25: Using Nature to Recharge and Reconnect with Your Sensitive Self
With Jenna Mitchell, BSW, MSW, RSW
Is it difficult to find quiet spaces to think and reflect? In this episode, I talk with Jenna Mitchell, BSW, MSW, RSW about using nature as a resource to recharge and:
• How highly sensitive people are more connected and positively impacted by nature
• Taking your problems to nature when you’re stuck in overthinking or overwhelm
• Reconnecting with your creativity and intuition through nature
• The many ways to connect with nature inside and outside, using your five senses
• Intentionally engaging with nature to restore your mind and emotions
• Why it’s important to advocate for more accessible outdoor spaces
Jenna is a Registered Social Worker and Therapist in Ontario, and works in her private practice- Therapy for Sensitive Souls. She is also a highly sensitive person herself who feels this world deeply. Jenna works to help other highly sensitive humans rewrite their stories about sensitivity to shift from sensitivity as shame to sensitivity as strength. Jenna helps clients move towards building a loving and self-compassionate relationship to all parts of themselves.
Keep in touch with Jenna:
• Website: http://therapyforsensitivesouls.ca
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therapyforsensitivesouls
Resources Mentioned:
• Jenna works virtually with highly sensitive adults who are Ontario residents. Set up a consult: http://therapyforsensitivesouls.ca
Thank you to Cozy Earth for sponsoring this episode.
Cozy Earth offers super soft and sustainably sourced bedding and loungewear. Use discount code SENSITIVE at checkout for up to 40% off. https://cozyearth.com
Thanks for listening!
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This episode is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for treatment with a mental health or medical professional. Some links are affiliate links. You are under no obligation to purchase any book, product or service. I am not responsible for the quality or satisfaction of any purchase.
Episode Transcript
Jenna Mitchell: 0:00
Can we go almost preemptively to combat the sense of overstimulation? Can it be our retreat, our quiet, our time to just be?
April Snow: 0:21
Welcome to Sensitive Stories, the podcast for the people who live with hearts and eyes wide open. I'm your host, psychotherapist and author, april Snow. I invite you to join me as I deep dive into rich conversations with fellow highly sensitive people that will inspire you to live a more fulfilling life as an HSP without all the overwhelm. In this episode, I talk with Jenna Mitchell about the benefits of connecting with nature to find calm, how you can access nature from any place you are, even if you live in a city or can't get outside very often, and how to use nature connection for healing and to reclaim your sensitive gifts.
April Snow: 1:04
Jenna is a registered social worker and therapist in Ontario, canada, and works in her private practice Therapy for Sensitive Souls. She is also a highly sensitive person who feels this world deeply and works to help other HSP humans rewrite their stories about sensitivity, to shift from sensitivity as shame to sensitivity as a strength. Jenna helps clients move towards building a loving and self-compassionate relationship to all parts of themselves. For more HSP resources and to see behind the scenes video from the podcast, join me on Instagram, tiktok or YouTube at Sensitive Strengths or sign up for my email list. Links are in the show notes and at sensitivestoriescom. And just a reminder that this episode is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for treatment with a mental health or medical professional. Let's dive in. So, jenna, can you start off by telling me your HSP discovery story, how?
Jenna Mitchell: 2:27
when you realized that you're highly sensitive. I love the way you say when you realize, because that feels different to me than like, how long have you known? Did you always know? Because I have a sense for many HSPs we've known that we feel the world deeply since we existed in this world. Right, we've known there's been something different. We didn't realize what that meant or that there's a shared experience around it. So, yeah, I would say, how long have I known? Well, since I could understand that my experience seemed different, when did I realize this was actually a thing, this was a thing I share with other humans? It has a name, it has a way of understanding was in my MSW placement.
Jenna Mitchell: 3:16
I was in consultation with one of my amazing mentors and was talking about this experience of noticing resonance with so many of my clients having like really similar challenges, and she named it sounds like you work with a lot of highly sensitive people and that language is familiar to us just generally in culture. I think. So I said, yeah, sure, highly sensitive people, and she said no, like, let me tell more. And she started sharing more about HSPs as a trait, sharing more about kind of shared experience around being an HSP, and it hit me. Oh so not only is this who I work with, this is who I am, and it was that moment that I said ah, so both I'm a highly sensitive person and I'm also a therapist for highly sensitive people.
