703 thoughts on “Embracing Awkwardness”

1. This is beautiful, to embrace awkwardness. I love how you were able to abandon self-judgement and to sop seeing what you felt as wrong. This must have given you so much confidence and self-knowing instead.

2. Not only embracing awkwardness but the ‘other negative’ feelings that imposing are to be embraced too. Anxiety is a biggie for me and no doubt for others too and to allow us to feel what is there more serving and loving instead of pushing it back into our body’s.

   1. I agree Shushila. We think we will die if we admit to and face some of our ‘negative feelings’. But the truth is that ignoring them pushes them down to be stored undealt with in the body. This is where they fester and cause harm to our health and wellbeing. It feels so good to just be honest about what you feel, understand it and let it go.

3. Just reading this blog made me cringe of the many times I have been in this situation of awkwardness and it isn’t a pleasant feeling. Verbalising it during these situations make it easier for the other person too as surely they must be feeling it too, in some respect it gives them permission to feel this and it is ok to be honest about it.

4. When we express that something feels awkward without any justification or excuse, but an openness to be with it and embrace it, we are inviting a deepening of honesty and transparency in our relationship.

5. Annie I loved how you approached that moment with your friend and her new boyfriend. You simply called out the awkwardness that you felt, which meant that is wasn’t you being awkward but simply stating how you felt, thereby making it something you can all discuss.

6. To be able to acknowledge with honesty that a situation is bringing up feelings of awkwardness or perhaps shyness or embarrassment, is the key to begin the healing. Sometimes these feelings have been a part of our lives for such a long time that they have become indelibly ingrained in our way of being and to dismantle them feels impossible, but introduce honesty and it’s definitely possible.

7. Our bodies can tell the truth and feel also when things are not in place or highly uncomfortable or not true. Hence it is our body that is carrying the marker of our truth – all of our senses. It is through our body, by listening, that we can understand life, and so make choices that support ourselves in living on this place of life, not from function but from an understanding of being you with all that there is.

8. Possibly I have made feeling awkward a bad feeling to have because it asked me to connect with my inner most, that part of me I have chosen to abandon to fit in live that was presented to me and in favour of the deceiving and controlling mind I preferred to live instead.

9. Feeling awkward is a very honest feeling and when embraced as such the awkward feeling can become our greatest friend. The problem only comes when we judge feeling awkward as not good, then we enter into the self doubt, lack of self worth or self bashing, the theater of dismissing ourselves most of us do know so well.

10. Comfort is a straight jacket – awkwardness might feel upsetting but something is being revealed for us to grow. This is to be celebrated not moaned and groaned about.

11. When I feel that awkwardness I acknowledge the feeling and appreciate myself for acknowledging how I felt which is a great step forward, rather than trying to dismiss what I felt.

12. When we allow ourselves to feel the truth of what is going on for us and how we feel, we say ‘yes’ to accepting who we are, where we are at and we can be ourselves. It’s through this honesty that we then can deepen our exploration with what is getting in the way of us living all that we know we are here to live and sharing ourselves in full transparency.

13. It seems like if we continue to not accept things like awkwardness, and judge ourselves for it later, it eventually trains our body to not acknowledge and learn from other feelings we are having, essentially closing off our natural ability to feel and read everything that is going on for us and others. I love how Annie showed how accepting the awkward moments as they are, keeping it light and humorous was allowing things to be as they are without reaction. I know I could learn from this way of not reacting to things that feel off and having more understanding.

14. ‘ If I acknowledge the awkwardness and just say to myself “That felt really awkward!,” I can stay with myself, in full presence, allowing my imperfections rather than try to push away my feelings or wish I could rewind life and try again.’ So true Annie , and a sense of humour is always important!

15. I would much rather have moments of silence where I get to feel what is going on for me and with the other person/people than it being filled by empty chit chat. I wonder if the awkwardness is that we can feel silence offers us this moment of pause and a chance to deepen our connections.

16. Thank you for diffusing those awkward moments with the realisation that it is an opportunity to just be yourself and not react.

17. I used to hate the silence and the awkward moments, yet the more I’ve felt at ease with myself the more I’ve not felt myself awkward in those awkward situations, Difficult to describe but life changing as a result of my choices and commitment to myself.

18. I know these awkward moments especially if you are waiting for someone and I am not sure what to do, stand there, go back to my workplace or ask again… It is great to acknowledge the sensitivity in these moments as that is actually what it is showing, that we are sensitive and feel a lot and also that we probably have a picture of how we want it to be – more confident… more assured etc. – yet again it is only about being aware in the moment and just feeling what the next thing to do is.

19. ‘If I can stay steady with myself, allowing openness and trust in my body, I can support others to also build trust again in people and in relationships.’ This feels such a beautiful way to approach interactions and if there were to be any awkwardness, it could be acknowledged and dissipated rather than colouring whatever exchange is going on.

20. Love this blog! When we take on awkwardness it feels absolutely awful, heavy and draining. When we observe it and honour our sensitivity we can move through it without being weighed down.

21. When people are transparent and real about the fact that they are feeling awkward it is very easy to be with them and support them.

    1. Absolutely, being openly awkward is very disarming

22. We can take a lot of things very personally, I know I have done it….”Often I have taken it personally when I have felt another person be awkward with me, but I realise that people have their own hurt and fears around rejection.” It is so vital for our own health and wellbeing and everyone else, that we begin to observe life and not take it all on and react to other people.

23. ” I realise that people have their own hurt and fears around rejection. If I can stay steady with myself, allowing openness and trust in my body, I can support others to also build trust again in people and in relationships.”
    This is a very important learning for now you can live and pass on the learning just wonderful thank you for sharing.

24. It is ok to feel vulnerable and fragile. The more we are open to feeling this and seeing that we are far more than what we do or what mistakes we make, then we can be open to embracing those awkward moments.

25. ‘“That was awkward…” We laughed about it and I was able to feel the lightness in the situation.’ Feeling awkward can be truly refreshing and joyful when we stay with ourselves and dare to be transparant, why putting up a mask (which I did a lot) as if everything is like we thought it would be and as if we we are in control?

26. Feeling awkward is beautiful rather than trying to play it cool like we have it all worked out…

27. At times we may even enjoy awkwardness for the fresh, unpredictable, humorous situation it allows everyone involved to experience; we may get to know something about ourselves and others that we otherwise would never get to see.

28. Naming what we feel even our awkwardness can allow the space for the feeling to be acknowledged and often transformed.

29. I used to feel awkward for I was always looking for what was right and what was wrong. In letting that go the feeling of awkwardness has mostly gone and from underneath it has arisen my delicateness and sensitivity. The ‘right’ and wrong’ was just one of the many ways in which we mask how we truly feel. Now everyday I am learning more to show how I feel openly in every situation.

    1. Love that Carolien. I know this feeling of trying to do the right thing and especially not the wrong thing (oh no!), yet this is exactly what causes the anxiousness and tension in our bodies. Instead just feeling how I feel in such a moment and observing what is going on without a picture of how it should be makes the problem suddenly not a problem at all, just a situation to be with like any other.

       1. Yes Lieke, i know that too, wanting to do the right and good thing but never in consideration to how I felt what was appropriate for me, my whole being. Such moments always left me feeling less worth and absolutely not connected with what really was on offer for me at that moment.

30. Thanks Annie for the reminder to allow awkwardness to be there, and not try to run away from the feeling or bury it with eating or other activities.

31. We take awkward moments personally, but what’s more important (and we often avoid) is looking at why the flow of a conversation or event has been interrupted. In truth we can’t blame another person, but can assess how our movements may have become out of rhythm or flow, and how this could have affected the moment and bigger picture.

32. Honoring our feelings such as awkwardness and expressing them, their hold on us disappears and we can see the truth and lightness of the situation clearly.

33. I find that if I judge what’s coming up in me – whether it be feeling awkward, anxious, sad or annoyed etc then it keeps me stuck in that emotion rather than just being able to see it and let it go, so that I can truly sense how to respond.

34. When I told a close friend what a stunning job she had done at work the other day and how the people she had done it for were lucky to have been on the receiving end of her work she looked at me like I was mad and just said “awkward”!!! I was so surprised because they absolutely deserved the appreciation, but I realised they were not used to people appreciating them to that level – I didn’t think I ever stopped appreciating them so perhaps there is more to be awkward about than just the final moment!

35. I love that you have shared your way of coping with an awkward situation, ie. the friends boyfriend and meat in the sandwich hug with the comment “that was awkward”. It allows all to lighten the situation beautifully.

36. Not overriding the awkwardness allows more understanding to be and hence more openness to honesty and responsibility. It is always important to never personalise the behaviour relating to the awkwardness thinking it is us in anyway but always see that regardless of the situation it does not change the amazing lovable beings we all truly are.

37. If we are willing to truly feel we’ll get to see that there is a tension to every moment of life. A pull between what’s true and what’s not, what we have chosen and the precise way things are configured that day. So to feel awkward is I feel a lot more honest than just proceeding along thinking everything’s ok. Embracing the tension allows us to accept what we feel and this helps grow our awareness of life. Thanks Annie for all that you write and inspiring others to see the gold that lives in letting life be without reaction.

38. I find just simply allowing the awkwardness to be there in that moment allows us to feel and observe the moment and not judge or compare it as being wrong. It’s then simply just another moment that will not only pass but shows our willingness to be just as we are which shows we are open and transparent in how we move and interact with others. Which is a true gift to appreciate.

39. Could it be being awkward is just an emotional reaction to keep us from our Inner-Most connection?

40. Just last night I was at a dinner and returned to the table when everyone was in mid conversation. Usually, a moment where I feel totally weird. But I let my body settle, and I observed the room, and as I allowed this, someone easily struck up a conversation with me, and it was very simple, simply because I chose not to react.

41. Awkwardness is something to not be afraid of but actually embrace as we learn the most of it.

42. There is nothing simpler or as powerful than allowing yourself to admit what you are feeling at a particular moment. It’s like you stop trying to fight or hide it and just let it be. This diffuses 90% of the situation instantly and you are back with yourself, where you can actually deal with it.

43. Being rejected for the Love we bring can be a huge hurdle to overcome and the way you have shared Annie we can all learn something about letting go of rejection!

44. Annie, thank you, I love the honesty of your sharing here and it’s very supportive to read today. I often feel awkward and I don’t quite know what to do with that, wanting things to be other than what they are, and judging where they are now, and to understand that I can just observe that and let it be ‘actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things be just how they are, without making it wrong’ … that is huge and something to play with. I can feel how attached I am to pictures of how things should be without just letting things be as they are, and how constricting that is on both myself and others, time for a different approach.

45. I find it interesting with friendships in fact all relationships with others as I change and become more loving. It can be sad and I certainly have felt rejected when a friend or member of family has chosen to avoid or walk away from me but I am beginning to feel the acceptance here. It is life and holding onto to people because of what has happened in the past is certainly not going to support me and neither is it going to support another.

46. Awkward situations can make relationships or projects feel jarred, uneasy and unsettled, and so understanding why the situation came about and expressing this is very much worth it when the other option is days, weeks or months of tension!

    1. So true Susie, and may I add in some cases life times!

47. Ah the freedom of just being able to laugh at an awkward moment!! Thank you for writing this, it will help next time it comes round…because I know it will!

48. So beautiful and simple and yet so deeply profound. Letting ourselves feel awkward and staying with ourselves and we realise it’s just a momentary emotion flying through, showing us where there’s more for us to deepen with, let go of and heal.

49. I love the simplicity and honesty in this blog, and who has not ever had an awkward moment? But what I am discovering is that the more I express whatever there is there to express, there is no uncertainty or second guessing, and in a lot of occasions just expressing the obvious eg ‘that felt awkward’, means we do not walk away carrying stuff ( or any tension) that we can so easily take on if we do not express what we are feeling!

50. ” Embracing Awkwardness ” I am not sure about this ” acknowledging awkwardness” feels more true to me and a starting point of learning. For when I observe babies and very young kids that have no ” awkwardness “. So it must be a mechanism that we have developed for some purpose.

51. “I realise now I have often reacted to awkwardness, which has meant a hardening in myself” Yes I can relate to this, I have been one to fill in the gaps, the feelings of awkwardness instead of being able to let it go and allow for silence or whatever is sometimes needed. I am much better than I used to be, reading more what is needed in certain situations.

52. ‘The reaction to awkwardness was there if I felt…’ now I could add many situations but the most recent one was where I was being interviewed and felt the interviewers were uncomfortable with me. Rather than sit there accepting the awkwardness of the situation and not apologising for myself, I went into trying to make light of the awkwardness I could feel in the room and left my authority and started kind of being a bit nice and jokey- making the situation excruciatingly awkward for me and them – like watching a comedian die on stage.

    What I reaslied from this and from reading this, I don’t have to shy away from awkward moments but stay 100% present and observe. I don’t have to make people feel less awkward – that’s not my responsibility – they are the agents of their life and choices, not me. Sometimes a healthy dose of awkward serves to wake us up.

53. ““What if you allowed the awkwardness in your interactions? What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?” I so needed to read this today as I have been feeling awkward in interactions with one particular person recently.. Thankyou Annie

54. A great sharing Annie. I have often felt awkward in a situation and sometimes it feels like I am frozen to the spot and don’t know how to extricate myself from it. Just to know I can express how I feel and break the tension of the moment feels great !.

    1. I know that feeling of being frozen in the spot when feeling awkward, that it feels like I’m in a straightjacket and cannot move…. that said, now I am learning all I have to do is move, just move my body (and the straight jacket falls off) and then the words that were blocked a few seconds ago, come tumbling out!

55. Thank you Annie for sharing so honestly, I am sure many can relate to feeling sensitive and awkward in social situations, it’s empowering if we nominate the way we are feeling and to learn to let go of any pictures or ideals about needing to get it ‘right’, as this allows us to remain more open and accepting.

    1. I’m learning the power of nominating which I have under used. Just by, internally even, nominating feeling awkward it loses its grip. And by accepting I may sometimes feel this and not judging myself allows me to ask and feel what else is there to open up to?

