Cover Image: How To Be Highly Sensitive and Empowered

How To Be Highly Sensitive and Empowered

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

This was an amazingly transformative book. This changed the game for me. I have been told many times i am an empath, but never thought to much about it. I found this book while undertaking some spiritual research. 100% happy I was lead to this. I had no clue how many aspects of life this could effect. My life is changed, super grateful!

Was this review helpful?

As a highly sensitive person myself, I’m always interested to learn more about how to navigate the world as me! This is a good resource if you’re of the same mindset or if you’re wanting to relate to others who may be a little different than you!

Was this review helpful?

DNF. Hard to get through. Will keep trying eventually, but I really struggled to keep my attention on the book while reading.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you NetGalley for the advance reader copy of this book. With interesting concepts and exercises for empaths exploring how to better manage their energy in a fast-paced world, this will be helpful for that reader. The exercises were clear and well described so as to be constructive. Hopefully this will find its right audience to help.

Was this review helpful?

After recently realising I am a HSP I loved reading this, I related to so much. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you for the opportunity to review this new novel.

The last four years I’ve realized that I’m a highly sensitive person and reading books about other HSP’s shows me that I’m not alone anymore. There are other people in the world who struggles with the same things I do. I finally understand why I’m losing so much energy when I try so hard to be like everybody else. To fit in is a struggle.

I didn’t like everything in the book, sometimes it was a bit too spiritual for me, but I got a lot of tools with me that I’ll think about.


I'll post my review later this week on Instagram, see link.

Was this review helpful?

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I identified with so much of this book. There is some really helpful advice in this book. With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to NetGalley and Watkins Publishing for the ARC copy!

I have been an empath for as long as I remember, and at the beginning of this book I found a lot of things to be relatable. However, I think I expected it to be something else. It was a lot more of her personal life and views rather than a spiritual book. I found myself not agreeing with some view points, but that doesn’t mean it was a bad book! I think this would be a good starting point for someone learning about their feelings and what it means to be an empath.

Was this review helpful?

How To Be Highly Sensitive and Empowered is a practical and supportive guide for empaths. The author looks at how being sensitive can be viewed as a strength and offers readers a plan for taking back their power. It is a supportive and understanding guide that offers a roadmap from awareness to activating and sharing your gifts. Techniques include breathing exercises, visualisations and journaling. Lots of advice is given on how to overcome energy drains and reclaim your power. It is a bit repetitive in places and the author is not always flexible in her approach, however it is an extremely useful and helpful guide.

Was this review helpful?

Reading this book was really eyeopening for me. I usually describe myself as an empath, but when reading this book I felt like so much of this book was describing exactly me. I could relate to it so much.
I really liked that aspect, and it made me feel like I wasn't on my own, or weird in my way of thinking.

The main thing I didn't like about this book however, was how repetitive it was. I kept thinking while reading 'i've read this bit before' - it also was very very strongly against alcohol. Absolutely fine, and I totally get that it's something not good for you. But the topic of alcohol kept coming up and it became a bit preachy in that sense.

Overall i enjoyed the book, but just wanted more!

Was this review helpful?

The field I work in attracts a lot of empaths. And in general in my personal life I like to surround myself with people who are inquisitive, in tune with their emotions or simply prioritize working on themselves. These are just some of the reasons I was intrigued to read this book, the main one being the topic also aligns with my personal journey of learning to better regulate my own emotions and use my sensitivity as constructive tool especially in my work.

Jane Novak offers some really interesting insights into the lives and experiences of people who are highly sensitive. Western world in particular seems very uncomfortable with these emotional deviations from the norm. Being told you're "too sensitive", to "toughen up", to "control your emotions" are not very conducive to developing healthy coping mechanism, self-acceptance and also often lead empaths to start acting in a way that might be more socially acceptable but is not necessarily true to who and how they really are. I really enjoyed this read. In particular I enjoyed the passion that author brings to the subject. It is obvious that it's something close to her heart and she shares a lot of personal experiences in it. I also love self-help books that offer very concrete examples of exercises and simple way to apply the knowledge shared and this book had plenty of those.

A lot of the book relies heavily on concepts and terminology of the Law of Attraction. In my personal learning journey I found a lot of overlap between these ideas and principles of mindfulness or logic behind Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I also recognize that not everyone is familiar or comfortable with these concepts so keep that in mind when picking up this book. I found that not every single piece of advice is something that I would choose for myself personally but then again I didn't expect it to. Though I understand the author's stance on alcohol and reasons behind it, at times it came across a bit too preachy in that regard. Additionally, I find Tony Robbins very problematic and I know that the fact that the author mentions him as a mentor will be off-putting to many who actually might benefit from reading this book. But that is just my 5 cents.

To road to self-acceptance and learning how to set and maintain boundaries is often very bumpy for empaths and I think this book offers some very concrete, very helpful ideas on how to make that journey easier. I know I've already tried some of the exercises from the book and found them very helpful.

A big thank you to NetGalley, Watkins Publishing and the author for providing me with an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

Was this review helpful?

"How to Be Highly Sensitive and Empowered" presents sensitivity as a strength, and offers steps to empower yourself and learn how to share this gift (empathy) with others. Good reference guide to refer back to for tools to help empaths with connecting to others without becoming depleted or overwhelmed. Recommended for anyone who is sensitive. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

This is a must-have resource to help one improve mental health, resiliency, and live a more full and happy life. It is full of great strategies, advice, and easy to implement ideas. This is one I'll return to again and again. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book.

Was this review helpful?

This is an interesting book, some of it I agreed with ,some of it I saw things differently. I’ve been an empath since six years of age. Luckily my mum and dad protected me. They, especially my mum, knew I was sensitive and treated me gently and with lots of love. This beginning helped me enormously. I don’t want to be any other way now I’m 65. The book helps you to protect yourself and not too feel so much. Which is good but I want to feel, it’s who I am.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Was this review helpful?

A detailed guide to how to recognise if you are a highly sensitive person and then how to survive in a world full of negative energy that would much prefer you, for the most part, to fit in, and not be weird. The author says that contrary to popular belief, a highly sensitive person can make their empathy a superpower. This is a very good guide to tell you how to do just that.

Was this review helpful?

Oh my god. FINALLY, a book for me! I have always been a sensitive person - sensitive to loud noise, sensitive to arguments or tension in a room, I get physically exhausted in huge crowds or rooms over a prolonged period of time, and for the first time, I feel like I'm not alone because of this book. It's hard when you're just labelled sensitive, and the onus is on you to change, when it fact it cannot be helped! I have found very often that people excuse their behaviour because apparently I'm just 'sensitive', and that means they have permission to act how the please and blame me if I take offence! This book has a bank of tools and strategies for empaths to feel empowered without feeling overwhelmed (which let's be real - happens quite often!). The strategies are really simple and useful and they are something that could be incorporated into a daily routine to check in on how you're feeling. It's a really good book that could be dipped in and out of as much as you'd like.

Was this review helpful?