If you suffer from social anxiety, avoiding a situation might seem like the only respite. However, this approach of running away only makes this a vicious, never-ending cycle. So what do you do if you are socially anxious? Face the situation that makes you feel uncomfortable. Gain confidence and refute the belief you have created in your head that you are not good enough. These easy tips will help you beat social anxiety like no other.

Just Breathe

An easy way to walk through social anxiety is to just breathe. When you are anxious, your breath becomes shallow and that kind of sends a signal to the rest of the body that you are in danger. To avoid psychological distress caused by anxiety, check for signs of tension in your neck, shoulders, and hands and just let those areas loosen and relax. How to open up about your mental health: tips to deal with depression, anxiety and emotional issues.

Stop Spotlighting

‘Spotlighting’ is another hallmark of social anxiety. Your constant tendency of becoming judgemental or self-conscious interrupts with the organic flow of a conversation or an event. If you take a common behaviour like eating, you will never enjoy the taste and smell of food if you start focusing on how you held the fork. So try not to be too critical of your thoughts and behaviour. Just put on some music and try to focus on your senses. If you are in a conversation, draw your attention to the person talking and allow yourself to be more interested and curious.

Be Your Inner Critic

Also, try and catch your inner critic and pay attention to your thoughts. Observe if you are being unnecessarily harsh to yourself. If you are criticising yourself, just stop and ask yourself if you would say this to your best friend. If the answer is yes, stop those negative thoughts immediately. Just try talking to yourself like how you would do to your best friend. Are you too harsh on yourself? It could lead to ocd, anxiety disorder.

Stay In the Present Moment

If you have anxiety, you might often have predictions about things in the future and label them as ‘catastrophising’ and ‘mind-reading’. The most helpful tip for alleviating this kind of thinking is to be mindful of the present. A daily mediation or yoga practice can help you stay in the present. Also, try focusing on neutral objects in the environment to prevent random thoughts.

While it is normal to feel nervous at first, just keep up with the practice and interacting with people to begin to feel more natural.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 17, 2019 08:27 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).