🟣 Today's Question: When you feel anxious, do you notice it more in your body (like sweating, racing heart) or in your thoughts — and what’s one thing you usually do in that moment (like walking, stretching, deep breathing, nothing)? I notice it in both my body and my thoughts. Physically my heart starts racing, I get goosebumps, and a lot of the time chills throughout my whole body. At the same time my mind starts racing with a lot of thoughts and imagined scenarios, usually the worst possibilities like being judged, wondering if I’m standing weird, if I look out of place, whether I should even be there, or if I should just leave in general. In those moments I usually try to take a deep breath and calm myself down while working up the courage to stay in the situation. I also try to imagine better or more positive outcomes. Sometimes that helps, and sometimes it doesn’t.

Today's Question: I'm curious, when anxiety shows up for you, what part of it feels the hardest — the thoughts, the body feelings, or how it affects what you do? For me it honestly feels like all three go hand in hand. The thoughts are a big part of it; my mind starts racing and I worry about what others might think if I try to jump into a conversation, especially when they don’t know me. I often feel like they might think I’m butting in or wonder why I’m there, which makes it hard for me to speak up. Physically I also feel it a lot. Before social situations I often get goosebumps or chills and it feels like my body is going into the red, almost like it’s warning me that the situation isn’t safe and I should just avoid it all together. But logically I know there isn’t actually any real danger to me. Because of those two things, it also affects what I end up doing. My mind races so much that it’s hard to even work up the courage to socialize. And when I do try, my mind often goes blank. I struggle with what to say, small talk is hard for me, and even if I start a conversation it’s difficult to keep it going. That’s actually why I made a New Year’s resolution for this year, I want to become a better version of myself and not have these thoughts control me as much. I want to try to socialize more, even when my mind is racing. ✌️

I’ll be reaching out shortly so we can start creating your tailored anxiety guide together! In the meantime, feel free to explore the Confidence with Anxiety series in the Classroom section — it’ll give you a really solid foundation to start from. This is also a great chance for us to get to know each other a bit better. Here’s a simple format you can use to introduce yourself: Hi, my name's ____ I'm from ____ One challenge I'm working on is ____ Two completely random things I enjoy are ____ Looking forward to getting to know you all! Drop your intro below 👇