       1. Yes nominating whatever it is that is coming up, sometimes it is unease, fear, sadness, trepidation. No right or wrong, but without nominating it it makes it sit uneasily in the body.

56. We can only feel awkward if we at first react and move forward with this feeling. If at first we surrender to our bodies and move from this choice, we will feel a shift from awkwardness towards honesty and transparency and others feel this authenticity of who you are instantly.

57. Indeed I feel it it is all in how we respond to situations … or react! that makes the difference and from experience the more comfortable I am within myself and within my skin the more at ease I am with any situation given. Also loving yourself and not feeling dictated to or doing what others want for example “Just wait there Annie. Don’t go ­– this will be quick.” And I would wait and wait some more, feeling like I was hovering, and then ask myself: should I wait or go? I would then take on the awkward feelings and not know how to handle it.’ I can really relate to this situation (putting others before myself) as I used to be the same; if this happened now I would walk away and carry on with what I was doing and go back to the person after they had finished the conversation honouring me more including my self worth not compromising this for another .. however it is still a learning process.

58. Yes reacting to when we feel awkward within ourselves or even with others, just fosters more awkwardness. But when we actually become allowing, also feeling what the awkwardness stems from, that can be very helpful to bring understanding.

59. When we react, we are already judging and it feels like we freeze in that moment and we make our life even harder to flow. And it is deadly when we react to our reaction, and react to that, and react…

60. Imagine being so connected with yourself that awkwardness was a thing of the past… That you were able to literally stay with yourself in any situation. This is the extraordinary gift that we can give to ourselves when we make the ongoing choice to stay connected… And it is this… It is a choice.

61. Thank you Annie – akwardness is in truth a funny reflection of what we can choose and or no longer need or want to choose that again.

62. I love your honesty, Annie. When we can be that honest in the moment of the awkwardness the awkwardness dissipates, as you share.

63. Thank you Annie for sharing how it is so important to embrace and allow ourselves to honestly be with what we are feeling, even if they are uneasy feelings. Embracing all that we feel without judgement, expectation or criticism, is how we develop a loving relationship with being ourselves.

64. It’s so good coming back and re-reading this blog as we can let these awkward moment happen at any point during the day. To be able to see them and not react but embrace as you say is super cool and these moments start to become less and less.

65. “If I shy away from the feeling and push it away, I end up trying to numb and distract myself with overeating and shopping.” – I can relate to this! If I try and push away what I’m feeling it doesn’t give me a chance to truly observe and process it – to see why it came up and how I truly feel to respond to the situation rather than resorting to a picture of how I think I ‘should’ be.

66. Awkward moments can feel uncomfortable when we hold onto an attachment of how things need to be but if we are willing to let go of that need of protection and safety we can allow ourselves to experience these moments as opportunities to be more transparent and to live with a greater purpose for the good of all.

67. “I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong. ” I feel my awkward moments are when I am concerned about getting things right, I have come to understand that mistakes are for our learning and need not be judged as wrong or right.

68. There is a vulnerability that emerges with the awkwardness that is very very precious for me to see in others and even to experience in myself too. It’s not comfortable to feel, but when I allow this vulnerability to emerge, the awkward situation allows me to show myself and be closer to people. Not hiding myself in those moments is the most loving choice I can do when this happens.

69. Allowing ourselves the space to feel any feeling sounds easy but it is more challenging than one might think. We seem to have built hobbies out of avoiding and numbing ourselves from feeling, that is why your simple and humble blog is so relevant in our current landscape. Even the smallest feeling can be hard to face if it’s actually covering an even bigger one. Awkwardness for me is usually exposing a mild anxiety and the anxiety is usually revealing an exhaustion and the exhaustion is exposing the way I live, haha, the Pandora’s box of feelings is open. But seriously, when you are connected it’s simple, when you not, the best thing to do is get connected again.

70. It’s staying with how we feel and knowing that this honesty and truth felt is simply us being who we are. What we learn from these feelings is hugely healing and doesn’t send us into reaction, judgment and or comparison leaving us to simply be as we are. That is pretty cool.

71. I am sure many if not everyone can relate to your blog Annie. Its so simple how nominating awkwardness diminishes any fear or stress one may feel around it.

72. I find it really helpful to acknowledge within myself if I’m feeling awkward as that helps me to then stay present and open rather than trying to override or push down what I’m feeling.

73. And this is exactly why we have all become so guarded with each other – we do not want to feel the truth of what is there if what is true in the moment does not feel so good to feel. For example if someone we love is jealous of us, we are quick to brush it off and not allow ourselves to see exactly how and why this force has come to play out between us simply because it is not pleasant at all to feel! However, by allowing ourselves to feel these things and by not ignoring them, we are able to shed great light on the situation at hand and thus can bring a greater depth of understanding that will ensure that such falsities cannot get in the way of our love for each other.

74. I am going to use this same approach with anxiousness. There is a certain situation in my life that I feel quite anxious about and I really judge myself for it, instead I am going to observe it more, feel it and just allow it to be there without being hard on myself so that I can start to understand it more.

75. There seems to be a lot of self-judgment in awkwardness. If we feel comfortable in our own skin, there will not be the awkwardness that is so concerned with other people, getting it right, being liked, playing the part. The observing of the awkwardness rather than judging it feels like a great way to get under what is happening and allow it to dissolve as a coping mechanism that is no longer needed.

    1. I agree, immediately I feel like I was inadequately prepared to deal with what happened, almost like there is a bit of shame that I didn’t know what to say. It is well worth stopping in those moments to recognise what patterns we go into to cope!

76. Love the honesty in your sharing here Annie. And I can’t help but wonder how many of us mask such deep sensitivity in dealing with people and situations with a false ‘bravado’ or confidence, when in truth, we actually feel awkward within.

    1. We are ‘masters of disguise’ when we do not live true to the love that we are.

77. Allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing the opportunity for exploration and growth. These days I would much rather focus on that, than allow the reaction of wanting to crawl away and hide!

78. There is an absolute beauty in awkwardness if we do not go into feeling bad about it. We are not these polished beings that we like to show to the world. The more we learn to just be the more enriching life is.

79. Awkwardness is not wrong, but is just telling us that there is something going on that isn’t planned by ourself or we are a bit clumsy which is our natural way. To allow this to be is so freeing of who we truly are, allowing playfullness and sensitivity to be the guidance in our lives.

80. This made me laugh as I remember so many times when something has felt awkward and yet those involved have pretended the awkwardness was not there. Nothing like ignoring something to make it bigger than it was! Simply calling out the awkwardness does bring lightness and humour to it which means the awkwardness can’t stick anymore. It just slides off and gets left behind with the next movement. Very cool.

81. Nominating awkwardness and staying with it brings a sweetness and delicacy to the situation; it allows everybody to release the tension and bathe in the honesty of the statement. It also creates a beautiful level of intimacy with others.

    1. And in that we get to feel or sense deeper what is needed in the moment, rather than being stuck in the trying not-to-feel-awkward!

82. Bringing lightness in any situation makes us free from complicating life and going into feelings like awkwardness.

83. I totally get how acknowledging what we’re feeling helps us to stay present and with that we then have a clearer opportunity to deal with how we’re feeling rather than dis-connect from ourselves because we feel uncomfortable with whatever is coming up…

84. Acknowledging how we feel is an honest first step in developing a true relationship with ourselves and those around us.

85. I sense a deep understanding of allowing and accepting , as you described those examples of awkward or uncomfortable situations. Understanding that we should not fight those moments, those instances – but accepting it and moving on with an understanding and appreciation for oneself, never to diminish oneself or self-harm. Beautiful blog, thank you.

86. I’ve found the antidote to awkwardness is observation. When not in observation, emotions run the show.

87. Awkwardness is a part of human life and it is best to just call it out when it happens otherwise you just sit lost in the discomfort and clumsiness of it and don’t learn anything from the experience.

88. This brought a bigger understanding of how enfoldment and accepting works.. when we allow ourselves to be, also in uncomfortable situations, absolutely ourselves and real. We end the fight of being right or wrong.

89. I have just recently had one of those awkward moments but I have realised that to acknowledge the situation with honesty is the best for all.

90. I remember ages ago having an incident where in conversation with a work colleague we realised we were talking about the same person but had extremely differing views and experiences on this person. Once we realised this we both went quiet….and felt awkward…. and then she just called it and said ‘well that was awkward’ which immediately diffused the situation and allowed us to start our conversation again on a new footing. Honesty really is the best policy.

91. I’ve just had a new housemate move in and have also relocated rooms. So the normal rhythms and energy of my day to day have suddenly been disturbed you could say. I have found myself feeling unexpectedly tense, conversations are disjointed and hard – to the extent that I started to think there is something wrong. But now I get Annie from reading your words that this is actually totally normal and that people can often be nervous about new situations – I just don’t need to judge or take this personally. So now all there is to do is enjoy and embrace feeling the change.

92. There is so much to this Annie, allowing and accepting how we feel is part of being human with a transparency that is healing.

93. Clearly a common feeling Annie, given the response. I too have experienced this often, and like others have shared, it really does feel like it’s a moment where we are not allowing ourselves to be all of who we are. For me that feeling of wanting to run to get away from the situation so that I don’t get exposed comes up.

94. I adore awkward moments, as awkward as that sounds! When I feel awkward and can be honest about it, I feel there is a deep vulnerability felt which opens me deeper into intimacy with myself and with others.

95. Awkwardness is a signal that alerts us to the fact that something is standing in the way of the love that we are. Choosing to see what it is exactly is the first step in removing all the roadblocks that seek to interfere with the expression of our love and our connection with each other.

    1. Beautifully said Liane, a clear communication from our body that a deepening is on offer.

96. I can so relate to having many awkward moments in my life. I’m finding the more I’m enjoying staying in my stillness the less awkward moments there are. When I’m connected to me and my stillness I’m able to observe and read the energy at play and not react.

97. I think you share something really key to being more present and connected with ourselves here – about how if we acknowledge what we are feeling without judgement or trying to push it away/ numb it then it gives us the opportunity to stay more present and whole and from there more able to truly deal with life and be true to who we are.

98. What you say about embracing awkwardness makes a lot of sense to me! I have had many awkward moments in my life as most have. To get caught up in the embarrassment and hiding or wishing to disappear will not work, thank you Annie.

99. Annie its interesting what you share about awkwardness and awkward moments, I have found it really is about just being open and honest that then makes the situation lighter and less personal. If we make it personal we tend to harden in our own body as we start making ourselves wrong. I use to do this before myself. Now I just say it as it is and the body feels alot lighter for just expressing it as it is.

100. With complexity come awkwardness and when things are simply life flows! Then life is simple when we are in our connection so making sure we magnetically pull those things that will bring us to a greater point of evolution.

101. Just stating how we feel in the moment allows for a level of honesty that is current with where we are at and a potential for evolving.

102. Feeling awkward can be excruciatingly uncomfortable but it can also be the pathway to feeling truly joyful and free.

103. When we embrace any awkward feeling or imperfection we will feel that we are the only ones who can put a demand on ourselves or a judgment when things go differently than how we want.. Hence we are our own liberators of the emprisionment we have once created.

104. Yes Annie – there is so much in us to unfold.. So much love and so much joy and so much more than even that, it is almost incomprehensible, yet it is all who we are.

105. Thank you Annie for the reminder that when I allow my feelings to be just that – a feeling, then there is no pressure, drive or stress to do something to ‘correct’ the feeling. If I let it be then I let myself be and anything that isn’t me is allowed to leave.

106. Thinking about it, I only feel awkward with others if I am feeling awkward in myself and slightly off. If I’m feeling awesome then no matter how awkward someone else is it doesn’t affect me… I’m not sure we can ever blame an awkward situation on someone else.

107. Being honest with ourselves when things feel awkward or difficult can make a huge difference to how we then respond to something ….either in reaction or in acceptance of the situation. In the honesty we can see the part that we have played in creating the awkwardness and embracing the opportunity to learn from this.

108. Thank you, Annie – you make it so clear how it is not our feelings but our reaction and judgment that turn them into an issue. I can feel how in judgment we confirm our hurts and how that is so true for me. You say “If I can stay steady with myself, allowing openness and trust in my body, I can support others to also build trust again in people and in relationships – this is truly beautiful and inspiring.

109. There is always something for us to read in a moment of awkwardness.

110. I recently could feel this also. I often end up in awkward situations, and it’s the reaction to this that is the most awful thing to feel. It is about embracing this awkwardness that is part of accepting myself and my sensitivity that is often causing interesting situations that just in some way totally fit with who I am knowing that it is ok to be awkward is freeing us up enormously.

111. Awkwardness can take all of our attention away from being truly present and be so distracting that it also makes me go into a cycle of judging, doubt and attacking myself. Embracing awkwardness feels to be a supportive choice on the way to deepening our relationship with ourselves. Reflecting on the bigger picture invites awareness around so much that is happening today drawing people away from being honest and connecting in truth. Thank you Annie for this blog.

112. It is a profound insight offered by the Esoteric Practitioner through inviting you to reflect on your situation. Indeed “What if we allowed the awkwardness in your interactions? What if we didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?”.
     It seems that our real problem with all issues in life including our hurts is our own reaction and choice of response to them. Otherwise just as a baby falls, gets up again and has another go towards what he/ she innately knows is there what would stop us from just observing, learning what there is to be learned without fuss and simply moving on.

113. Embracing awkwardness like every other feeling releases and or spares us the tension of not wanting to feel what we are already and cannot avoid feeling, basically we choose to be honest with what is going on and deal with it openly, the only way to evolve from any situation.

114. From what you are sharing Annie it seems that we have made awkward moments awkward instead of letting ourselves feel what we feel and allowing ourselves to be in them however we are.

115. How can anything we feel be wrong in the first place? We are just feeling something. The judgment of wrong implies that there are feelings we shouldn´t have and or even that we shouldn´t feel, ie not be recognising of something like not seeing or not hearing something we simply perceive because our senses can´t but consistently receive information. The sense of wrong can only come from an expectation or ideal that tells us how we are supposed to interpret the information we receive.

