The Fully Mindful with Melissa Chureau
The Fully Mindful podcast explores what it is to be fully mindful and present in our everyday lives, uncover our worth and discover our purposes. Host of TFM, Melissa Chureau is a neurodivergent lawyer, mindfulness teacher, and embodiment and breathwork coach. On TFM, Melissa interviews inspiring creatives, wellness leaders, and social disruptors about how they have discovered their purpose(s), authentic wellness, and the value of their work on the world at large.
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The Fully Mindful with Melissa Chureau
Todd Smith on Highly Sensitive Persons, The Work of Byron Katie, and Inner Freedom
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If you’re a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)—or love one—this conversation is a deep exhale. Todd Smith, founder of True Inner Freedom and a longtime facilitator of Byron Katie’s The Work, joins Melissa to unpack what “living with an open heart” actually looks like when life gets complicated: relationships, conflict, people-pleasing, and the comparing mind. We explore Todd’s three pillars of stress management for HSPs (understanding the trait, outer work/boundaries, and inner work), how The Work turns sticky stories into spaciousness, and why transcendental meditation has been his twice-daily reset since childhood. We also touch on HSP overlaps with ADHD and rejection sensitivity dysphoria, leadership strengths like empathy and systems-level thinking, and the myth that sensitivity equals fragility. If you’re ready to move from overthinking to inner freedom—this one’s for you.
What you’ll learn
- The HSP basics (15–20% of people): depth of processing, empathy, sensory sensitivity, and why overwhelm happens
- Todd’s 3-pillar stress framework for HSPs:
- Understand the trait (drop self-judgment; claim your strengths)
- Outer work (sleep, nourishment, boundaries that are kind and clear)
- Inner work (question stressful thoughts with The Work; find space inside even when nothing outside changes)
- A gentle walkthrough of The Work of Byron Katie (the four questions + turnarounds) and how to keep the “stuck” part of you safe while you inquire
- Moving from conflict-avoidant to creatively resourced (why arguing with reality doubles your stress)
- People-pleasing vs. integrity (how to say no without abandoning yourself)
- Meditation as a daily “reset” and why awareness widens when attachment loosens
- HSP leadership superpowers: deep listening, pattern-spotting, and bringing opposites together
Resources & links
- Todd’s podcast: Stress Management for Highly Sensitive People (search “HSP” in your podcast app)
- HSP Stress Test (Todd): trueinnerfreedom.com (look for “HSP Stress Test”)
- The Work by Byron Katie: the four questions + worksheets (official site)
- Dr. Elaine Aron’s books on Highly Sensitive People (foundational research)
- Quote referenced: Jack Kornfield, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry
About Todd Smith
Todd Smith is the founder of True Inner Freedom, a longtime facilitator of The Work of Byron Katie, and a lifelong meditator. He helps highly sensitive people move beyond fear, people-pleasing, and overthinking to confidence, clarity, and connection.
Spread the word
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