I am an introvert and struggle with social anxiety. What are some ways to manage it? Is there anything I can do?

Yes, there are ways to manage social anxiety and this can allow your introversion to become an incredible asset.

Introversion can be a powerful gift in social settings. I know it may not always feel like it. But it is often an indicator of your sensitivity and perceptiveness. It can help you listen intently and ask intriguing questions. It can help you truly connect at a deep level with others around you. It can help you have incredible insights about situations and offer amazing guidance and advice to others.

The trouble can be that our anxiety can get in the way of our ability to fully tap in and access the gifts of our introversion. But there are things you can do for relief.

I did a one hour workshop all about how to feel less anxious - this may help you. You can access it for free by going to https://www.beliefseed.com/free. Scroll to the classes section and you'll see a place you can click to watch the How to Feel Less Anxious Webinar.

If speaking up is also feeling difficult to do, then watch my free Speaking Up in Meetings masterclass - you can access this here: https://www.beliefseed.com/speaking-up

If you want more support on this, let me know. My email is [email protected].

A very common issue, Jonathan, thanks for the question. My favorite tool for this when I'm coaching someone with this issue is to use ego state work. We identify the parts of ourselves and tap in to the one that has the social strength, your inner extrovert. We empower that part to take over when needed and anchor that in. It's an amazing technique and can be used for so many issues.

While a variety of life coaching and talk therapy is primary for social anxiety :
nutrition can support your own mental work to help with social anxiety. Certain foods and conditions can actually trigger, or reduce stress hormones which contribute to anxiety. We can look at actual brain chemistry that causes anxiety and use supplements to target and boost anti anxiety hormones.

In clinical terms, there are maintaining factors of anxiety disorders, in this case treatment resistant social anxiety. One of the maintaining factors of social anxiety is heightened self-focused attention. In other words, you put all the pressure on yourself. You think that you have you to make a good impression, but you don't realize that they also have to make a good impression on you.

[Topic: Introversion, Struggles, Social Anxiety]

My question for you is, what is the struggle you are experiencing? (For example, is it a particular location or a specific social gathering? I am curious to know more.)

Because we have different experiences, struggles manifest in different ways.

For discussion, let’s give some form to the word ‘struggle.’ Struggles are moments when a feeling of insecurity overrides our sense of confidence. Sound about right?

Social Insecurities can happen to anyone, at any moment. Let’s be fair. Everybody has an insecure moment in their repertoire of experiences.

Aside from standard clinical diagnostics, healing from struggles is likely to include your insights. It means, becoming aware of one's potential to heal. Firstly, you already have the insight to improve your social disposition. This is where everyone starts. Next comes curiosity. One of the biggest questions is, “Can a person with social anxiety become socially confident?" My short answer is yes.

Anyone with a psyche block can shift and grow beyond it.

Years ago, I asked my mentor about struggles. His reply, “Eric, don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff.” His name was Dr. Richard Carlson, and he became inspired by the three principles to write his books.

In brief, there is a way to dissolve stressors and anxieties effortlessly. It is a matter of reclaiming your health and realizing you no longer need to struggle anymore.

Once you live without struggles, you can verify it was never about you. It was what you were going through at the moment and carried into the next moment, innocently. Another way to state it is that a struggle (whether it be stress, anxiety, or insecurity) can cause no more grief once a person lets go of it. Sound about right?

Understanding how our mental state holds the key to well-being is a powerful antidote.

Final question, would you like to let go of your social stressors for good? Only you know the answer! But, I must add, some stressors are very good indicators that can keep us safe from harm. So I think it is sensible to say that stress has value to those who find its value and healing power.

