The People. 

They haven't attended public schools, or struggled to get their children through college. They haven't had to face the disappointment of not being able to send a child to college because they didn't have the money. They don't have to worry about finding health insurance, making co-pays, or not having insurance. They have beefed up benefits plans for vacations, holidays, sick leave, retirement, and more. How could they possibly know what it's like to be an American?

Cutting government programs and getting our spending balanced is very important. Certainly, finding this economic balance has been an issue as long as I remember. Yet, pulling the rug out from under those systems of support is not the answer. Having a systematic approach to change, where it's communicated clearly, everyone understands it, and it happens over time - that's the best approach to keep most of us on board.

For example, what is the alternative to the EPA? Perhaps many people don't believe in the environmental stress that is happening, but most Americans do. So why should the minority be setting the plans? If the EPA isn't the most efficient system, what will take its place?

What is the alternative to Planned Parenthood? It's has supported many women with planning families and maintaining health care that they couldn't afford, regardless of the abortion clientele its served. Abortion is such a personal event, and not an easy one for any woman that I have known that has had to make that decision.  Let's leave that discussion out of this topic, since way more babies have been prevented than aborted through Planned Parenthood services.

To support women's health care, perhaps we move systematically to give Planned Parenthood time to integrate into the Affordable Care Act? Or to find funding in other ways. But if we quickly get rid of both programs, what choices does that leave the millions of women, and Americans, for their healthcare? 

THE POSITIVE APPROACH. Somehow we must take a positive approach. What is happening now will fuel the greatest grassroots movements in history. What is happening feels awful to most of the people that I know; and many people are getting involved. Let's keep our involvement peaceful, as that is the most powerful. And let's take the high road always, no matter how mean others may seem.

I'm involved in what I care about in ways that I have never been. Donations. Marches. Contacting legislature by phone and email. Using my power and my voice.

OUR POWER. We are all connected; every person in power in DC is a friend, a family member, a parent, a neighbor, or a co-worker to someone else that is not in power.  And our thoughts create our world. So, let's consider - how did we create this mess? 

The tough questions: 
- How do we avoid listening to others with differing opinions? 
- Are there ways we are following our own agendas and don't want to hear what someone else believes or thinks? 
- Are we name calling and being hurtful when someone doesn't agree with us?
- Do we deny there is a difference and just go about our agenda?
- How are we limited in our thinking? 
- Are we owning our power in healthy ways, or giving it away to others?
What questions did I miss?

We have elected and created this body of people that are running this country. We are amid a big wake up call. We are being watched world-wide.

We need to stop depending on our government to take care of us. We need to take care of ourselves. Take our power back. I believe that, once these huge issues are resolved, things will move ahead in beautiful and powerful ways, better than we ever could have imagined. Yet I see many dark days ahead to get to that place.

I believe, out of this tragedy, great good will come. It will be a while, but I already see it. I see a power in our people, peacefully, that I didn't know was there. People are over the country are joining together to have a voice in what matters to them.


THE SENSITIVE TRAIT. This is a particularly difficult time for highly sensitive people, who feel and experiences life so deeply. 

Here are some strategies to help you navigate these unprecedented times:

• Choose one or two issues that matter to you, and get involved.
• Exercise your power daily. Get up, get going, and make each day great.
• Take care of yourself physically through nutrition and movement. If you don't know how, hire a coach!
• Love yourself. If you don't know how, look up Louise Hay's work.
• Listen to yourself. Sit in the quiet. Do guided meditations.
• Go outside and connect with nature - it needs us now more than ever.
• Breathe - this tool can show you how.
• Take yourself seriously - act on that inner voice that is screaming to be heard. Sitting in the quiet will help you access it. It may take a while to hear it, especially if you haven't been listening for a while. And once it starts trusting you again, follow what it says.
• Have a spiritual practice of some kind. The best inspirational source that I know - Hay House's  radio for your soul.
• Take breaks throughout the day. To start, take 5 minutes to turn the chatter off and refuse to let it affect you. This video can help.
• Discuss differences openly and respectfully.
• Spend time with loved ones laughing and feeling joyful.
• Above all, be kind to one another. 

You can do this. You have got this. 

Until next time, Be Kind to Yourself. [It starts with you, inside of you!]
 
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