That being said, you may notice a different type of feeling in situations that are leading you in the “wrong” direction. For example, you might always be tired after group gatherings, but you might feel peaceful at some level when something is “right” and less peaceful when it is “wrong”. It isn’t an exact science, so sometimes you have to test it out for a while or go back and look at past experiences.

You could also try other ways of getting a read from your body. For example, if you say something that is true (or good for you at a deep level), you tend to be stronger physically than if you say something false (or bad for you). Martha Beck uses an exercise where you stand, hold your arm parallel to the floor, and have someone else try to press your arm down while you say things that are true or false. While you are saying things that your body knows to be true, you will be stronger and better able to resist the person pressing on your arm – even though your conscious mind might not realize it.

Knowing you, I’m sure you have already done a lot of research on this, but you might find some books on raising intuitive children to be interesting. My personal, non-scientific view is that anyone who experiences sensory overload is probably very intuitively empathetic, which makes you more likely to pick up energy from others. Both of these books discuss how you can help put up boundaries:

The Highly Intuitive Child by Catherine Crawford (2009)
Raising Intuitive Children by Caron Goode and Tara Paterson (2009)

I hope that helps…

I am an extrovert. But the hard thing for me to distinguish between is when my body is giving me accurate information. Let me explain. There’s this thing called sensory processing disorder (SPD for short). And it can really skew your natural responses to things due to how your brain processes information. I recently found out I have it, as does my dad (long story but involved trying to figure out what’s up with our Maia). And this darned thing has been sending me messed up signals for as long as I can remember. For example, although I am an extrovert (and I definitely am), I am frequently exhausted after meeting with people…even if I was initially excited about it. This had led me to avoid situations where there are large gatherings, lots of noises, smells, or all of the above. The reason? Sensory overload. My brain has a hard time computing and separating through all the stimulation which even though I’m having a great time, leads me to feel like I’ve been hit by a mack track afterwards.

Anyway, I’m wondering what you can do when you are an “overly sensitive” person like me? How do you get a read on your body when it often gives you conflicting or misleading information?

PS I love Martha Beck’s stuff.