Jenna Mitchell: 4:10
That's what I do. That makes sense. And then the same week had another person in my life talking about their experience of late diagnosed ADHD and like coming to understand neurodiversity, and they named for me in passing, as I mentioned, my HSP kind of discovery moment. They said did you know that high sensitivity is another form of neurodiversity? And then it all clicked together. Okay, this isn't just this like set of traits that we kind of see, it's also brain difference, it's a different way of experiencing entirely because of how we're made up, and those two pieces together in the same week kind of set off this journey for me of research. Okay, what do we know? How do I understand this? How do I bring this into practice?
Jenna Mitchell: 5:05
from all my like really objective research focus parts and then all my more attuned kind of philosophical feeling parts, also having this moment of reflection and awakening of okay, and now that I know this, there's nothing wrong with me. There's nothing wrong with the people that I know this, there's nothing wrong with me. There's nothing wrong with the people that I work with. And so how can I actually move my practice into a place of making space for highly sensitive folks to know that, like, there is nothing wrong, this is simply how we are, and how can we make space to build a life that honors that instead of tries to work around this world? That just isn't always built for sensitive souls.
April Snow: 5:51
I love how you said this is who I am, that's it. And I appreciate that distinction between just the language of being more sensitive in general, and then there's actual traits. Brain is different, it's wired differently, wired to process and reflect and feel. And then how you dove in, kind of intellectually, but also in your feelings. I'm wondering why that was important to understand yourself at those different levels or with those different parts.
Jenna Mitchell: 6:23
Yeah, well, I see the world, or see myself, from a lens of us all having different parts of ourselves that serve different roles or kind of bring different things to us at different moments. So I think my research parts needed evidence, they needed to know okay, is this actually a thing Like what do we objectively know and what can I objectively share with people? Right, they want to know the facts, they want to know how I can support people to say, hey, look how much this is a thing we know. All of this research about what can be helpful, or just to validate that this does exist. And then my feeling parts this does exist. And then my feeling parts, my kind of more compassionate parts, also just needed to process okay, and like how do we settle into that as an identity piece? How do we settle into that as almost hearing that validation, as hearing that sense of we don't need to change, we merely need to understand and adjust our way of being to honor our sensitivity, so it doesn't feel so heavy all the time, right, yeah?
April Snow: 7:36
absolutely. Yeah, it is important to have the evidence, as you said, to know this is real, Because so many people will say, oh, it's made up, it's trauma or it's a mental health issue. Right, we are literally wired differently. Our brains are different for a reason. There's lots of advantages, and to know that's true and then to be able to share it with others is so important and have that solid information and then also to accept it for ourselves. Yeah, I love how you said it. Settle in, yeah.
Jenna Mitchell: 8:06
Yeah, settle in Because it's different to. We need to hear it objectively, but then it's different to hear it and believe it Right and so especially it makes sense in a world where we get so many of those messages like you said about this isn't real or this is just some kind of deficiency in some way or this is a problem. Of course it's going to take a minute to to settle in, make sense that parts want the hard evidence to help that kind of process of getting there, because for so long you hear something really different. Growing up as a highly sensitive person, right.
April Snow: 8:43
Yeah, we hear a lot of messages about our sensitive experience, and it does take a while to kind of weed through all of that and come back to self In your settling in process. I'm wondering how nature has played a part in that, because I know that's a big resource for you and one that you use in your practice. Could you say a bit more about how that has been supportive?
Jenna Mitchell: 9:05
Nature is a huge ally for me in any kind of moment of change or a moment of reflection or discovery, because it is one of these few places in the world that there's a general acceptance of.
Jenna Mitchell: 9:25
We can go there and be quiet and be by ourselves and just have time yeah just have time to let things settle, to let kind of calm come forward and to process all the ways that we're processing information and change and news. As a highly sensitive person, we know we just need time to do that reflective work. It's one of our greatest strengths and if we don't get it sure can feel heavy and overwhelming because we just have so much information coming in that to have that time allows us to do something with that information right. So nature was a bit of an escape for me in early HSP discovery season and early therapy work too for me to be able to have that space to be able to be quiet.
