Mindfullness for Social Anxiety Disorder

I'm booking yoga/mindfullness iv heard good things about it. 

And hope it works for you too. 

Dear al1984,

Good Evening.  I hope you are doing well.  I don't want to sound contrite, but I want to help you so I am going to give you a little information about myself.  I have been sufering form aniuexty and depression for the last 4 years.  I have been hospitalized 8 times due to my extraordinary gift, as I like to call it.  I don't look at it as different, I look at as others being different from me.  Who is to say that the creator of this world, if you believe in that, didn't intend for aniexty to be our so called normal.  I as well take 20 mg of citalopram every day.  It hasn't always been like that though.  I used to take 5 or 6 pills a day.  The reason I am only taking one is because I have worked so very hard the last year and a half studying, researching, practicing, understanding, and participating in various therapies so I can learn how to eliviate the pain that I have associated with aniexty.  I've studied DBT, CBT, Mindfullness, Meditation, and I am currently involved in a brand new therapy.  All in all I have taken bits and pieces from all these therepies and allowed myself be be healthier then I have ever been.  Both Mentally and Physically.  The most important tool that I have utilized is Exercise.  I started doing CrossFit 6 months ago and was the best decision I have made in a very long time.  I highly reccomend at least one hour a day for 4 days a week.  I promise you will feel like a new person.  As for your question, I highly reccomend that you par take in learning and understanding Mindfullness.  It will teach you to relax, enjoy life, just to take one moment at a time.  Live in the moment is there phylosopy and it will allow you to present at social events, if you take the time to learn.  It will not happen overnight.  I have been studying it for a year and I have so much more to learn and perfect.  You have to be willing to help yourself, you will have to practice daily in order for you to understand and get the full benefits from Mindfullness.  I truely hope this helps you to achieve happiness and a gratefying life.

i borrowed a book from the library but didn't finish it but what I did read and practice was helpful and insightful.

ive just got the book off ebay.

 

I find yoga helps a lot when i am NOT feeling anxious. The physical symptoms of anxiety, for me, are sometimes crippling and I find focusing on breathing etc only heightens my awareness of the difficulty I am having. 

Try it when you are having a good day and it'll make you feel better for sure, but how easy it will be to relax and believe in mindfullness when you are in the midst of anxiety is a different scenario altogether. The most important thing is so stay positive and open minded to everything! Give everything a shot and don't put obstacles in the way of it helping you!

Thanks everyone. It certainly sounds like mindfullness is worth a shot. I've done quite a bit of it just using an app and like you said Katy in the moment itself I don't find it helps but it can help me to feel more relaxed at other times. I will try it in the group sessions and see what happens. I am hoping that it will help me feel more relaxed and so there are less moments of anxiety. that would be nice.

I already do quite a bit of exercise and yoga so it will hopefully add to the benefits of that.

The good things about mindfulness is that it is for everyone.

There's no drawbacks, only more or less benefit. I just finished an eight week course myself with two hours once a week. I had, unfortunately, less benefit from the course, but I still got a lot of useful thoughts from it.

My problem was that one of the core exercises is being able to just notice your breath. I understand the principle, but I'm so self-aware and self-doubting, that pointing my attention in the slightest towards my breath makes it tense and it hurts in my throat immediately.

I did, however, find some use in the other exercises which didn't focus on the breath. It was anyway two nice, calm hours during the week.

I've never heard about anyone with the same problem as me, so I'm probably more of a special case... However, everyone had some problem with some part of the exercises, and it was all different from person to person. That's completely usual, we quickly learned. That's the whole point of the exercises.

Do not think about taking about taking up some others space. You deserve it. Everyone deserves it.

I think you're going to like it. Good luck!