Karen
Karen shared her experience of shyness in September's Positively Shy. Karen is a body confidence and self-compassion coach. She supports individuals in transforming how they feel about their body and physical health.
Karen is a graduate in psychology and a Reiki Master. She has studied yoga, medicinal foods, Transcendental Meditation, crystal healing, amongst many other beautiful tools and her journey is still in progress every day. You can find her on Instagram here and join her Facebook Compassion Community here.
She’s also written a wonderful book called “Dear Body: How to fall in love with your body and heal the world around you” which you can purchase on Amazon!
Karen's Experience...
“When I was very young I was the little girl who constantly hid behind her Mum’s skirt and stared at the ground hoping no one would notice me. During my school years I found school survivable but exhausting having to navigate busy social situations. Before and after school (and sometimes when I should have been at school!) I could always be found with my dog and my horse, their company was so calming and they were always such great listeners. I found I could always be myself around animals, they didn’t judge me or make me feel anxious or uncomfortable.
Puberty and the realisation that certain clothes or behaviour got me attention from others, saw me come out of my shell a bit. Then when I became a flight attendant at 20 years old, I was thrust into an environment where everything was about confidence and interaction with strangers. I learnt very quickly how to navigate and communicate with people from all over the world and in diverse situations. However even after almost 20 years in that role, I still found predicting strangers and portraying confidence could be exhausting.
My work now involves helping others find a more compassionate relationship with their own body.
I look back on my journey to now and realise that the times I didn’t embrace my shyness, didn’t wear it with pride or felt I couldn’t reveal it to others, has caused many issues. I believe finding a more compassionate relationship with ourselves and others, happens when we embrace without judgement who we really are. Embracing and honouring my shyness has been key to living with self compassion.”
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