Are you ready to learn ways to reduce your sensitivity and expand your window of tolerance?

Welcome back to Savvy Psychologist.

I'm your host, Dr. Monica Johnson.

Every week on this show, I'll help you face life challenges with evidence-based approaches

a sympathetic ear and zero judgment.

After listening the last week's episode, I'm hoping you spent some time thinking about

whether you are more hyper or high foe aroused and how narrow your window of tolerance may be.

In this episode, we'll focus on ways to expand your window of tolerance so that you can

be engaged in life instead of triggered by it.

In order to reach this goal, we must first find the middle path between safety and novelty.

These are two human needs that require the right balance in order for our window of tolerance

to expand and be sufficient for us to engage in life in rewarding ways.

Let's first define safety.

Safety is our need for predictability, protection, relaxation, security, and connectedness to others.

We also have a natural need for novelty.

This is our thrill-seeking side that craves unpredictability, risk, and excitement.

We want to encounter things that are different from our norm to shake it up and keep life interesting.

Like most things in life, when we have too much or too little of something, it doesn't

bode well for us.

When a person tries to avoid risk at all times to maximize safety, it prevents them from

growing.

First growth requires a bit of friction, thus the adage, no pain, no gain.

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