     1. “The sense of wrong can only come from an expectation or ideal that tells us how we are supposed to interpret the information we receive.” And how many times in our lives are we told that we shouldn’t be having the feelings that we say we are having? From others, from when we are little, up to telling ourselves as adults after taking these beliefs on in replacement of that allowing we have when young.

     2. But that’s just it isn’t it Alex, we have made sensitivity and delicateness a wrong or undesirable expression. And so we learn to mask it and since we decided this on a large scale, the notion of it being wrong is continuously confirmed in our interactions. The only way-out’ so to speak, is to allow ourselves to have this delicateness and sensitivity be seen by all we interact with.

116. In allowing ourselves to honor and express how we honestly feel, with acceptance and without judgement, we then stay open to deepening our understanding and awareness of the truth in that moment. With this honesty we allow more of who we truly are to emerge, allowing others to also feel free to be themselves and openly express how they feel, without judgment. As such truth becomes the foundation of our connections.

     1. Beautiful to read and very true Carola.

117. Simply being aware and honest about how we feel is a huge step. Being offered away to accept and honour our feelings, rather than reprimand or hide them, takes away the horror of it all and we even get to be playful with it.

118. The truth is that we are so much more than human and until we fully embrace the true nature of who we are and really live it through our physical form, we will always feel the discomfort that arises from not living true to our essence, which is love. What I love about what you are presenting here Annie is that we do not need to shy away from feeling this awkwardness nor make it right or wrong, but simply honour the feeling that something does not quite ‘match’ and then through this unattached observance (that requires us to be in deep connection with ourselves and each other) we can see what is being brought up to the surface for us to address that will help us all return to the harmony we each know deep within.

     1. This observation highlights beautifully that every moment is a gift of an opportunity – including the awkward ones.

119. I’m going to have to apologise for all of those awkward moment sufferers as I love being the provider of a good awkward moment. But I definitely have had my fair share and it’s cool to read how you’ve gone from reaction to response – and that it doesn’t have to be that big of a deal.

120. “I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong.” Great wisdom shared Annie thank you. Awkward moments are only awkward because we halt our natural way of being which disconnects us from our bodies and we go into panic mode. Allowing ourselves to just connect and express naturally makes an awkward moment a simple exchange and connection with another and that’s what life is all about.

121. Thank you Annie, for revealing the awkwardness and what it actually is and that it is not taboo at all.. And just a beautiful subject to touch on and to feel what is there to feel.

122. Thank you Annie, I often feel awkward after interactions, I feel like getting away, squirming, or feel myself agonising over certain things. What I realise is that awkwardness and imperfections in life are really not the big deal I make them, and that’s life – imperfect! Thanks for the insights into others and their hurts and feelings of rejections, that offers a much greater understanding and sensitivity to situations. I also realised reading that I may be having awkwardness for no true reason, as I feel I am assuming things in interactions but not reading the exchange truly.

123. I’m sure that everyone experiences this… Let us face it… Until we deeply connect within, it can feel awkward just being in a human body.

     1. Thank you Cjames2012, you brought both a depth and lightness with your comment and gave me a much needed laugh – so true!

     2. I like what you are saying CJames. We have labeled awkward as something bad or something to avoid while it is just a moment of reflection and honesty.

124. This is beautiful to read Annie and the importance to not judge ourselves for those moments that can feel very awkward, to acknowledge how we are feeling is a great step that allows the space for understanding and acceptance of ourselves and others at these times.

125. I know so well the wish I could rewind situations and try again, in an endless thought process I would model the situation and how it should have been and the result was always a terrible headache and a sore and tired body the day after. To feel what is there and to stay in the appreciation of oneself whatever life presents delivers space for everyone involved.

126. I just wrote a blog post about one of my awkward moments…It involves fake tan and a lot of regret…I was wondering if you’d like to read it?

127. Thank you Annie for sharing your awkward moments with us, if I would feel that way in the past I would try to hide it, cover it up somehow so I didn’t have to feel it. There is such an ease and beauty in being honest when we allow the reaction to just be with no judgment of the right or wrong.

128. I’m right with you Annie on moments of awkwardness, you offer some great revelation that I will have a play with. I do know the more I accept myself and enjoy my essence the less awkward moments I have.

129. I often find that there is a beauty in awkwardness. It shows a realness and vulnerability and if we do not react to it, it can be a great moment of deepening for us.

130. Feeling awkward can be our reaction to what we ‘think’ another person is thinking. So the awkwardness can be our own creation.

131. Accepting what we are feeling and dealing with these feelings at the time is an expression in itself.

132. Allowing ourselves to observe the feelings in our body without judgement or making them right or wrong, provides for deeper clarity and connection to our inner wisdom.

133. “What if you allowed the awkwardness in your interactions? What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?” Everything we feel is an opportunity to deepen and learn about ourselves. Reaction stunts this deepening, thus ensuring the feeling will return again at some point.

134. To learn to observe and respond to life and not react to it, is one of the best gifts you can give yourself. It is a loving work in progress for me but one that I am committed to.

135. That moment we acknowledge an awkward moment… like ‘clock it’, its like the space in which this interaction has occurred comes to some kind of pause, and in this moment, there is a choice to stay with that sense of yourself and literally let the body drop (relax) to accept the awkward moment and let it go at the same time… Its quite a surreal and magic moment of not defending, protecting or judging yourself, or trying to control the situation.

136. I feel awkward just thinking about acknowledging awkwardness when it occurs! But I’m feeling inspired by your experiences to give it a go, to just allow it to be. Thankyou for sharing 🙂

137. I can feel how much I got owned by the consciousness of right/wrong and have made my life mission to avoid the ‘wrongs’, and what a hard work it has been. I can really feel from your sharing true love can only start with unconditional acceptance of my closest proximity, that is me.

     1. The notion of right or wrong can keep us striving and likewise stunt us into inaction for fear of getting it wrong.

138. It been an insight to realise there is no perfection, we all go through feeling akward and it’s to read what you are reacting to that brings clarity. In the past I also withdrew and made my akwardness wrong, but now with understanding I appreciate the opportunity to uncover what’s behind that caused the uncomfortable feelings, the more I have accepted these feelings as just indicators the less I withdraw.

139. Allowing ourselves to embrace those moments when we feel fragile no matter how awkward they are is a true healing as we get to feel the tenderness in our bodies of who we really are instead of the hardening and protection when we judge the event and don’t want to feel.

140. One could say that this is stepping out of your “comfort zone” and embracing your truth. Of course this will bring up a level of awkwardness in these situations especially because we have not been embracing our truth in these moments for so long. It is like treading an old established bush trail that is a wee bit overgrown but was the way we felt to tread for so long.

141. Ah, the awkward moment of thinking something and then realise you were speaking it, especially if it was the truth!

142. Spot on Annie, acknowledging our awkward moments at the time and not holding on to torture ourselves with them later is far healthier for us and our self worth. I can relate in that I would feel embarrassed and then even years later re-live that situation in my mind and the embarrassment was so strong that it was as if it had just happened. Now I choose to let myself off the hook by dealing with the feelings straight away, get some understanding of what had just happened and I no longer have to re-live those embarrassing moments.

143. From what you have so simply and honestly shared here Annie I would say that the key to not feeling awkward is to admit that we feel awkward! As you say – give ourselves permission to feel what has come up for us. Often awkwardness is simply due to not expressing how we truly feel about things, perhaps because we are worried what the other person’s reaction may be. Or it can be because we have sensed something that another has sensed also but in that moment they have chosen to override it and so we are left with the choice of whether we follow suit or stay true to what is there to be felt.

144. Learning to simply feel what we are feeling without reacting to it makes life super simple and we are always ready for the next situation to present itself. The complication comes in when we react to what is felt and take it with us to the next moments.

145. This is a great realisation that an awkward moment is something we have a choice about how to respond. We can go into a spiral of self-judgment and criticism or just feel what is happening and how to respond. I can feel that in the past when I was so self-conscious, there would have been a lot more awkward moments, mainly because of how I saw myself and my dis-ease being in the situations.

146. This is a great blog on awkwardness Annie. . . It is something that I am sure everyone could relate to. Keeping things light by calling out an awkward moment at the time certainly cuts the energy and the accompanying intensity and anguish that can go on in the head. Well said.

147. What a beautiful realization… to simply allow the awkwardness to be there … that is, to simply connect and to feel, and to stay feeling.

148. Embracing the awkwardness playfully allows our natural playful selves to share and be open with all we encompass and that is a true gift. Thank you Annie a beautiful blog indeed.

149. An those uncomfortable moments you can often learn a lot about yourself.

150. Seems like great advice to allow an awkward moment to be there, the more we acknowledge honest feelings the less they can stymie us. I had the opposite experience of an awkward moment recently where someone commented in the moment on how awkward it was and that made the whole experience even more so. Sometimes it is about expressing and changing the dynamic, but this doesn’t necessarily mean tackling head on.

151. It is so great to just feel what we feel and let it be.

152. I really like this blog Annie and I read it a while ago and every now and then in awkward situations I remember this piece of writing and the wisdom that you shared with us all and I just allow myself to feel the awkwardness and allow to unfold what is there to unfold. A timely reminder coming up to the festive season where there can be a few awkward social moments!

153. When I feel awkward I tend to over talk, the more nervous I get, the more words seem to spill out from my mouth. Learning to accept these feelings has supported me to find my way out of these moments. I use to walk away kicking myself with a bit of a “Reggie Regretful” thing going on but now although I still reflect, I have less judgment and I am actually able to hold myself without talking at all in some instances. This tension I feel when I do not speak is healthy and each time I allow it, I grow.

154. Sometimes I have this idea that I’m supposed to be continually with the flow, and any feeling of awkwardness is a sign that I am doing something wrong. But the truth is that awkwardness is simply showing me where some deeper attention is required.

155. Thank you Annie for sharing your awkward moments with us and the wisdom of these words “What if you allowed the awkwardness in your interactions? What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?” I have known in the past the power of the wrong only too well, now by allowing those moments to be there without judgment they soon disappear.

156. I loved reading your very light and playful blog Annie. I certainly am familiar with pushing down awkward feelings having labelled them as ones to ‘ignore’. This has inspired me to say ‘yes’ to these feelings and allow them to be there without judging them or putting them into a ‘deal with you later’ box.

157. I find that if I judge myself for feeling awkward it’s like it keeps me stuck in it rather than as you say Annie acknowledging that it’s there and observing it, which brings a lightness to it.

158. ‘What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong…’ Yes, powerful. Having spent a lot of my life ‘being wrong’ it is a welcome change to flip my self-perspective from a ‘glass half empty’ view to one that is more about self-appreciation than self-denigration.

159. Learning how to be OK with what we feel in ourselves and others seems to be at the heart of the dilemma discussed here. That, and learning how to be OK with ourselves and others full-stop!

160. Thank you Annie, reading this is a beautiful support for any of us who can feel unsure of how to deal with certain feelings. I love the suggestion to nominate how you feel and to not judge your feelings, by just allowing them to be present we can bring more understanding and greater acceptance to ourselves in these moments.

161. Annie thank you for sharing and the timing for me to appreciate this is perfect. If feel this applying to anything I am sensing with my body and that I only need to acknowledge that I am sensing this. To stay with it and open to what it may be about is all I have to do therefore be. Hardening the body against what is being felt is a constant assault on the body and far more awkward in the long run to unravel.

162. Allowing ourselves to feel and nominate what is being presented in life brings a level of understanding and acceptance of what is instead of the judgement and reaction which create havoc to our bodies and separation in our relationships.

163. Beautiful Annie, nominating and allowing awkward moments takes all the pressure off trying to be a certain way for or with others. It is part of being yourself with another, and gives permission for others to do the same.

164. I love this, to embrace awkwardness instead of trying to ‘fix’ allows you the opportunity to accept it’s okay which in by doing so gives space for the awkwardness to just dissolve and no longer be there. When reading this scenario for me it also felt to do with self-love, as self-love would put what feels right for ourselves and our body first rather than waiting around for another, so it could be you gently walk away indicating to the other person you will be back later to speak with them. ‘or being asked to wait to continue a conversation with someone whilst they finished a phone call but not knowing when their call will end. They would say “Just wait there Annie. Don’t go ­– this will be quick.” And I would wait and wait some more, feeling like I was hovering, and then ask myself: should I wait or go? I would then take on the awkward feelings and not know how to handle it.’

165. Great blog Annie, such a beautiful reminder to name and acknowledge any emotions that take us away from being our true selves. I love how you learnt to appreciate your awkward moments without judgement or self deprecating.

166. Changing the focus from the details of the situation to how one responds to it is a dynamic and life changing paradigm shift in one’s healing.

167. I totally relate to how if we brace ourself against what we’re feeling then it makes our body go tense and hard. And how acknowledging when we feel awkward can actually help us to not get bogged down or stuck in it.

168. Connection with our bodies allows us to observe life and bring more understanding of the way things play out without getting caught up in the complexity of unresolved emotions, or anything that would create any feelings of awkwardness, no longer there is a need to look for ways to manage life as simply all we need to do is to feel and observe what is there in front of us.

169. I noticed recently that I had these feelings of awkwardness in a situation and caught myself in it and was like, why am I talking like this, this is not how I normally am and I was able to stop it and all the awkwardness went away.

170. I have found the more willing I am to express the less awkward I feel because there is less that is left unexpressed, even if it is expressing how awkward we feel.

171. This is such a good one, letting awkwardness be, as we are used to escaping it as soon as possible, wanting to get away from it – whilst actually you show that there is nothing wrong with this feeling and we can just be with it and accept it. That feels so good, I am going to try it!

172. Allowing what ever feeling I am having just to be, without attaching anything to it, reacting or judging it, has been some of the best advice I’ve ever been given.

173. Awkward moments are possibility experienced by everyone, I feel it is a matter of reading the situation and if felt, nominating it, expressing it, or walking away.

174. My reaction to awkwardness is to defend myself and go hard and afterwards go into self loathing and re-play the situation in my mind, over and over again.
     Thank you, Annie, for your beautiful sharing. I definetly will try a new way of how to deal with awkwardness.

