PIN QUIET ENERGY OF INTROVERTS, EMPATHS, AND HSPS FOR LATER:

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Did you know introverts, empaths, and highly sensitive people have their own quiet energy?

 

To this day, I don’t even remember how I found out I was an introvert (or what that meant). I’ve never had a normal job so it’s not something I did at work, I think maybe I did the test in high school or something.

 

Who knows?

 

And it wasn’t I said something about being an introvert to my wonderful coach, teacher, and friend, Julie Parker that she encouraged me to dive deeper into how this part of me could support others who were more introverted to thrive in the world.

 

Oh, did that ever open a can of worms (well, a year later when it finally made sense to me!)

 

Over the years, I’ve worked with SO many introverts, chatting to them about their quiet energy and how to better understand it. 

 

And the further down the rabbit hole I went, the more I came to realise that being a highly sensitive person (or HSP) was really making more of an impact on my life than being introverted.

 

There are lots of overlaps and similarities, that’s why we can get confused. But understanding my own energy, my sensitivity, and my introversion has hands down been the most important thing I’ve learnt about in my life and my business.

 

What’s the difference?

 

INTROVERTS

Being an introvert means that you re-energise from time spent alone and can become drained in social situations, around lots of people. Scientifically, introverts have more grey matter in our prefrontal cortex, meaning that we take longer to process and react to information.

 

As a result, you possibly prefer quiet Saturday nights at home, reading a good book or watching Netflix. Maybe you like one on one or being alone to being in a big group of people.

 

Related: 16 Signs You’re An Introvert

 

Introverts are also internal processors with a rich, inner life, this is a term that was coined by Carl Jung, and is actually measured on the scale of how extroverted you are. 

 

(Less than 50% extroverted and you’re, by default, an introvert. Hovering around the middle of the scale means your likely an ambivert).

 

Introverts are about 1/3 to 1/2 of the population and, whilst the world has become more accepting and accommodating of introverted types, there are still many situations that aren’t idea for us to thrive in without the proper tools and understanding of how to manage our energy.

 

If you’re here, you probably already know you’re an introvert, but if you’ve never done the Myers Briggs Type Indicator test before, you can check it out here:

Not sure where you fall on the spectrum? Check out this free quiz.

 

EMPATHS

Empaths make up 15-20% of the population and are known to feel what’s going on for other people and often actually absorb and take on the emotions and physical symptoms of others.

 

Studies have shown that mirror neurons in the brain are responsible for our ability to have empathy for others. Basically, Empaths have hyper-responsive mirror neurons and, and as a result, a deeper resonance for the emotions and sensations of other humans.

 

Empaths, in particular, have to be super vigilant about understanding, managing, and mastering our energy because we can be so heavily affected by the energy and emotions of others. 

 

Want to know if you’re an empath? Learn more about being an empath and take the quiz here.

 

HIGHLY SENSITIVE PEOPLE

Highly Sensitive People (or HSPs) have some very similar traits of empaths and introverts. Unlike being an empath and taking on or absorbing the physical and emotional sensations of others, sensitivity is measured mostly by an optimal stimulation level.

 

HSPs can be affected by the emotions and energy of others, but can also find other forms of sensory stimulation triggers their nervous system. This can be from loud noises, upsetting or violent images, bright lights, and big crowds.

 

Related: What It Means To Be Highly Sensitive (And An Introvert)

 

Elaine Aron developed what we know as The Highly Sensitive Person and if you’re not sure if you’re a HSP, you can take the quiz here.

 

WHY YOUR QUIET ENERGY IS YOUR SUPERPOWER

For a long time, introverts, empaths, and highly sensitive people have been misunderstood. Even now, there’s a lot of confusion about what any of these terms actually mean – especially in relation to each other.

 

For so long, we’ve been told to toughen up or just get on with it.

 

And even now, as introverts, empaths, and HSPs become more widely known about and more acknowledged, there are still many misconceptions around our energy.

 

That we have a finite amount of energy.

 

Or that we can opt out of difficult conversations.

 

And even that we should be sheltered away from the world and this is a good excuse to hide.

 

I’m just not having it any more.

 

Every day I see posts online about this and I totally get it. I’ve been there. I’ve definitely used my energy as a reason to justify hiding away or not showing up.

 

But in all of this, what we’re doing is we’re just putting energy into how much we’re lacking. About what we can’t do.

 

Our quiet energy, our highly sensitive nature, our abundance of empathy, are SUPERPOWERS. We have the ability to do really incredible things, to make a valuable contribution, to fight for those who don’t have a voice or the privilege that we do.

 

Being introverted, empathic, highly sensitive souls, we also have the energy to understand others, to feel how they must feel and to make real things happen because we are so compassionate for others and how we can help.

 

But we need to know how to harness this. And we need to know how to take care of ourselves and thrive in a world that has made us feel weak or too sensitive.

 

START PAYING ATTENTION TO YOUR QUIET ENERGY.

It’s as simple as paying attention. 

 

Where is your energy going?

What worries you?

When do you feel most overwhelmed?

Who do you feel good around?

And who do you feel exhausted after seeing?

 

The more you start to observe (and even track) your energy on a daily basis, the better you will be able to understand what’s going on and where that energy is going.

 

It’s such an introvert trait to overthink and worry about everything, but as we get stuck in our heads, we send all our energy to that worry. We start harnessing that quiet energy and funnel it into something in the past or something we can change, when we could be putting it towards something else.

 

Start paying attention and you’ll see where your energy is going. Then, you have a choice. Do you continue putting energy into something you can’t change, or start fuelling action towards what CAN be changed?

 

Let’s face it, the world is a bit of a mess right now. We should be acknowledging that and putting energy into what needs to change – either in our personal lives, or on a bigger scale.

 

But I know I’ve had times where I’ve completely fallen into collapse around global issues and felt totally helpless. Can we learn to feel the rage, the despair, the pain AND direct that energy into action?

 

I believe we can. 

This is the first step to really understanding our quiet energy and using it to our advantage.

 

If you’d like to go further, you can join my upcoming online workshop, Quiet Energy on July 20th at 10am Australian Eastern Standard Time.

 

In the workshop, we’ll cover:

// The secret energy of introverts and highly sensitive people and why it’s different from others;

// Why introverts and HSPs need to understand and master their energy to thrive in the world;

// How to feel less overwhelmed and more energised in everyday life:

// And lots of practical tips, tools, and resources to support you;

// Plus there’ll be some giveaways for those who make it live.