Does this scenario sound familiar to you?

You're sitting in your car outside the restaurant, twenty minutes early because you need time to "prepare."

Your hands are shaking. Your heart is pounding so hard you're convinced everyone will see it through your shirt.

You've already rehearsed what you'll say when you walk in.

Practiced your smile in the rearview mirror.

Reminded yourself about eye contact, not saying anything weird, laughing at the right moments.

And you're exhausted before you even open the car door.

I lived this for years.

On the outside, I looked fine. Smiling, social, seemingly confident.

But inside? I was drowning. Constantly afraid of what others thought.

Replaying conversations in my head for days.

Shrinking myself to fit in.

I tried everything to fix it.

Therapy helped me understand my childhood trauma, but I still had panic attacks before presentations.

Meditation calmed me for ten minutes, then the anxiety came roaring back.

Affirmations in the mirror felt like lying to myself.

Here's what finally changed everything for me:

I learned to interrupt anxiety in the moment while I was doing the deeper work to heal it at the root.

I needed two things:

Quick techniques to survive today's event.

And deep transformation so I wouldn't need those techniques forever.

This page is about the first part.

The survival kit.

Three 60-second techniques you can use tonight if you need to.

Not a cure.

Not transformation.

Just tools to get you through the moment when you're spiraling and need help right now.

Let me be totally honest with you:

This won't fix your social anxiety forever.

But it will help you survive tomorrow's meeting, next week's date, the wedding you're dreading.

It'll give you breathing room while you figure out if you're ready for the deeper work.

— Melinde