Five signs your nervous system needs boundaries for empaths and HSP’s in Business

5 signs your nervous system needs boundaries

Does your system feel like it’s on high alert?

For so many of us stress has become a constant in our lives. As entrepreneurs there are so many hats to wear.  From sales and marketing, operations, technical pieces, to serving your clients, it can often feel like too much, especially for those empaths and HSP’s among us.

I know this because I am one.

If you are an empath who experienced trauma you might be among those who are used to doing it all by yourself.  The thought of relying on others hasn’t felt safe (although you might not be aware of this).

Throw in a load of perfectionism and you are headed straight towards an overloaded central nervous system.

As human beings, we are designed to withstand a certain amount of stress for short bouts of time.  Physiologically, this is when we get that increased boost of adrenaline to kick us into high gear. This is our fight/flight state that can keep us safe when actual danger is present.

Under normal circumstances we experience this adrenaline/cortisol hit with and then we have an opportunity to recover from it.

As empaths entrepnreurs we often don’t have the time or space to allow that recovery time.

Depending on what kind of boundaries you have set for your life and your business it can be very easy for your system to get stuck in this highly charged place.

Here are five tell tale signs that your nervous system need boundaries:

1.  Anxious racing thoughts or a constant state of worry very often showing up as perpetual overthinking

2.  Feeling overwhelmed with an inability to focus and be productive which can often lead to your business not moving forward the way you want it to

3.  Increased weight gain especially around your mid section.  Your body starts talking to you but in most cases we can’t hear it or don’t want to listen

4.  Depressed immune system (more frequent colds etc.) As your immune system function begins to lower you notice that you can’t do all the things you want to in your business.

5.  Procrastinating, and/or neglecting responsibilities for example reaching out to connect with your customers, SM or newsletters

As an entrepreneur any one of these symptoms can cause real hardship in your business, but a combination of them can stop your business in its tracks.  Over the long term you can imagine how this might keep your business from blossoming.

When you take into account being an empath or HSP and feeling the  emotions of others, you are guaranteed to hit nervous system overwhelm.

How do I fix this?

Try these recommendations below.

Notice how your feel about these things and if you have a long list of “should’s” in your mind. Noticing what is makes everything so much more powerful,

Here are the things I would suggest in no particular order:

1. Get outside – go for a walk, stand in the yard allow yourself to notice Mother Nature
2. Breathe Deep – pay attention to your breath, notice when it is shallow, notice when it is fast or constricted, and as soon as you notice these things see if you can slow it down and breathe deeper
3. Meditate – if that sounds like come kind of crazy idea it is even more important for you.  It doesn’t have to be a long mediation, perhaps you start with 1 or 2 minutes and work your way up to 10.  If you are a long time mediator increase your practice time
4. Yoga – For me yoga was such a huge healer.  It allowed me to soothe my system and stay healthy even while my central nervous system was struggling through various external assaults.  Without yoga I know I would have succumbed to some other disease a long time ago.  .
5. Tapping – this is a daily practice for me.  In this article from Dr. Peta Stapleton she shares research from a study where tapping decreased anxiety by 39% and depression by 49%.  Happiness increased by 13% and immune system response by 61%