Every person has experienced shyness at least once in their life. For some, it manifests itself as mild embarrassment, while for others it causes severe mental discomfort. In the latter case, the reaction can become a serious barrier to achievement, so it must be fought.
Artist Olesya Evstigneeva told the editors of Lady Mail how to overcome shyness – she knows exactly how not to be afraid of being in the public eye.
1. Conduct a self-analysis of your fears
You can overcome your shyness only by realizing what things and moments cause unpleasant feelings. To understand your own emotions, you need to learn to slow down and record situations in which you experience specific sensations.
For this purpose, it is best to start a special diary where you need to write down your feelings. Only then will you be able to track down the triggers that start an undesirable state. For example, some people feel shy when speaking in front of a large audience, while others feel very confused when meeting new people. Recording emotions will allow you to better understand yourself and develop a behavior strategy.
2. Expand your social connections
If the first point is a useful theory, then the second is about practice, which is indispensable: the more people you interact with, the sooner you will get rid of shyness. This is one of the best ways to overcome your anxiety.
Start small: go out at least from time to time and in the company of close people who can support you in difficult times. Accept invitations to visit, attend a festive event, give a short speech or congratulations to an audience. This approach will help you fit into the atmosphere and acquire an important skill, and will also teach you to better manage your emotions.
3. Master breathing exercises
Many people can experience shyness. Even professionals who are used to being in the public eye sometimes catch themselves feeling this way. However, for such cases, they always have emergency techniques that allow them to quickly eliminate anxiety. Many people find the “square” breathing exercise very helpful, as it instantly clears their thoughts, allows them to gather themselves together, and drive away interfering emotions.
It is performed as follows: mentally imagine a square in front of you, inhale through your nose, counting to four, then hold your breath, again counting from one to four, then exhale through your mouth, counting to four, hold your breath, counting from one to four. Repeat three times. This simple technique will put your shyness on “pause” at the right moment.
4. Develop your acting skills into confidence
You can overcome shyness and stiffness by playing the role of a confident person. This is another method that many people use. If you really need to make a good impression on others, but you are afraid to show your shyness, try to try on the image of a relaxed and sociable person.
Imagine what such a person looks like from the outside. Surely his back and shoulders are slightly pulled back, his gaze is calm and confident, he speaks not too loudly and not too quietly, does not apologize for every word he says and does not lower his gaze to the floor when communicating.
Try to temporarily become the person you have just pictured in your imagination, and then learn to enter into the created role every time you realize that you might become shy. There is a high probability that over time you will get used to the image and become much more confident.