Jenna Mitchell: 10:19
To be able to have that space to be able to be quiet, to be able to sort through everything that I was hearing and then notice what's happening inside for me. Where am I landing? What, intuitively, is coming forward? All of these things that we can notice if we just slow down and we have permission in nature to slow down. It's so accepted to be like, yeah, we're going to sit quietly on our porch or we're going to go for a walk by ourselves. That building that in was really important for me. And being able to start to even carve out space for myself to really honor sensitivity in a way too.
April Snow: 10:59
Yeah, I appreciate that. It is a space I love what you said to get quiet, to settle, to find calm something we need so much but it's not often accessible and to process right that peace that we need every single day. Can you say a little bit more about what processing might look like when you're outside in nature for folks who maybe haven't had that experience or haven't connected the dots before about that's what they're doing?
Jenna Mitchell: 11:26
yeah, well, it like it's an interesting question. What does processing look like? Because it's gonna look really different for different people probably, but I guess I'll talk about why. Might it be useful to go to nature when you're processing? In whatever way you're doing that.
Jenna Mitchell: 11:48
So we know from tons and tons of research that there's all of these benefits of being with nature. Some of them are calm or to increase feelings of happiness, Beautiful you can imagine. If you're processing, you might want to call on that to help regulate you as you're going through something. But we also see all these other interesting benefits that maybe get talked about a little less. So creativity for folks who spend time in nature report feeling more creative, including creative problem solving, which, if we're coming to understand something new about ourselves or our world or process our day taking a problem to nature and seeing what kind of creative solutions come forward, can be a way to get unstuck too. We also see things like an increase in focus or an increase in energy and time with nature, which, again, like really fascinating stuff. So it's more than just calm that comes forward. It's also all of these innate resources of creativity, confidence, calm, but also focus, problem solving energy. Calm, but also focus, problem solving energy. All of these things can emerge naturally when we give ourselves space.
Jenna Mitchell: 13:10
So what does that processing look like? For me, it often will look like going with an intention to nature, something like, okay, I'm going to sit outside today, I'm going to go on this walk today and I'm going to bring a problem to nature. I'm going to bring something with me. I'm going to say I want to understand, like how do I start talking about high sensitivity with people in my life, For example? That was a really early kind of processing thing for me and just seeing what comes forward when I give myself that space and when I partner with this natural energy, that kind of comes forward for us when we're in nature.
April Snow: 13:50
I love that idea of taking a problem to nature because it can get really overwhelming sitting with those big questions.
April Snow: 13:56
How do I tell someone I'm highly sensitive or how do I make a decision about a major life moment, changing jobs or moving or having a child, any of those things? Taking it to nature and getting quiet, tapping into intuition, tapping to the I think you said innate resources. Just to go back a little bit when we're talking about nature, what does that mean? Do I need to get out into the woods to the ocean, or could it look like something else? How would you define nature?
Jenna Mitchell: 14:32
Yeah, beautiful question, and it could be so many different things, right? How would you define nature? That's such a huge question. I know it probably says every highly sensitive person who thinks about things a million ways. But here we are. Okay. So how would I define nature?
Jenna Mitchell: 14:51
I would say Nature for me is tapping into earth or elements in any way that feels attuned and accessible. So it could be and oftentimes this is what people think of. They think of like sitting on the beach or they think of the walk in a wooded area and, yes, that's beautiful, amazing nature connection. It also happens to not be accessible most of the time for a lot of folks, right? So nature can also be snuggling with your cat, sitting in a bubble bath, like going to a farmer's market in the middle of a major city and feeling connected to the food and like people who grew that food and that sense of this coming from somewhere.
Jenna Mitchell: 15:44
All of that can be nature, right? So, yeah, when we say bring a problem to nature, could be something like I'm sitting by my window on a rainy day. I don't necessarily need to be immersed fully. There's lots of different ways to connect physically and because we have this beautiful strength as highly sensitive people, of feeling into experience. It also can just be connecting emotionally, or connecting almost like philosophically, to the essence of nature. We can turn kind of that sense of deep connectedness to the world into our connection with nature too.
