Because of my new book coming out March 31,, Spirituality Through a Highly Sensitive Lens: An Objective Look at Meditation Methods and Enlightenment), my blog posts now have two parts in each post—Part I will give brief reviews of a selection of recent research, and Part II will be in keeping with the tone of […]
Those Two Holiday Gifts
As I began doing with the last email, I begin this blog by sharing some of the latest research. My plan is that the second half of each blog is going to be more personal. This time it will contain the second of my two holiday gifts. But here is the latest research and my […]
Why HSPs’ Tendency to Worry about the Real Meaning of our Life may Make Us Healthier
It’s Healthier to Live a Life Full of Meaning than a Life Full of Pleasure Originally published in Comfort Zone Newsletter: June 2014 The other research I want to tell you about is not about HSPs directly, but I think you will find it very pertinent. Often I hear HSPs question why, compared to non-HSPs, […]
New research on the brain activity of HSPs
HSPs’ Brain Activation, Compared to Non-HSPs, Indicates More Empathy and Awareness Originally published in Comfort Zone Newsletter: June 2014 Big news! A very important scientific article about the brain activity of HSPs has just been published. After four years of work by six authors (Bianca P. Acevedo; me; my husband, Arthur Aron; Matthew-Donald Sangster; Nancy […]
Would you be willing to sit at the bedside of a dying stranger and comfort them?
Originally published in Comfort Zone Newsletter: March 2014 When I wrote the 60 or so items that eventually became the 27 items of the HSP Scale, the title of this article was one of the items. Obviously I wrote it because I thought HSPs would be likely to agree with it, and I was right. […]
Discussing Your Trait with Therapists
Originally published in Comfort Zone Newsletter: November 2013 Many of you will see a psychotherapist at some point in your life or have already. Whether this is because you are in enormous distress, want to further explore the meaning of your life, or are merely curious, your choice of therapist will impact your life enormously. […]
On Making Decisions
Originally published in Comfort Zone Newsletter: November 2013 Do you have trouble making decisions? I do, and it seems to be true of most HSPs. Indeed, having made many difficult ones in my life, I joke that I have “decision trauma” from truly agonizing over some especially painful choices, in which whatever I did would […]
An HSP (Me) Visits New Zealand
Originally published in Comfort Zone Newsletter: November 2013 A year ago my husband and I were invited to Wellington, home of Victoria University, for a small, prestigious interdisciplinary conference, October 31 through November 3, on close relationships. This is his specialty and one of mine, so it was an honor indeed, especially my being invited […]
A Brief Reminder for the Holidays
Originally published in Comfort Zone Newsletter: November 2013 You know what you have to do: Fight the commercialization, which affects you as it creeps in, presenting things you can feel expected to do because everyone else does. Think consciously and deliberately how you will make this a meaningful time for you and others. At the same time, watch your expectations, […]
Why this Might be Nearly the Last Issue of Comfort Zone
Originally published in Comfort Zone Newsletter: November 2013 The plan is to modernize into a blog format, so that you can write comments to each other stimulated by my posts, creating more of a sense of community on this website. I have vowed not to be lured into responding to contents, but I expect that […]