Courtney Marchesani - Four Gifts of the Highly Sensitive Embrace the Science of Sensitivity, Heal Anxiety and Relationships, and Connect Deeply With Your World.

YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE, the movie, starring
Louise Hay & Friends (available as a 1-DVD program,
an expanded 2-DVD set, and an online streaming video)
Learn more at www.hayhouse.com/louise-movie

THE SHIFT, the movie,
starring Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
(available as a 1-DVD program, an expanded
2-DVD set, and an online streaming video)
Learn more at www.hayhouse.com/the-shift-movie

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DODGING ENERGY VAMPIRES: An Empaths Guide to
Evading Relationships That Drain You and Restoring
Your Health and Power, by Christiane Northrup, M.D.

ENERGY STRANDS: The Ultimate Guide to Clearing the Cords
That Are Constricting Your Life, by Denise Linn

SUPER ATTRACTOR: Methods for Manifesting a Life
beyond Your Wildest Dreams, by Gabrielle Bernstein

THE UNIVERSE ALWAYS HAS A PLAN: The 10 Golden
Rules of Letting Go, by Matt Kahn

All of the above are available at your local bookstore
or may be ordered by visiting:

Hay House USA: www.hayhouse.com
Hay House Australia: www.hayhouse.com.au
Hay House UK: www.hayhouse.co.uk
Hay House India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Copyright 2021 by Courtney Marchesani

Published in the United States by: Hay House, Inc.: www.hayhouse.com

Published in Australia by: Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.: www.hayhouse.com.au

Published in the United Kingdom by: Hay House UK, Ltd.: www.hayhouse.co.uk

Published in India by: Hay House Publishers India: www.hayhouse.co.in

Cover design: Howie Severson

Interior design: Julie Davison

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied for public or private useother than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviewswithout prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Names and identifying details of certain individuals have been changed to protect their privacy.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress

Tradepaper ISBN: 978-1-4019-5703-2

E-book ISBN: 978-1-4019-5704-9

For Thomas
This book simply wouldnt
exist if not for you.

While I dont know how or why you discovered this book, I suspect you experienced something extraordinary. If this is correct, then it is a dream come true for me as an author and fellow seeker. I began a similar journey to understand the unexplainable and found little in the way of science back then. What could be labeled as supernatural, I knew on a deeper level, was an innate part of the human condition. Now I consider it an honor to have a title in the canon of books published on topics like intuition and empathy. I didnt know at the start of my own search that it would transform into a lifelong odyssey. The upshot of realizing you are just one minor character in a much longer story, one that may seem more like an Homeric epic, are the colorful people you encounter, their place in your journey, and how they move you along the path of destiny.

If you find a piece of your own story within these pages, arm yourself with knowledge and recognize that all great mysteries have maddening and unsolvable elements. The phenomena written about in this book have serious real-world implications. Sensitivity and its powerful effects have caused divorce and driven obsessions. Even so, some elusive elements of sensitivity have a tendency to create an unwavering curiosity as you find new clues and breakthroughs along the way. Inevitably, as you draw closer to what you feel is an answer, a thousand different questions spring up in its place like a hydra. While this book could be considered a recitation on the origins of the gifts of sensory intelligence (empathy, intuition, vision, and expression) it is also a bridge into the future. Science fiction morphs into science fact before your eyes.

My aims were to champion the exciting science that explains the gifts while also addressing the real challenges sensitive people face every day. Sensitivity can be misunderstood, especially in doctors offices, schools, and workplaces. Individuals who display the four gifts of sensitivity are equally miscast. The problem with misinterpreting sensitivity is that it leaves us feeling lost, lonely, and confused. The old way of thinking about sensitivity comes with a lot of unwanted baggage. As my daughter once said, It feels like sensitivity is a dirty word.

Our society marginalizes sensitivity due to a pervasive fear of mental illness, a fear of being labeled crazy. Because sensitivity has such potent effects, there is a lot of inaccurate information that leads people to believe sensitivity is a clinical disorder like anxiety or depression. It isnt. It can bring on irritating physical symptoms and unusual pains. These symptoms may lead to the misconception that your sensitivity is an inherent problem you need to fix. This book dispels old-fashioned notions and embraces the new reality: sensitivity is an advantage. It is also the underlying hidden nature for healing the empathic, intuitive, visionary, and expressive soul. When gifted sensitives find their own healing path, they destroy outdated stereotypes: that creativity stems from madness, that psychics want attention, or that the only way to cope with pure raw talent is through substance abuse. If youve ever reached out to others to explain how deeply you think, feel, and perceive on such intense levels, and someone said you were being dramatic or exaggerating, youre not alone. This rejection has a deep and lasting impact. My hope is that by providing a new perspective about these fascinating gifts, I will help you feel less isolated by that intensity you may be drawing inward.

On the bright side, our sensory abilities shape our life experience through advanced perception. There are some sensitives who have developed their consciousness into advanced Buddha-like states of awareness and awakening. This conscious awareness gives sensitive people an edge. We dont just sense or classify information; we figure out how to use it. Sensitives are adept at solving certain real-world problems, like finding clues on a crime scene, performing an award-winning role, or saving someones life. We also have a deep capacity to hold others intense emotions (as a doctor or therapist, for example), detect threats, embody genius, have creative insights, possess heightened kinesthetic awareness, and show deep compassion for others. As sensitives, we must recognize our gifts and protect our valuable senses so we can access our advanced states of consciousness.

Ive spent the past 20 years passionately exploring the research gap that exists between what medical science believes and how the gifted sensitive feels. Through that process, certain life patterns took shape. Investigating these life patterns helped me identify the extreme edges of the gifts and focus more upon sensitivitys role in our conscious evolution. Cutting-edge studies illuminate different aspects of the phenomenon and lend credence to the gifts. Harvard Medical School and Stanford University have supported research on sensitivity. In this book, I draw from the foundational studies that led to sensitivity finally being recognized scientifically. More importantly, I share what I have learned firsthand in my health practice working with extraordinarily sensitive people for more than two decades.