April Snow: 16:26
That's really beautiful, like connecting with any of the natural elements that you have access to in your space water, food, people, yeah, just all kinds. I mean I could just think of so many options that are on the table now, versus I need to trek to the woods or to the forest because not everyone has that available and to know that there are other ways to do it.
Jenna Mitchell: 16:51
If people feel stuck. I'll sometimes suggest start with your senses so go, go through and say, like what's available, accessible or meaningful to me based on sight? Well, right now it might be. I'm looking at house plants, I'm looking at a photograph of a nature place that holds like nostalgic value to me, could be sound. I could be putting on rain sounds in my home or listening to fireplace channel, even that does do something for our system, right.
Jenna Mitchell: 17:29
so going through our senses can be a way of almost getting out of the stuckness of nature. Is this one thing that I have to be like? Moving through, adventuring through, not just sitting with experiencing?
April Snow: 17:44
Yeah, I love that there's a lot of options there. I feel like the menu is long and that's a great way to think about. Okay, if I'm thinking about my senses, what could I access in my space? Could I look at photo, photo? Could I listen to nature sounds? Thankfully, there's lots of things on youtube now with nature visuals. Could I get a house plant? Could I cuddle with my cat? Yeah, so many things, so many things. Yeah, it's amazing when you think about it. So we could bring a problem to nature.
Jenna Mitchell: 18:17
I'm also curious what else you personally go to nature or see your clients go to nature for yeah yeah so I'll talk yeah, maybe a bit generally too, around like the experience for highly sensitive folks around, like why does nature connection matter generally? What might like, why might we go to nature? Why might we try and cultivate this connectedness? Well, all of those benefits that we named generally about connecting with nature we know are true for most systems. What else do we know is true for highly sensitive systems?
Jenna Mitchell: 18:56
Well, we know that our systems are particularly impacted by our environment. Right, which we often talk about in the negative. So we often talk about okay, so we get overstimulated easy. We get overwhelmed easy. The grocery store is not really made for us because it's loud and there's bright colors everywhere and we feel the pressure of people like wanting us to bag our groceries faster. Whatever it is right, it also does the reverse. When we're really attuned to our environment, so we also are really attuned to those positive benefits of certain environments.
Jenna Mitchell: 19:36
So nature connection can be particularly impactful for highly sensitive systems who report generally a higher connection to nature, which is some cool new research coming out. And also, yeah, we know that we tend to be more attuned to our environments. We can access all those beautiful benefits maybe even more if we're just spending time developing that connection. So, yeah, so we might go there for almost general maintenance of our system. Right, exactly, general maintenance.
Jenna Mitchell: 20:13
We're developing a connection to almost preemptively combat that overstimulation of so many environments that aren't so positive for our system. We're kind of giving ourself this anchor point to come back to, to resituate to ground, to bring forward all those positive things. And for me also to intentionally notice isn't it beautiful that my system can also be this can also notice the sense of awe, the sense of beauty, the sense of connection in such a deep way that maybe when I'm in the grocery store and not feeling so grateful for high sensitivity in that moment, it can be a good grounding point for me to come back to. And it's also noticing how beautiful that leaf is on my morning walk as it fluttered past me right.
April Snow: 21:11
So beautiful and it could be something that we reconnect with regularly. You said general maintenance. That's exactly right General maintenance.
Jenna Mitchell: 21:22
Can we go there for problems but also general maintenance, not like nature CAA, but can we go almost preemptively to combat the sense of overstimulation. Overstimulation and then for introverted, highly sensitive people, can it be our retreat, our quiet, our time to just be even. It's funny, even with other people in our life it's suddenly acceptable to not talk.
Jenna Mitchell: 21:50
The whole time when we're in nature, when we're sitting looking at water or we're walking together. It's interesting that all of a sudden it it feels less pressure for a lot of people than like if we were to go out to lunch with our best friend right, right, that's true.
April Snow: 22:08
I hear a lot of people say that, well, I live with someone or I'm in a partnership and the other person doesn't quite understand my need for solitude or quiet and that's a way to be with someone and it be socially acceptable to not talk. I love that. It's one of the very few places. Maybe a library might be the other one that I can think of.
