Social anxiety or social phobia has many varied causes, including biological, psychological and social. However, each one may be intertwined so it is hard to specify exacting ones. Though it is not yet known if social anxiety is caused by a genetic disposition or something learned through family social conditioning, it does appear that it can run in the family. The first group of causes include environmental and social. It is believed by some social phobia experts that it is possible to learn this from the environment in which you are in. It has been suggested that simply interacting and watching others with similar tendencies can be influential. Also, it is possible that overprotective and controlling parents may develop this in their children and fail to recognize the disorder in them because they too suffer from it and consider it to be perfectly normal. Others think that people may develop social phobias based on a negative childhood event, including bullying, public embarrassment and teasing. Such indicators include disfigurement, abuse (sexual and physical), neglect, speech impediments or conflicts within a family. The second group of causes of social anxiety is thought to be due to psychological or emotional trauma experienced in childhood. The subsequent symptoms may be the direct result of unresolved traumatic experiences such as car accidents, abuse, relationship breakdowns, humiliation or even a natural disaster. The key elements of that are common amongst all people suffering anxiety as a result of traumas include an event or experience that was not expected, the person was not prepared for, and there was little if anything that the person could have done to have pretended it from occurring. However, such traumas can also run deeper, including a poor bonding between the major caregiver and the person during childhood. The person may well have not learned the skills needed to regulate calmness, self-soothing and focus during stressful events. The third social anxiety cause is biological in nature, including biochemical reactions, the structure of the brain and the possibility of the disorder having been inherited genetically. In genetical inheritance, most researchers believe that the main part of the disorder is born out of inhibited behavior. Young babies with such a disposition are quick to show stress and fear of unfamiliar situations and people, and as they grow into teenagers and adults, their risk for getting social phobia increases. Also, studies have shown that it may also have something do with the section of your brain that controls fears (amygdale). Through CAT scans, doctors have found that people with this disorder have an excess amount of activity in the amygdale and too little in the prefrontal brain cortex. Biochemically speaking, more studies indicate that an imbalance in the serotonin levels in the brain, dopamine, GABA and neurotransmitters may be to blame. The most common group that social anxiety disorder sufferers fall into is the second. Each and everyday, many people, young and old, experience traumas, some of which they may well put behind them for many years, or at least they believe, but somewhere inside of them, they have not learned to cope with the resulting trauma, but in fact pushed the emotional side ‘under the carpet’ or so to speak. When this happens it is essential to get medical support and treatment. Such traumas as abuse, rape and other experiences can develop from social anxiety to include even post-traumatic shock disorder, which can attack any person at any time in their lives. It may manifest itself many years later, even after the trauma has since been apparently forgotten. Though there are many cause of social anxiety phobias, the bottom line is that the result is an unnatural fear of social interaction and a lowered self-esteem that can not only hinder a person’s ability to function in everyday situations, but in some cases hinder the person’s ability to simply live a normal existence outside of their home. Sometimes the disorder is so debilitating that the person cannot even carry on regular daytime activities. If you or anyone you suspect may have this disorder, there is no shame in asking for medical help. This does not have to be a lifelong affliction, nor is it normal because someone else you know is dealing with it by pushing it away. Your family doctor is your best source of relief in this regard.

