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How to Overcome Social Anxiety With Mindfulness..

Writer's picture: Ariez DAriez D

Social anxiety is something that can be crippling for some people. This prevents us from being able to talk in public, meet new people, or in some cases even go to the shops. It’s also one of the most common forms of anxiety there is.


In fact, almost all of us will experience it to some degree.


But while there’s no simple cure to this complex problem, using mindfulness can certainly make a huge difference.

What is Mindfulness and How Can it Help?



In the case of a phobia or an anxiety like social anxiety, that effectively means learning to better recognize the stress-inducing thoughts that are causing your anxiety.

An example might be that you think:


“I’m going to stutter, and everyone will laugh.”

Or perhaps: What if what I say is stupid?”


The first step is in identifying precisely what it is that you’re afraid of. And from there, you can go about tackling it head-on.



So for instance, if you’re afraid that if you stutter everyone will laugh, then you should try testing that theory. This is called ‘hypothesis testing’. Build up the courage to allow yourself to stutter, or just observe the next time it happens naturally. Do people laugh? Or are they kind?


You can also try something called ‘thought challenging’ to just pick apart the statement and see how accurate it’s likely to be.


Are your friends the sort of people to laugh at you?

Do you normally say stupid things?



And one last tip: try adding in new beliefs. For example: what does it matter if people laugh at you anyway? Are you that wrapped up in your own ability to speak? If you’re training to get better, then let a few idiots laugh!




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