Managing Holiday Social Anxiety

Hi, and welcome to this boundary setting practice that can support you in preserving your personal space during the holidays. Holidays are exciting. They're a time of connection with the people that we love most, and also, maybe people we find challenging to be around. With the influx of social gatherings and encounters, this may have the potential to create a bit of tension in the mind and body. Especially if you're prone to experiencing social anxiety, this time of connection and festivities may also arrive with an increased sense of expectations, pressures to perform, and an overall general sense of stress, anxiety, and even fear. The mind may start to think, what if I say the wrong thing? What if I'm not doing enough? Or what's going to happen? So many different thoughts and feelings can caught our minds in social settings. So in this visualization practice, we'll be envisioning a luminous light at the center of our stomachs that will grow and cover our entire body. Almost like an armor of compassion that helps us to stay grounded and supported no matter where we are and who we're with. Think of it as a protective shield allowing you to stay engaged with those in your space and supporting you in staying connected within your mind and body. So just taking a moment now to settle in, getting comfortable, sitting upright or lying down. Shoulders relaxed. And whether you're arriving to this practice a bit panicked or preparing yourself before a family event, take a moment just to notice how the mind and body feel, even before we get started. Just getting a sense of what attitude is present in the mind. Maybe the mind is a bit restless. There's a sense of resistance. Just acknowledging what's there. What we've been experiencing before we practice is likely to arise during our practice. So, acknowledging it now, and then when you're ready, taking three deep breaths. The eyes can be open or closed, whatever feels right for you. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Gently letting go and just arriving into this present moment. Breathing in, body expanding, rising. Breathing out, body softening, relaxing. On the next exhale, returning the breath back to its natural rhythm. Noticing any sounds around you in your space. And noticing the body now. Noticing any areas or parts of the body that feel a bit tense, tight. If you're experiencing a bit of anxiousness, noticing where you can sense it in the body. And if it's not present, where does it usually live? Just observing, noticing the body with kindness. And if the mind gets distracted by any stories, any thoughts, just allowing them to come and go, gently returning back to the body. Feeling that rising and falling sensation of the breath. If the breath feels a bit shallow, seeing if you can invite a deeper inhale and a longer exhale, inviting spaciousness into the body. And now, just...