175. I like how you share Annie that letting people in is a ‘ beautiful antidote to feeling awkward.’ Letting people in certainly does change the situation.

176. Embracing awkwardness, why not hey, I have felt how when I have not allowed situations to be what they are and tried and control them or not be embarrassed, I can feel my whole body tighten up. Letting it be, although initially it felt a little wild and unruly to me, because I wanted to control, has allowed me to be so observant of life and, also holding of others when tricky things turn up in life.

177. On the other side of the reaction is where the wisdom lies. if we use the reaction to pull away, we don’t get the learning that is there. Sometimes the stronger the reaction the stronger the learning we are avoiding!

178. Awkwardness can be debilitating and excruciatingly painful, but, on the other hand we can be light and playful and allow ourselves to be open and vulnerable in the moment – I am learning this and having so much more fun.

179. I have experienced the feeling of anxiety walking into a function where I don’t know anyone – Standing and connecting with another person when you don’t know how it will work out, without the need to control the dynamic or go into story telling and to just be me can still be a challenge but I am learning to be more open and it is much easier when I am not trying.

180. I think it’s great and inspiring Annie how you describe simply acknowledging what you’re feeling without indulging in it or trying to push it away as a step towards resolving whatever is there. And for me too not expecting myself to be perfect takes a weight off how I’m feeling and enables me to look with more clarity at how I’m responding to a situation.

181. After reading this the first few times I stuck those questions the practitioner presented to you on my computer and my relationship with my reactions to situations has changed. The more I don’t label a feeling as being ‘good’ or ‘bad’ the more I just let it happen rather than working very hard to cover it up. This is by no means perfected but the line that stood out for me today was “I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong.” When I allow me to be me I get to feel whats going on and my body is great in giving feedback that some reactions are just totally not me, it’s like rubbing a cat the wrong way it just feels wrong to carry out that reaction and goes against how I would truly respond to the situation. But in the labelling of the situation I label myself and under that label very little changes are made when I submit myself to everything that label is, the ‘bad’ reactions are judged and critised and the ‘good’ reactions are never questioned. Allowing myself to be with my body makes more sense as it has the senses to understand what’s going on and act accordingly.

182. This is a timely re read for me Annie. Just recently placing myself in a situation that was awkward, I realised I had read the situation but didn’t heed the reading, and had I done so the situation wouldn’t have arisen in the first place. But not all awkward situations are the same and through no fault of our own we often feel trapped until we find our way out, as you mention the phone call and your acceptance of the situation.

183. These days with the fast pace of life and the many facets of technology i.e phones, computers etc we are all consumed by stimulation and we lose sight of what it means to truly connect. I find awkward moments happen when we are not connected to ourselves. The true joy felt from the surrender our own bodies to just be in every moment offers as so much learning. Awkwardness can be halted by a choice to allow our awesomeness to shine and to not shy away from these moments because that’s where the magic and true intimacy building begins.

184. It is so true what you say Annie, about supporting others to rebuild trust in relationships if we hold steady with them. Awkwardness is received by the other person as a judgement – that something about them is making you uncomfortable. Choosing to acknowledge but not react to the awkward feeling allows us to be with people in a way that confirms that they are ok just being who they are and where they are at, and also that there are people out there with whom you can feel safe to just be yourself.

185. I am realising more that letting people in is a beautiful antidote to feeling awkward. The awkwardness may still be there but the freedom of expressing the care and warmth that I naturally feel with people far outweighs it.

186. I can relate to the feeling of awkwardness very much, the key for me in these situations is to not take it personally and remain open and connected to me then I feel more empowered to deal with anything that comes my way.

187. I agree, staying connected with self and observing the situation, nominating what comes up and reading the situation are all really great tools we can choose to live with.

188. Awkwardness is an interesting topic. For me if I am feeling awkward in a situation I see it as being not fully in my body as when there is a awkwardness there is a self consciousness meaning there is part of me stepping out to look at myself as the object rather than simply bringing it back to observing the situation and reading what is needed and acting accordingly. As you stated Annie it is great to nominate it when it comes up as this gives you an opportunity to call your self back in.

189. It is a great lesson to not judge what we feel that is unpleasant but just observe and nominate it for being what it is… without trying to control or run from it, remaining open and trusting of what your body is showing you in that moment.

190. I love that you bring up the subject of awkwardness as it is such a specific and familiar energy and I have never really consciously considered it before. As I was connecting to it whilst reading your blog, I felt that there is always something underneath it and often in the moment of awkwardness I react and stop feeling. If I take a moment to acknowledge it and stay connected, then I can observe what is the true feeling behind it that I have just experienced. I welcome the next time it happens so I can experiment!

191. Hello Annie and what if awkwardness was related to rhythm as well? Or more simply the way you move. What if there was a rhythm to your day and when you are out of that rhythm even slightly, then this became a hole for the ‘awkwardness’ to enter. I was just thinking that awkwardness is linked to movement and so adjust your movement and magically there would be no awkwardness. I am just picturing someone walking around a room and not caring how they walk. They may bump into things, leave things a little untidy and generally leave the space feeling a little disheveled, awkward. Then if someone moved around the room with a deep care, everything feels as though it would be in it’s place, not perfect but certainly not awkward. Movement and the quality of it has more to do with how we are than we currently respect.

192. You describe a behaviour that is common in nearly every person of this world. To go into a form of self-judgement or critique in a reaction to our behaviours which we see as being wrong and not true. While identifying that the behaviour is not true is a great start, the only way to truly move on is to simply observe without any reaction as it is the reaction that holds us back, hugely so.

193. How refreshing and freeing it is when we are able to just express whatever comes up spontaneously, with no hesitation, with no judgment. I am learning that one.

194. Thanks Annie, for opening up the vault and conversation about awareness. I suppose for me to be true and be aware of what is going on, and from there be able to see my part in awkward moments and be reading them, make sense or heal them, and try not to react to the bits I don’t want to see and know. But also calling out the awkwardness from others without reaction.

195. Observing without judgement both ourselves and others will leave no room at all for unsupportive thoughts and yet all the space in the world for appreciation and growth.

196. If some-one asks me to wait, saying that the call would be short and they continued to speak on the phone, I would read the situation and if they were not taking into consideration me waiting I would walk away. If genuinely they needed to stay on the phone then I may wait depending on my circumstances.

197. As you describe, calling a situation for what it is, in this case awkward, brings such freedom and lightness; miles away from internalising it and thinking that it is us who have failed in some way or are to blame for its occurrence.

198. Now whenever I start to feel awkward I can start to feel the immediate feeling of holding back, not allowing myself to be myself, and instantly fall into some form of protection.

199. Awesome Annie, I feel what you share here can apply to feelings in general. It is so freeing to simply allow myself to feel what I feel without needing to change it.

200. I know we can all relate a little bit to what you have shared Annie. I know for me, if I have felt awkward, I have always tried to hide it (usually unsuccessfully), but never just embrace it, surrender to it. I was always so self conscious, so never allowed myself just to be seen for what was presenting. So love the advice you received from the Esoteric Practitioner, to just go with it, let yourself be seen.

201. ‘Sometimes I felt the awkwardness from another person and then reacted to this and felt myself then become awkward and change how I am.’ Yes, to just let others be and to let myself be and to feel without any judgement whatsoever, then I can only feel space and lightness. And I find your example hilarious Annie!

202. Annie, awkwardness is fascinating as essentially we are the ones disconnecting and making the situation feel awkward. I know then the stuttering and trying to feel the void happens – but what if we took the silence as a moment to pause and -reconnect – the difference is then huge – I know this for myself really works.

203. Thank you Annie – its true , we shy / hide away when things feel awkward or uncomfortable – but staying true is real. Which actually makes these moments so so normal and real. Whenever there is an awkward feeling we must connect and feel.

204. You share some great understandings here Annie, I agree it is always key for us to get our self out of the way and not take things personally as people have their own hurts and issues. Staying steady with self, allowing those awkward feelings to arise, and just allowing and feeling them without judging is really supportive.

205. The power of nominating what we are feeling, I love it, ‘If I acknowledge the awkwardness and just say to myself “That felt really awkward!,” I can stay with myself, in full presence, allowing my imperfections rather than try to push away my feelings or wish I could rewind life and try again.’

206. Looking at why we are awkward in certain situations allows us to be open to a fear or hurt that we may have encountered in the past. This brings up a new level of healing that we can move through with ease and free ourselves from judgement.

207. I say not only embrace the awkwardness but embrace every opportunity to not put our heads in the sand and wish the feelings to go away.

     It’s like living life from black and white television to full 4K definition.

208. Hello Annie and I wonder how much ‘awkwardness’ we feel and see in another is the ‘awkwardness’ we walk. In other words our awkwardness with how we are or how we feel about ourselves colours the world and so then these situations present to us as a reflection for us to let go of the judgement we have on ourselves. Maybe or maybe not others and situations around us are awkward but why are we seeing only that? or why is it the loudest in situations? This surely points to something in us that needs to be dealt with and healed. That way awkwardness or not you only see the person first and anything else doesn’t pull you in. You are aware of it but you don’t go to it. How often does a situation worsen when you poke and prod at the issue? The world can be like a mirror and we can choose to see the reflection or walk straight by.

209. Not reacting to awkwardness is certainly the key Annie, as you have so wisely pointed out;
     “If I acknowledge the awkwardness and just say to myself “That felt really awkward!,” I can stay with myself, in full presence”. Beautifully Annie.

210. I feel that it is a great key that is written about here ….what Annie felt when she commented out loud that “it felt awkward” … so often it is simply being able to express what is going on that provides the key to the energetic liberation at that time.

211. On returning to this blog I can see how my relationship with awkwardness has changed and after reading the first time I have simply acknowledged when something feels awkward and then is not an issue. Thank you, Annie.

212. Hi Annie, since first reading your blog and being inspired to embrace awkwardness rather than try and fix it, I have found that I am feeling less and less awkward i.e. I am not judging myself as much.

213. I have spent much of my life taking things personally….. it is such a relief to realise that everyone has their own stuff going on and very little of what is said or done, is in truth, truly directed at me…and if I do feel a reaction I can use it as an opportunity to delve deeper into what is actually happening for me.

214. “I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong”- Such great words of advice.
     In the past, I too have experienced being in awkward situations, and seen it as a bad or negative thing which then created a distance.in the relationship.

215. “What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong?” These words jumped out at me today. We feel what we feel, so how can they be ‘wrong’? Yet often people’s feelings are ignored or attempts made to distract away from them, especially true in the case of young people. This can be because the person witnessing those feelings feels uncomfortable themselves, maybe because it triggered something from their past. Learning to accept what we feel and deal with our hurts is a loving way to go.

216. Recently I had a moment where I felt awckward and it was speaking in a larger group of people and expressing how I ffeel. The feeeling reminded me of your blog, and it was a support to connect to what you have written as it felt understood and supported in this situation. Thank you, Annie.

217. Recently I had a moment where I felt awckward and it was speaking in a larger group of people and expressing how I feel. The feeeling reminded me of your blog, Annie and it was a support to connect to what you have written as it felt understood and supported in this situation. Thank you.

218. “my awkward moments are actually not the issue, but it’s how I respond in these moments”. Gorgeous sharing Annie. How we respond is a choice and this is something I have been working on for a long time! When we can get to a point where we can observe rather than get caught up in things it makes a huge difference to the way in which we view and handle life…

219. We are allowed to be awkward and it’s normal. What a breakthrough this is. After reading this blog I took this idea into my life and it’s great. I allow the awkward feelings and don’t think they are wrong. This is a revelation and those awkward feelings are nowhere near as painful.

220. Annie, what you are sharing here is huge, ‘I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong’, I can feel how I have judged any awkwardness and made myself or the other person wrong and that I have not wanted to feel this and so have often hardened up rather than allowing the awkwardness to be there and staying open and not judging it or myself, this is really supportive to read.

221. It is so important to acknowledge that feeling awkward is telling us something that feels not right to us. Ignoring this fact will unconsciously bring us to doing things that are not good for for us as described in the line “If I shy away from the feeling and push it away, I end up trying to numb and distract myself with overeating and shopping.” So we may find ourselves overeating or shopping as our natural way of coping with what we have felt but not have given expression to, and although this is an example and we all will have our own vices, it is the ignorance to the fact that we do feel everything that will eventually lead us to the vices we all experience in one way or another.

222. We should always accept how we feel, not because it may be a true reflection at that time of who we truly are, but because such honesty keeps us at least on the pathway to the unfolding of our true nature.

223. It is incredible how we bounce of each other in how we feel, those reactions to situations which thens leads to feeling awkward is a common one and the classic thing you want to do is run for the hills. What you share Annie is awesome because if we stop and feel it and allow ourselves to be in that moment then at least we have a true sense of what we are feeling and reacting too wether it be rejection issues or un-dealt with hurt.

224. Our definition of success is a less awkward life, a day with all the tense bits taken away. How short of the mark, how small this is compared to a space where joy, fun and vitality can live! What if we only find this fullness, if we embrace the tension and uncomfortable feelings that come up? For how can you live life to the max when you are selectively trying to rub out and remove large portions you don’t like?

225. I can certainly relate to this blog Annie as I used to find myself in these awkward moments quite often. But why did I feel awkward? For me, I feel that this stemmed from a lack of confidence. I used to hate being alone with someone I didn’t know or hardly knew, because I didn’t know what to say. I used to be a very shy person, no communication, no confidence, no self-worth and totally unsure of myself. Since attending the presentations of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine a lot has changed. My confidence and self-worth has grown hugely and my expression is, as they say, a work in progress, but these days I am able to be so much more open and comfortable with anyone.

226. ‘Often I have taken it personally when I have felt another person be awkward with me, but I realise that people have their own hurt and fears around rejection.’ Great point Annie, our mind can go wild imagining self-sabotaging thoughts if we let it.

227. “awkward moments are actually not the issue, but it’s how I respond in these moments.” This is so true, and it can be said of most things we experience. It’s the way that we respond that determines how we feel and what the outcome is.