I wish you the brightest journey with insightful living. Godspeed to you❣️

Eric 3P

Some think of "introverted" as a dirty word. They believe we should all strive for complete extroversion. Yet, introverts often have great internal awareness, intuition, and creativity. As for social anxiety, the real problem isn't introversion so much as poor self-esteem, believing that there is something wrong with us. Many people are taught, for example, that it is wrong to seek solitary pursuits, that they should always be socially oriented. This can make a naturally introverted person feel inferior or unworthy. So the answer is to deal with the beliefs - often instilled by parents, teachers, etc - that make us feel unworthy. Once these false beliefs are corrected, a person's natural self-confidence reemerges and he or she will find social interaction more pleasant and rewarding. They will also feel more at ease just being themselves - whether that is being with others or enjoying solitary time. Hypnosis is one of the best ways to revise internal beliefs so that we feel more happy, confident, and relaxed in our own skin. Please schedule a free consultation on my website or give me a call if you'd like to learn more. Take care!

Yes, there are several things you can do. Great that you're reaching out here.

In true honoring of your introversion, start off with noticing your breathing when you're comfortable to do this by yourself. Notice the quality of your breathing. Is it shallow or deep? Are the breaths long or short?

Next, if the breaths aren't deep and long, at your own pace, transition your breathing to deeper breaths by breathing in for 2 seconds and breathing out for 3 seconds, then go up to 3 seconds in and 4 seconds out, and finally to 4 seconds in and 6 seconds out. Notice the calm in your body. Notice whatever your mind is doing.

When you're in a calmer state, start sharing with yourself what it is about social situations that make you anxious. Write them down and simply notice. Awareness is the first step to allow yourself to make new choices.

Learning Self-Hypnosis is an excellent first step.

There are also many ways you can approach healing your anxiety through hypnotherapy. You can begin to observe it. Have a conversation with it. Learn to work with it in ways that will support you moving forward. Or get rid of it all together! You can even begin healing it at the root source aka when you first experienced it (likely before the age of 7) and then begin to reprogramming from there.

This seems like you have all of your energy outside of yourself. When we try to control external events, we become a slave and a victim to world. We are born on this earth to create the world, not to become something that is going to be pushed around by the environment. Unfortunately the current programming is to control and fix everything outside of ourselves, instead of finding and creating our own versions of happy, creative, individualistic selves. Anxiety comes with the notion that you are being "taken for granted" that you have lost yourself, and your own self worth. The reality is that you have to create your own personal happiness inside, not outside. Society is external and not lasting, your soul is eternally free and happy, there is only external programming blocking you. Become undone. If you want to release fears aka all the emotional baggage to help you focus on your soulful truth, I recommend that body code and the emotional code testing. So that you can identify the root cause of anxiety. Only you can find the deepest core of your own happiness and truth, and I can just help you find awareness and guide you in a certain direction. You have the power! Feel free to book a free 20 minute consult with me I would love to help!

Any discomfort in the body or mind tends to stem from an underlying imbalance. If you feel socially anxious, your body and mind may be trying to protect you from something. Maybe a past trauma, maybe a present danger, or maybe your endocrine system is just running on "high-alert".

If you can bring awareness to this discomfort in your body through meditation, you may be able to pinpoint the cause for this discomfort.

I am a firm believer in the use of herbal medicine to heal the body, mind, and spirit and to bring one's being into alignment. Herbal Therapy can open the door to your healing and can assist you in the process of getting to the core or root cause for your social anxiety instead of only treating your symptom.

I hope that you find all the balance in life that you are searching for!

Social anxiety and being an introvert can be separate topics to go into as well. Getting to the root of your anxiety is key. Being an introvert means you get energy from being alone or in quieter settings. Extroverts tend to get their energy from being around people or being in more stimulated situations. You could also be an empath, hence the heighten sensitivity in social environments.

1. Get to the root of your anxiety because try to mask it will not help it and continue to create manifest in various forms of your life. Food, fears, sleep, mental and emotional patterns are all connected to anxiety. This is something I work on in sessions.

2. Get grounded! Walk outside, get some vitamin D and connect with nature. Connecting to the Earth is beneficial to your energetic field and can bring stability.

