PodcastsEducationStress Management for Highly Sensitive People (HSP): Inner Work and Strategies for Coping with Stress, Overwhelm, and Negative Emotions
#254 | The Real Reasons You're So Sensitive, That Have Nothing To Do With Trauma
Have you ever wondered if your sensitivity is a strength, a stress response, or something else entirely? For many highly sensitive people, emotional overwhelm is a familiar struggle—but what if the root of your sensitivity isn't what you think? In this episode, Todd Smith uncovers the lesser-known causes of sensitivity and empowers you with the clarity to navigate your emotional world with confidence and compassion. Understand the five surprising sources of sensitivity—and why only two are linked to trauma or stress. Learn how to distinguish between healthy sensitivity and stress-induced reactivity, so you can better care for your emotional needs. Discover how recognizing your unique form of sensitivity can lead to more balanced self-care, fewer misunderstandings, and a greater sense of inner peace. Press play now to uncover what’s truly driving your sensitivity and how to use that insight for a calmer, more empowered life. Todd Smith, founder of True Inner Freedom Dreaming of a stress-free, balanced life? Visit trueinnerfreedom.com and complete the HSP Stress Survey. Gain clarity on your stress triggers and enjoy a free 15-minute Inner Freedom Call designed to guide you toward lasting inner peace and fulfillment. Are you a highly sensitive person (HSP) or someone who identifies as hypersensitive or neurodivergent? This podcast is dedicated to helping highly sensitive people (HSPs) navigate overwhelm and stress by using The Work of Byron Katie—a powerful method for questioning stressful thoughts and finding true inner freedom. We dive deep into stress management strategies, coping with stress, and stress relief methods specifically tailored for HSPs. Learn how to manage emotions, especially negative ones, and explore effective stress reduction techniques that go beyond the surface to address the root causes of anxiety and pressure. Whether you’re interested in learning how to lower stress, handle stress and pressure, or reduce stress through practical techniques, we provide insights and support based on The Work of Byron Katie. Discover how this transformative approach can help you decrease stress, find inner peace, and create balance in your life. Join us to learn about various coping strategies for stress, all designed to support HSPs in their journey toward emotional well-being.
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Why Saying No in Relationships as a Highly Sensitive Person Will Bring You Closer
Have you ever felt like you’re giving everything in your relationships but still feel oddly disconnected? If you're a highly sensitive person, you might be unknowingly draining your energy and weakening your connections by always saying “yes.” This episode reveals why prioritizing your own joy and solitude can actually strengthen your bonds—not create distance—and how doing so can transform your emotional well-being. Discover the hidden emotional cost of being overly accommodating in relationships and why it's silently eroding your connection. Learn how carving out space for your own passions—even in small doses—can reignite your sense of self and deepen intimacy. Get introduced to a gentle but powerful mindset practice that helps you overcome guilt and build the self-trust needed to speak your truth. Tune in now to learn how reclaiming your “no” can be the most loving move you make for yourself and those you care about. Todd Smith, founder of True Inner Freedom Dreaming of a stress-free, balanced life? Visit trueinnerfreedom.com and complete the HSP Stress Survey. Gain clarity on your stress triggers and enjoy a free 15-minute Inner Freedom Call designed to guide you toward lasting inner peace and fulfillment. Are you a highly sensitive person (HSP) or someone who identifies as hypersensitive or neurodivergent? This podcast is dedicated to helping highly sensitive people (HSPs) navigate overwhelm and stress by using The Work of Byron Katie—a powerful method for questioning stressful thoughts and finding true inner freedom. We dive deep into stress management strategies, coping with stress, and stress relief methods specifically tailored for HSPs. Learn how to manage emotions, especially negative ones, and explore effective stress reduction techniques that go beyond the surface to address the root causes of anxiety and pressure. Whether you’re interested in learning how to lower stress, handle stress and pressure, or reduce stress through practical techniques, we provide insights and support based on The Work of Byron Katie. Discover how this transformative approach can help you decrease stress, find inner peace, and create balance in your life. Join us to learn about various coping strategies for stress, all designed to support HSPs in their journey toward emotional well-being.
