Overcome Social Anxiety & Depression Life Coaching Group
We run in Edinburgh a monthly Life Coaching Group to help you Overcome Social Anxiety & Depression.
We will teach you techniques and principles which will help you take control of your emotional state and feel good.
The techniques and principles we will teach will help you remarkably to feel good and you will find which ones work for you, but it is your responsibility to apply them in your life.
How often do the Olympics Athelets practice? Daily! And the more you use the techniques and principles, the better you are going to feel.
We combine metaphysics, spiritual laws and principles with coaching and NLP. And we also explain to you why the common approaches to overcome anxiety and depression do not work.
The meeting is going to be the 2nd Tuesday of each month from 7-8:30pm, at the Aditi Yoga Centre.
Please do not call the Aditi Yoga centre, you need to book your place with us.
Cost is £15/£10.
Please note: it is a group limited to 10 people.
NEXT MEETING: 9th December
You need to book your place in advance, to book please send us an email at: info@pgcoaching.co.uk.
FREE Social Anxiety eBook/eCourse - Value $30
To download the FREE Overcome Social Anxiety eBook/eCourse, please fill in your details below and you will receive an email with the download link:
Testimonials
Here are a few testimonials from our clients on recovering from social anxiety:
'Hi Piercarla,
I've only just glanced over the material in your e-book, but I already know it will change my life. The entire front page of a google search on social anxiety has websites that treat it as a disease and something that has to be cured. They treat the symptoms and they think of fancy words to describe all the processes and phenoma, but they're not helping to treat the source of the problem. I think you've pinpointed the source perfectly, and you've expressed these solutions in a very humane, kind, and helpful way, which is exactly what social anxiety needs. It needs to be accepted and you've done this wonderfully by showing and teaching acceptance. Thanks so much for sharing and helping. '
| 'Hello Ms. Garusi. My name is M. I am 22 years old from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The reason I am contacting you today is I came across the following article, which I believe was written by yourself. (I hope I am contacting the right person) http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Garusi5.html You see I have been suffering with Social Anxiety/Phobia for quite some time, almost 9 years. I have lived a great part of my life feeling insecure and doubtful of myself. I've always thought myself to be a kind and understanding individual, but my fears have somehow always interfered with my happiness, desires, and plans for myself. I basically just wanted to let you know that your article is extremely inspirational to me. I've always known that Social Anxiety is based upon an irrational fear that we conjure up ourselves, therefore it only makes sense that I am in control of my own recovery. I cant tell you how much time I've wasted with doctors and meds trying to come to this conclusion and somehow you've managed to sum this all up in your article, I find this remarkable. Like you, I am also very much interested in art. I find that art and music are 2 of my few interests. When I am painting, sketching, or just listening to a favorite CD I simply escape all my worries and troubles and reach a point of relaxation that I only thought possible in my dreams. I am very sorry this email is so long, basically I just want to say THANK YOU, thank you for caring enough to write this article and imagining for a moment what it would be like to be in the mind of someone with Social Anxiety (something not many people are willing to do) I wish you much success in all you do. God Bless!' |
| 'Hi Piercarla, First of all, I feel so relieved after having gone through your e-course. During the years I have spent trying to get over social anxiety, all the books I have read, all the methods I have tried, no one has ever told me that it is OK to be me. It is OK not to be perfect, to make mistakes and yes, even sometimes feel anxiety. There is nothing to be ashamed of as being me is what I was born to do. I fully believe and accept that now. In fact not being perfect and making mistakes is what makes me human. Had I actually been perfect it would be likely that others would feel a bit intimidated by me. How could they live up to match my perfectness? By making mistakes and having faults and by also accepting this and being OK with it I show others that it is OK for them too to be who they are with all their imperfections. This sets a very relaxed mood for being social. By being fully accepting yourself and also accepting others, trust is built and intimacy between two people can begin to grow. I don't know what else to say. Right now I am just enjoying the feeling of inner peace that comes with the knowledge that I am good enough as I am, that it is OK to be me and that I truly, fully and unconditionally love myself. I still want to improve and become better, but it is driven from a frame of self-love rather than from a feeling of not being good enough. I didn't believe that I would feel like this when I started the e-course. Even halfway through I was still sceptical. But I decided to commit fully to the ideas and exercises suggested in your course, and suddenly it just felt like all you had said was true. It is still hard to believe how easy and fast changes took place within me, but I am truly glad that I was able to take part of this. Thank you Piercarla, this has been a life changing experience. Warm regards, F. -UK ' |
