Overcome Social Anxiety with These Exercises

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Do you constantly worry that people are going to mock or criticize you? Do you worry about looking foolish to others or even freeze when you’re the center of attention? When we are overly anxious about how others perceive us, we can have a lack of confidence when in public and our self-esteem can also take a toll. It can become so bad that you don’t want to leave your home or interact with anyone from the outside because of this fear of how others will perceive you.

This deep fear can prevent you from connecting with others and it can push you further into an isolated state. There are a couple of exercises you can practice to get out of this and work on interacting with more people, but it’s important to recognize what sorts of feelings are coming up for you and why you feel scared before you do these exercises.

Sometimes, we have internal shame and this prevents us from being bold and confident. This shame can make us believe that there is something wrong with us. The shame can chip away at your self-esteem, but it’s important to recognize that these thoughts aren’t reality. Everyone is deserving of connection, friendship, and love.

An exercise you can do is to do something small that might be embarrassing for you. This is like a light form of exposure therapy to help you recognize that there will be no bad consequences towards you if you do something ‘strange’. Pick a small thing like eating alone in public or paying a compliment to a stranger. You can then lead up to bigger things like telling those that are close to you about your true needs. Small steps can lead to more confidence and later on a stronger sense of self to help you set better boundaries towards those around you. Try to do 1% better than you did yesterday and to address any sort of shaming thoughts you might have about yourself and your self-worth.

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