228. Sometimes having an awkward moment comes from seeing or knowing that I could say more but do not feel sure in how I can say it. When the moment passes I can feel disappointed with myself for holding back, but not letting self-judgement come in is vital because we are all learning and will not always get things right, and sometimes we just need to have another go at something maybe for a few times until we have mastered it.

229. Reading your blog again Annie reminds me of how I used to live from one embarrassing moment to the next. Something happened to me that I said or did that I found particularly embarrassing and this would stay with me until I encountered another moment of embarrassment that felt more embarrassing than the last. So I could only let go of what had been before by exchanging it for another thing to hold onto. It is like a habit that I needed despite that fact that it made me feel horrible.

230. I appreciate Annie that you were able to bring awareness to an awkward and embarrassing moment by nominating it and so by making light of the situation it will also make your future relationship with the other person easier in continuing to evolve. It’s great that by understanding, remaining open and trusting, those awkward moments can dissipate.

231. I experienced a similarly situation recently where I felt awkward and didn’t say anything, just allowed silence, and in looking back I realise I could have removed the tension through a simple gesture or lighthearted statement, whatever felt natural. It really can be that simple.

232. This is gorgeous and I can relate to most of the examples you have shared. It highlights how much we hold back in expressing because of so many reasons from our head, when if we choose to stay with ourselves and say what is there to be said the lightness stays and more importantly our bodies stay yummy, tender and precious.

233. Love this Annie – how honesty can crack open awkwardness, “That felt really awkward!,” simple!

234. The more we accept things, the greater we open the doorway to understanding.

235. Having feeling awkward has been my middle name so to speak at times and sometimes I hate it and sometimes I love it. Mostly love it even though it feels not so good at times. For me the awkwardness it just us feeling the mask drop a bit or feeling more raw and usually we don’t know what to do or how to behave but that’s the beauty of it. It’s a chance to be more of ourselves and not more of the character we have created and don’t want around anyways, so feeling awkward is a great first step.

236. This is so true Annie, when we allow trust and openness in our body it does support others to build trust in people and in their relationships because of what we reflect. We can all feel the steadiness and openness in someone, this certainly supports us to choose it too through trust. Awkward moments doesn’t appear when we fully trust what we feel and are open with ourselves and others.

237. Your blog Annie is a beautiful expose on something that most of us have no doubt experienced many times throughout our lives. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is a key for us to be more of ourselves.

238. Embracing the awkward moments means we are embracing ourselves and all others without judgement or reaction just feeling it all and expressing what we feel. This is so very freeing within our bodies too. Thank you Annie.

239. Allowing ourselves to be, and to feel what is there to be felt, is very freeing…..not only in ourselves but also the awkward moment/situation itself can change completely by just nominating the energy within oneself first.

240. I love the embracing and acceptance of these awkward moments Annie. This is so freeing and honest, allowing us to accept all that we are, that we don’t always get it right and that these awkward moments do exist.

241. “What if you allowed the awkwardness in your interactions? “ This is a great question Annie which opens up the awareness of where else we might be going in our thoughts. That is, what pictures or beliefs are held that we are judging the situation to be something other than it is? This for me connects directly to the fact that we are then judging ourselves to be something else than who we truly are. All creations, no wonder we start to feel awkward because we are disconnected to the reality of simply observing the situation for what it is.

242. We are so conditioned to not make a fool of ourselves and risk being rejected that we deny anything within ourselves that might make us appear different. Showing how awkward we feel in different situations is one of those things we try and hide yet there is loveliness about being with a person who is honest about feeling insecure and awkward. Being honest liberates us from the judgment that we place upon ourselves to be anything other than who we are.

243. The practitioner asked me “What if you allowed the awkwardness in your interactions? What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?”
     Wow, to allow the awckward feeling to be there changes the scene. Feeling awckward respects me in the moment how I feel. This is a huge learning, as I tend to go into reaction or sympathy in one way or the other.

244. Annie, a beautiful blog with great pearls of wisdom, this one in particular ‘If I can stay steady with myself, allowing openness and trust in my body, I can support others to also build trust again in people and in relationships’ spoke volumes to me today, it takes it beyond the personal to an understanding that if I stay steady in me, and don’t get caught in wanting things to be a specific way, I offer something very different, and that’s our jobs really to stay steady and be us no matter what is going on around us. And yes it can get awkward, but I reckon awkward been given a bad rep, and actually it’s about being honest about what we feel in us and our bodies and allowing ourselves and those around us to just me, without the strictures of how we should be.

245. I find the willingness to allow yourself to feel the awkwardness so inspiring to be allowing and open to feel whatever may be there in my own life.

246. At recent function I was reconnecting with some work colleagues that I hadn’t seen for a few years. The greeting was warm and welcoming and there was a quick catch up then there was a pause I could feel myself making the choice to be comfortable with the pause or go into entertaining mode. I stopped and stayed with the silence and some people moved away and then the conversation became more free flowing. I had a choice to stay with myself and be honest about what I felt or panic and go into making people comfortable.

247. Great to bring this topic up Annie, for us to reflect on our awkward moments and how we have dealt with them in the past.

248. Feeling what we feel without the need to change or expect ourselves to be different is key. Thanks Annie.

249. I love reading all the beautiful comments, insights and sharing. Very much appreciate everyone’s unique expression. ❤

250. I find myself less and less awkward these days, I can feel others feel awkward around me, but that’s okay!

251. I love this blog Annie. It is so refreshing to look at awkwardness in this way, and that all we have to do is to nominate that we feel awkward rather than make excuses for how we feel in awkward situations.

252. Sometimes I find awkwardness is there when I am faced with something that I might consider a new experience. It is usually at these times that I have to just keep feeling my way through without making any judgement on how I should or shouldn’t be feeling.

253. I am loving implementing what you have shared in the blog, being able to allow myself to just feel awkward and express it has seen a really amazing decrease in the moments where I become really anxious or awkward because I’m willing to listen to my body and not fight what I feel

254. I can’t thank you enough for sharing this Anne. I keep coming back to it and finding more reminders that staying with what we feel and not labeling what is being experienced is far more supportive than avoiding or giving up on ever getting out of that cycle of avoidance or giving up on the possibility that there is more to understand about these experiences.

255. A great topic and brings a real allowing to awkwardness to simply feel it and this allows it to dissipate naturally . To not react and not harden brings a freedom and ease to life that I can feel from all you share Annie thank you.

256. I sometimes feel that when we feel awkward,it is to do with what others are projecting anyway. Why is it that some people can make you feel entirely comfortable no matter what and then others just seem to make us feel uncomfortable and awkward?

257. I have had a few awkward moments lately as I embark on a new relationship and have found it to be so great to just express how I feel in the moment and it feels os much better. Instead of bottling it up and allowing it to fester and go over it in your head, letting it out brings a great honesty and lightness to our connections. Thank you Annie finding your blog to be super inspiring.

258. I appreciate the great strength in you Annie for expressing about awkwardness and the humour, joy and lightness that comes through when we have acceptance for what is there and do not confuse it for who we are.

259. We can bring a lot of fun and lightness to a situation when we simply communicate what we are feeling, especially if it is awkwardness! I love the simplicity in which you share Annie, but equally how what you say can be a ground-breaking, life-changing lesson for anyone. Embracing life, people and ourselves just how we are, imperfect and yet willing to be the lightness and the joy that we naturally are.

260. It is about allowing ourself to feel everything there is. Not judging ourself is a very freeing thing to do, it allows ourself to grow, as we don’t learn from judgement.

261. I’m so sensitive that I can feel the uncomfortableness of the other person and would often try to not let them feel this by changing the subject or doing something to ease the tension of the situation. These days, it’s great to just feel it all and not react like I use to.

262. There is that feeling of having to respond straight away in a situation which to me always makes me feel very tense and pressured. Instead of just feeling what is there and allowing time for myself to respond from what I feel which might be a bit awkward.

263. This is a great observation Annie, and highlights how we can react to ourselves in the smallest things, which build up tension in the body.. but if we just simply nominate and express the freedom we can bring to ourselves and to others is immense, leaving the space open and clearer rather than reactions building upon reactions.. as everyone feels what is going on, and the less it is expressed, the more the tension builds.

264. Your blog keeps popping into my mind so I realise how many awkward moments there are during 1 day and I keep reminding myself just to be in the moment and allow the feeling to be there and then call it out if necessary….just to sit with it and not fight it or eat it! Thanks for the inspiration.

265. This is pretty spectacular Annie, but in not judging myself with any awkwardness since reading the blog, the awkwardness has dissipated. Ok, it’s only been a couple of weeks, but it feels a distinct change of not needing to have awkwardness again, It’s like awkwardness is a reaction for not wanting to feel tension, so simply feel the tension, and then awkwardness is a thing of the past. Thank you for the understanding.

266. Awkwardness can really expose another’s behaviour. I’ve noticed that staying with me and not being pulled into a conversation or situation that isn’t right highlights truth and exposes that which isn’t.

267. None of us like an awkward situation, but that is all too often because we don’t like what is being exposed. In truth, such situations offer a huge opportunity for learning, if we allow ourselves to sit with the tension of the moment.

268. Annie, I love your honesty about the awkward hug. Others probably felt it too and your speaking up would have released that tension in everyone as indicated by the fact that they all laughed.

269. Awkwardness seems to happen when we are monitoring what we do instead of just being with ourselves doing what we are doing. Allowing takes the pressure off us to be a certain way and then we are not so concerned about what impression we are making and the body flows more easily.

270. Embracing awkwardness is embracing life. Whatever is there to observe, without judgement, a true response will be given.

271. I love how you share that by nominating what you were feeling it brought a lightness to the situation and all awkwardness disappeared. What a brilliant way to handle uncomfortable feelings rather than trying to numb them.

272. I have found that my awkwardness is nearly entirely down to the judgement that I lay upon myself for how I am or am not being the way I think that I should be. That judgement is what makes me feel far more awkward than I actually am.

273. Self-imposed perfectionism is a very harmful and retarding attitude. Knowing that life is offering us continuos opportunities to evolve through our mistakes, through everything that we feel by the Law of Reflection from everyone we meet and all situations is liberating beyond words. It frees us to be, accept and appreciate ourselves.

274. I always reacted to awkwardness and was always convinced that I did, or say something wrong, or even that I was wrong. Just allowing to feel the awkwardness and stay present in that moment can be there when we are not invested in, or have sympathy for what is at play and just observe the situation and the feelings that are coming up.

275. Embracing the moment no matter what comes our way is really healing – it takes the pressure off and allows us to just feel what is there. Just feeling awkwardness then allows us to really explore what underlies the awkwardness…how cool it that?

276. When we observe rather than have a reaction to anything we may be feeling it allows more space to feel what is there to express.

277. Awkwardness can be seen as an invitation for us to bring more honesty to situation, to allow ourselves to be seen and express what we are feeling. This doesn’t have to be serious it can be very joyful.

278. Having a sense of humour can really lighten up awkward situations. When we are present with ourselves we always feel how to be in these situations more naturally.

279. Aren’t the awkward moments the ones that make us laugh, if we don’t harden in those moments?

280. Not reacting to the awkwardness allows more space for it to be understood why it is there..

281. Reacting to awkward moments by going into an emotional reaction highlights the awkwardness that could have been just felt and let go. I must remind myself of this next time I feel awkward.

282. Being awkward allows us to be real. When we are not allowing awkwardness to be then it makes it harder for others to relate to how we may be feeling and what we may be reacting to.

283. I remember feeling awkward a lot of the time as a child and whilst I was growing up and this still feeling can still be present in the background at times now but less and less so as I have begun to let go of my own expectations and judgement.

284. Awkwardness, is often like the elephant in the room. Everyone sees it but nobody says anything. But when we acknowledge it, we can often access a deeper expression and openness to share.

285. We are actually very beautiful in all our awkwardness. 🙂

286. So true Annie, it is how we respond in situations that matters not what they are about or what comes up. It takes away all the pressure of needing to have the answer and brings the focus back to our quality and the way we are living.

287. ‘The reaction to awkwardness was there if I felt the slightest bit of rejection or exclusion from a group, or if I said the “wrong” thing’
     I know this, Annie, to feel rejection feels awckward but often I am my bigggest rejector towards myself and sometimes even don’t realize.A good point to embrace feeling awckward instead of rejecting it.

288. “What if [we] allowed the awkwardness in [our] interactions? What if [we] did not judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?” – this is so powerful. Totally allowing of what is and appreciating what is on offer at that moment in time.

289. I agree simply acknowledging where we are at stops the buck there and doesn’t leave space for anything else to follow.

290. Awkwardness is often a great indicator that something needs to be said and more honesty come to.

291. Last night I was at the dinner table and made a rather challenging comment to my friend. An awkward silence pursued. I sat with it and did not do my usual behavior of eating more to avoid what was going on. Instead I talked with her and we had an open discussion on what this brought up for both of us. We cleared the whole situation and it brought us closer together.

292. Many young people consider themselves as awkward or socially inept – but what if we have not brought our teenagers up to know themselves and be confident enough to hold true to that in all situations, and do as you have done which is to simply admit to the way we feel but not give it power.

293. The more acceptance and honouring of what we are feeling allows us to easily surrender to what is without judgement but an understanding of the sensitive and tender nature of who we are.

294. Thanks Annie, really good tips on handling uncomfortable situations, allow without judgement or reaction

295. “awkward moments are actually not the issue, but it’s how I respond in these moments”. How we respond to many situations is exactly the point here and really great that your practitioner highlighted this. The same could be said about many other situations. How we react or don’t react gives almighty clues as to the direction of our own healing.

296. I feel that the more comfortable we are with ourselves and accept ourselves rather than always compare, then the less awkward we will feel as we can then appreciate our individuality and our little ways rather than think we need to be like someone else.

297. Allowing ourselves to feel awkwardness is a sign that we are half way there to learning how to be with other people and feel totally open and vulnerable in a good way. It is all the personality we develop to not feel it and to mask it with all sorts of behaviours that is the actual problem. This can include socially inept responses such as paranoia and withdrawal but also the niceness, overtly accomodating and ingratiating or aggressive behaviours as well. When we really look at human interaction, how much of it is truly raw and from our essence? Perhaps awkwardness can sometimes be a step towards that rawness.