3. Understand your own energy levels. What makes you drained? What makes you feel energized?
4. Create a strategy when it comes to socializing. Find ways to interact with people that do not drain you and that could be interacting with smaller groups in places that you love! If you know you have to be around a lot of people, prepare beforehand by getting grounded, getting rest and eating nourishing, real foods and same after you interact with people.

5. Find what you love to do because what you love is connected to your heart and your heart brings you into the present moment!

Sometimes acting "as-if" can be very helpful. For example, acting as if you were an extrovert, or a sales person, or someone that is very inquisitive and interested in others. Yes, it's hard work, but like anything, can be learned and developed and becomes easier over time. Another technique is a power stance. Stand up before you go out, take the strong and powerful stance of superman or wonder woman and recite an affirmation 10 times, such as "I am confident, enjoy being social, and get together with ease." The more you are able to socialize and then reflect afterward how it went (you did just fine), the easier it gets over time. This mindful concluding exercise is important for future success.

There are several practices you can work on to help guide you through this but really digging deep into what is triggering this will eventually be necessary. In the meantime, try researching on something called Mental Rehersal. There are different articles on this from different angles but the overall concept is to practice visualizing scenarios, both good and bad. How do you see yourself acting in those scenarios? How do you want to act,be, feel in those scenarios? Almost like you are mentally practicing in advance. I had a client practice for awhile. She had anxiety over making phone calls to book appointments or to run certain errands. She was worried that she would say or do the wrong thing. I had her practice a positive and negative scenario for both. If it wasn't going in the direction she thought it would, how would she handle it? Make a joke perhaps? She really felt this to be a useful tool in the beginning.

Well, first off: being an introvert is a great thing. Extroverts are great at gathering information and identifying opportunities, but introverts sustain the focus to create change.

Social anxiety often results when trying to use that skill in complex environments. We become overloaded.

The strength of the extrovert, conversely, is that they know how to heal. They go out into the world, get boo-booes, dust themselves off and move forward.

It turns out that these reactions to experience reflect hemispherical (left/right) dominance in the brain. Through hypnosis, I can help you to explore the shift between left and right, putting it under the control of your mature self - evolving in the part of the brain right behind your third eye.

What causes social anxiety is the way that we think about ourselves in those situations. In a very simplistic overview, our brains offer us thoughts designed to protect us. We get to decide if we want to believe our thoughts, and if they serve us. Your brain is telling you that social situations are scary. That’s totally normal as humans are wired to gain social acceptance, and any misstep would risk being rejected from the pack. By paying better attention to the thoughts that you’re having leading up to and IN social situations that cause anxiety (because I’m sure that not ALL provide anxiety - ones with family, or close friends, for example) you can then choose to decide whether or not those thoughts are helpful, or true. Once identified, you can actively work on changing those thoughts to more helpful beliefs about yourself and those who you’re with so that you eventually diminish the anxiety.

While being introverted and experiencing anxiety are not the same thing, anxiety is a common problem for many introverts. Daily life—whether at work, school, or home—means interacting with numerous different people. The constant need to be “on” can leave introverts feeling drained, depleted, and out of mental resources to cope with the stimulation around them. This often manifests as feelings of stress and anxiety.

If you’re struggling with anxiety, reaching out to Harbor Hypnosis for therapy is a great starting point. With Robin’s professional assistance, you can overcome issues like sleeplessness, stress eating, and anxiety.

You can also keep some handy stress-reduction tools in your arsenal! For example, breathing exercises, yoga, and meditation can be effective strategies for reducing the fight-or-flight reflex that kicks in when we’re anxious. You could also try using CBD oil to manage anxiety, lower stress, and promote relaxation. Although CBD oil is derived from the cannabis plant, it does not contain THC, the psychoactive compound that produces a “high”. Many people take CBD oil, edibles, or capsules to treat chronic pain or anxiety disorders.

Removing negative energy from your home is another way to incorporate more relaxation into your life. Your home should be a place where you can recharge from a stressful day, not where you’re forced to confront anxiety-inducing stimuli. To bring some good vibes into your home, do some cleaning, decluttering, and letting in plenty of light and fresh air!