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HushFest is on the horizon. Cornwall’s festival of quietness, shaped by our community. |
Helpful tips and personal stories. Exploring relationships and connecting with others when you’re feeling socially anxious, shy and not good enough. You are not alone.
Have you noticed how so many of us live with a mindset that tells us “I’ll be happy when I’m… thinner/have a job/in a relationship/earning more (whatever ‘it’ is for you)”? Maybe we really will be happy then. Maybe not. The harsh reality is, if we’ve become so focused on the darkness in life, and…
‘Are you an introvert or an extrovert?’ Introversion and extroversion are concepts that are often seen as extremes: for example, when someone says they are extroverted, the image that comes to mind is someone who is confident and thrives in social situations, whereas introversion is often painted as the opposite. I’ve always struggled with this…
Talking about our self-doubt and our anxieties in social situations is still taboo. We tend to think we should be able to do certain things, like talk to strangers and speak up, just because other people seem to manage with ease. It can feel like we’re the only person struggling. Then there’s the stigma we experience when…
You know how messy your mind can feel when you’re surrounded by ‘things’? When the totality of your possessions becomes overwhelming, it chips away at your wellbeing. But, did you know you don’t need to be drowning in a sea of stuff for this to take effect? Some of us are more sensitive to this…
Dear Santa, This Christmas, I don’t want to stuff every nook and cranny in my home with purposeless possessions that have no place. I don’t want a room full of ‘junk’ I haven’t looked at in months. I don’t want to put up another shelf to display random bits and bobs that aren’t deeply meaningful…
My dear friends, How are you? It seems like an age since we last spoke, and even longer since I last saw you. I understand that you must see me as a terrible friend. I hardly make time to see you anymore. I don’t seem to start conversations on messenger. I rarely text or give…
Managing anxiety Your body’s response to stress is triggered automatically by a part of your nervous system that you have little control over. This takes you out of a calm and balanced state and puts you into a state of ‘fight or flight’, altering your heart rate, blood pressure and your breathing. This is when…
At April’s Speaking Connections gathering, we spent some time sharing the valuable tips that our members are already using in overcoming nervousness in speaking. This is one of a two-part post sharing our members’ wisdom. Look out for our previous post passing on the gatherings practical tips. Getting into the right frame of mind What can you do to relax before an…
At April’s Speaking Connections gathering, we spent some time sharing the valuable tips that our members are already using in overcoming nervousness in speaking. This is one of a two-part post sharing our members’ wisdom. Look out for our next post passing on the gatherings mindset tips. Practising and using prompts One of the best ways to ease the anxiety…
How is it possible that two people can experience the same situation so differently? How can one person feel confident while the other is anxious? Because our thoughts and feelings seem real to us, we believe they must be true. But what if they’re not? Could we just be jumping to conclusions? The way you think…
The one that doesn’t speak Have you always been the quiet one? The one that doesn’t speak? Me too. I’d listen to friends’ discussions from the sidelines. I’d hear the constant chatter, but I wouldn’t chip in. I didn’t know how to talk to people. Did I have any thoughts worth sharing? I often couldn’t…
Don’t call my child shy I know, I know; it’s so easy to do, right? Every parent wants to raise a confident child. Yet, you say hello to a child and he buries his face in his mummy’s shoulder. The next words that come out of your mouth are something like “Aww he’s shy” or “You…