April Snow: 22:32
But, yeah, you can spend time together in quiet, which can also be a bonding experience in another way, and we can lean into the part of our trait where we are more positively impacted and we often talk about the negatives and we're more negatively impacted but we forget the flip side is also true, having that differential susceptibility that we soak up the good like a sponge.
April Snow: 23:00
And nature is there for us, whether it be inside of your own house or out in the world. You can access it for lots of different things, for problems, for maintenance, to recharge yourself. What a gift.
Jenna Mitchell: 23:17
A total gift. And for any extroverted, highly sensitive folks who are listening and saying, well, that's not me, well, great, you can also connect with your people, invite them to do something outside while soaking up all these positive benefits, or maybe even tap into your like. Some highly sensitive folks experience this desire to seek sensation. Yeah, there's so much sensation in nature, so what a lovely way to to do that right yes, absolutely, I was just thinking about that.
April Snow: 23:52
It's got something for everyone, whether you're more introverted, quiet h, or you're more high sensation seeking and or extroverted HSP. Could we say a little bit more about what you mean when you say there's sensation in nature?
Jenna Mitchell: 24:06
Yeah, we can take it a couple of ways, right, there's so much sensation to notice Like again, if you just come back to your senses. There's so much happening in nature all the time. There's always movement, there's always sound of some kind, there's always new experience around the corner, right, even if it's a super familiar walk to you, we don't know what's happening to that one plant that we see every day until we're there. There's something about that can feel invigorating for folks. But there's also, of course, opportunity for more like adventure based nature. If you want really big sensations, that's a thing that can happen too. That's not my particular flavor of HSP, but that is a flavor of HSP. And so there is that experience of like nature for everyone almost. How do I find my connection to nature? How do I find what lands or fits for me and what kind of sensation I'm seeking? Am I seeking that quiet, noticing mindfully? Am I seeking, like, the excitement of something new or seeing how something turns out or how something's changing in nature?
April Snow: 25:19
both are available yeah, it's like you can turn the dial in whatever direction you want to yes turn it down or turn it up, and even in the same location, you could go on a gentle walk or you could go on a an intense bike ride or run or something like that. You could walk quietly or you could be in conversation with someone. You really get to choose. What a beautiful experience, because we're not often able to tap into what we need, and nature seems to offer quite a lot. It's really inspiring. So we've talked about how to access nature, what the different ways that looks like and how we can tune in through the senses, and different ways we can use nature as a support. If we can lean in, if we're leaning in even more, if we're engaging with nature more therapeutically, what does that look like? Or you think it may be for healing or soothing, or you think it?
Jenna Mitchell: 26:16
may be for healing or soothing. Yeah, so I'll name first and foremost that different cultures have different histories and experiences and ways of engaging with nature for healing right, whether that be traditional medicines or rituals or ceremony or seasonal celebrations. So there are endless ways to answer this based on the person. But I'll sum that up with something incredibly therapeutic and beginning to know what is my history with nature, with land? Historically, what have my ancestors done to connect to nature? What could I access or connect to? So I'll name that as a starting place and then name some more general ways that we might consider, because that's more of an individual journey for folks.
Jenna Mitchell: 27:15
Yeah, so one of them is the sense of anchor and routine, so the sense of how do I develop a deep connectedness to nature as part of my daily routine, as part of my experience of existing in this world?
Jenna Mitchell: 27:30
Why is that therapeutic? Well, that's going to give me space to process, space to be with myself, space to do that maintenance, also built-in space to bring those problems or bring that sense of uncertainty or need for answers that maybe feel too complicated to go to other people in my life with, because I feel all their stuff and that gets complicated. But nature, I know, can just be an ally for me, right? We know, yeah, we know, sensitive systems love a routine and there's something therapeutic about that. So what if we layer on top of that not just a routine, but a routine that's anchored in nature connection, where I get all the benefits of a routine and that anchor point that sensitive systems just adore generally, and all of that benefit of being connected to nature as a home base, as almost like, dare I say, root system that provides us with nutrients, keeps us in place and grounds us throughout the day. Right, yeah, something important there.
