30. Overcoming Good Ol' Social Anxiety

I was talking to someone a few months ago who I didn’t know super well.   As we talked, I felt like my lung channels were narrowing, making it harder to breathe. I was hyperfocused on what they were saying but surely missing important non-verbal details. It felt like there was a heavy ball in my stomach pulling me down into the earth, where I could disappear and honestly just….rest for a thousand years. I felt like everything I was saying was fucking stupid and every movement I made was being watched carefully for any signs that I was an imposter. I had to be careful. Very careful.   Ah yes, good ol’ social anxiety.   I always wondered why in some social situations I had no problem at all – felt totally at ease, happy, excited to be there – having interesting conversations with new people who felt like friends in no time. And why other times I felt like I was going to shit my pants and die.   I realized, for a teeny tiny moment, in that conversation with that human I mentioned above, that there was a program running in the deeeeeeep recesses of my mind, causing the constriction. I heard a voice: “you are stupid” “what are you doing” “no one likes you.”   This voice (that I’m usually unaware of because again….it’s so DEEP!) was literally sending me into a sympathetic nervous system response (fight/flight/freeze/fawn). The hypervigilance, hyperfocus but unaware of important non-verbal details, the sweating, heart racing, frozen-ness. The inability to remember what my favorite book is or a good show I’ve been watching recently. This is a typical stress reaction – the same kind we humans get if we are being chased by a lion.   Listen for more <3 SHADOW GAMES: Pre-recorded Existential Kink, tapping, and embodiment course: https://danelle-gallo.mykajabi.com/offers/ikfHzEJy SHADOW GAMES (payment plan $122 x 3): https://danelle-gallo.mykajabi.com/offers/2nzq6qLn Work with me♥️ Free consult call: https://calendly.com/nursenell/coaching?month=2022-05 My Podcast: Too Human🛸 https://open.spotify.com/show/0P4ugRsguNYr6oixCXwvtA My website 🔥https://www.lifenursenell.com/ Get emails from me 🧚‍♂️ https://crafty-leader-8019.ck.page/0d28551821 Podcast appearance: Nurse Nell- Trauma Informed Life Coach on Somatic Healing https://open.spotify.com/episode/5fL4NBsiuPeHOQRwigyK9R?si=FHrUCeJaR2O2SRixfxVcug