Full Transcript for High Functioning Anxiety in Sensitive Souls

WEBVTT 00:00:01.923 --> 00:00:20.106 You're listening to the Realized Empath Podcast, where we get real about loving and stumbling through our sensitive lives With your host and holistic counselor, Kristin Schwartz, who helps redefine what's possible for an empath who embraces a path of self-healing. 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:38.030 Welcome to the Realized Empath Podcast, where we are going to explore the depths of our sensitivity, unravel our power and learn how to navigate this busy world while still staying true to our authentic selves. 00:00:38.030 --> 00:00:42.970 I'm Kristin Schwartz and I am here to guide you on this journey. 00:00:42.970 --> 00:00:55.969 Today, we're going to talk about something many of you will understand and some of you will realize for the first time that you struggle with this High functioning anxiety in the highly sensitive person. 00:00:55.969 --> 00:01:35.349 So I want to first start out and say that I have been MIA for the last two weeks and I want to let you know that I myself am a highly sensitive person and an empath, and the way that I run my business sometimes is you know, when you get to that point where you need rest or I'm noticing when things in my life outside of my business are getting really busy and need my attention, sometimes I will skip an episode or two so I can care for myself and get my energy back where I have something to give. 00:01:35.349 --> 00:01:37.225 So I'm glad to be back. 00:01:37.225 --> 00:01:38.743 Thank you for being patient. 00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:46.852 Let's dive into high functioning anxiety and how that manifests in the highly sensitive person. 00:01:46.852 --> 00:01:56.551 Anxiety it's a word that we all hear often, but when combined with high sensitivity, it takes on a new dimension. 00:01:56.551 --> 00:02:31.912 High functioning anxiety isn't officially recognized in medical textbooks, but it's very real for those who experience it and I will shout this from any rooftop that your realization, your intuition, your connection to your body, you knowing yourself, is much more valid and important than any degree that someone might get who may put themselves in an expert position over your experience. 00:02:31.912 --> 00:02:38.050 So how you experience life and how that feels for you, you are the expert. 00:02:38.050 --> 00:02:50.211 So when we're talking about high functioning anxiety, think of it as like an engine that keeps you moving, but it comes at a really steep cost. 00:02:50.211 --> 00:03:06.290 It's a constant hum of worry, planning and overthinking and it makes you feel like everything is urgent and, unfortunately, it makes us feel like everything is about us. 00:03:06.290 --> 00:03:18.491 So imagine this a friend's energy shifts, or maybe they haven't replied to your text, and your mind whispers oh, they must dislike me. 00:03:18.491 --> 00:03:24.546 Or or maybe someone acts coldly and instantly you think it's because you've done something wrong. 00:03:24.546 --> 00:03:34.801 This inner narrative where every external change ends up reflecting your worth or your actions. 00:03:34.801 --> 00:03:39.151 It's exhausting and it's relentless right. 00:03:39.151 --> 00:03:42.028 So it's this race for peace that we're on. 00:03:42.028 --> 00:03:48.052 We want inner peace, but the finish line keeps moving further away. 00:03:48.052 --> 00:03:53.906 It's like we it's just outside of our grasp For highly sensitive people or empaths. 00:03:54.165 --> 00:04:01.546 This anxiety is compounded by our innate ability to absorb the emotions around us right. 00:04:01.546 --> 00:04:21.007 Our sensitivity to the subtleties means we're constantly processing our feelings and everyone else's, and it's like it's like having a dozen browser tabs open in your mind, each one, let's say, streaming live videos of different emotions. 00:04:21.007 --> 00:04:39.843 So our desire to fix everything right, we want to fix everything because we want to ensure our harmony, that peace that we're searching for and where that stems from, is a beautiful place, but it comes with a heavy, debilitating burden. 00:04:39.843 --> 00:04:45.314 I remember a day when a simple can we talk later? 00:04:45.314 --> 00:04:51.930 Text, maybe from a friend or a partner, would spiral me into hours of anxious overthinking. 00:04:51.930 --> 00:05:14.752 It wasn't just the fear of potential conflict, but the intense and immediate belief that I had somehow failed them, and what I would do is that evening I would find out nothing was wrong, nothing was amiss, and all it was is that the other person wanted to share good news without distractions. 00:05:14.752 --> 00:05:32.391 And what I realized is my high functioning anxiety had me coloring my perception and turning just neutral situations into these emotional mind fields, and knowing this ended up being half the battle. 00:05:32.391 --> 00:05:41.033 So recognizing that this relentless drive, this constant planning and worrying, is actually anxiety. 00:05:41.574 --> 00:05:43.156 So then, what's the next step? 00:05:43.156 --> 00:05:48.112 The next step is developing strategies to manage it right. 00:05:48.112 --> 00:05:59.028 So, of course, we can't manage it unless we're honest with ourselves in the present moment about what's going on in our head, especially as a highly sensitive person. 00:05:59.028 --> 00:06:09.458 So first, I talk about this a lot, but grounding is so important for the impact on the highly sensitive person and it's transformative when you do it consistently. 00:06:09.458 --> 00:06:23.721 A lot of times, highly sensitive people and impasse can be so in our heads, right, because we're tuning into everything, we're dissecting everything, we're trying to figure out where that's coming from, what's going on, and we spend more time up in our head than we do in our body. 00:06:23.721 --> 00:06:51.187 So simple practices like mindful breathing, connecting with nature or physical activities, like I just came