April Snow: 28:41
Um I'll pause there.
April Snow: 28:42
I have many more things to say, but I want to hear what you know this is amazing is I'm thinking back, uh, during the pandemic, when everything felt uncertain, when I was out in nature looking at the trees, looking at the sky. I was thankful I live near water at the time there's a little stream and just hearing the water Beautiful it was such a balm for my soul and it helped me feel like myself, like I was okay, I'm okay, I'm human, I'm here, I'm okay. Everything out here is still the same, and it was such an anchor point, a root for me. I really appreciate the talking about what's your personal connection to nature through your lineage. What a rich, deep connection point there. I love that so, so much, and that it's routine. But it also could be a routine that allows all an inspiration to come in, depending on what's happening, thinking about. Maybe I'm walking the same path every day or every week, but each time something is slightly different. Maybe there's a bird or a mushroom or something else that's happening.
Jenna Mitchell: 29:57
And we're going to notice them because we're highly sensitive, right exactly it's the beauty yes, yeah, and I, and just with that, right, like the.
Jenna Mitchell: 30:09
And one thing I'm cautious of when I talk about connecting with nature therapeutically is I don't want to frame it that there's some kind of secret, magical thing we have to do with nature to access its healing capacity. It's actually just the first answer to your question when you said how do we go deeper? Just be with nature, just be, just exist in it, just allow space and see what happens. Right, just allow space to notice that bird, that mushroom and see what comes up in your system accordingly, right, there's something, yeah, sometimes about like wanting to know the answer that I get stuck in and so it can be really impactful and different to name. Maybe the answer is just to be with it, just to be with whatever's there and create space for myself to know there's something about nature that immediately brings out healing. Something about nature that immediately brings out healing. I don't actually have to try or get it right or do the specific thing. I can just exist, I can just see what happens.
April Snow: 31:23
Beautiful permission to not have to do anything, not have to earn it. You can just show up in nature and that's enough.
Jenna Mitchell: 31:32
That's enough, you've done the thing, even if you notice, hey, I'm showing up in nature and I'm not feeling better yet. Well, you just took some time to notice that, and I would say that's a win.
April Snow: 31:41
That is a win, exactly Just to be with your experience in whatever way it is, and allow yourself to show up however you are. That in itself can be very healing. Yeah, yeah, however you are, that in itself can be very healing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then, yeah, oh, go ahead. I was gonna ask are there other?
Jenna Mitchell: 32:01
pieces you wanted to share around this. Yeah, I'll share a couple other. One is this experience of mindfully engaging, so using sensitivity as a strength here, which we've kind of already touched on but this experience of, okay, as we're just being with nature, then can we notice what's happening inside and if we're noticing, we're doing it right and we're very good at noticing. So it's a lovely kind of task to give, give highly sensitive folks, because it's not saying to change, it's not saying to come out with some kind of outcome, but just notice what's my experience in nature and what's happening around me, what's going on inside. Like I said, if I notice, well, I'm still feeling awful. Well, you've noticed, so you're doing well, right? If I notice that bird flying by, I'm noticing there's something important there, right? Because I'm coming back to this moment, I'm coming back to just being in space, to the sense of presence that, yeah, we tend to be quite good at noticing. So we're almost turning that sensitivity into strength here, right Into saying, okay, we have a system that's really good at noticing, sometimes noticing other people's emotions so much that it feels heavy, or noticing the loud sounds of the world or the pain of the world.
Jenna Mitchell: 33:34
Can I also turn that to noticing my natural environment or my body in that environment and what happens, can I notice? Even like I'll challenge people to bring an intention of noticing forward. So something like can I notice hope? Today and again, that could be I'm out in nature, but I also could be sitting at my window, looking out my window and saying can I notice hope? What do I see? What happens when I turn my beautiful skill of noticing that works all the time for me. What if I turn it towards the light, if you will, or turn it towards something that's soothing for my system? Yeah, that's another piece. Pause there and see for you what comes up as I name that yeah, I just appreciate highlighting this innate quality we have as sensitive people.
