Life Hacks for Highly Sensitive People!
Some days are easier than others. Here are three hacks on how to protect your brain and not get overstimulated too soon.
- Listen To Classical Music
Calming music can boost your mood.
How? When people with higher empathy listen to music, it triggers their brain’s reward system. Yummy hormones rush through your brain.
In short, we feel good!
Different melodies, tempos, and rhythms can trigger vastly different reactions, as can music with lyrics or music without words.
Then there are our unique, individual emotional responses to music and the memories we each associate with music that’s familiar to us. Music activates many parts of the brain, including the hippocampus, which processes memories.
If you want to calm your mind, listen to slow-paced music like classical or jazz.
I’m not a morning person at all. I need a minimum of an hour to slowly wake up and start interacting with the world.
But everything changed when I had my first child.
I don't know why but kids don’t need time to feel awake. Since it was exhausting to wake up early and be active immediately, I knew I needed a hack.
Then, I heard about neuroscience and music.
So, I started experimenting.
I found that jazz music helps me start a day. While I make breakfast for my kids, I also sing and dance, and ta-da, I’m instantly in a good mood.
Living in Denmark gives me a biking opportunity. After a long day, when my energy level is low as duck, I always listen to Liszt, Bach, or Chopin while riding home.
It helps me to calm down and bike slower.
Pro tip: If I’m in a hurry to pick up my kid from school, I go for rock music. Warning: You will be overstimulated, but you get there in time. The choice is yours.
2. Shut Out The Outside World
Earplugs can offer an instant solution for that. But I would advise not to overuse earplugs. Use them only if you need to focus.
Our beautiful brain is learning fast. So, we have to learn how to manage to shut out the world in our own way.
If you have a park or a forest nearby, go there instead of earplugs.
I’m lucky that I live close to nature. Sometimes, I escape to visit the trees, flowers, and rocks. Listen to the singing birds and see how nature changes.
3. Take A Break
Breaks are important. When you are in the flow or very focused, it’s easy to forget about a pause.
I’ve tried to take a three-minute break in every hour.
Here is how.
Go to the toilet. Take a seat and cover your eyes with your hands to reduce any distractions. Since it’s quite easy to lose focus, set an alarm for three minutes. All you need is alone time and a chance to calm down your nerves.
This short break hasn’t worked for me, but everyone is different.
I tried to have a ten-minute-long break twice a day — around lunch and one before I headed home from work.
It was much better. I found a noise-reducing chair, sat down, and turned around to see the white wall. Yeah, watch the paint dry.
No phone, no people, no noise, just tons of thoughts.
But practice makes perfect!
Thanks for reading! Hope I could help.
The Witty Witch