60 Ways to Boost your Self Esteem is available as a booklet at http://www.howtobooklets.net/catalog.1.html Below is Chapter 1 taken from this booklet. Each booklet is written to provide easy to follow information for busy people. Chapter 1 – First 19 Self Esteem Boosters Taken from the booklet – 60 ways to boost your self esteem Take one of these 19 self esteem boosters and use it for the whole day if that helps. Avoid just reading them and doing nothing. Take action! Praise Someone Today. Find someone to thank, express love and/or gratitude to Relax Your Mind. Just for 5 seconds to start with. Stop, breathe deeply and relax. Clear out the clutter. Your basement, the garage, the attic (loft), your old clothes from the 70s! Forget the models on TV. Stop comparing yourself to people who make a living from the need to maintain their face and/or body, so therefore spend all day focusing on it! Laugh. Take out your favorite comedy dvd movie or switch onto a comedy channel. Find a friend that makes you laugh. Make other people smile. Smile at a stranger, tell a joke, tickle someone. Dance. Take your favorite tune, turn it up loud (with headphones!) and dance until you drop! What you focus on expands. Focus on how great you are and within no time you will feel great. Make a decision. Is there something you have been putting off. Deciding releases feelings of anxiety. Its the indecision that causes the problem! Let go of comparing yourself. She’s prettier than I am. He’s more intelligent than I am. Stop comparing yourself to other people and just focus on your own personal and professional growth. Take a short walk. Not every day if that’s too much but at least a couple of times a week stop what you are doing and take a short walk in nature. Enjoy a relaxing bubble bath. Scented candles, soft lights and music. A warm bath full of bubbles and maybe a partner to share it with! Enjoy Set yourself a goal. What one thing can you do in the next 48 hours that will help you feel good? Lessen your dependence on stimulants. We are at the beginners phase so I won’t say give them up but cut down at least. A little every day is better than going cold turkey! Say something good about yourself. Right now. Yes right now as you read this say something good about yourself. GO! List what you are good at. Make a list of all the things you are really good at. List your successes. Start small. Maybe you cleaned your car today, or you refused to eat when you were not really hungry. Is the world really that bad? Find some great things about the world, your country, your state, your home town, your neighborhood. Create a vision for yourself. Create a vision of who you are when you are at the top of your game. What do you need to do to make that happen? I hope you found those 19 self esteem tips useful. The next chapter focuses on taking it up a level and introduce more intermediate short term tips before ending with some advance longer term terms, all available to help you boost your self esteem and feel better about yourself.

You’ve done it. You survived it. The Big C – Cancer. Against all odds, you triumphed against it, and you’re probably feeling so damned proud of yourself. Indeed, it probably feels like you can survive anything that life throws your way. And you know what? You probably could. A New Lease on Life After months, maybe years, of grueling treatment and surgery, you’re almost as good as new. The anxiety of surgery, the pain of radiation, and the invasion of chemotherapy has been all worth it. You’ve been given a new lease on life, and you can’t be any more thankful. Forgetting Could Be Too Easy It’s a heady feeling. After being so sick, being in good shape once again can make you forget that you were ever sick in the first place. You might find yourself becoming too complacent, too comfortable in the knowledge that you’re alright, thinking that you’ll never get sick again. You’re getting your life back and if you’re not careful, you’ll find yourself falling back into the same old habits that you’ve always had. You could find yourself eating food that you should be avoiding at all costs, drinking liquor that can only do more harm than good, and lighting up cigarettes with your engraved Zippo lighters once again. It’s easy to forget that it’s some of those old habits that made you sick in the first place. Too easy, in fact, so before you wind up those engraved Zippo lighters or take a bite of that big, greasy burger, remember what you’ve just gone through and realize that you might not be so lucky the next time. Fighting Temptation You’ve survived and you’ve gone this far. For sure, you want to live on for as long as you possibly can. It’s not too late to turn your life back around. It’s just a matter of changing your lifestyle and putting away those engraved Zippo lighters for good. It’s not easy to give up the habits that have been so ingrained in you throughout the years. Remember, it isn’t easy to survive cancer either, but you’ve done it anyway. You can do anything, as long as you set your mind into it. As long as your will is strong enough, you can fight any temptation that life throws your way. Of course, prevention is always better than cure. Before you find yourself back in your old habits, it’s best to avoid any reminders that might get you back there in the first place. Throw away those engraved Zippo lighters. Better yet, don’t even look at them. Start a bonfire with your engraved Zippo lighters and throw in all the things that could kill you. Avoid situations where you’re likely to consume alcohol and people that are likely to make you. Start eating healthy. Better yet, become a vegetarian or limit yourself to lean meat. You’ll find that soy and tofu are not so bad in the long run. Indeed, at the end of the day, you’ll be just thankful that you’re still alive. You’ve been given a chance at living again. It’s now time to live your life right.

