Have you ever been told you're too sensitive, that you feel everything too deeply, or that you need to develop a thicker skin? What if your sensitivity isn't a weakness to overcome, but a strength to embrace?

In this empowering episode of Happy Being Well, host Rita Farruggia sits down with April Snow, LMFT — licensed psychotherapist, sensitivity expert, and author of Big Feelings, Big Joy: The Essential Practices to Reclaim Your Strengths as a Highly Sensitive Person.

An estimated one in five people are highly sensitive, meaning they may process emotions more deeply, notice subtle details others miss, and feel more affected by their surroundings. But being a highly sensitive person (HSP) doesn't mean you're broken, weak, or incapable of handling the world. According to April, sensitivity can be a source of empathy, creativity, intuition, meaningful connection, and authentic leadership.

Drawing on psychological research, her clinical experience, and her own life as a highly sensitive person, April shares practical ways to understand your sensitivity, regulate your nervous system, and create a life that honors your needs rather than constantly pushing you beyond your limits.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL DISCOVER:

✨ Why being highly sensitive is a strength, not a flaw. Understand the science behind sensory processing sensitivity and what research reveals about how highly sensitive brains respond to emotions, empathy, and the world around them.

🧠 How to calm an overwhelmed nervous system. Learn simple techniques, including the physiological sigh and other grounding practices, to help you navigate overstimulation and move toward a calmer state.

😴 Why highly sensitive people may need more sleep and downtime. Discover why rest is essential for emotional well-being and how honoring your body's needs can help you feel more balanced.

💗 The connection between self-compassion and resilience. Explore how treating yourself with greater kindness can support stress management, emotional well-being, and better sleep.

🛑 How to set boundaries without feeling guilty. Learn to advocate for your needs in relationships, at work, and in everyday life without apologizing for who you are.

🌱 Why sensitive people can thrive in the right environment. Discover how highly sensitive people may be especially affected by stress but can also benefit deeply from supportive experiences, relationships, and surroundings.

🌟 How to stop trying to change yourself and start embracing who you are. Learn how sensitivity can help you build deeper relationships, connect with your authentic self, and experience more meaning and joy.

Whether you've always felt things more intensely than other people, struggle with overstimulation, find yourself emotionally exhausted, or are simply curious about what it means to be highly sensitive, this conversation offers validation, insight, and practical tools to help you thrive.

You don't need to become less sensitive to live well. You can learn to work with your sensitivity instead of fighting against it.

🎧 Listen to Happy Being Well for conversations that inspire greater self-love, personal growth, emotional well-being, and a more authentic life.

📚 Explore April's book: Big Feelings, Big Joy — https://www.bigfeelingsbigjoy.com/

📱 Follow April on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sensitivestrengths/

ABOUT HAPPY BEING WELL

Hosted by Rita Farruggia, Happy Being Well explores mindset, wellness, self-love, self-care, and personal development to help you become your happiest, healthiest, most authentic self.

If this episode resonates with you, share it with someone who has ever been told they're too sensitive, and follow Happy Being Well for more conversations that help you grow, heal, and thrive.

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What if the space you live in could play a much bigger role in your wellbeing?

We often think about wellness in terms of what we eat, how we exercise, our mental health, and how we care for our bodies—but what about our home?

In this episode of Happy Being Well, Rita Farruggia sits down with Chelsey Luger, Lakota and Anishinaabe wellness expert, writer, co-founder of Well For Culture, and co-author of The Seven Circles, to talk about her powerful new book, NATIVE HOME: The Ancestral Art of Creating Healing Spaces, published by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins.

Chelsey explores how Indigenous ancestral wisdom can change the way we think about our homes—not simply as places we live, but as spaces that can support our physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual wellbeing.

Together, Rita and Chelsey explore what it really means to feel at home and how our surroundings can influence the way we live, think, move, rest and connect.