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#252 | How Understanding the Secret Language of Overwhelm as an HSP Can Accelerate Your Inner Growth and Fulfillment
Do you ever feel like overwhelm hits out of nowhere and knocks you off balance—just when you need clarity the most? If you're a highly sensitive person (HSP), overwhelm isn't just an inconvenient emotion—it's a crucial message from your nervous system. In a world that often asks you to go faster and do more, learning to understand and respond to overwhelm can be the key to restoring your peace and power. This episode offers a radically compassionate reframe that transforms overwhelm from a shutdown state into a signal for growth, insight, and inner alignment. Discover why overwhelm starts as a whisper and what happens when you keep pushing through. Learn how overwhelm reveals deeper misalignments in your thoughts and beliefs—and how to use that insight for inner healing. Gain a practical mindset shift that turns overwhelm into a powerful compass for navigating back to clarity and self-trust. Listen now to discover how understanding your overwhelm can help you unlock peace, direction, and true inner freedom. Todd Smith, founder of True Inner Freedom Dreaming of a stress-free, balanced life? Visit trueinnerfreedom.com and complete the HSP Stress Survey. Gain clarity on your stress triggers and enjoy a free 15-minute Inner Freedom Call designed to guide you toward lasting inner peace and fulfillment. Are you a highly sensitive person (HSP) or someone who identifies as hypersensitive or neurodivergent? This podcast is dedicated to helping highly sensitive people (HSPs) navigate overwhelm and stress by using The Work of Byron Katie—a powerful method for questioning stressful thoughts and finding true inner freedom. We dive deep into stress management strategies, coping with stress, and stress relief methods specifically tailored for HSPs. Learn how to manage emotions, especially negative ones, and explore effective stress reduction techniques that go beyond the surface to address the root causes of anxiety and pressure. Whether you’re interested in learning how to lower stress, handle stress and pressure, or reduce stress through practical techniques, we provide insights and support based on The Work of Byron Katie. Discover how this transformative approach can help you decrease stress, find inner peace, and create balance in your life. Join us to learn about various coping strategies for stress, all designed to support HSPs in their journey toward emotional well-being.
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#251 | How to Finally Stop Shaming Yourself for Resting So You Can Function at Your Best Again as an HSP
Have you ever felt guilty for sleeping in or taking a break—even when you needed it most? If you’re a highly sensitive person (HSP), could your downtime be more essential than you think? In a world that glorifies productivity, many HSPs struggle with shame around rest. This episode explores how unplanned downtime can trigger harsh self-criticism and why our cultural conditioning makes rest feel like a personal failure. If you've ever wondered why you feel so depleted—or why you're so hard on yourself for slowing down—this conversation will resonate deeply. Learn how neuroscience confirms that HSPs burn more mental energy and need more rest—not less—to thrive. Discover how inner work can dismantle the guilt and “shoulds” that surround your rest habits. Gain empowering language you can use to advocate for your downtime without overexplaining or feeling like a burden. Press play now to reclaim rest as your greatest ally in living a balanced, vibrant life as a highly sensitive person. Todd Smith, founder of True Inner Freedom Dreaming of a stress-free, balanced life? Visit trueinnerfreedom.com and complete the HSP Stress Survey. Gain clarity on your stress triggers and enjoy a free 15-minute Inner Freedom Call designed to guide you toward lasting inner peace and fulfillment. Are you a highly sensitive person (HSP) or someone who identifies as hypersensitive or neurodivergent? This podcast is dedicated to helping highly sensitive people (HSPs) navigate overwhelm and stress by using The Work of Byron Katie—a powerful method for questioning stressful thoughts and finding true inner freedom. We dive deep into stress management strategies, coping with stress, and stress relief methods specifically tailored for HSPs. Learn how to manage emotions, especially negative ones, and explore effective stress reduction techniques that go beyond the surface to address the root causes of anxiety and pressure. Whether you’re interested in learning how to lower stress, handle stress and pressure, or reduce stress through practical techniques, we provide insights and support based on The Work of Byron Katie. Discover how this transformative approach can help you decrease stress, find inner peace, and create balance in your life. Join us to learn about various coping strategies for stress, all designed to support HSPs in their journey toward emotional well-being.