| 'Hello Piercarla, I have always suffered from Social Anxiety and a few months ago my life was a mess, completely. I lost my job a couple of years ago and never found the confidence to go and get another, i was experiencing anxiety daily, and over the smallest of things...the front gate being opened, the telephone ringing, my anxiety was starting to develop into panic. Some days it would take me 2 hours just to leave the house. I hadn't had a professional haircut for over two years-how mad is that! I was depressed and i had hit rock bottom. I knew i had to change but did not know how. I started to keep a diary with the intention of making it into a blog. I called this diary...Life of a Social Phobic. I only kept it for about a week when it became clear to me that by me reinforcing the "fact" that i was a social phobic i was somehow a victim and if i could think and maybe believe that i am "ok" then, well, maybe i would be. I kinda thought if i was thinking negative then all i would believe in was the negative. Then i got your email and your first course was basically what i had been thinking to myself after seeing how mad and desperate my thoughts were and you were basically saying that you can change your thoughts and by choosing more positive ones change your feelings and change your point of veiw on yourself. This was the start for me. Over the past couple of months my life has changed dramactically. Yes i still have the odd the bout of anxiety but i do not feel or think i am a social phobic and i certainly do not behave as one now. I can't tell how free that makes me feel. One big thing that has helped me to feel good and positive was to start exercise, this has been amazing at helping me "feel" good again. I have been using your e-course along with other self help books and i can honestly say they have all helped. It has been really hard and difficult at times, but not working has been a good thing as it means i had the time to practice, daily, moment to moment on how to change and since then i have been on dates, met new people, had my haircut and i am now out of the house first thing in the morning, within an hour of waking up....it used to be hours before if at all! And it has all been done without any drugs or madication. I am still learning and moving forward and trying not to stay stuck in the past and for the first time in a long while i am seeing things with a new perspective! So, yes, thank-you for your course, it has been very helpfull for my journey at getting rid of SA, accepting myself and finding the positive and a meaning to life again! All the best, J.- UK' |
| 'Hello Piercarla Thankyou for sending me the e course over coming social anxiety. I have at last got round to completing it. I found the course to be very helpful in my journey to being a happier more confident person. My thoughts at the begining were that I would always be anxious and shy and that something was wrong with me I came to realise that I could change this through different thoughts and beliefs. I realised I am always putting myself down and thinking I'm not good enough I wouldn't be this tough on anyone else!! Though I still do this I am aware that I am doing it and can stop myself. I found it difficulut at first to list my qualities and good points but the more I looked for them the more I saw and I had a long list which made me feel really good and there were times I was happy in the knowledge that I am a good person and have no reason to dislike myself so much. Through this course I also became aware that I worry too much about what other people think about me and I'm always thinking they judge and dislike me, I am always trying to please others. I am now begining to realise that the people I car about like me. If others judge me it's their problem and if they dislike me I can live with that I don't like every one I meet and thats o.k. I am begining to put the things I learn't in to practise now I still have a long way to go and I still deal with some anxiety and negative thoughts most days, The best thing this course has done is made me aware of this and now I'am aware of them I can begin to change them. So Thank you Best wishes J.- UK' |
Article: How to Overcome Social Anxiety
By Piercarla Garusi
I worked with a client who had suffered from social anxiety for most of her life. She grew up in a dysfunctional family who emotionally abused her, and she arrived at the point of believing that there was something wrong with being her.
And this is a key to social anxiety: believing that there is something wrong or bad in you or with being you.
You might have been bullied or had abusive experiences which led you to believe this; but the truth is that there is nothing, I repeat, nothing wrong with you or being you: you are just a wonder.
Then I hear you saying: but I have suffered from social anxiety for many years of my life, there must be something wrong with me! Absolutely not.
