May 7, 2019
TITLE
Happiness & Rewiring Your Brain Through Mindfulness & Self-Care
GUEST
Anne-Kathrin Walter
EPISODE OVERVIEW
I talk to Anne-Kathrin Walter, founder of HiSensitives. We talk about what sensitivity looks like in Europe and The Netherlands compared to the United States. Anne talks about happiness and Positive Psychology and we separate this from the act of escaping our negative feelings. We talk about how our brains want to keep us in a comfortable place and how this can potentially lead to being stuck in patterns. We talk about how to use gratitude as a tool for building a positive environment as well as other exercises we can utilize in our daily lives.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Anne-Kathrin shares her experience with the perception of sensitivity in her home country, The Netherlands
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- More people are coming out of their HSP closet as a result of more attention being paid to the topic
- We can often make the mistake of confusing our wounds with traits of being an HSP
- Anne-Kathrin discusses how sensitivity comes with strengths:
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- Creativity
- Intuitiveness
- Empathy
- We talk about the importance of dealing with trauma in our lives
- Anne-Kathrin shares the benefits she has experienced through therapy, and her initial struggle with opening up to a stranger
- Anne-Kathrin talks about how discovering she is an HSP has offered perspective on so many aspects of her past
- Anne-Kathrin prefers the term ‘Highly Perceptive Person’
- Anne-Kathrin explains the symbol that she created for her business HiSensitives. This symbol was so meaningful to her, that she has a tattoo of the logo she created
- We carefully navigate a discussion surrounding the importance of Positive Thinking and how it can be used as a tool of preparation to face our traumas, not a replacement for addressing traumatic experiences
- Anne-Kathrin shares the personal story of her negative spiral that lead her into what she does today with Positive Psychology
- Anne-Kathrin explains how negative thoughts can become patterns/safe spaces for our brains that become challenging to break away from
- How we can use gratitude to examine what is going well in our lives to rewire our brains away from negative spirals
- Depending on our background, some people need Positive Thinking and some of us need to address and honor uncomfortable feelings
- Anne-Kathrin shares the story of a traumatic fire that changed her life
- Anne-Kathrin explains guided meditation and the process of grounding
- Anne-Kathrin talks about using shower meditation, standing in the shower and visualizing everything that is not of positive use to you, and being cleansed of those thoughts and having them washed down the drain
- We discuss box breathing
- Anne-Kathrin encourages 21 Days of Gratitude - Reach out to 1 person a day to express something you are grateful to them for
- We talk about how writing down your thoughts can be a helpful exercise for letting things go
- We discuss the importance of surrounding ourselves with positive, supportive people
- We talk about Examining your daily habits, and trying to eliminate daily detractors to your mental and physical health
- We talk about Evaluating your daily consumption: diet, entertainment, news, social, etc.
- Anne-Kathrin discusses the challenges she faces as an HSP
- Dr. Elaine Aron suggests that HSPs get 2 hours of quiet time per day
- Anne-Kathrin shares her superpowers that come with being an HSP
Resources
Dr. Kristin Neff:
Christopher Germer:
Shawn Achor:
Meditation Minis Podcast with Chel Hamilton
Brene Brown Super Soul Sunday on trust:
http://www.oprah.com/own-supersoulsessions/brene-brown-what-to-do-when-you-struggle-with-trust
BIO
Anne-Kathrin Walter is a young, highly sensitive entrepreneur from the Netherlands. In 2018, she founded the brand HiSensitives, which is a brand for highly sensitive people that aims to increase awareness and acceptance of the trait and to connect highly sensitive people worldwide. By diving into the world of positive thinking and changing her own thought patterns, Anne-Kathrin managed to transform her life and to dare to chase her
dreams. Through the right relationships, a change of direction when it comes to her career and daily self-care she managed to create a HSP-friendly life for herself.
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PODCAST HOST
Patricia Young is a coach & therapist in California. Patricia works with Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) helping them understand their HSPness, and turning their perceived shortcomings into superpowers. Patricia is passionate about providing education to help HSPs and non-HSPs understand and truly appreciate all the gifts we have to offer. Patricia provides online (telehealth) therapy to people who live in California, and she provides coaching to people all over the world. We meet over a private platform (similar to Skype), and you can have therapy or coaching from the privacy of your own home—when the kids are at school or are napping; from work; in your pajamas, or when you just can’t face sitting in traffic or going out.
LINKS
Anne-Kathrin Walter:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/i.am.anne.kathrn/
HiSensitives Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hisensitives/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hisensitives/
Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/Hisensitives/
Website: https://hisensitives.com/
E-Mail: Contact@hisensitives.com
Dr. Elaine Aron’s website— https://hsperson.com/
HSP Self-test-- https://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/
HSP Child self-test-- https://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-child-test/
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Website--www.patriciayounglcsw.com
Podcast--www.unapologeticallysensitive.com
Facebook-- https://www.facebook.com/Patricia-Young-LCSW-162005091044090/
Facebook group Unapologetically Sensitive-- https://www.facebook.com/groups/2099705880047619/
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e-mail-- unapologeticallysensitive@gmail.com
Show hashtag--#unapologeticallysensitive
Music-- Gravel Dance by Andy Robinson www.andyrobinson.com
Editor -- David Petlansky of Pitseleh Pictures - www.facebook.com/PitselehPictures