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#250 | You're Not Failing — There's Nothing Wrong With Choosing Inner Work Over Ambition as an HSP
Are you silently comparing your inner-focused life to someone else's outward success—and feeling like you're falling short? For Highly Sensitive People, comparison isn’t just disheartening—it’s deeply stressful. If you've ever felt inadequate next to a high-achieving sibling, friend, or colleague, this episode reveals how those comparisons quietly chip away at your self-worth and mask your unique strengths as an HSP. Discover how recognizing and reframing this dynamic can open the door to deep inner peace. Hear a personal story of growing up alongside a high-powered sibling while choosing a path of spiritual and emotional growth—and the internal conflicts that followed. Learn how the belief that you must be outwardly successful to be “enough” causes hidden shame in many HSPs. Discover the breakthrough that happens when you stop chasing someone else’s version of success and start honoring your own sensitive, inward path. Press play now to uncover how embracing your true sensitivity—not resisting it—can free you from the myth of not being enough. Todd Smith, founder of True Inner Freedom Dreaming of a stress-free, balanced life? Visit trueinnerfreedom.com and complete the HSP Stress Survey. Gain clarity on your stress triggers and enjoy a free 15-minute Inner Freedom Call designed to guide you toward lasting inner peace and fulfillment. Are you a highly sensitive person (HSP) or someone who identifies as hypersensitive or neurodivergent? This podcast is dedicated to helping highly sensitive people (HSPs) navigate overwhelm and stress by using The Work of Byron Katie—a powerful method for questioning stressful thoughts and finding true inner freedom. We dive deep into stress management strategies, coping with stress, and stress relief methods specifically tailored for HSPs. Learn how to manage emotions, especially negative ones, and explore effective stress reduction techniques that go beyond the surface to address the root causes of anxiety and pressure. Whether you’re interested in learning how to lower stress, handle stress and pressure, or reduce stress through practical techniques, we provide insights and support based on The Work of Byron Katie. Discover how this transformative approach can help you decrease stress, find inner peace, and create balance in your life. Join us to learn about various coping strategies for stress, all designed to support HSPs in their journey toward emotional well-being.
About Stress Management for Highly Sensitive People (HSP): Inner Work and Strategies for Coping with Stress, Overwhelm, and Negative Emotions
As a highly sensitive person, are you looking for a more effective way to cope with stress and negative emotions?
This show helps highly sensitive people avoid overwhelm, eliminate stress, and find true inner freedom.
Listen to discover:
• Specific stress management strategies to avoid overwhelm as an HSP
• Real stories and insights to inspire your own inner freedom
• Powerful ways to understand and embrace your sensitivity
Todd Smith, your host and founder of True Inner Freedom, has been helping people reduce stress through The Work of Byron Katie since 2007—a powerful practice for questioning the thoughts that cause suffering.
Each week, you’ll hear three episodes designed to support your inner freedom as an HSP:
• Breakthrough Mondays feature success stories and insights to inspire your growth.
• Self-Compassion Wednesdays explore the unique traits of high sensitivity and offer deeper self-understanding.
• Strategy Fridays focus on practical tools and stress management strategies to help you stay balanced and grounded.
If you’re ready to transform your inner experience, start by listening to Episode 189, “The 3 Pillars of Stress Management for HSPs: A Path to Emotional Balance.”
Listen to Stress Management for Highly Sensitive People (HSP): Inner Work and Strategies for Coping with Stress, Overwhelm, and Negative Emotions, The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app
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