westminster
Active member
Woah. Am quite pleased today. Caught in a meeting unawares at work with no time to take valium or propranolol, and knew when it came to my time to talk (we went round the table outlining projects) the dreaded blush would start.
Under the table I grasped my left knuckles in my right hand and squeezed to the point of pain - not overbearing, but a definite ouch. The build up anxiety stopped and the onset of blushing seemed to be held back. Able to talk for a few minutes and felt no surge of heat like I'm used to, even holding decent eye contact with a senior colleague.
Challenge: the next time you feel a likely blush, cause yourself a little physical pain. Don't go mad - just a bit. I think the mind trains itself on physical pain over and above the psychological stress. Perhaps an evolutionary thing? The unconscious sees physical pain as more of a threat to survival? I don't know. Anyway, would be interested to hear if anyone else has any success with this simple and free method. Please feedback...
Under the table I grasped my left knuckles in my right hand and squeezed to the point of pain - not overbearing, but a definite ouch. The build up anxiety stopped and the onset of blushing seemed to be held back. Able to talk for a few minutes and felt no surge of heat like I'm used to, even holding decent eye contact with a senior colleague.
Challenge: the next time you feel a likely blush, cause yourself a little physical pain. Don't go mad - just a bit. I think the mind trains itself on physical pain over and above the psychological stress. Perhaps an evolutionary thing? The unconscious sees physical pain as more of a threat to survival? I don't know. Anyway, would be interested to hear if anyone else has any success with this simple and free method. Please feedback...