Book Club for Elaine Aron's 'The Highly Sensitive Person'

[Dhiyanah]

Hi all! Inspired by last class, Irene and I got chatting about doing a book club for Elaine Aron's book, 'The Highly Sensitive Person' (I've received permission to mention Irene in this post). This will be a loosely structured way for us to journey together as we embrace the importance of self-knowledge for HSPs, taking on Maryam's lesson on honing our language and capacity to communicate and navigate our truths in this shared world.

We remember that there were a couple of folks from the class chat who might also be interested, so I'm sharing this post on here and on the NEMS FB page to invite y'all to join us if you'd like, in whatever capacity feels good for you to.

Our current set-up is:

- Begin reading the book this month,
- Share insights and personal responses on NEMS fb/forum when inspired to, eg. using the space in the comments section of this post - we've opted for this method so that anyone from this community can jump in and out as they wish,
- Around mid-September, as we venture deeper into the book and on our self-knowledge journeys, I'd be open to hosting a sharing session on Zoom for those who'd like to celebrate what we've learned and share with each other in virtual real-time.

Our reading goal isn't to complete the book within a set window of time, rather to give ourselves an encouraging space to continue seeing ourselves and being seen, to practice validating our self-knowledge as we update our language. If you've read the book or found any other resources on HSPs helpful, I hope to hear from you too!

If all this sounds good, please say hi and start sharing in the comments! Maybe starting with sharing your personal reading/research intentions and how you'll be approaching this book (will you be doing the exercises in them as you go or after going through it for the first time)? Or anything else that feels good for you to share <3  

[Irene]

Finally reading this book feels like a major turning point for me. Ready for my relationship with my sensitivity and self knowledge to shift. I plan to mostly read, and do the exercises as I feel inspired to. I made a longer post on FB but I want to emphasize that this is a no pressure zone! Feel free to post and respond as you feel ready. (This is actually very much a message to myself lol). Excited! :)

[Dhiyanah]

My first update! So I bought the book as an ebook (faster and a bit more affordable for me) and started a reading journal on the same device. My current rhythm is to explore a chapter or two, then spend time updating my journal with responses and notes on passages that felt like keys for me, unlocking greater understanding of moments in my past that felt like blank spaces - I've been experiencing such relief from having these blank spaces filled out with newfound clarity that I noticed myself getting physically uncomfortable. It's a good feeling but not a very familiar one, which calls for gentle re-patterning work with the nervous system. What I've learned about reprogramming and working with vibrational medicine from NEMS classes have been so helpful with this. I'm taking lots of breaks in between chapters. In my reading journal, I'm responding to some of the prompts and queries that Elaine brings up. There are some activities that feel like they need more space for me to engage with so I'm bookmarking those for after my first read-through.

I recently understood why it took me this long to get into researching on HSPs: For the longest time I felt exhausted having to navigate the lived experiences of my reality, of living with ptsd and anxieties, of surviving abuse and traumas, of being on the more extreme side of subtle sensory processing. I might have associated educating myself on this trait with the heavy self-research I did to understand the anatomies of trauma and survival. To build and own a language that might not be seen or heard by those around you can feel so discouraging, while also being utterly necessary.

It felt good to receive this clarity as it lets me know I need a new, less tiring approach to this research. Giving myself lots of space to explore and respond to what I'm learning - even if all I do is doodle while reading - feels like a good start to this. I'm currently on Chapter 3, finding comfort in taking my sweet time with this book, and looking forward to feeling more confident and supported in embracing my HSP traits as I dive deeper 💜🌸

For anyone who'd like to share: How are you going with the reading so far, or if you've already read the book, how did you approach it? What's your reading rhythm like? What revelations have you received so far/when you first read the book?