Anita…….Thank you!

I believe the question of “is this a place for me?” is on its way to a resounding yes!

That being said, I do acknowledge, not just the guidelines and “rules” that this forum holds dear, but the rules that we as human beings should hold dear when ever communicating to one another, respect, admiration, open mindedness and honesty, while being sensitive to what others just might be experiencing, even though we are not.

I would like to suggest this discussion be closed, and a new one be started, one entitled, “I’m Emotionally Sensitive, and proud of it”

Beach was awesome by the way!

Hi VJ
Thank you for joining me here.
I guess there are many ways to describe us, HSP (highly sensitive people) and ES (emotionally sensitive) in my thinking would be in the same classification, that being said, each and everyone of us are different and so regardless of the name we chose to call it, its the effect that is the most important.

I do find the term “empath” fascinating, as being an empath you know all too well you are affected by other people’s “energies”. Thus this gives you an innate ability to intuitively feel and perceive others. These energies also unconsciously influence your’ desires, wishes, thoughts, and moods.

Being HPS/ES in my belief automatically gives you what would be described as “Emphatic” abilities and I would be happy to explain why I believe that to be. But can I first disclose something that I feel is important. Having travels to 31 countries on a pursuit of understanding “Beliefs” I discovered 2 major things…..One, they are extremely powerful to those that “believe” and two there are as many beliefs in this world as there are opinions. One persons or cultural belief is not necessary another’s but like opinions everybody has the right to theirs.

The reason I say this is to answer your “techniques and methodology” question….have I tried EFT, there are tribes in Africa where I visited that use different EFT’s for not just healing, but to “speak to” their deity. In Madagascar, EFT’s are believed to heal cancer and other serious aliments. In the jungles of Cambodia EFT’s are believed to ward of evil spirits and Thailand and Myanmar a form of EFT is used to bring calm and peace to ones mind by allowing the internal energy to pass from one side of the body to the other.

I am sure there are many more applications where EFT’s are used and each and every time I see the use of them and ask “why” the answer boils down to the same…..the people applying it…believe it works.

As for any other healing techniques, I am not too sure I can honestly answer that correctly as I truly believe there is nothing to heal. Now if you were to ask me if I have discovered tools to use in my defense on emotional sensitivity, well the answer would be yes, a great many. As mentioned earlier, ES people like me have, what I believe very clear indicators of their ability. One of them is when the mind races so fast, that when you close your eyes it seems as if a million pictures flash through your mind. This event is like a super computer searching for a specific topic or image without knowing what it is looking for. Controlling it takes practice but is achievable. Some might call it mediation, but it is not, for meditation allows the mind to wonder and that is the complete opposite to what I need to do. I have created an image in my mind, one that allows me to focus on it while lacking any detail. Its a flame of a candle. Not the candle, just the flame on a black back ground.

Closing my eyes, I concentrate on that flame as the barrage of images flood my mind. at first the flame is barely seen, but after a few minutes forcing it to come to the surface, all other images and thoughts vanish and I am left with only the flame. It is from there that I can then think clearly and rationally, bringing into focus my thoughts and my feelings.

But of course, I have yet to discover something I can do that would provide the same results while in a social gathering, clearly sitting in a room full of people who know nothing of ES with my eyes closed and in a trance like state would question my “sanity” in their eyes.

Oh and VJ. drinking Chicha from the jungle tribes in the Amazon to allow one to speak to the spirits……yea, messes with your thoughts in a big way!….no hang over though!

Please, do share with me your techniques as I am in constant learning!

Regards
RandyG

Understood Anita, and again thank you!

“Mingle”…..lets loom at a box of “Smarties” as a reference, there are people out there that enjoy every flavors. and there are people out there that enjoy most flavors with the exception of a few however will not neglect the others, then there are those that will only find enjoyment with one flavor.
In life there are situations when we have the choice in picking the ones we want and there are situations when we need to accept all. Work verses play for example, in a working environment, we are forced to deal with the varying “flavors” of emotional state people present even those the taste is extremely fowl to us.
In play we carefully pick the ones that please us and therefore enjoy.

Having “a bigger tool box” is in reference to gaining emotional abilities or an understanding of developed skills in order to manage better our interaction with those we find challenging to our emotional sensitivity. Walking away is not a tool in this context, where as learning to rationalize the situation would be.

As an ES’er, I have come to learn the first tool I required was not just the knowledge, but the belief that being ES is not an illness or a flaw, but an asset. One that in reflection of my wild and crazy lifestyle has brought me huge success. Had it not been for my ES, I am very certain, I would not be here. Specifically I mean my nervous systems ability to react not only faster but more accurately in times of distress (not meaning in social events, but in lifestyle events), was the reason the outcome of a great many situations I found myself in turned out positive as apposed to negative.

In converse to that, although I feel I am well educated, and have gained a considerable amount of professional experience in my field of work, it is my ES that causes me problems when associating, or “mingling” with other less professional people in my work environment….

Thank You Anita & Peter!

Anita, I very much appreciate your quires in my original post. Validating ones needs as well as ones intentions I feel is important if they are to become part of a “social community”. Like many ES folk, I have recently read about we often find ourselves wondering if we really belong anywhere, which rationally I know to be nothing more than a negative thought brought about by my “sensitive nature”. Still there are times when the stimulus of people sharing their stories can become so overwhelming that I personally feel responsible, even though, again rationally I know I an not.

Defining the difference between “thought” and “feeling” in a contextual aspect is easy. Where as thought is an idea or opinion produced by thinking or occurring suddenly in the mind. and feeling is an emotional state or reaction brought about by one or more of the human bodies senses (Sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell). My understanding of this, and please correct me if I am wrong, is when feelings generate an emotional thought in such a manor that these thoughts flood the mind and linger long after the stimulus (sensation) has been removed is where the story begins with ES people like my self.

Being ES, is not an illness, or a disability as much as it is a heighten sense of awareness. LOL, a so called “super power” if you will. Managing this “super power” is the challenge and I believe it needs a teacher. Although I have learned a great many things about my ES, being self taught, there are still a great many more I simply can not understand and therefore seek guidance.

My original self diagnosis pushed me toward a great many forums and even physiological therapies, however not really understanding what it was I was experiencing, I ended up in the wrong places making my ES come alive even more! So I have learned to be careful when approaching groups designed to assist people in life simply because, as an ES’er ones desire for assistance can be our Aconitum!

As there is no “illness” we are dealing with, there is no need for a cure! What I believe is required is an education in how to live a better life, a more productive life….and a more peaceful life as an ES’er. Certainly reading well crafted books is a start in understanding ES, but I am also certain, there are creative and positive experiences other ES’ers have that can be shared to assist their peers in reaching that goal of a great life……and that my Dear Anita is why I ask…..Is this a place for me?…..the answer I now believe is……It could be?….of course that’s my ES talking!