An Introspective Analysis Looking back, I never used to feel “socially anxious” whilst growing up. I remember feeling shy as a kid when meeting relatives or strangers, but even when I first started working I felt okay. Anxious feelings kind of crept up on me into adulthood and, I think for me personally, feelings of […]
Writing creatively can be very therapeutic. Research has shown that oral and written storytelling can enrich our spiritual and cultural lives and help us heal from past traumas and abuse. Sometimes people write their own life narrative and their writing is autobiographical in nature. Writing about daily experiences, that is, writing rooted in one’s own […]
In the early budding stage of our relationship, my boyfriend’s sister invited me to her wedding. Upon receiving this news, I mentally responded in two ways. Firstly I was filled with elation, after all, she was betting on us being together a whole year into the future, a potentially risky move for a bride. Who […]
Wherever there is sadness, there is also so much more… It can be easy to zoom in on what feels painful or uncomfortable for us and to colour our world as if that’s all there is. But what else would we notice if we took a step back, open to seeing the bigger picture? […]
Living in a culture that can feel like it values extroversion over introversion, there are times when many of us wish we could swap our quiet nature for that of someone more outgoing. Those of us who let that longing go have found ways to focus on all the positives that come with introversion and […]
Since I was young, I have always taken the backseat in social environments, at school and elsewhere. Even now I am never the life of the party, preferring to sit back and let others do the talking, too afraid to draw attention to myself. This is fine for me and as I’ve gotten older I’ve […]
The truth about ‘self-care’ As far as I can see, self-care is too often pitched by sleek, photoshopped instagram models telling us that merely drinking more glasses of water and putting on face masks are the steps to a perfect life. In reality, self-care is actually far less glamorous. Self-care is described as ‘the practice […]
I’ve come to the point in my life where I realise that what I did one day does not epitomise who I am; but it epitomised who I was that day. I look back to things I’ve done even in the last week and cannot understand how I did them -it becomes unrecognisable to me […]
Do you feel self-conscious when exercising? You’re not alone. It’s a challenge that has come up in conversation in our community groups, online and has even been the topic of some of our coaching sessions recently. Well, there’s a few of us in our Quiet Community who have now become determined to push through the […]
Finding meaning in words I find a lot of solace and constance in words and the English language. It’s something I’ve always loved, and English was always my favourite subject at school, so much so that I’m studying it at university. I find it so liberating that we have the power to express ourselves in […]
Today, I can stand up and say with confidence that I’m ‘a bit of a self-confessed oddball’. But, just over ten years ago, things were not so clear to me. I didn’t know much about anxiety and I definitely had not found a real way to express myself. I didn’t know who I was or […]
It’s easy to get into the habit of avoiding exercise because we’re feeling self-conscious. With body image being a key shame trigger for both women and men, I know I’m not alone in worrying what people will think of my sweaty red face, blotchy chest, wobbly bits, inability to control my panting, and even the […]