And also I hear you saying: ‘But I have social anxiety, I need to solve it.’ Well, you do not need to ‘be fixed’ or to solve social anxiety; please do not identify yourself with social anxiety, it is not you. If we identify ourselves with it, it is more difficult to make changes.
In fact, what is social anxiety? It is simply caused by non-resourceful patterns of thoughts and behaviours; do not identify yourself with it, it is not you; your natural condition is a condition of wellbeing, inner comfort and happiness and you are going to feel that again.
And also it is so important that you stop beating yourself up! Please, please, please forgive yourself! If you beat yourself up for the way you are, or the way you have behaved, the only result you obtain is to feel worse and to strengthen those negative patterns that create anxiety. In fact, how about asking yourself, ‘How can I feel good about myself, if I keep beating myself up and thus feeling bad?’ And so, if you behave in a way you do not like, take responsibility for it, learn from it, apologize if you need to, and forgive yourself.
Then there might be the pressure from society that, if you want to be accepted, you need to be, or behave in, a certain way. I have worked with clients who came to coaching as they arrived at some point in their lives, hit some pain and realised that what they had followed as happiness was simply an illusion. One said, ‘I have followed the trends in society for my entire life and I have lost myself,’ and another said, ‘what I thought was bringing me happiness has instead created a hole within me, and I feel I have wasted my life’.
So, as you can see, following the trends does not quite work. So ask yourself, ‘Do I prefer to be accepted or to be happy?’
I know you are going to tell me, ’But I am afraid of what people think, and this is what causes my social anxiety’. I know, but you can stop those thoughts that create that anxious feeling inside you and you can decide what you are going to think about people and about yourself. How about if you thought that what other people think is simply their business, not
yours? Would you feel relieved?
And I know you are thinking. ‘But I cannot stop those thoughts that create anxiety, it seems they have more power than me’. I know, but this is only a conditioning of society. Let me ask you a question: Who is the master of your mind? Who controls your thoughts? You do. Start by simply saying: ‘Stop’ to the unwanted thoughts, and then ‘This is what I want to think, now’. And you will see that you will, little by little, feel more in control.
Then to overcome social anxiety you need to be yourself and the person you really are- your soul- and love that.
You can be whoever you want to be, free from the conditioning of the society and from the conditioning you have experienced in your past.
As Henry Kissinger said, ‘Accept everything about yourself - I mean everything. You are you and that is the beginning and the end - no apologies, no regrets.’
Then you need to develop a relationship with yourself and make that relationship the most important in your life.
You need to welcome yourself fully, appreciate and give value to yourself and be proud of yourself.
You need to establish your codes of conduct and values, and stick to them. You establish your own rules; you decide who you are and how you behave. Think that every person is different and chooses his/her own set of rules. And so, if you decide who you are and how you behave, your insecurity disappears, as it has no reason to exist anymore!
Then you need to like yourself. Do not look for appreciation outside you, it would make you weak; if that does not come, how are you going to feel? But if you like yourself, even if some people don’t like you, that’s normal; does it really matter?
Then you need to listen to yourself and start doing what makes you happy; ask yourself questions such as:
-what do I want?
-what would make me happy?
-what do I like?
And you need to treat yourself lovingly. For this you need to establish some criteria that support the relationship with yourself; i.e. if something happens, ask yourself:
-is this good for me?
-is this right for me?
-does this make me happy?
And so you can choose. And please, please, please treat yourself well. You are the most precious thing you have got, and I mean extremely precious. Cherish yourself.
Treat yourself as your dearest friend, live your life from what makes you happy and you will be happy, and social anxiety will be only a memory of the past.
© Copyright Piercarla Garusi 2006- All rights reserved.
New eBook
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Discover the Beliefs and Approaches That Might be Preventing You from Feeling Good
Feeling Good is a key to performance, success, to manifest our desires, to wellbeing, happiness, to being in the flow, in the zone, to a good life. But sometimes we do not really feel that way, and we might have struggled for years to feel good; we try different approaches, some of them do not really work that well. In this eBook we explain to you why common approaches to feel good do not work, we give you powerful suggestions to feel good and more information.