In this fascinating conversation, Chelsey shares insights on:

✨ The home as a source of wellness — why our living environment deserves a place in the modern wellness conversation.

🌿 Indigenous minimalism — why true minimalism isn't simply an aesthetic or having less stuff, but a deeper way of thinking about what we value and what we choose to keep.

🏡 Creating a home with intention — how lighting, sound, food, organization, movement and design can influence the experience of a space.

🧹 Decluttering with purpose — what seasonal decluttering can teach us about releasing physical and spiritual excess.

🧘‍♀️ Creating space for movement and wellness — how to make physical activity a natural part of everyday home life.

🔥 The spiritual relationship with home — why ancestral teachings viewed the home as something more than an inanimate structure.

🌬️ Cleansing and honoring your space — including Chelsey's perspective on smudging, air quality and approaching these practices with respect and intention.

🪶 Ancestral wisdom in modern homes — how to learn from Indigenous teachings while still honoring your own cultural heritage and personal roots.

❤️ The story of Chelsey's grandmother's home and the Lakota values that influenced Native Home.

And perhaps one of the most important questions of all:

What if creating a healthier life also means creating a healthier relationship with the place you call home?

Native Home offers an invitation to look at our homes differently—to consider how the spaces around us can reflect our values, support our wellbeing and help us feel more connected.

Listen to this episode of Happy Being Well for an inspiring conversation with Chelsey Luger about Indigenous wellness, ancestral wisdom, intentional living and creating a home that restores rather than exhausts you.

📖 NATIVE HOME: The Ancestral Art of Creating Healing Spaces by Chelsey Luger is published by HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins.

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You can choose to receive a personalized letter based on your personality & Future You Letters writes the letter from your future self to you! Check out www.futureyouletters.com and order your future you letter today! Use Code: happy being well for 15% off your order.

Have you done the therapy, read the books, journaled, healed your inner child... and still feel stuck?

In this thought-provoking episode of the Happy Being Well Podcast, bestselling author Gary John Bishop joins Rita Farruggia to discuss his powerful new book, NOW WHAT?: You, Your Life, and the Truth You've Been Avoiding, available now wherever books are sold.

Gary is the New York Times bestselling author of Unfuk Yourself*, Stop Doing That Sht*, Do the Work, Wise As Fuk*, and Love Unfuked*. With more than 4.5 million books sold worldwide, he has become one of the world's most influential voices in personal development by challenging conventional self-help advice.

If you've ever wondered...

✔ Why doesn't self-awareness automatically create change?
✔ Why do so many people still feel stuck after years of therapy and healing?
✔ Is endless self-improvement actually keeping us trapped?
✔ What comes after healing?
✔ How do you stop overthinking and finally start living?

...this conversation is for you.

Gary explains why insight without action changes nothing, why many people unknowingly build an identity around "working on themselves," and why real freedom begins when you stop trying to fix yourself and start taking unconditional responsibility for your life.

This isn't another motivational conversation filled with affirmations.

It's an honest discussion about:

• Why self-help can become another form of procrastination
• The hidden trap of constantly trying to become a "better" version of yourself
• Why feeling stuck is often a repeated decision—not a permanent condition
• How integrity becomes a daily practice instead of an ideal
• The difference between understanding your life and actually changing it
• What it truly means to stop surviving and start creating your future

Whether you're interested in personal development, mindset, mental wellness, self-improvement, healing, psychology, accountability, resilience, or creating lasting change, this episode will challenge the way you think about growth.

Gary's latest book, NOW WHAT?: You, Your Life, and the Truth You've Been Avoiding, is available now in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook wherever books are sold.

If this episode inspired you, please:
⭐ Follow the Happy Being Well Podcast
⭐ Leave a review
⭐ Share this episode with someone who's ready to stop fixing themselves and start living.

Connect with Gary John Bishop
Website: https://garyjohnbishop.com

Connect with Happy Being Well
Website: https://happybeingwell.com

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