298. Our ‘reactions’ to any issue are due to the fact that we have from young, only been shown that we have to have some sort of emotional reaction otherwise we are not human? Could it be we are set up to fall for love and cry and react to the tensions we feel? If we are at least honest, we live in a crazy world that judges so many emotions. Is it any wonder we feel awkward for we are so disconnected from being the Son of God? Could it be that this is all a set up to pull our emotional strings, good or bad? Then the question would be why? My answer would be because every thing is energy and the energy that drains me the most is when I have any sort of emotional reaction! Over the last 12 years through attending the presentations by Serge Benhayon I have discovered that to not have emotional highs or lows my life is what I now call normal, which means I feel amazing every.

     1. After writing this comment yesterday I noticed a huge shift in my energy in the way I approached people, I actually felt less awkward! How powerful is the power of nomination and letting go with complete acceptance of being the Son of God!

299. Yes sometimes just silence itself can feel awkward but really it is nothing but silence, we just aren’t used to allowing space to feel how lovely that can be.

300. A while back in one of the Universal Medicine events I gained a deeper understanding about the constant tension that I know exists within me all of the time. For the first time I became aware that instead of numbing myself to it, paying attention to that inner tension is actually a very useful and healthy way of establishing that I am being shown a discrepancy that could do with attention. I can see awkwardness is such very useful feedback from within our own system to support our expansion.

301. Since reading this blog, I’ve been noticing all the awkward moments. They are not awkward ‘bad joke’ moments when something is said and no laughs, but those tiny pauses in conversation or the want to talk more conversation, but it has moved on and nothing more is required, not just with me but with others around. It’s been really lovely to just feel the awkwardness and not take it on and own it like it needs to be hidden away and it’s a bad thing. A result is that I just remain with me, not perturbed or physiologically tense because of that moment.

302. It’s pretty funny when honesty is bought to awkward moments.. it can be a real icebreaker and bring people closer together.

     1. Yes Abby, that is the delight of being honest and speaking in the moment instead of holding it in and letting it fester for ages. We all have a common theme running here, and it only needs to be outed by someone to break the ice between us and have a laugh, and feel much closer to each other.

303. This is brilliant, Annie: reading this article and remembering awkward moments and then feeling the space when I stop battling what it is that I do feel, whether that is awkwardness, joy or vulnerability…

304. Just yesterday I had a really awkward moment while out with some friends – but instead of contracting we all just laughed about it and in that moment I felt we all became just a little bit closer, because we were able to be more open and honest because we acknowledged an awkwardness rather than brushing it off.

305. It’s an interesting thought Annie, to allow the awkwardness to simply be what it is, instead of going into emotional reaction about it. Allowing it has a different feel, there’s an acceptance there that’s it’s ok and there’s nothing to apologise about. It is what it is, for it to be there.

306. Every moment is a moment to choose to surrender OR go into distraction, numb and stress ourselves with whatever layers we have built up to not surrender. So it seems like these moments of silence, ‘awkwardness’ can be used for ultimate surrender! Note to self – silent moments are surrender moments 🙂

307. I just realised that the awkward moments are not even just with people, but we can have them with ourselves too! Like when we are waiting for something the load on our computers, or for the bus or whatever. It’s like ‘awkward moments’ are actually transition moments when we are moving from one things to the next and a tension is there for us to acknowledge and prepare for what’s ahead.

308. I just had a meeting where my expression was awkward. I really felt something important to say but it did not come out so clearly. So the people did not understand me. I decided to stay with my feeling and give it another go. And another. I just did not start to blame the others for not getting it or me for being not so clear. Just went on. Stayed with it and accepted my way of being in this moment. And voila: at the end we’ve got it and it was like the clouds did move on, the air did become clear and the sun did shine again. Ahhh. To not give up on truth, even I may not perfect in expressing it, is truly a wonderful experience.

309. Acknowledging that we can simply feel awkward in situations feels very simple and takes away the insecurity and not liking what we feel and allows us the freedom to just be and allows understanding. Very beautiful.

310. The reaction to awkwardness is key here – as long as we react we are imprisoned, nominating the reaction is the key to unlock the imprisonment.

311. “Do you ever have awkward moments with people, situations where you just want to run or hide – or do both?” Yes, I had one yesterday with someone on a long trip. We both could not escape and had to face our reality on what was coming up for both us.
     What was great about it from my side I was being all that I was leading up to that moment – I was in and with my truth. That means I was with my body and feeling all the awkwardness leading up to and in that intense moment of sorting out what was true for me and essentially both of us. It took meaning-full communication and expression to hold myself in my truth – it was everything I knew that was true to that point in my life. I was no longer settling to hold it back – gee it felt great by the way!! We did not agree in that moment and we had to stop it from becoming abusive. I just gave him space and openly expressed how I appreciated the situation and him.
     It is not a failure when things come up to express how we feel this is how relationships deepens.

312. Awkwardness is one of those reactions where I used to think that it was just my inability to cope with situations but from reading these comments this seems to be happening to everyone and is very common, in all kinds of situations. Just the other day I admitted to myself when something felt awkward whilst I was with a group of people and it felt great to nominate and let it go, instead of over analysing the interaction and giving it more importance than need be.

313. I’m so glad other people have awkward moments if everyone just faced up to them and made a joke of them they wouldn’t be so awkward any more.

314. I am learning more and more how powerful it is just to allow feelings to be without taking it to anything else – like emotions and judgments. I can feel how my body loves just to be observed internally to let itself be, and because of that I am getting to understand how much pressure I have been putting in to my body by going into reaction and asking it to deal with it.

315. Reading this again Annie makes me realise how we can wield the energy of making things uncomfortable and awkward for another as a way of bullying them. Learning to stay present with this energy, to in effect consistently stay the same person is a powerful way to address this type of bullying that quickly deflates awkward situations.

316. I have come to love the phrase – ‘Well, that was awkward’… just the way my teenage son says it, it speaks all the unspoken stuff in a very natural way – and we always end up laughing! And so now when I say it to myself in those awkward situations , it comes with that same lightness.

317. “Awkward moments are actually not the issue, but it’s how I respond in these moments”. This is great Annie, and the same could be said about many situations that we experience during our day. So rather than avoiding the obvious, it is just about acknowledging the very feeling we feel in that moment.

318. Reflecting on your blog Annie ‘embracing awkwardness’ is the obvious and simple solution – it’s like giving ourselves a big warm loving hug.

319. “I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong.” – it is simply about letting ourselves feel – this is a fantastic reminder – thank you!

320. Our response to life is what shapes our experience of life. It is through our responses that we see life in the way we do, and thus we experience our response, we feel it, and not the stuff of life. That stuff simply presents us with a moment of choice of how we will respond to it.

321. Our bodies are awesome – when we choose to feel what is going on in our bodies we are shown so much of how we are truly living… the consequences of our every choice is felt by our body which brings us to the honesty of the way we are living our lives. Awkwardness is one such choice.

322. It is so simple, instead of going into the head acknowledging if a situation feels awkward or if I simply feel awkward.

323. Annie your blog has offered me a great insight and support in how simply saying what it is I’m feeling, saying loud and clear – mainly to myself at this stage i.e “that hurts”. I’ve heard the concept of nominating things and practiced to some extent, but when I read your blog it transformed this to a new level of awareness of how simple this can be. Just say it without any expectation that there is anything else needed. Just feel it, say it and allow myself to be with it, that’s it. It’s an evolutionary step for me and so simple. Fascinating that I thought it was more complicated – which was just a way to avoid feeling what was there.

324. This is really beautiful to read as I’m discovering how I have judged myself for feeling awkward. So the moments when I’ve hovered around someone who is busy and hesitated asking them a question or they’ve answered but I’ve not got the full picture and should I ask again. Though I think these moments have lessened I can feel the awkwardness is often still there but I’ve buried it because I’m trying to live up to being a confident picture and judging myself as incompetent or useless for not understanding something. There is an internal intolerant voice in me I try to avoid through perfection. A voice I’ve experienced from others in reality and then attracted to my life as an adult.

     So what if I just accepted and nominated these feelings, both the awkwardness and the controlling annoyed reaction and not judged myself for it either. Wouldn’t then the understanding and love flow?

325. Sometimes in awkward situations it’s not just me that feels the awkwardness. This blog is a great reminder that simply naming the situation as it is without judgment, can be hugely helpful for everyone else involved too.

326. I can relate to what you are saying, Annie, as there are times when I feel awkward in a situation. The funny thing is that I’m just realizing it usually involves someone I don’t know well making a joke that I either don’t get or don’t find funny at all and not being sure how to respond. In the situations, if I’, trying to gauge what to say in response, it actually makes an awkward situation feel worse.

327. I just keep coming back to this blog when i am out and about – something happens, i feel awkward or embarrassed and go to contract and then I catch myself and remember that I just have to allow myself to feel it but I don’t need to contract.

328. Great! I have always thought i needed to do something when i feel something is awkward. It is wonderful to know that all i need to do is stay with me. I am still working on that. Thank you Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine for presenting a another way to be in the world.

329. “What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?” this has been hugely supportive in this last week for me, rather than claiming that I know what a feeling means (because if I truly knew then why does it keep repeating?) by just saying to myself ‘I am feeling something’ or acknowledging that my body is speaking to me – not naming the communication but simply stating that it is a communication, this is opening up the space in which I can understand what is going on in my awareness. And today coming back to reading this I wonder now – what if the same was applied to outside situations – that right now I am in a moment, rather than arrogantly assuming that I know what the quality is. Thank you for sharing this Annie.

330. What was interesting as I read this was that I was quite tense. Even the topic of awkwardness causes me tension! I love what you share Annie.

331. Awkward moments are awkward but discovering the feelings underlying the awkwardness by allowing oneself to stay with the feeling without judgment is so revealing and rewarding, as you so rightly share, Annie.

332. I can feel how with some people I have felt an awkwardness because they are asking me to be more of myself simply though the reflection they offer. If I react to this I feel awkward, although alternatively if I acknowledge and accept this feeling I can be deeply inspired.

333. By allowing and acknowledging the awkward moments and the feelings we have this is very powerful in our allowing and understanding and how we honour our bodies.Not wanting to really feel and ignoring things we feel and coming from reaction is really harmful to ourselves our bodies our lives and others . A great blog bringing awareness to our lives or what is really going on.

334. Such a great blog to discuss how we all have those moments of feeling awkward but to not react to them is key. I love how you openly shared how you felt Annie and how this gave everyone the opportunity to beware of it, see the light side of it and have a laugh. We can so easily go inward and become serious about situations with our reactions and this is fabulous example on what is possible when we accept what is going on and communicate it. Thanks Annie.

335. Lending money causes amnesia for the person that borrowed it. The old saying comes with awkwardness built in. You have exposed one more bit of how we harden ourselves, Annie. The lapse may be just a moment, but if we do not express how it feels in our body’s, what else will are we willing to accept less of?

     1. Steve that is very true, and amusing as its something we can all relate to. The key as you say is expressing how we feel about anything in that moment, not calculating what we may or may not say.

336. I love these moments when you realise what you thought was wrong or a problem, isn’t actually a problem at all.

337. This is such a supportive article for empowering us to address all those awkward issues in a completely different manner. Now its just a case of saying ‘so its going to feel awkward’ and not let that put me off addressing it, I just know that for a while I may feel uncomfortable, but I can still stay with myself and not recoil from what needs addressing. Such a relief, thank you Annie.

338. I have pondered on situations where I have felt awkward, it seems to happen when I am concerned about what people think of me. It is when I am disconnected from myself that I allow these thoughts and images to come in to influence how I feel. Your blog Anne, supports me to feel what I have chosen and allow the awkwardness to dissipate by nominating it and expressing how I feel whenever possible.

339. The power that comes from simply nominating and then allowing with the realisation that it is not us, just another energy is amazing. Or as you say Annie; ‘If I acknowledge the awkwardness and just say to myself “That felt really awkward!,” I can stay with myself, in full presence, allowing my imperfections rather than try to push away my feelings or wish I could rewind life and try again’.

340. Love the way the ‘sandwiching’ awkwardness was diffused not only by your expressing/communication, but the light-heartedness too – amazing what a spot of laughter does : )

341. Embrace the awkwardness! That is a great message to take into life because I often engineer so much in order to not feel the awkwardness but this blog is a great inspiration to allow it to be,

342. “…my awkward moments are actually not the issue, but it’s how I respond in these moments.” Annie this feels so true of many of life’s situations, I know this as I have seen how similar situations arise and I react and respond differently in some. This shows me that it is how I am in the situation, not the situation itself. Each situation is an opportunity to learn, grow and refine my livingness or the way I am with myself and the world around me.

343. Accepting that awkwardness in me is my responsibility and awkwardness in other people is their responsibility and it is something very important to embrace in full. Not blaming someone for what I feel or taking on the reactions of others has been a very common experience for me. Reading this blog and also considering some recent experiences, I am on a my way to take much more true responsibility. Which means responsibility for me, rather than for others. Especially when I’ve made disregarding choices I can feel how I’m easily judging myself. Allowing awkwardness is a big thing. Thank you for the real sharing of the experience with your friend and her boyfriend. That makes it very real.

344. Having a fight or an argument can be quite horrible, yet what I can see reading your words Annie, is that I often choose that as a way to run away, a way to escape a tension or an awkwardness I feel with another. It is very inspiring to read your words, and know that I don’t need to use drama to leave behind life, but I can stay and am totally safe.

345. A little while ago I realised that I had been reacting all my life. I realised just how incredibly sensitive I am and that I feel so much more than I allowed myself to feel. Then there are the many games I played to not feel everything, only some things, it became a life with constant numbing tactics all to avoid what was really going on.

     1. Yes, and much of that is still happening in my experience.

346. We have a lot of self-judgment and pictures about how we ‘should’ behave in social situations. This instantly puts pressure on ourselves if we are not living up to the idealized cool, funny, suave person we think we are supposed to be. Maybe there is something much deeper going on in the interaction and awkwardness, may be a reaction to what has been felt that we don’t want to admit to feeling.

