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Anxiety can make things difficult for a person in various ways. Sadly, one of those ways deals with social settings. If you happen to be this kind of person, you want to pay attention to this guide meant to help you navigate social settings.
Control Your Breathing
An important thing to master is your breathing. If you’re able to do this, you can employ the technique in any social setting. There are a lot of ways to use breathing to your advantage. For example, you can practice meditation where mindful breathing is vital. You could also take up yoga or tai chi; both practices help you control your breathing. You can find local classes, or you can try online lessons if you think that might be best. The more you can control your breathing, the better you’ll be able to handle the anxiety you might be feeling when you have to be in this type of setting.
Powerful Tools
If you know you’re going to be in a social setting and are afraid that you might feel anxious, then you need tools. Several things could help you stay calm in these settings. For example, You could have a little dark chocolate with you. Dark cocoa contains ingredients that trigger pleasurable feelings in your mind. This could help control your anxiety.
Prepare Before
Another thing you can do is prepare for the event. You know you have to go, and you know what kind of event it is. Read up on topics that might come up during the event. Make it a point to visualize the event. Think of things that could happen, and imagine yourself handling everything just fine. Try to find out who’s going to be at this event. The more you learn about the people, the easier it’ll be for you to feel comfortable. Most of the time, what you don’t know about this event causes you to feel anxious, so reduce what you don’t know.
Fight Negative Thoughts
Negative thoughts are going to creep up in your head. This is part of the reason you start to feel anxious at events or before you get there. You must fight back. A lot of folks allow these negatives thoughts to go unchallenged. Don’t let those thoughts go unchallenged. Be prepared to tell yourself the exact opposite the moment a bad thought pops into your head. Do this before and during the event. You might not think this could work, but it can be helpful. If you need to do this in front of a mirror, then do so. The mirror trick tends to help folks who’ve never made it a point to talk to themselves.
Start Small
If you have a lot of time before the big event, try to start small to fight your anxiety. Consider meeting with a smaller group of friends before the event. Then, you can gradually increase that group of friends until the main event. Doing something like this could help you feel better about going to the event. This trick doesn’t last for too long, but it can loosen you up a bit and make you feel like you can handle yourself in this scary social setting.
These are just some things you can do to navigate social settings even if you deal with some anxiety. You should talk to a professional if you continue to have this problem and it starts to stop you from living a normal life.
