Is a Sensitive Body a curse?

Let’s take a moment to talk about our Sensitive Bodies.
 
For those of us who are highly sensitive, we can have a much harder time with our bodies than non-Sensitive Souls. Our bodies are turned-up to the max with sensory overloads of all kinds and this can cause mayhem for our systems. 

It can be truly exhausting as a Sensitive Soul trying to balance all the extra simulation and internal stimulation on a daily basis.

My body has always been very sensitive, but back when I was a child no-one had any understanding of what this meant and how it translated. I also had no idea.
 
How did I know my body is sensitive?
 
I have always been very sensitive to sunlight – especially since I live in England. I don’t ever seem to get enough of it and it has often made my mood suffer. When the sun is out, I am like Wall-E powering up his batteries.
 
I am also highly sensitive to my own stress levels, other people’s stress levels and sleep. These all contribute to constantly trying to balance all 3. I know now that I need 8 hours of sleep and even that’s broken up into varying chunks (hello parenthood!) then that’s ok too.
 
Stress creates this toxic explosion in my body which makes everything unbalanced from sleep, digestion, brain fog, tightness of my body, absorption of nutrients and mood.
 
Hunger has always been an issue. Feeling hungry has been such an overwhelmingly negative experience for my body and mind that I have avoided it at all costs. If hungry I become the dictionary definition of HANGRY! And being overly full meant I was lethargic and couldn’t move or think.
 
Too much gluten and within half an hour I was asleep like I’d been drugged. In fact, it was so extreme that I got sacked from a job once as I couldn’t stay awake after lunch!
Too much dairy and I’d get ear infections, colds, tonsillitis (before I had them out) etc and yet I was addicted to cheese.
 
At Uni my favourite post night-out meal was massive chunks of cheddar cheese and concentrated orange juice drunk from the carton. As you can imagine this didn’t go well and I was very malnourished! (sorry, mum!)

Back when I was totally ignoring my bodies cues to maintain balance I would eat poorly, drink poorly and smoke, a lot!
 
I have had a long running battle with cystic acne which I felt was God cursing and hating me. I’ve had chronic colds, anxiety, brain fog, ear infections, glandular fever, low self-esteem, adrenal fatigue, viral meningitis, bloating, chronic constipation, food addictions and more!
 
I truly felt that my sensitive body was a curse.
 
But I was wrong!
 
Sensitive Souls are like plants. For us to grow big and radiant with strong roots, we must listen to ourselves, feed our soil and lovingly care for ourselves. If we do this we can bloom into beautiful flowers, trees and plants! Figuratively, of course. 
 
On my health journey, I have found that I must listen to my body. I must honour it, cherish it, care and nurture it. If I do that then it thrives and works so much better.
 
Thanks to Anthony Williams, I also recently found out that I’d been suffering from an excess viral load called Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). This actually accounted for nearly all my symptoms, including my intolerance to wheat, gluten, sugar, dairy and oil!
 
This virus thrives on processed food, alcohol, smoking, toxic heavy metals and stress. All the things that I was doing, living and creating in my life.
 
The fantastic news is we don’t have to live feeling like crap. We can thrive, feel alive, enjoy our lives and feel like we’re friends with our bodies!
 
Here are my top tips on helping your Sensitive body:
 
 1- Connect with your body. Listen to its messages. What is it saying? Are you paying attention? Perhaps you’d like to write a letter to your body and see what it replies.

 2- Add in the good and crowd out the bad. This includes LOADS of fruit and veg. Especially dark leafy greens like kale, spinach, romaine lettuce and swiss chard. Add in as many of these as you can into soups, smoothies and salads. Make them your main part of any meal. Celebrate them! Sensitive bodies LOVE plants, fruits and vegetables. Figure out which ones you love most.

 3- Grounding – get yourself into nature/outside. Our bodies are constantly being bombarded with too much stimulus which takes us away from being in balance and listening to our bodies.

 4- Good food = Feel Good / Bad Food = Feel Bad. Each forkful you eat you’re either positively affecting yourself or negatively affecting. There is no middle ground. But don’t forget number 8.

 5- Empower yourself and learn what it is you’re actually eating. Read your labels, learn what High Fructose Corn Syrup is and how it affects your body. How much salt, sugar, processed fat and oil are you actually eating?

 6- What’s your food story? What are your food triggers? What makes you eat/not eat and why?

 7- Focus on adding in as much raw/steamed fruit and veg that your body likes as possible.

 8- Be gentle with yourself. Many Sensitive Souls are perfectionists and very self-critical. We have generally much lower self-esteem than non-Sensitive Souls and we have to become truly mindful of our self-talk.
 
 9- Meditate. It’ll help with your stress, anxiety and overwhelm. Even 10 minutes per day will help your balance and centre yourself.
 
 10- It’s not about calories. It’s never been about calories. All foods are not created equal and you should not be comparing a mars bar with an avocado. They are utterly different. The fixation of calories takes us down a very dark self-loathing rabbit hole.
 
Above all, start where you are, use what you’ve got and do what you can.
 
Before you know it you’ll be a strong tree, with strong roots and thriving.
 
I hope you found these tips helpful.
 
Much love

Dawn