347. What we all want is to be loved, honored and accepted for who we are. This needs to start with our selves, loving and accepting ourselves warts and all.

348. I have also found that observing and allowing a feeling to be there completely changes a situation and how I feel within myself. I stop fighting myself, trying to pretend it’s not happening and I stop judging my feelings as right or wrong. I have found that when I stop trying to change things, ironically it is the beginning of allowing real change to occur.

349. I used to have a lot of awkward moments when I was constantly looking to see if I was getting it right with other people. Now that I am much more steady and solid within myself, they don’t happen nearly as often. I suspect it comes down to a lot more acceptance of myself, a lot more understanding of other people and not always assuming the way they are behaving is because of me.

350. Thank you for the fresh perspective on awkwardness.

351. It is great to be able to acknowledge that you feel awkward, and to express it to another is even better. If we are able to do this, then eventually there will come a time when awkward moments will be a thing of the past, as we are able to stay present and totally fine with simply being who we are, no matter what the situation.

352. Allowing those awkward moments, without judgment gives us the opportunity to accept and appreciate more of who we are. Maybe ‘parts’ of our beautiful selves that we’ve dismissed or not wanted to see or have mistakenly felt were not ‘right’ when in fact there is no right, just joyfully being our gorgeous selves.

353. Maybe feeling awkward is in fact a gift for it’s presenting us with an opportunity to look at why we’re feeling the way that we are. To expose what is it about the situation that’s bringing up uncomfortable feelings for us. Do we have certain expectations as a result of holding on to a certain ideal or picture? It allows us to go to a deeper level of understanding with our selves.

354. I find it awkward when people are openly grieving, I feel their sadness and find it very hard not to let it affect me, which in turn, affects them. I want to make things better for them. I can’t bring back their loved one, but I can offer love and support, which is indeed balm to a wounded heart. As I type this, I can feel how imposing it may be ‘to want to make things better for someone’, is it truly for them or is it for me? I can feel the importance of staying with myself, being me, with them.

355. Maybe some situations are ‘awkward’ as they are unfamiliar, not situations that we deal with very often and we’re unsure quite how to ‘be’. Maybe we feel there is a ‘right’ way to behave, but we’re not sure what it is ….. in truth, there isn’t a right way to be, rather, just an allowing of ourselves to be who we innately are and to express from our heart.

356. I love this embracing our imperfections .. it is never about being ‘perfect’ and any way and is there such a thing? Surely it is just about loving ourselves to the core even more … awkwardness and all 💕 I also loved what your practitioner shared with you in ultimately it is not the situation but how we respond to it and it is lovely to hear how you changed this right away after being a human sandwhich 😂

357. When I reflect on my awkward moments they were usually based on my concerns about what other people thought about me. For example, because I have difficulty recognising faces, I have sometimes had wrong conversations with people and then felt stupid afterwards. When we fully accept who we are as being OK, then it doesn’t matter what other people think. I love the phrase that says, ‘What other people think is none of your business’. I have not yet mastered the art of being totally unconcerned about other people’s opinions of me, but I’m working on it. Acceptance and appreciation are key in this process.

358. I was talking to my mum last night about cringe worth moments, the ones you look back on and cringe a little at the awkwardness or embarrassing nature of the situation. But what I realised was that although some of the time where just very embarrassing, more often it was just my awkwardness within myself, not fully expressing or being me in full, which lead to situations that I would look back on and cringe because I wasn’t being all of me in that moment. What it has shown me is that until I am all of me all of the time, I won’t feel 100% comfortable all of the time and so when I feel a bit awkward, its a signal to bring more of me.

359. I can relate to this feeling of awkwardness and reading this and the comments can see it is occurring often for many people. Thank you for sharing the simplicity of expressing what is being felt in that moment so the body does not stay in the reaction and the mind runs with thoughts that also bring harm to our selves.

360. Don’t you just love us human beings in all our awkwardness. We think we have to play tough and have it all sorted and present perfection, but really we are vulnerable creatures who are just feeling our way. Awkward moments are a part of life. We may as well accept it.

361. It’s funny how you can read a blog and then the same situation comes to you that same day and instantly the blog is with you. There was a conversation going on with the landlord and the tenant and afterwards there was this real sense of awkwardness with everyone and no-one knew where to look, and then your blog reminded me to admit to myself how awkward the situation felt and that it was ok.

362. Awkwardness feels like an opportunity to feel deeper into what lies behind this feeling.

363. As a teenager and young woman I frequently felt awkward, never expressed it at the time or understood why it was happening. In my view everyone else seemed to know what to do and say, and I didn’t. You show Annie, that feeling awkward is simply a feeling that we can acknowledge and accept rather than avoid or use as a stick to beat ourselves with. It signals dis-ease within and with awareness we can do something about it, in the way you did.

364. This is so super supportive for where I am at right now! I have been venturing out of my man cave recently, heading to more events and social gatherings and being steady and not bouncing around in my previous way has brought a few awkward situations where I have reacted and just hardened myself (I can feel in my body) and come up with some random or pointless conversation, or started going into dramatic details about how various things are affecting me in my life. Rather than simply stay steady and feel the awkwardness. Simply put I have come a long way from being the one to uphold the life of the party and function and now aware of bringing me and that’s enough and what’s awesome is I can see I am at the next unfolding around that which is to not be afraid of the space created when I do bring me.

365. “I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong”. Yes, I too realise that I am often judging myself in many situations that feel awkward, resulting in hardening my body; going into protection mode only to realise that by not saying how I feel in the moment , I am shutting the other person out, making the situation worse.

366. This is a beautiful lesson in how to handle our sensitivity. Being able to stay with ourselves in those awkward moments without judgment is a major breakthrough for so often we associate this feeling with the expectation that we have done something wrong in order for it to arise. When we can stay present with our selves in awkward and uncomfortable moments then we expand our ability to actually explore and resolve issues that arise between people with a steady, trustworthy consistency. Learning not to react, run or close down goes a long, long way to improving the quality of our relationships and our ability to understand and appreciate one another.

367. Annie, I love coming back to this article, this is a topic that I’m sure for many is very relevant, but as so many things it is not very often spoken about, I love your honesty and that you are talking about awkwardness, for for me it stops me thinking that I am wrong for feeling awkward or that there is some sort of problem, instead it allows me to observe and have understanding when I do feel awkward.

368. Feeling awkward is a feeling we just don’t like. I know i can relate to al to of what you have shared here, wanting to or needing to in the past to make the awkwardness go away, by talking to much, not enough, over compensating for others, taking over responsibility for situations. But to allow the awkwardness to be there, to learn to be ok with it, at first was (is) uncomfortable. Still working with this, being ok with that feeling, but a much better way to be than to over compensate for others.

369. It is good to be able to take a reading from that awkward sandwich hug. The more we can feel what was truly happening, the less we usually need to feel awkward.

370. Being big and growing up really quickly always made me feel awkward and clumsy so much so that I overrode these feelings with bravado and an attitude of ‘I know more than you!’ So I was in judgment of myself and others, which has taken a long time to surface, thanks to you Annie for helping to open this can of worms so I cam heal this issue!
     I always thought that I could do anything with an overriding attitude with little regard for myself and absolutely no regard for another. It never mattered to me whether you were top of the ladder or down and out, I would make you feel lesser than so I could justify who I am. As my journey unfolds I am finding more and more inconsistency that arise during the day like awkwardness that has been presented in this blog. This is providing me an opportunity to nominate them so true healing can start.
     Feeling anxious, lost, nervous, rejection, awkward and in fear all come from a lack of self worth that then allows these energies to enter my body. When I claim who I am and by making a choice to stay connected, I still feel these as issues in my body but they no longer have any say. These energies are simply that, energies that are running through our body all the time. I choose to not engage them in the knowing I am more than these issues that used to control my thoughts. A website below is available for everyone, and expands on the conversation about how and what embracing these energy is all about.
     Understanding Anxiety in Men – ONLINE COURSE
     http://study.coum.org/enrol/index.php?id=14

371. What if we embraced every-thing?

372. This is a great sentence “…allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong…” Being aware of an awkward feeling, even as uncomfortable as it is, is a super moment because it highlights that there is something here to uncover, be revealed – an insight about ourselves or the situation, so being tender and caring towards ourselves in this moment encourages this feeling to be unpacked and understood.

373. This is a brilliant question to ask ourselves when we find ourselves in a awkward situation “What if you allowed the awkwardness in your interactions? What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?”

374. I agree Ariana and I love your awesomeness.

375. I found myself faced with an unexpected awkward situation yesterday and I am pleased to say that rather than avoiding it by running away I made the decision to step up and embrace it and I actually enjoyed myself. I feel like a big girl now (at 67 years of age!).

376. It’s always surprising how much of an ice breaker saying that a situation is awkward out loud is. How often are others feeling the same, and relived to hear someone express it. We always expect to be so different to everyone else, constantly talking ourselves down, making us completely unaware that others may be just like us.

377. Annie this blog post has reminded me that there is no such thing as a bad or wrong feelings. I realise I make myself wrong so often for feeling things I believe I shouldn’t, or feel that I should be over those feelings by now etc etc. That negative self talk just keeps me in the same cycle of repeat. But if I acknowledged these feelings as nothing more than just feelings, then I have a far greater chance of clearing the ones I don’t need.

378. What is awkwardness really and where does it come from? A situation cannot make us feel awkward, we feel awkward because we have a picture of how we are supposed to be in that situation and the awkward comes in when we don’t think our behaviour or actions will meet that picture. In the example give in this blog about the sandwich hug, this situation was awkward for Annie because being smushed against a friend’s boyfriend doesn’t gel with the picture of needing to keep an appropriate distance from other women’s boyfriends.

     Awkward is signpost that we have subscribed to an image about the way we need to be.

379. By sharing how awkward that hugging moment was it would have also cleared that awkward feeling in your friend’s boyfriend as well Annie. By simply expressing how we are feeling we are supporting others in their healing also.

380. Love the simplicity of how to deal with awkwardness Annie… by feeling how it feels in our bodies and simply acknowledging it is there – no drama, just presence.

381. A very inspiring read Annie… thank you for sharing. Awkwardness is something every single person can relate to, and yet it isn’t talked about, which is why it’s great to bring it out into the open for discussion.

382. For me today was highlighted again that feeling awkwardness both inside of me as around me has a lot to do with accepting things as they are. So often I catch myself wanting situations to be different. I’ve invested a lot into a harmonious way of being together where awkward moments are reduced to zero… Laughable as I’m writing it as this is clearly impossible. And not only impossible, but also not to be wanted as if this would forever be the case, than there would be no expansion, no change, nothing to learn, etc. For me still work in progress, but definitely very supportive to read and write about this topic that we all know.

383. I totally relate to this Annie, having moments of awkwardness and not knowing what to do and try and pretend it didn’t happen. As you say the vascular systems shuts down and goes all hard and all in all you feel totally bumbed out. Whether it is rejections towards you or towards another person it doesn’t really matter because when we go into it, it takes over the whole quality of our being.

384. What a great blog Annie. So often we ‘fill’ the awkward space with random and unnecessary words and sentences just to avoid the hollow feeling that is the awkwardness, hoping that it will pass or that is is smothered by another often meaningless conversation.

385. I love this blog, for so many people have moments or days in which they feel awkward – and yet what your sharing is such a simple tool, to just accept that this is how we feel.

386. “. . . my awkward moments are actually not the issue, but it’s how I respond in these moments.” A lovely insight Annie and once we see this we know we have a choice to react with judgement or respond with understanding and in responding we do not reject ourselves or others.

387. The more I feel awkward, the more awkward I feel and I love how you were able to accept the awkwardness Annie and actually allow it to be okay, and the funny thing is that once we do that it diminishes the awkwardness. I guess it’s partly because we relax and let go of the hardness that made us feel awkward in the first place.

388. ’I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong. If I shy away from the feeling and push it away, I end up trying to numb and distract myself with overeating and shopping.’ – There is no limit to the distractions we go to, just to avoid having to feel what is going on in the body.

     1. As I understand the energy of awkwardness, just like many other ill energies we cannot ever stop feeling them – it is how we are with the energy. Do we observe and not absorb with a complete understanding that we can choose not to be in that energy and therefore make a choice to re-connect to our inner-most? Then no amount of ‘distractions we go to, just to avoid having to feel what is going on in the body,’ will affect us, and then we can become like a fish in the ocean and will not get wet.

389. I love how this blog shows that the problem with being awkward is feeling awkward about being awkward..

390. Sometimes, there is no happy ending when we allow awkwardness, but much of the time in my experience it can be very rewarding to remain with that awkwardness, that vulnerability.

391. What you are sharing here is so awesome Annie because I think everyone understands what feeling awkward is like and what the compounding effect is of feeling awkward about this in turn. This is so supportive as it helps us to understand that we are all trying to put on a show of what we think we should be doing or how we should be behaving, but often failing to live up to those expectations we set for ourselves. In allowing ourselves to simply be at ease with the awkwardness we can start to untangle those beliefs that make us feel awkward in the first place, the transparency of which is just super gorgeous and very endearing.

392. How true this is – that it is how we respond in any situation that is key.
     We have a choice to observe or to react to what is before us.

393. Each life event is a learning process no matter if it is bad, good or ugly.

394. I can relate to having experienced the discomfort of awkwardness and putting pressure on myself to be more or fill an awkward silence and to make things better so as to not trigger another. I now recognise that tension is not a ‘bad’ thing. Having our issues come up allows them to be felt, seen and dealt with and this is never personal when another feels awkward, but an opportunity for us all to grow.

395. Re-reading your story Annie has made me realise how I’ve held onto many awkward moments through my life, because I can still feel very clearly in detail how embarrassed I felt during them. I can vividly remember standing in front of the classroom being made to feel very awkward as an example to others not to do something silly. It is definitely a time to let this go now and accept we all have those awkward moments that we have no need to hold on to but embrace them lovingly as a part of us for learning, and that this is all part of our journey.

