Not Too Sensitive - Empowering Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) To Own Their Sensitivity

In this episode, Alissa welcomes April Snow back to the podcast to celebrate her new book, Big Feelings, Big Joy, and to talk about why having everyday language for being highly sensitive makes it something you can own instead of explain away.
Sensitive people are often told they're fragile. April and Alissa share the research and the lived experience that say otherwise.
Alissa and April trade personal stories, from feeling different as kids to writing books during some of the hardest seasons of their lives, along with the small daily practices that keep them steady. Sensitivity isn't fragility, it's the capacity to feel the hard and the good at full volume and grow stronger from both.
In this episode, you'll learn:
What April's signature acronym, ORCHID, stands for
Why differential susceptibility is an HSPs greatest gift.
How a nervous system that moves in and out of different states is healthy, and why stretching toward what's meaningful expands your capacity
What tiny pockets of transition time and fewer daily decisions can do for your overwhelm
How savoring good moments became a life raft in April's childhood and still carries her through hard seasons
Why joy and grief can be held at the same time, and how connecting to something bigger than yourself makes that possible

Connect with April:
https://www.sensitivestrengths.com
https://www.instagram.com/sensitivestrengths
Big Feelings, Big Joy: https://www.bigfeelingsbigjoy.com/book

Sign up for Unshakable Interactions during presale for just $17!: https://www.sensitiveandsoulful.com/offers/DfoKpzEo/checkout?coupon_code=UIPRESALE
Uncover your sneaky internal belief that’s stopping you from being your most confident self TAKE The FREE Shadow Archetype Quiz NOW
Learn my 6-step process for managing & neutralizing your triggers as an HSP in our FREE UN-Botherable Workshop!
Join the Not Too Sensitive Club 🦋 My group coaching container for highly sensitive women where self-doubt becomes certainty, second-guessing turns into self-trust, and overthinking transforms into rock-solid intuition. CLICK HERE to learn more!
Follow Alissa on Substack: https://substack.com/@lifebyalissa
As a special bonus, I want to give you FREE access to my workshop for HSPs called Not "Too Sensitive" (usually $35)!
All you have to do is:
Leave a written review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts
Email a screenshot of your review to hello@lifebyalissa.com

That's it! 😊
🦋🦋🦋
Follow along on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@lifebyalissa⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this episode, Alissa gets into what happens when a rejection lands from someone you admire and why choosing to see yourself as an equal, instead of putting them on a pedestal, is the first step toward becoming a match for what you desire.
She shares what she's been noticing in her own season of rejection while her publisher sends her book out for endorsements, plus a look back at her early corporate retail days, when intimidating colleagues made her feel small.
When you develop your self-worth, you stop waiting for external permission, and instead start to create the life you want from your own belief in the inevitability of your success.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why a "no" from someone you admire can feel like proof you're not good enough, and how to catch that story before you agree with it
How putting someone on a pedestal quietly distances you from the very reality you want for yourself
What it looks like to meet a rejection with curiosity and self-belief instead of treating it as a verdict on your worth
Why carrying yourself as an equal is a choice you can make before you have any accolades to stand on
How the deeper work of building self-worth makes that choice easier to access when the moment actually arrives
How highly sensitive people can be deeply attuned and kind while still holding rock solid boundaries in rooms that feel intimidating

Sign up for Unshakable Interactions during presale for just $17!: https://www.sensitiveandsoulful.com/offers/DfoKpzEo/checkout?coupon_code=UIPRESALE
Uncover your sneaky internal belief that’s stopping you from being your most confident self TAKE The FREE Shadow Archetype Quiz NOW
Learn my 6-step process for managing & neutralizing your triggers as an HSP in our FREE UN-Botherable Workshop!
Join the Not Too Sensitive Club 🦋 My group coaching container for highly sensitive women where self-doubt becomes certainty, second-guessing turns into self-trust, and overthinking transforms into rock-solid intuition. CLICK HERE to learn more!
Follow Alissa on Substack: https://substack.com/@lifebyalissa
As a special bonus, I want to give you FREE access to my workshop for HSPs called Not "Too Sensitive" (usually $35)!
All you have to do is:
Leave a written review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts
Email a screenshot of your review to hello@lifebyalissa.com

That's it! 😊
🦋🦋🦋
Follow along on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@lifebyalissa⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this episode, Alissa gets into what it really means to get out of your own way. She talks about a habit so many highly sensitive people fall into without realizing it, which is scanning everyone else's moods to feel okay.
So much of the checking and managing is really an attempt to get someone else to respond in a way that settles your own nerves. Alissa names where that pattern comes from and what it takes to stop outsourcing your sense of safety to the people around you.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why the constant checking is often more about easing your own anxiety
How your natural attunement can tip into hyper-vigilance when you're anxious in a relationship
What cleaning up your side of the street looks like when you're caught in a dynamic you don't love
Why getting out of your own way frees you to focus on the message you came to share instead of how you're coming across
How showing up anyway, even when you might be judged, slowly desensitizes you to the fear of being disliked
Why sourcing your worth from within means an awkward moment costs you about thirty seconds instead of three days

