How To Deal With Anxiety When Meeting People?

A student asks Sadhguru how one should deal with the “social anxiety” that occurs when meeting someone.

Question: I feel very anxious to open up with people whenever I meet someone. Is it some mental issue or is it that I just don’t fit into society? What do I do?

Sadhguru: You would have definitely heard of a word called “yoga.” When I say “yoga” people immediately think of twisting the body into some posture. No, the word yoga means “union.” In your perception of life there is you and there is the world. So it is you versus the universe actually. You versus the universe is a bad competition to get into. Do you think you have any chance of winning this competition? Don’t compete with the universe. 

This is why we found a way called yoga. Yoga or union means you consciously obliterate the boundaries of your individuality, so there is no such thing as you and the universe – it feels like one. You need to do a little yoga, otherwise your mind will get twisted out with all kinds of ideas, emotions and opinions. 

There is a whole science and technology called yoga, which approaches how to handle your body, chemistry, mental fluctuations and energies. If you bring this to a certain level, whoever comes, you are at ease.

If you open it up a little bit, if you obliterate the boundaries of your individuality, it becomes very easy because when you sit here you see the other person as a part of yourself. You have no problem whether it is a man, woman, child or an animal. You will communicate with everything absolutely because you have opened up your boundaries. It is only when you have concretised your boundaries that you will always have a problem. If it is a man, there is one kind of problem. If it is a woman, there is another kind of problem. 

It is time you work upon bringing yourself to ease – not only with other people, just with life. The life that you are must be at ease. If you are not at ease, you will never realize your full potential. 

There is a certain genius in every individual. But ninety-nine percent of the people live and die without ever opening up the genius within themselves. If it has to open up, if the true potential within you has to open up, your life should come to ease. 

There is a whole science and technology called yoga, which approaches how to handle your body, chemistry, mental fluctuations and energies. If you bring this to a certain level, whoever comes, you are at ease. In agitation, everything is distorted. So, being at ease is most important, otherwise you will not experience life the way it is.