Much has been said about the law of attraction and The Secret, but we are missing the very practice that makes this law works –harnessing the power of electro-magnetism. The law of attraction is all about magnetic energy. We transmit thought energy which is magnetic. We attract the things that we visualize just like a magnet does. The whole universe was created with thought energy, an indication of how powerful this energy is. A person’s success very much depends largely on his or her ability to use this energy. To harvest this electro-magnetic energy and improve our ability in attracting what we visualize, we have to practice sleeping with the head of our bed pointing North, running parallel with the magnetic pole through the earth. In this way, the magnetic currents of the earth move from the head to the feet, and we get full capacity. This magnetizes our physical being and enhances our ability to attract the things that we visualize. This may be the reason why some people are restless in bed, because they sleep with their body cutting across the magnetic pole. This is also the reason why some practitioners of the law of attraction get minimal result from their visualizations. It is because they have very weak electro-magnetic energy. People who have practiced the habit of sleeping with their head pointing North have been known to see the Earth’s magnetic field, which looks like fine white rain in a night sky. They can even tell if they are just a few inches off North while lying down because they can feel the energy running through their bodies. I sleep in this manner and have experience many of my visualizations materializing close to my original intentions. Also I feel more energized after I woke up. The law of attraction operates electro-magnetically. How effective our ability is in attracting what we visualize is dependent on our mind and body’s electro-magnetic power. It is just like the batteries we use on our radio. When the battery is new, we get very clear signal from our favorite radio station, but when the battery is weak, all we get is a lot of static. Harnessing the earth’s electro-magnetic power is like re-charging the mind and body’s batteries to operate on full capacity, so that we can work on a clear signal. Fully charged, we can send our thoughts to the universe confidently knowing that it will manifest what we visualize and then having it sent back to us in its complete form. The quality of our electro-magnetic energy, visualization and the intensity of our broadcasts all have impacts on the end result.

Are you a person with fears? Hey you are not alone! Everybody is frightened of something. Some fears are good for you they stop you doing bad or dangerous things. But other fears are bad for you they stop you doing things you would really like to do, or stop you being the person you would really like to be. They say that fear is only a state of mind. Great, but how do you stop your fear when you are “shivering in your shoes” at the thought of something that frightens you. Well I think there is a way to rid your self of any fear. It worked for me and for the person who first showed me the method. If you follow the steps below, I guarantee you will, with practice, be able to handle any fear that comes at you. The method consists of just 7 steps but you have got to take each step in order and you may have to practice some of the steps over and over but if you do I guarantee you will succeed in riding yourself of your fears whatever they may be. So here we go. Step1 Get yourself a nice big legal pad and a ball- point pen. Now find yourself a place where you can be alone. Make sure you are nice and comfortable because you may want to be there for some time. Step 2 Now take your nice big pad and with your pen draw a line down the middle of the page. On the left hand side of the page write in big capital letters “MY FEAR/S” On the right hand side of the page write in big capital letters “WHY AM I AFRAID?” Step 3 On the left hand side of the page underneath the heading write down what you are afraid of. If you have more than one fear put a number in front of each but write ‘em all down and if you have to go on to the next page go to the next page. Step 4 Now pick your worst fear and on the right hand side of your page write down your reasons why this thing, or person or whatever frightens you. What does your fear consist of? How do you feel? Why is it preventing you from doing what you want to do or be? Step 5 Next take a new sheet of paper and write down what you would really and truly like to do/be if only you weren’t afraid. You have to be absolutely honest with yourself here or this step won’t work. Step 6 Now sit back, relax and close your eyes and imagine how you would feel if you could kill your fear stone dead. Imagine doing the thing you wanted to do or being the person you wanted to be without any fear. Pretend your fear is all gone. Now this step doesn’t come easy to everyone and you may have to practice it a bit. But it’s the most important step in the whole program and I assure you that if you practice and practice it will pay off! Step 7 Take your pad again and write down how you felt when you were imagining your success. Did you feel nice and warm and confident? Did you still feel a little frightened? Write it down. Spend time thinking imagining and writing. And that’s it! That’s the method. It works for me and it works for the person who first showed it to me and it has worked for many of our friends. It will work for you too, if you let it. But you must follow the 7 steps. One last thing remember Step 6 is the most important and you may need to practice it a bit.