Why Do I Feel Like EveryNo one Is Judging Me - A 10-Minute Meditation for Social Anxiety, Self-Consciousness and Fear of Judgement

You walk in the room and something can you start scanning. Checking faces, checking tone, wondering what people are thinking of you right now. In this moment, maybe it's a meeting, a message you sent an hour ago, a room full of people who probably aren't thinking about you at all and yet, somehow, you're sure they are. Today, we're sitting with that feeling.

What do I feel like that everyone is judging me? Welcome. This is Calming Anxiety. I'm your host Martin, clinical hypnotherapist, former paramedic.

And if this feeling ever catches you somewhere loud and crowded, anchored is there, a quiet moment just for you. You know one's judging, it's just you and your breath. And for only 599 a month, it's at free. This feeling though, it has a name, a few actually.

Some call it social anxiety, others just call it feeling self-conscious. Like you're on a stage you never auditioned for. There's an idea in psychology called the spotlight effect, the sense that people notice us and remember us far more than they actually do. So let's bring the attention down, out of your head and into the body.

That's often where this kind of watching loses its grip a little. Will you use a simple diaphragmatic breath, breathing low into the belly rather than high up into the chest? I spent years as a paramedic and one of the first things I did was slow the breathing down before I walk into a room because the body tends to follow the breath. Place a hand on your belly if this helps.

And slowly through your nose and feel the hand rise, hold for just a moment.

Then let it go slowly through your mouth, feeling your hand form. Again in low and slow. And out. And one more time in your own time feel the belly rise.

Feel your hand form. Now gently bring your mind to the last time you felt watched, not judged for anything real, just watched, assessed. Just the thought underneath it, what will people think of me? Here's something worth sitting with.

Most people, most of the time, are thinking about themselves, not you, not a lot of unkindness, just because that's where most of us live, most of the time inside our own heads. Push the room again, but this time picture everyone in it a little distracted, a little busy with their own version of this exact feeling. You don't have to perform for that room, you just have to be in it. Then picture that warm golden light settling over you, not to make you invisible.

Just to remind you that being seen isn't the same as being judged. You are not the audience opinion of you, you are not the room, you are the sky and the room is just the weather passing through it. And then my time as a hypnotherapist, I know words like these, tend to settle. Just a little deeper in a mindful state like this.

So let's use that gently now. So visualize these words in your mind's eyes, I say them. Repeat them if you wish softly or silently, but allow them to drift and entwine themselves into the fabric of your soul. And to imagine and repeat, I do not need everyone's approval to be safe.

Most people are not thinking about me the way they think they are.

I can be seen without needing to be judged as well.

I am allowed to take up space exactly as I am.

I trust myself even in a room full of eyes.

Now feel your breathing again with your hand on your belly. Breathe in through your nose. Be aware of how your chest and stomach cries. Be mindful that the pause between the in and the out-wrap and then as you exhale, relax and unwind deeply, safely.

Within the sanctuary of your consciousness, because simply put, you are worthy and then once more in the beauty of your thoughts, imagine and repeat. I do not need everyone's approval to be safe.

Most people are not thinking about me the way they think they are.

I am allowed to take up space exactly as I am.

I can be seen without needing to be judged as well.

I trust myself even in a room full of eyes.

To take this sense of confidence, of empowerment with you, here are your three daily caring tips. One, the next time you feel watched, silently remind yourself, most of this room is thinking about themselves, not me. Two, notice one small worry about being judged and asked, "Would this matter to me in a week?

Then let it be small again." Three, choose one moment today to let yourself be seen without checking how it landed just for a moment. Now relax and unwind and love all that you are, mind, body and soul.

Now gently, bring your awareness back into the space around you. Nobody is here grating this. Now breathe in and as you exhale, roll the shoulders then stretch out the arms and when you are ready, gently open your eyes. If this feeling visits you often, the app anchored for this show is there.

It is a quiet room of your own whenever you need one. And if this helped, please do share this with someone who feels watched more than they would like to admit. Thank you. Please show me how I cope with my insecurities and I share them freely to help as many as I can.

So if you have been listening for a while and you have 30 seconds, a review on Spotify or Apple or if you have downloaded the app which would be super awesome, a review there would really help get it out. This show, it's just me. There is no large company behind it, there is no backing. The adverts that play are my only income and that's very, very frugal.

So every light really helps. Thank you. Take care my friend, truly. I feel every day I step into my van to record.

I connect. Have a lovely time. I love them. Always positive when you can and then to yourself.

Be kind