Night Clubs & Self work

[Widdle Puppy]

I've noticed a not button for me is Night clubs. They make me turn to stone. I used to not be so aware of what is happening but with a bit of a built up awareness I've realized that this is a situation which releases a lot of insecurities for me. I don't feel any kind of excitement or fun feeling in clubs, just this serious cold feeling. I think it comes down to an image issue. I'm afraid of looking like a fool in the club or trying to connect with someone and being hurt or being vulnerable by openly enjoying the situation and being hurt somehow. Anyone deal with nightclub anxiety? 

[aurum]

@Widdle Puppy

I don't want to make you paranoid but night clubs are designed to intimidate you.

They want people to feel like the club is maybe too cool for them. This makes the people who are on the inside feel very validated because they're in the super exclusive club. And it also screens out people who perceive themselves as low status and don't think they deserve to be there.

The key is just to desensitize yourself to it. I live in Miami and go to nightclubs a lot, so at this point it doesn't affect me much. There's only so many times you can watch bottles of alcohol with sparklers get wheeled out before it stops becoming a big deal.

Combine that with all the inner work that Leo teaches on Actualized.org and you'll be fine.

[Erlend K]

Clubs might feel like they are made to intimidate you, like @aurum wrote, but they are really meant to be a place for you to let go and simply have fun.

Do you know how to dance? If not that is probably what you should work on if you want to truely enjoy night clubs. Take a dance class, or just practice at home. @brovakhiin: Standing still in the middle of the dancefloor for 10 min, dosn't sound any fun. I would say you should rather dance as wildly as you can. Let go into the music. Let the rythms and poitive energy of the room flow through you and force yourself to start dancing. When you first enter the dancefloor your ego will scream in agony "Stop! You will look foolish!!" and "they will judge you!!". Be like,

"Fuck you, Ego! This is MY mind, I'm in charge around here. Im making an executive decition on this one!"

Threat the music and body sensations as your object of meditation. Any time your ego screams load enough to distract you, just label it "ego" or whatever works for you, and return your focus back to the music.