As a psychiatrist and empath, I want to show you ways to balance your work, friends, children, and other family members without going on sensory overload, as many empaths do.
The secret to thriving as an empath parent is to have strategies in place to counter tension and overstimulation. Of course, this is important for all parents, but since empaths have a lower threshold for stress, anxiety, and sensory overload, these tools can make or break their sanity and well-being.
In my new book (for parents and children), The Highly Sensitive Rabbit, a caring cottontail named Aurora is called “overly sensitive” by her siblings and feels like she doesn’t belong in the world. Aurora’s mother understands the challenges of parenting and worries that sensitive Aurora won’t fit in with other rabbits. Sensitivity can be a mixed bag. Parents may become chronically worried and stressed if they don’t utilize self-care.
Empathic parents can practice the following strategies to reduce stress and to stay calm and balanced. They will help you be mindful of how you express your emotions to your kids, while still allowing yourself to feel deeply.
9 Action Steps to Achieve Balance and Reduce Sensory Overload
1. Start the day with a gratefulness affirmation
This sets a positive, uplifting tone. Inwardly or aloud say, “I am grateful for this day, for my health, for my connection to spirit, and for my kids and family. Thank you for all these blessings. May I stay calm. May I stay happy. May I be loving.”
2. Remember to breathe
Rushing causes you to hold your breath or to breathe shallowly, which traps tension in your body. Throughout your busy day, program yourself to take at least one conscious deep breath periodically to release tension.
3. Create alone time
To counter the demands of raising children, empaths must schedule at least a few minutes alone each day to recharge. Spend some time in nature if you can, or at your sacred space at home
Read More: The Power Of Alone Time: 9 Surprising Benefits Of Solitude
4. Listen to soothing music
Music has the power to heal, inspire, and transform tension. It is an instant energy shifter. It helps you and your baby as you rock the little one to sleep. Later, it can be calming for everyone in your home.
5. Meditate
Finding bits of time to meditate breaks the stress cycle and quiets your nervous system. As one empath mother said, “After I mediate, I’m calmer. Then I don’t get pulled into the drama of my son’s tantrums.
6. Take power naps
If you have young children, you might feel the urge to catch up on laundry while they’re napping. But this is the perfect time for you to take a powernap. Just five to fifteen minutes will revive you and provide an energy boost that will carry you through the rest of your busy day.
7. Set boundaries
Strive to set clear and enforceable boundaries. There is probably no harder place to create a limit than with your children, but it’s healthy to say, “No” to unreasonable requests and bad behavior.
8. Don’t be a helicopter parent
Empathic parents are highly intuitive and pick up on what their children are feeling and thinking–often to an extreme. As a result, you can become overly anxious, so you hover and micro-manage. This doesn’t serve your kids and can make them anxious and resentful too. Center your own energy.
9. Have fun with your kids
Remember what precious beings they are, rather than concentrating on annoyances. Focus on the privilege of parenting them. The laughter of your happy children is healing. Let your empathic self release stress and join them in their joy.
Just as Aurora in The Highly Sensitive Rabbit learns how to set healthy boundaries and deal with intense emotions, you can also become an even more empathic and loving parent. In the extraordinary process of child-rearing, remember to be self-compassionate.
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