You're Not Too Much — You're Highly Sensitive (And That's a Gift)
- schoolofjoypodcast
- Apr 29
- 4 min read
How to recognise and embrace your High Sensitivity
Have you ever walked into a room and instantly felt the mood of everyone in it? Do loud environments drain you, certain fabrics feel unbearable, or other people’s emotions seem to land in your body as if they were your own?
If any of that resonates, you might be a highly sensitive person (HSP) — and this post is for you.
In Episode 2 of the School of Joy podcast, B and Renske sat down to talk openly about their own experiences of being highly sensitive: the confusion, the shame, the burnout — and eventually, the breakthrough moment of realising that sensitivity isn’t a flaw to fix. It’s a gift to unwrap.
What Does It Actually Mean to Be Highly Sensitive?
High sensitivity isn’t a disorder or a weakness. It’s a personality trait — one that affects roughly 15–20% of the population.
Here’s how it’s commonly defined: a nervous system that processes stimuli more deeply, leading to heightened awareness of subtle environmental details, stronger emotional reactions, greater empathy, and a tendency to become easily overstimulated by sensory or social input.
In practical terms, that might look like:
Feeling other people’s emotions as if they were your own — sometimes before they’ve even said a word
Sensory overwhelm — bright lights, strong perfumes, loud crowds, or certain textures feeling genuinely unbearable
Emotional intensity — the highs are higher, the lows are lower, and your inner world is vivid and rich
Needing more recovery time after busy social situations or emotionally charged conversations
Difficulty switching off — a racing mind at bedtime, unable to settle until everything feels just right
Sound familiar? You’re not alone, and you’re not broken.
Being High Sensitive: The Cost of Not Knowing
For many highly sensitive people, the biggest challenge isn’t the sensitivity itself — it’s spending years not knowing that’s what it is.
Both B and Renske describe growing up feeling like the odd one out. B recalls being taught that sensitivity was something to be ashamed of. Renske experienced burnout at 25, her nervous system simply exhausted from years of absorbing everyone else’s energy without understanding what was happening.
Without awareness, the gifts of high sensitivity often show up as problems: chronic exhaustion, emotional overwhelm, a tendency to people-please, or difficulty in large groups and busy environments. Many HSPs later recognise overlaps with ADHD diagnoses — both rooted in an overstimulated nervous system.
The turning point for both B and Renske? Simply naming it. Having a framework — understanding that this is just how their nervous system works — was the first step toward changing their relationship with it entirely.
Embracing Being Highly Sensitive as a Gift
Awareness is the beginning, but it’s not the whole journey. Here’s what B and Renske have found actually helps:
1. Clear your energy field regularly Highly sensitive people are constantly receiving energy from those around them. Learning to consciously “clear” what you’ve picked up — through meditation, breathwork, or energy practices — prevents that accumulation from becoming overwhelming. Think of it as emptying a cup that fills up faster than most.
2. Learn to stay centred, not absorbed There’s a difference between feeling with someone and being taken over by their energy. With practice, it becomes possible to remain present and empathetic without losing yourself in the process. Renske describes this as the core of her own mastery work — and the thing that allowed her to spend four days at Disneyland feeling steady.
3. Speak up when your nervous system is stretched One of the most powerful skills any HSP can develop is the ability to name how they’re feeling in the moment, rather than pushing through until they collapse. “My nervous system feels very thin right now” is a complete sentence — and saying it out loud creates an immediate shift.
4. Receive support Highly sensitive people are often exceptional at giving support and reluctant to ask for it. But this is a path that’s much harder to walk alone. Whether that’s a trusted friend, a therapist, a spiritual practice, or a course community, having people who understand and hold space for you is transformative.
5. Reframe the gift Your sensitivity is why you can walk over to a friend in a noisy room and know — just know — that she needs a hug. It’s why people come to you when they’re struggling. It’s why you experience beauty, music, nature, and love more deeply than most. That’s not too much. That’s extraordinary.
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A Note for Parents of Sensitive Children
If you’re raising a child who cries at emotional music, worries about the Christmas tree being thirsty, has a deep empathy for the suffering of others or seems to feel everything at full volume — they likely need you to name their gift for them early.
The goal isn’t to toughen them up.
It’s to help them understand themselves, so the sensitivity becomes a superpower they can actually use.
You Don’t Have to Figure This Out Alone
If this resonates, we want you to know: there is hope, and there is a path forward. The sensitivity doesn’t have to feel like a burden forever. With the right support and the right tools, it becomes one of the most beautiful things about you.
🎧 Listen to the full conversation in Episode 2 of the School of Joy podcast — B and Renske share personal stories, practical insights, and the practices that have helped them most.
👇 Subscribe to School of Joy on Substack to receive every new episode and post directly in your inbox. We’re building a community for people who are ready to stop seeing their depth as a problem — and start unwrapping it as the gift it truly is.
You’re not too sensitive. You’re exactly right.
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