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Hearts and Minds Nourished by Nature

Dr Kim Brown, Founder Director of Nature Therapy CIC

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Highly Sensitive

23/7/2016

6 Comments

 
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Just recently I spent some months living off grid on an isolated mountain. This was a direct opportunity to develop a much deeper personal understanding of sensory experiences.  The theory was, that undistracted by computers, wifi, telephones. television and even social interactions, I could fully immerse myself in mother nature and all that she teaches us. 

The first weeks were cold, wet and dark by 6.p.m. At night it was so cold I couldn't sleep because my nose was frozen. Even shuffling my ever willing Bedlington Terrier, Mogs, into my sleeping bag didn't work. Once the last embers of the fire had died out I was awake and shivering again.  

In the space of a few weeks the mud and fast flowing river changed almost overnight to blazing sunshine and high humidity. As temperatures soared to over 40 degrees the mozzies and biting flies made their presence known - especially if you sought shade under the trees. Interestingly Mogs spent her time eating the tips off the plantain plant which I later discovered was a natural antihistamine antidote to bites. It could not possibly be learned behaviour as she had been with me since a tiny pup so it had to be either an innate inherited knowledge or an ability to smell some component of antihistamine - either way flipping marvellous.

I did not realise until this point that I was a total IT junkie. I was finding excuses within myself to come down the mountain and drive an hour to the nearest village where of course I needed vital life saving resources such as a frothy coffee and internet access. Once I had my fix and returned I still suffered a mild level of on-going anxiety that I was missing out on something very important and dreadful things might happen if I was not online.

A unexpected effect of this self imposed isolation was that the less I interacted with others, the less I wanted to. My grandmother was a recluse spending more time gardening than with any human companion, my son has similar hermit tendencies. It made me question in anthropological terms the potential benefits of imposed isolation to long term survival - not being open to infectious diseases or having to feed and protect others thereby wasting scarce resources are examples. 

In psychological terms I am fully aware that being a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) often leads to isolation as those who are HSP can become overloaded to the point of distress by interacting with others. Unless you learn how to protect yourself from negative energy, those who are HSP can become distinctly unwell suffering from conditions such as depression, ME, and a range of unexplained ill health. 

The academic work in HSP is jumping forward in leaps and bounds and the best part is it is a much nicer label than anxiety disorder, depressive or yuppy flu amongst other such terms.  It also means that we are now beginning to understand this way of being so that appropriate support and advice can be provided.  Being a HSP has helped me in my career but it has also been a major hindrance when I have been forced to work with people who drained my very essence.  Being isolated helped me understand my need to avoid so many social situations and only being able to spend minimal time in certain people's space.

Spending an extended amount of time amongst nature in all its glory has helped  deepen my understanding of the senses and how to help others through sensory based experiences.  However the major insights occurred when I came back to concrete civilisation. I will write about that in my next blog.
6 Comments
George
23/7/2016 12:58:30 pm

I have often thought that the depressive "illness" i have suffered from for the majority of my life was as a result of my being overly sensitive to things-one of the medical professions diagnosis of my health issues is "reactionary" depression-surely "reactionary" and "sensitivity" are,if not the same thing,at least akin to one another. I have often thought that people who comit suicide do so because they are so sensitive to things in their lives.

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Kim
23/7/2016 02:53:39 pm

I couldn't agree more George - as we are learning more about HSP so it is changing the whole mental health field of work - there is anew film coming out soon called Sensitive which I am really looking forward to seeing

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Debbie La-Haye
23/7/2016 09:32:45 pm

Great blog Kim! I'm always recommending Elaine Aron's books. I think so many people that are drawn to come to us for therapeutic horsemanship are highly sensitive, and watching the horses can help them learn about that aspect of themselves. Discovering about being highly sensitive (and that it was not a weakness!) was what led to us choosing to home educate Morgan, as constant sensory overwhelm at school was making him miserable. Can't wait to read the next blog :)

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Debbie La-Haye
23/7/2016 09:34:17 pm

Forgot to mention - Morgan and I contributed to crowdfunding 'Sensitive'.

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Kim
23/7/2016 11:05:40 pm

That's amazing - I have the DVD on order and very much looking forward to seeing it 😘

Kim
23/7/2016 11:04:31 pm

She has done some pioneering work and fantastic that you are using this in your work with the horses - my grandson is being home educated fir the same reasons as Morgan experienced. Life has much improved for him now as I expect it has for Morgan xx

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