April Snow: 34:33
We are the noticers and I think a lot of times that feels like a burden because it can feel like so much is coming in without a filter. However, in nature we get to reframe that quality into a positive and it can be actually a healing tool for us to notice not only how we are but how we're being impacted by just the subtle senses around us the sounds, the smells, the you know, the feels. With nature, we get to take that and it'd be a lot simpler. Yeah, I'm just I'm noticing this leaf or the air on my skin or whatever it is. It's just a lot calmer.
Jenna Mitchell: 35:17
Yeah, there's that calm that comes from it. As you were talking, an example came up for me, which I haven't thought about in a while but, of giving birth to my daughter I was in the hospital.
Jenna Mitchell: 35:31
Can't think of much of a less natural environment usually than a sterile hospital room in a city, in the middle of a city, and feeling not calm I would say rather not calm and I remember looking out the window and noticing a pine tree in someone's yard and that became the thing that I kept returning to notice, especially when all of my highly sensitive like noticing was on so many other things was on all the possibilities that could come from giving birth to a human, from the sounds in the room to like not being able to eat what I wanted, and just all these things that my system was naturally noticing, which are all important to notice too, but to be able to partner with and I can notice that tree and there's something different that happens for me when I also allow that felt impactful.
Jenna Mitchell: 36:40
So it is, yeah, it is that sense of we naturally are noticing everything and we turn that towards, like calling on nature to provide us with some of the beauty that it can in that noticing too yeah, even amidst a very, I imagine, emotionally complex time for you in a busy city, in a sarah hospital, you found one anchor points outside the window and you were able to use that as a resource.
April Snow: 37:12
What a great example that we can do that wherever we are.
Jenna Mitchell: 37:17
Yeah, it is, and I feel so connected to that tree. Still right, when I think of that example, I'm like how do I find that tree? I don't know what I want which I think just also speaks to our ability to like. Again, we're not in the middle of a forest, but as highly sensitive folks, we also have this ability to connect in a really different way, to notice and to make that noticing meaningful, to build that connected. But yeah, that can be very healing.
April Snow: 37:52
Right, it's not just the the noticing, it's the meaning making associated with the noticing. Yeah, yes, it could be a tree. It could be, like you mentioned before, a leaf on the sidewalk that stands out to you. That maybe makes you think of something else and just think about. You know, being at the ocean reminds me of my grandmother, and that's really meaningful for me. And it could be anything, though it could be a squirrel that regularly visits your backyard.
Jenna Mitchell: 38:20
Oh, totally yeah, animals are a huge one for a lot of HSPs. Right, that sense of yeah, finding meaning where it is for you, but being open to it and prioritizing that openness.
April Snow: 38:35
Yeah, absolutely Right. Being curious and open to being delighted by something, yes, that maybe other people wouldn't notice or feel that was special, yeah. So this leads me to a question. We talked about this a little bit, but let's say you are in a place where you have limited access or mobility.
Jenna Mitchell: 38:55
You're in a city.
April Snow: 38:56
Maybe you're not able to get outside on your own without support. We talked a little bit about connecting with things in your environment a plant, an animal but are there other ways that we can lean into nature connection, maybe when we don't have as many options?
Jenna Mitchell: 39:13
Yeah, so I would say a few pieces. Can we start with our senses again? Can we find a specific nature connection point? So something like you said the squirrel in your backyard, our pet, a house plant, many a house plant potentially, yes.
Jenna Mitchell: 39:35
Can we find those pieces really matters right? Can we get out of the framing that nature connection only counts if it's xyz, adventure, hiking, expedition thing. That is is one way of connecting, but can we open our hearts maybe to to so many other ways of connecting and see what's available and, on top of that, knowing that everyone deserves nature spaces they can access? Can we tap into advocacy as part of nature connection? I love that. Can we tap into this maybe incredible thing that we were built for as highly sensitive folks of people who tend to be pretty social justice minded or purpose driven, tend to kind of know what needs to happen to get something to be where it needs to be and tend to be really connected to nature? Are we actually situated as really strong nature accessibility and climate advocates? Potentially, so tapping into, is advocacy part of my nature connection?
April Snow: 41:02
yeah right, preserving it. Well, first preserving it, but and then, secondly, making it more accessible for those who don't regularly have access is so important, and we can then deepen our connection to nature through that advocacy work.
