High Sensitivity, Women’s Health, and the Cost of “Powering Through” with Maria Saucedo

In this episode of The Happy HSP Podcast, I speak with PhD student and women’s health advocate Maria Saucedo. She shares how fearing bipolar disorder led her to discover she is a highly sensitive person and also a deeper awareness in self-understanding, boundaries, and how she relates to herself and the world around her.We explore the nuances of overstimulation, crossing personal thresholds, the emotional weight HSPs carry, and the societal pressure to constantly power through.  Maria shares:How overstimulation and lack of personal space led to panic attacks.The importance of knowing your threshold as an HSP.Growing up feeling different and forced to “fit in.”Studying mitochondrial disease and the science of energy production.Why women’s health research is still deeply lacking.The connection between cyclical energy and performance.How “powering through” training impacted her mental health.Empathy overload and learning emotional boundaries.Topics covered:High sensitivity vs. misdiagnosis.Overstimulation and emotional regulation.Personal boundaries in relationships.Bioenergetics and mitochondrial function.Women’s health education gaps.Hormonal cycles and productivity myths.Balancing giving and receiving as an HSP.About Maria Saucedo:Maria is originally from Mexico and is currently based in the Czech Republic, where she is working on her PhD. She is a former triathlete and a highly sensitive person, and for many years, she struggled with fluctuating energy levels and feeling misunderstood. What she once saw as inconsistency or lack of effort, she later understood as physiology. This realization led her to focus on women’s health, hormonal cycles, and the importance of living in alignment with the body. She is now building a project dedicated to education, open conversations, and empowerment around women’s physiology. Follow along on Maria’s journey:LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/maria-jose-saucedoMedium: https://medium.com/@mariaj.saucedordz/aboutLet’s Connect:🤍 Share your biggest takeaway or follow us on Instagram @happyhsppodcast — we’d love to hear from you! 🎧 Subscribe and leave a review to help more HSPs find this space: thehappyhsppodcast.buzzsprout.com📩 Want to be a guest on the show? Reach out to Kimberly at: [email protected]📖 Learn about Kimberly’s work: happyhspcoaching.comAbout Kimberly:Kimberly Marshall is an ICF-certified Energy and Intuition coach for highly sensitive people (HSPs) and host of The Happy HSP Podcast. After 20 years in the publishing industry working for companies like Time Inc., Monster.com, and W. W. Norton, she left her corporate career to pursue work that better suited her HSP needs. She now help HSPs reconnect with their intuition, energy, and purpose so they can live gentle, soul-aligned lives. Through her work, Kimberly hopes to shed more light on the reality of living with high sensitivity and inspire more HSPs to embrace their empathetic, loving, and gentle natures. Hosted/produced by Kimberly MarshallEdited by Fonzie Try MediaArtwork by Tara Corola