Sign up for Unshakable Interactions during presale for just $17!: https://www.sensitiveandsoulful.com/offers/DfoKpzEo/checkout?coupon_code=UIPRESALE
Uncover your sneaky internal belief that’s stopping you from being your most confident self TAKE The FREE Shadow Archetype Quiz NOW
Learn my 6-step process for managing & neutralizing your triggers as an HSP in our FREE UN-Botherable Workshop!
Join the Not Too Sensitive Club 🦋 My group coaching container for highly sensitive women where self-doubt becomes certainty, second-guessing turns into self-trust, and overthinking transforms into rock-solid intuition. CLICK HERE to learn more!
Follow Alissa on Substack: https://substack.com/@lifebyalissa
As a special bonus, I want to give you FREE access to my workshop for HSPs called Not "Too Sensitive" (usually $35)!
All you have to do is:
Leave a written review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts
Email a screenshot of your review to hello@lifebyalissa.com

That's it! 😊
🦋🦋🦋
Follow along on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@lifebyalissa⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this episode, Alissa revists the topic of good girl conditioning and why so many highly sensitive women build an entire identity around being the responsible one, the kind one, the person who never rocks the boat. She looks at what happens when agreeableness stops being a natural expression of your sensitivity and starts becoming a way of abandoning yourself to keep everyone else comfortable.
The traits themselves are often innate, but the problem is when they are expressed at the cost of self-abandonment. Alissa names the fear sitting underneath it all: the fear of shining too brightly and being disliked for it.
Through her own story of a work friendship that went cold the moment she got promoted, and the clients she has watched give themselves permission to take up space, she walks through what it looks like to expand your tolerance for discomfort and stop managing everyone else's reaction to you.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why being the responsible, easygoing one can quietly turn into abandoning your own needs
How the fear of shining too brightly keeps so many highly sensitive women playing small
What it means that other people benefit from you never setting a boundary or speaking up
Why stepping out of the good girl identity almost always brings pushback, and how to be okay with that
How to hold the guilt of someone being upset and still trust that you did the right thing
Why giving people the dignity of their own reactions frees you from carrying everyone

Sign up for Unshakable Interactions during presale for just $17!: https://www.sensitiveandsoulful.com/offers/DfoKpzEo/checkout?coupon_code=UIPRESALE
Uncover your sneaky internal belief that’s stopping you from being your most confident self TAKE The FREE Shadow Archetype Quiz NOW
Learn my 6-step process for managing & neutralizing your triggers as an HSP in our FREE UN-Botherable Workshop!
Join the Not Too Sensitive Club 🦋 My group coaching container for highly sensitive women where self-doubt becomes certainty, second-guessing turns into self-trust, and overthinking transforms into rock-solid intuition. CLICK HERE to learn more!
Follow Alissa on Substack: https://substack.com/@lifebyalissa
As a special bonus, I want to give you FREE access to my workshop for HSPs called Not "Too Sensitive" (usually $35)!
All you have to do is:
Leave a written review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts
Email a screenshot of your review to hello@lifebyalissa.com

That's it! 😊
🦋🦋🦋
Follow along on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@lifebyalissa⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

In this episode, Alissa tackles a question she hears constantly. "How do you know if you're actually allowed to be upset, or if you're just being too sensitive?"
If you've ever replayed a conversation for days, questioned your own reaction, or wondered if you made something out of nothing, this one's for you.
Alissa traces that self-doubt back to where it actually started, and what it takes to fully trust yourself even when someone else insists you're overreacting.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why the question "am I overreacting or do I have a right to be upset" usually points to a deeper lack of self-trust
Why the people who dismissed your reactions were often responding from their own depletion
What writing out your personal values and boundaries does for you in the middle of a triggering moment
How to recognize when a reaction is bigger than the situation because it's hitting an old wound
Why "cleaning up your side of the street" comes before deciding whether a boundary conversation is necessary

Sign up for Unshakable Interactions during presale for just $17!: https://www.sensitiveandsoulful.com/offers/DfoKpzEo/checkout?coupon_code=UIPRESALE
Uncover your sneaky internal belief that’s stopping you from being your most confident self TAKE The FREE Shadow Archetype Quiz NOW
Learn my 6-step process for managing & neutralizing your triggers as an HSP in our FREE UN-Botherable Workshop!
Join the Not Too Sensitive Club 🦋 My group coaching container for highly sensitive women where self-doubt becomes certainty, second-guessing turns into self-trust, and overthinking transforms into rock-solid intuition. CLICK HERE to learn more!
Follow Alissa on Substack: https://substack.com/@lifebyalissa
As a special bonus, I want to give you FREE access to my workshop for HSPs called Not "Too Sensitive" (usually $35)!
All you have to do is:
Leave a written review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts
Email a screenshot of your review to hello@lifebyalissa.com

That's it! 😊
🦋🦋🦋
Follow along on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@lifebyalissa⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