Jenna Mitchell: 41:18
Or for ourselves.
April Snow: 41:19
Or ourselves too, that's true. Yeah for self-lovers.
Jenna Mitchell: 41:23
Yeah, if I notice in my community like I don't have access to green space or the access I have is not accessible to me, then am I in a position as a highly sensitive person also to name that or to connect to kind of advocacy as part of that or connect to other people who have similar kind of goals. Right, yeah, so advocating for others and advocating for ourselves.
April Snow: 41:51
That's such an important piece because we can either think it's off the table completely and we're powerless to it, or we just have to kind of accept what's available. It's like, well, maybe something could change.
Jenna Mitchell: 42:02
Yeah, maybe something could change. And maybe that seeking of change is part of nature, connection is part of the awe for highly sensitive folks and the connectedness and that that kind of drive from our values and drive from like a place of purpose, that does give a lot of us like a sense of meaning, um, and sense of, yeah, a sense of like, maybe strength even in our sensitivity, of being able to take that on or see like what could be.
April Snow: 42:40
Absolutely, because, we mentioned, we are the noticers and we are the ones that notice when something needs to be different, and we can feel a sense of purpose in advocacy work not just for ourselves and our current community, but ongoingly. We talked about the past, but also looking ahead, and what are we leaving for those next generations that are in our lineage or in our community's lineage? That's really important to think about. Well, jenna, if there was one message you could leave us with that you'd love for HSPs to know what would that be, could leave us with that.
Jenna Mitchell: 43:15
You'd love for HSPs to know. What would that be? All of my system just has so much I want to say and share with highly sensitive folks. But if there was one message, it would be you are lovable, you are so lovable. Every part of you is good, has some kind of good intention, and you deserve space to honor being your sensitive self. You deserve space to know that you are lovable and to seek a life where that's at the forefront.
April Snow: 43:53
Yeah, absolutely. We deserve that space just as much as anyone else.
Jenna Mitchell: 43:58
Yeah.
April Snow: 43:58
I want to thank you so much for this amazing conversation and just giving folks so many options to connect with nature, use it as a resource. Like now, I'm feeling inspired to connect with my house plans and elements around me even more and bring that intention into it and make it part of my rituals, and I'll be sure to share information about you in the show notes so people can find you on Instagram. They can find your website Before we go. Could you share with listeners a little bit more about working with you?
Jenna Mitchell: 44:29
Yeah, so I'm a registered social worker and therapist in Ontario, canada, so I work with folks who are residents of Ontario in one-on-one sessions as a highly sensitive therapist, working with highly sensitive people. And what is my kind of goal in practice for highly sensitive folks is to work towards a life where shame around high sensitivity is no longer at kind of our core, but instead we're filled with self-compassion, we're filled with a sense of confidence and being able to know what we need, know what makes life meaningful for us and how to go after that. And I do that both through parts work, through examining all these different parts of ourselves. How do we build a relationship to all these parts of ourselves? How do we find healing for parts that are hurting? How do we find compassion for parts that are working so hard to protect us but we just don't understand right? And I do that through bringing nature in as an ally. So how do we also bring this innate healing energy of nature into healing work too?
April Snow: 45:51
Beautiful. Thank you so much, Jenna.
Jenna Mitchell: 45:54
Thank you so much, Jenna.
April Snow: 45:55
Thank you. Thanks for joining me and Jenna for today's conversation. I hope you'll feel inspired to intentionally connect with the elements of nature around you. Just slow down, calm any overwhelm that you're feeling and reconnect with yourself. If you're in Ontario, canada, and want to explore nature as a resource or get support to accept all the different parts of your sensitivity, you can book a consult with Jenna at the link in the show notes or find her on Instagram at therapy for sensitive souls. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to the Sensitive Stories podcast so you don't miss our upcoming conversations. Reviews and ratings are also helpful and appreciated For behind-the-scenes content and more HSP resources. You can sign up for my email list or follow Sensitive Strengths on Instagram, tiktok and YouTube. Check out the show notes or sensitivestoriescom for all the resources from today's episode. Thanks for listening.
