Let’s talk about managing social anxiety.

Imagine this scenario:

You’re at some sort of social gathering, talking to someone you barely know, when you literally can’t think of anything to say next.

You frantically try to wrack your brain for anything you have in common – anything semi-interesting to say. To make matters worse, you look around to see everyone else in absorbing conversations, laughing and having a merry ole’ time.

Unfortunately, I’ve experienced this plenty of times. And in these moments, my first thought is usually, “What’s wrong with me? Why is everyone else so dang charismatic?”

To me, mindfulness seems extremely broad. It’s become a big buzzword, but do most of us know what it even means?

My general grasp of the concept was that mindfulness is a mixture of self awareness and being fully present in your day-to-day life. But I felt like that was only a very basic understanding of the idea. So let’s see what the experts say!

By this point, we all know that Instagram is not real life. No one looks slim and toned all the time, is always smiling, or is constantly hanging out with friends – no matter how they make it look.

But while both the body positivity movement and mental health awareness have come to the forefront of our attention, overall self esteem still seems to be at an all-time low.

Why is that?

My speculation is that it’s still so easy to get swept up in social media and comparisons. We’re all trying to be and do everything, which is an impossible amount of pressure to put on ourselves.