How many of you - just for the heck of it - randomly dart your eyes around, back and forth, up and down or diagonally? Most of us don’t, unless we’re dreaming and having REM sleep.

Research has found that this rapid eye movement, that occurs in our sleep, plays a significant role in processing and storing information. Rapid eye movement can also help in the healing of trauma, good news for those dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Learn new skills in a safe, supportive environment, be facilitated in art making and embodied awareness as part of emotional regulation skill building. No prior art experience needed.   

​Emotion Regulation is the module in which we learn to understand how our emotions work, and the skills we need to manage our emotions instead of being managed by them, to reduce how vulnerable we are to negative emotions, and to build positive emotional experiences.

In my first blog on the life and times of the Highly-Sensitive Person (HSP) I discussed the unique challenges facing those who fall on the extra-sensitive side of the sensitivity spectrum. If you are an HSP it may be difficult to get a handle on the challenges of your sensitivity.  You must learn to soothe and protect your nervous system.  Important skills to develop include:

1 - Setting emotional boundaries:  You can easily pick up on the feelings of others and can become confused about whether your feelings are your own.  Think of yourself as a psychic sponge, soaking up the mental and emotional energy of those around you.  Use your creative ability to visualize a protective shield around you that can filter out some of the stimulus.

2 - Saying no:   This is tough for you because you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  Yet, when you take on more than you can handle you can build resentment that often leads to pulling away from others, so that you find yourself bouncing from one extreme to another.  While saying no may be awkward in the short term, it can help save your relationships in the long term.  ​

How many of you have heard the comment “oh...you’re just too sensitive”?   Maybe you feel hurt when people say that and think there is something wrong with you.   According to Elaine Aron, Ph.D in The Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), approximately 20 ­percent of the population has a highly sensitive nervous system.   For these individuals (myself included), it's as if they wear their nerves on the outside of their skin.  In the first part of this series on sensitivity I will discuss those who find themselves on the highly sensitive side of the HSP spectrum.

If you’re an HSP, you can experience external and internal stimulation rather quickly and with more intensity and duration.  It’s as though your nervous system is an antenna running through your mind and body—always on and picking up signals from everything around you.   As an HSP, you can become overstimulated and this “noise” or “static” can result in a variety of mental and physical complaints that may be difficult to diagnose.