Meditation may actually have a greater positive effect for highly sensitive people than it does for others — with benefits that go way beyond a peaceful state of mind.
This is because of an HSP trait that Andre Sólo, author of the new book Sensitive along with co-author Jenn Granneman, calls the sensitive “Boost Effect.”
According to Sólo, the Boost Effect means that HSPs actually get more of a boost from the same beneficial things that would help anyone. This Boost Effect is also more technically described in my book as “vantage sensitivity — …
an enhanced capacity to respond to positive interventions in the form of natural health approaches and counselling” but also, meditation, walking in Nature, etc.(Wells, 2022, pg. 83)

Life-Changing HSP Survival Skills that Meditating Gives You:

a) It helps you develop mindfulness and presence. This helps you self-regulate (NOT suppress) your emotions, as well as your reactivity to the external stimuli in your environment.
This also protects you from becoming overwhelmed by other peoples’ emotions, remaining aware of what is going on withing yourself as separate to what is happening around you, so you are able to stay present and focused on any task at hand.

b) It allows you to learn detachment. So often HSPs are inclined to become over-aroused and emotionally excited about something, overly attached to it and a particular outcome.
Meditation helps you remain ‘grounded’ in your perspective, so you don’t make decisions or commitments that you will regret or cannot fulfil.

c) It helps you understand your authentic self (within the rich inner life of an HSP). HSPs have a strong desire to be authentic and highly respect it in others.

d) It allows you to pay better attention and differentiate between yours and other people’s ‘energy’ – attitudes, moods, and intentions. This is so important for HSPs who are naturally strongly empathic.
It will help you maintain subtle boundaries and be more self-assured and permitting of oneself to say “no.”

e) And probably most importantly, meditation will give you time-out to reduce stimulation, regain perspective and recharge. It becomes your peaceful place of solitude, a refuge away from all the noise and chatter, NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE.

Dr Ainslie Meares describes how a highly sensitive person, who can become over-stimulated easily, would benefit from making time for relaxation:
“The most important thing that we can do in helping our brain integrate the excess of impulses which it is receiving is to let our mind run quietly for a while.”
(Life Without Stress, 1987) from the chapter on Meditation for HSPs in my book, “Embracing the Gift of High Sensitivity” (2022, pg. 199).