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Nervous physical awareness

Cimarron

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Different from the threads with similar names.

Does it happen to anyone else that when you get nervous, you notice your own gestures, postures, etc. more clearly? I notice my arms feel too stiff as I'm walking along, so I think "most people let their arms swing kind of freely back and forth when they walk". I try to do that, but it doesn't feel natural, because I'm thinking about it...

You see what I'm saying? It sounds like Se working here, don't you think?
 

Simplexity

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Sports would be the best example. I get like super natural awareness, I notice that I move before I've even fully visually processed things. I also am more aware of my body to an absurd degree, I'm suddenly a lot more nimble, agile, powerful, and controlled. It's the same when my fight or flight response kicks in. Auditory wise I also notice the most minuscule sounds.
 

Cimarron

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I was thinking of the more negative side of it, but yeah, that's probably the more positive side of it. Well, depending on the situation.
 

Simplexity

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Are you talking about tensing up and not being able to react but painfully aware of the situation?
 

Cimarron

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Are you talking about tensing up and not being able to react but painfully aware of the situation?
No, something different. Mostly when you're aware that other people are (or could be) watching you.

Examples from me would be thinking "My hands are too tense, I shouldn't curl up my fists, most people just let them dangle" or "I'm taking big, loose strides...I wonder if I look 'confident', or maybe arrogant"
 

Simplexity

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So more of a reflective awareness when your self conscious?

Yea it's a weird form of abstraction from me, like a very twisted way of Intuitively Thinking about a situation. It's not contained or closed, its painfully external. It seems like my locus of control is external and I'm looking in and trying to analyze, but with this weird feeling that I'm seeing it through others eyes. It's almost like a dissociation.
 

Cimarron

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Yeah, I guess it is like looking/judging yourself from the outside, though people say that about a lot of things.

Is this pretty common, or not very common; what do you (anyone) think, what have you noticed?
 

niffer

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I feel the same way a lot of the time too. I don't know, sometimes I just find it difficult to act natural, and can't help but think if my movements look out of place or awkward in any way.
 

Simplexity

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I think it's a natural thing and pretty common, the biological basis for it I'm not entirely sure. I know that I used to get that ALL the time when I was talking to an attractive girl that I like.

It was like watching myself in slow motion just freezing and noticing all the ridiculous things I was doing, but just wanting the situation to be over with because it felt like I was just running through comparative views of how stupid I looked. Negative thoughts I think accompanied it in my situation. It's not necessarily something I like to be in for an extended period of time.
 

mlittrell

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Different from the threads with similar names.

Does it happen to anyone else that when you get nervous, you notice your own gestures, postures, etc. more clearly? I notice my arms feel too stiff as I'm walking along, so I think "most people let their arms swing kind of freely back and forth when they walk". I try to do that, but it doesn't feel natural, because I'm thinking about it...

You see what I'm saying? It sounds like Se working here, don't you think?
ya i tend to notice weird things like that too. when im in class i flick my pen around but if im nervous that day for some odd reason, i notice myself flicking my pen and attempt to stop.
 

phoenix13

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Different from the threads with similar names.

Does it happen to anyone else that when you get nervous, you notice your own gestures, postures, etc. more clearly? I notice my arms feel too stiff as I'm walking along, so I think "most people let their arms swing kind of freely back and forth when they walk". I try to do that, but it doesn't feel natural, because I'm thinking about it...

You see what I'm saying? It sounds like Se working here, don't you think?

Yes yes yes. I don't think it's Se so much as good ol' self-consciousness. I tend to and stiffen up when walking down populated halls (which is all the time :(). It feels like I'm loosing my balance and my gait feels abrupt and angular, etc. Oh, and I stiffen up severely in elevators... it really is hyper self-consciousness.
 

hugin

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I think it's Si rather than Se. Si is more concerned with the impression the user leaves on others.
 

phoenix13

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I think it's Si rather than Se. Si is more concerned with the impression the user leaves on others.

I don't follow your thinking. Why do you think it has anything to do with a cognitive process, and why Si... how is Si concerned with others' impressions?
(btw, not an attack... just asking)
 

sarah

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I think it's Si rather than Se. Si is more concerned with the impression the user leaves on others.

Extraverted Sensing isn't a thought process, it's about perceiving physical reality in the present moment and simply responding to it. People using developed Se are usually pretty graceful because they take in so much information through their senses all at once and feel confident about being able to maneuver their way around in all of that. You don't judge your actions -- you simply do what feels natural to you. Your mind is focused on the action you're taking rather than on comparing your gestures with that of others.

However, I could see how anyone regardless of their preferences could feel nervousness such as you describe. I would think that it would come about as the result of wanting to create a particular sort of physical state or a reaction from someone and not feeling sure you can do that. You could favor any function and still hyper-focus on what your body is doing when you feel unsure of yourself. It's possible that people who prefer Se are able to overcome feelings of tenseness more quickly than those who don't favor that function, or at least make their bodies look as though they're not tense. When I feel nervous, I concentrate on pretending the tension is all gravitating towards my toes, and I "relocate" the tenseness there so that it doesn't show in my hands or face or movements. :)

Sarah
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Bufo

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I follow this strategy to get over self-consciousness: remind myself you are exhibiting your worst, man, you can't perform worse, but that doesn't matter, what matters is what you are going to do. That works a lot of the time.
 

ZiL

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I do this all the time :D. I feel so unnatural in my body. For some reason I can do ballet pretty well though! But it's rare that I can go a day without paying some over-attention to my posture or my way of walking or standing.
 

Randomnity

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ha, I do this too. I'm usually hyper-aware of my posture, walk, etc, unless I'm busy doing something else. I always thought I was just weird for that.
 

Cimarron

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Yes yes yes. I don't think it's Se so much as good ol' self-consciousness. I tend to and stiffen up when walking down populated halls (which is all the time :(). It feels like I'm loosing my balance and my gait feels abrupt and angular, etc. Oh, and I stiffen up severely in elevators... it really is hyper self-consciousness.
Phoenix gets it! That's exactly what I'm talking about. Sad conclusion, though. Well, we can work on that.
 
D

Dali

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.... I tend to and stiffen up when walking down populated halls (which is all the time :(). It feels like I'm loosing my balance and my gait feels abrupt and angular, etc. Oh, and I stiffen up severely in elevators... it really is hyper self-consciousness.

Phoenix gets it! That's exactly what I'm talking about. Sad conclusion, though. Well, we can work on that.

I know what you mean! It feels like every eye is burning in to you and you feel like every move you do is analysed. I've always been like this since I was a child. Even more so now that I'm a little out-of -shape.

My Se has failed me.
 

sarah

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Phoenix gets it! That's exactly what I'm talking about. Sad conclusion, though. Well, we can work on that.

:hug: Cimarron, just know that you're not alone. I know there are lots of different ways you can work on it -- the trick is to find the right one that works for you. When I first got a job as a youth librarian 12 years ago, I was terrified of doing storytime programs in front of an audience. I looked up the subject of nervous energy in books and tried various ways of psyching myself into a state of being comfortable being stared at by lots of people. The best thing that worked for me was to "relocate" the nervous tension to one of my big toes and letting that get all stiff, which helped to keep the rest of me flexible. I practiced that a lot until eventually I got comfortable doing programming in the library and I didn't feel I needed it anymore. But that comfort is only related to those circumstances -- I feel comfortable in my library environment around preschoolers and their parents. If I had to get up in front of an adult audience and sing or something, I'd be freaking out. :shock:

Sarah
 
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