Social Anxiety Is a

Wild Entheology

In this episode, we discuss our differing experiences at a psychedelic meet-up we attended together. Where Will reflects on how he has developed through a lot of his social anxiety, Kaylee talks about how she felt trapped in hers in this situation. We discuss methods for working on social skills, where and when anxiety originated in our lives, and how talking through our experiences helps to identify where the problems lie and how we can work on improving. We also discuss the value of and caution with recreational use of psychedelics.

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Show Notes:

1:10 - Introducing the topic and Kaylee experiencing resistance to having this discussion

3:43 - Based on childhood experiences, you have expectations of how people perceive and treat you, but these beliefs need to be open to update. What it looks like to be progressing out of those beliefs and healing. What does it mean to be healed from things that happened to us?

9:18 - Kaylee recounts her experience of anxiety at the meetup. Reflecting on the context of the event and how it activated her social anxiety and what could have been done better.

12:31 - An Integral perspective as anxiety relates to stage purple, anxiety as narcissistic, and how withholding yourself from the world does a disservice to all

15:07 - How speaking to the anxiety is the way out of it. The more anxious you become, the more congruent you have to be with that anxiety

17:47 - To stay or to go? When to sit with the experience as a form of exposure therapy without making the exposure a new trauma.

19:10 - Is "talking about it" always the answer? The difficulty of communicating and the complexity of human communication.

28:43 - How "Cool" and knowledgeable people can activate anxiety by making you feel worse in comparison.

31:15 - The creativity and cognitive ability involved in having a high level conversation compared to the solid block feeling of anxiety.

33:08 - Will's experience of social anxiety in the past and attaching to a social anchor. Seeing anxiety on the hierarchy of needs - you have to feel safe and secure before being able to get to a flow state through conversation and connection to others.

38:38 - The reinforcement of characteristics of anxiety in childhood and questioning the label of 'introvert' that Kaylee has given herself. People pleasing, hypervigilant self-monitoring, and lack of authenticity make being around people exhausting.

46:45 - Recognizing the exchange of energy and reinforcement in situations where Kaylee does experience a sense of flow and authenticity. When we are ourselves we invite others to do the same. Our differences are what makes connections so valuable.

51:49 - How the ability to be authentic in a relatable way allows you to find people who align with that and acts as a filter for those who don't. It's okay for people not to like you.

59:53 - How psychedelics can help change our conditioned behaviors by breaking down the ego, which is the thing that keeps us in those anxious narratives that holds us back from connecting to others.

1:01:15 - Discussing the experience of using psychedelics recreationally. How do we integrate the acute affects of psychedelics where we feel the dissolved ego, lack of fear, and connection to others? Importance of remaining open-minded and discerning, and the need for education.

1:22:50 - Talking about our experiences of anxieties helps to break down those walls that are keeping you from being who you want to be.

As is always the case, psychedelics are not a toy. Please use them responsibly. We can only speak to our own psychological and spiritual evolution, we cannot speak to yours. If you have mental health issues please seek a professional. There is no shame in getting help and you will never be judged for your problems. We wish you the best in life and in mental health.