396. It occurs to me that if we are feeling awkward in a situation before us, there is an aspect of ourselves we are also at odds with or feeling not so content with. An example for me occurred just the other day where I felt how me feeling discontent within myself meant that I also felt discontent in many of my interactions to the point where some of them did indeed feel awkward! I realise how we are in relationships is just a reflection of how we are within ourselves.

397. What a great example of how we can judge what we are feeling as wrong or bad and try to deal with it by overriding it, self bashing or overeating to numb it. How much more loving it is when we choose to accept that feeling is there and allow it to be.

398. Very familiar with that gut wrenching awkwardness that would have me staying up at night full of regret and self-loathing, it has only been since attending Universal Medicine (UM) events, presentations and having sessions with UM Practitioners that I have been able to begin the long journey of self-acceptance.

399. When others feel awkward around me I used to change the way I was to relieve their awkward feelings. Your blog offers me to feel how self-abusive it is to compromise one’s natural expression.

400. Thanks for sharing Annie, yes what am I being shown here in this situation is great. Rather than getting caught in the emotion or reaction or trying to say something to break the tension. Observing and staying true to what we feel seems the best way forward. It just takes practice – something I am continually learning in myself and the body is a great tool for reminding me about the choices I have made and the way I am living.

401. “Normally I wouldn’t say anything and would just want to escape the situation and perhaps feel a bit frustrated and embarrassed with my friend and the situation,” This is a great example of what’s going on when something is left unsaid – the emotion or reaction that’s left in our body when it’s not expressed. By contrast it clearly shows the lightness that’s enjoyed when something is felt and expressed, rather than held in and stuck.

402. ‘ Often I have taken it personally when I have felt another person be awkward with me, but I realise that people have their own hurt and fears around rejection. ‘ Not to take things personally is a key to truly feeling free and amazing.

403. In those awkward moments it’s great Annie that you call them out…the same thing happened to me yesterday and inspired by your blog I shared feeling awkward. It opened up a discussion which was great!

404. Everyone has awkward moments – why is it that we don’t accept this? If as children we were not taught to try to do everything perfectly – and our parents were taught the same – then maybe if left naturally we would accept those moments as being part of who we are – and not give then a second thought.

405. This brings about a great understanding to those awkward moments in life we have and would love to run and hide from. The simplicity of accepting ourselves and others of not being perfect and the learning and growing we are all experiencing in every moment brings a joy to life and takes away the suffering to one of a freedom and learning with awareness and simply what is or is not loving.

406. “I realise now I have often reacted to awkwardness, which has meant a hardening in myself in that moment of how I feel or how another feels, making my feelings or their feelings wrong. It has felt like a rejection of me and my delicate nature and a rejection of the other person, and all in not wanting to feel any discomfort.” Realising our feelings cant possibly be wrong – because they are our own feelings. Yet we can be taught to feel that they are wrong when we are children – and this can carry through to adulthood – unless we heal the hurts. Accepting how we are and how we feel is a major step to support the healing of these old patterns.

407. I love this piece of writing Annie, it just really show that we must honour what we feel whatever that may be and deal with it, if that means bring humour to the situation to make light of it, that is great. I have had and still do encounter many awkward moments along the way but the next time I do I’ll remember this blog.

408. Thank you Annie – I am not sure I have ever considered ‘awkward’ moments before as I tend to go hard and dismiss them. As I allow myself more time to recognise these moments I am sure there will be a letting go as I am no longer holding on tight in denial.

409. The awkward moments in life can be too inconvenient. All too often we can deny how awkward we are feeling in favour of lying to ourselves about how we are actually feeling ok. I have found that there is magic in awkward moments if I manage to stay with them and be honest with myself. An awkward moment can transform into one of beauty.

410. Annie, this article has been so supportive, I put this into practice recently, ‘If I acknowledge the awkwardness and just say to myself “That felt really awkward!,” I can stay with myself, in full presence’, what I realised was that if I acknowledged that I was feeling awkward then I was able to let go of the tension in my body, it felt like I was saying to myself it’s ok and just go with it, the awkward feeling then seemed to dissipate and I was able to stay with me and feel my vulnerability and have understanding for myself and the other person – amazing, thank you.

411. Whenever we allow ‘less than’ energy to play with us, awkwardness in our interactions with each other is guaranteed.

412. Awkwardness – is it as simple as claiming this moment as a moment of truth and allowing it? Knowing that we are not alone in the moment, how great is it to acknowledge it and laugh about it – keeping it simple 🙂

413. Embracing awkwardness. I love the choice to surrender to the awkwardness rather than judge it and myself!

414. “I realise now I have often reacted to awkwardness, which has meant a hardening in myself in that moment of how I feel or how another feels, making my feelings or their feelings wrong”.
     I can so relate to this- I often feel another’s awkwardness and then take it on and go into hardness. My housemate at the moment is very formal and I find this difficult to interact with as the movement in the house is quiet rigid. I take this as a rejection of me that they are this way around me and react and go hard. My hardness then becomes the focus and the issue and it doesn’t allow us to connect but keeps us both in our patterns.

415. “I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong.” Yes this is so true Annie because when we make the moment wrong we have placed unnecessary tension on ourselves from a picture of how we thought things should go and when they don’t go to plan we get all a little shaken up. If we are present with ourselves in every moment there are no mistakes and we feel ease around others and moments can expand us constantly.

416. I remember when I first came to Australia and started work for IBM, there was one particular man who I always seemed to meet in the lift and he always asked how I was, calling me ‘mate’ …. I really reacted, internally, to being called ‘mate’, my awkwardness came from never verbalising this in any way as I didn’t want to offend him.

417. As I was reading through your article, Annie, I realised how in awkward moments, my impulse is to say something to put the other person at ease. My uncomfortableness is in feeling the other person’s awkward-ness. Not as in a need to ‘fix’ the situation, rather, offer a path away from the awkward moment ….

418. We do so much to ourselves to avoid discomfort (which ultimately causes greater discomfort); instead of simply feeling all the uncomfortable moments and getting comfortable with them, allowing a greater ease in the body rather than protection.

419. Awkwardness tends to be a moment when we don’t quite know how to respond to a situation; often because we have an ideal of how we ‘should’ respond, but are in the tug of war of ‘should I’, ‘shouldn’t I’…? If we let go of this and take the pressure off ourselves, we naturally know what to do. The freedom to do so comes from letting go of the images of everything we should be in life.

420. How we respond in every moment is extremely important if we step back and give ourselves space we will not react if we bring our awareness to our connect we do not get caught in another’s situation so awkwardness can be embraced. This is far more practical than the old adage of taking our time and counting to ten. The person would have left before you get to nine if you count as slow as I do!

421. Allowing our awkwardness to simply be is deeply honouring of ourselves.

422. This is very lovely Annie, thank you for sharing. I recognise that moment of feeling awkward when someone is on the phone and wondering whether to stay or go. I can still get caught up with what I ‘should do’ rather than how I feel. Reading your blog I can now see that the answer is in simply feeling the awkwardness, since by feeling this we are acknowledging our body’s message, which never lies.

423. I remember well when I was a lot younger, awkward moments waiting for someone to finish a phone call that they took during a meeting or conversation with me. Rather than sitting in the awkwardness, I would be nice on the outside whilst feeling super uncomfortable on the inside and not saying anything. Looking back, I couldn’t let myself sit in the awkwardness of this because then the other person would feel it, and need to take responsibility for their behaviour.

424. When I used to watch a lot of movies, I’d often marvel at the repartee between characters, and the ease and flow and intelligence with which they’d converse, bounce off of each other and seemingly connect with each other, particularly so with dialogue rich shows. And I realise that so often I would (unconsciously) measure myself against these kind of external ‘make-believe’ markers. As crazy as it sounds, and I’m being honest here, and no surprises, I’d never, ever measure up. Real life is not a perfectly edited script, and I know now that the only thing that is true is within me, and never outside of me. The more that I connect to this ever-flowing spring of truth inside, the more I am able to accept life as it is and enjoy the beauty and learning it offers me in every moment.

425. “I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me,” The simplicity of this Annie is charming and something we can apply to anything we experience – It’s the acceptance of these things that allow us to be more of who we are!

426. It is lovely how this article highlights the fact that those awkward moments are simply letting us know the areas that need some attention and perhaps some work. Seeing them in this light shows how unwise it is to be labeling them as wrong and bad whilst trying to avoid them and the impulse for evolution and expansion they provide.

427. Thank you Annie for sharing your awkward moments with us, accepting and allowing the feeling to be there seems to be the key with a little honesty and humour, it seems you have found it.

428. Yes there is certainly a key to empowering ourselves in opening up to how we are feeling and staying with the rawness of it. I have found behind the awkwardness is a feeling of not wanting to be seen, not feeling myself as enough, gauging responses from others and desiring certain responses. Much there has dissolved in simply staying open to feeling and led to a trust of a deeper sense of myself, which I now find is there more consistently in most situations and allows me to observe and not react. This feels very liberating and confirming for what I can bring to life, rather than experiencing the tension of being unsure and needing something from interactions which led to often feeling awkward or disappointed.

429. I love the openness and acceptance of these awkward moments that you share Annie. I feel that this is applicable across a range of situations and experiences where we can accept who we are and how we are in a situation rather than react to the situation or make ourselves feel wrong in the situation.

430. I strongly relate to what is shared in this sentence: “I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong.”. For me this takes away the perfectionism and my habit to want to control situations – denying what is really going on between myself and other(s). Avoiding feeling awkward and in fact playing ‘a game’. If somebody else goes into reaction, I actually take on the blame or feel awkward myself – rather than allowing others to take responsibility for their own reactions. I love how I slowly get out of this very self-abusive pattern.

431. Thanks Annie. It’s only when we allow ourselves the space to feel whatever is there to be felt – however awkward, stressful, anxiety-inducing etc – that we can feel it all without judging ourselves for it. It totally changes the interaction and leaves us feeling lighter and more connected, instead of shut down and hard, if we choose to resist feeling what is there.

432. I struggle with watching someone feel awkward and I can very quickly jump into making them feel more comfortable or trying to fix something. It is my reaction to someone’s reaction, rather than give them the space to feel vulnerable, my reaction confirms theirs as less. Which is not OK.

433. There are awkward moments in life, for everyone. The question is why are we not simply accepting it, just like you shared here – why, when it is natural, do we act like it is someting we need to hide or control?

434. Funnily enough, as I read this blog I’m actually in an awkward situation and it’s such a beautifully timed reminder, to accept that’s how I feel and not get caught in it and make it dramatic.

435. I experienced a moment that could have been awkward yesterday and I realised that I had an investment in someone being a certain way and when I let this go all potential awkwardness left.

436. “The reaction to awkwardness was there if I felt the slightest bit of rejection or exclusion from a group, or if I said the “wrong” thing… ” I can relate to this Annie. Its amazing how we can immediatley go into feeling that we are the one at fault, rather than just staying fully present with ourselves in the knowing that we are enough just as we are. The crazy thing is that there may well be others in the group feeling the exact same thing! If that was the case, by expressing how we felt offers an opportunuity for everyone to share and learn from and support each other.

437. Seems the thing is to acknowledge what it is that we’re feeling without judging it or needing to be different.

438. The way in which we have created our way of living is contrary to our true nature within so in returning to this we are bound to feel moments of awkwardness as we expose that which is not true around us. Learning to nominate these and not react is a great way to expose what is not true.

439. Annie, you’ve described so many situations that I feel many people encounter. The ‘awkward silence’ moments where no one is speaking have been regular appearance in my life – but why have we labeled them as awkward? Perhaps we do not want to feel the space that is created in silence or the moment of rest where we can reconnect to our breath if we have lost track. To me, it seems more like an opportunity now and not something that is tense – I’m looking forward to trying this out actually.

440. The words ‘allowing my imperfections’ really stood out for me. Imagine if we just accepted the fact that we and others are imperfect and just got on with being ourselves to the best of our abilities. I feel like our relationships would be totally different, more honest, open and not riddled with expectations as they can often be.

441. There can be beauty in awkward moments. How boring would it be if we always knew what the outcome was going to be in any situation. Awkward moments are uncertain moments from which anything can arise. If we can have the courage to stay with the awkward moment without running away there may just be something amazing and beautiful that comes from it. There is beauty in simply being ourselves with people without needing it to be a certain way.

442. I love the fact that there is a blog on this. It would be so easy not to write it and not to read it! Many may just pretend that awkward moments do not exist for them as it means dropping a certain amount of pride to admit that they can feel this way. But awkward moments are inevitable for all of us. While we are in separate bodies as individuals there will always be awkward moments. We may just as well accept it and learn how to handle them.

443. Yesterday I did speak out about a awkward feeling I had have with two other women and found as well how much it takes the thunder out of the tension in our bodies. Just to say it how it is, without judging or blaming is liberating. Honesty is very powerful.

444. I had a go at expressing something I felt awkward about yesterday. It felt like a release of a burden I had been holding and the reaction I was expecting didn’t happen. Instead, the person I was talking to listened and agreed with me. I know it might always be like this, but I wanted to appreciate the fact that I did it, thanks to the inspiration from your blog Annie.

445. It is amazing how a few simple words can make a situation lighter. Expressing what we feel, without reaction, rather than trying to ignore what has just happened and feeling awkward and uncomfortable.

446. Nominating the feelings we have is our natural way – without reaction that is! This detail is often overlooked when we talk about freedom of speech. And let me add freedom of thought.

447. Being big and growing up really quickly always made me feel awkward and clumsy so much so I overrode these feelings with bravado and I know more than you! So I was in judgment of myself and others, which has taken a long time to surface, thanks to you Annie for helping to open this can of worms so I cam heal this issue!

448. “It has felt like a rejection of me ” thats a completely different way of looking at awkwardness, and one that I feel quite quickly can snap us out of it.

449. Annie, reading your article I can feel how if I feel awkward with someone then I am very critical of myself – thinking that I should be more relaxed and less awkward and so I can be hard on myself in these situations, It feels great to simply allow the awkwardness to be there and not go into any judgment around it, I love how you nominated when you felt awkward – this is super helpful to read.

450. I love it Annie the simplicity of acknowledging how we feel and not rejecting it or trying to push it away makes such a difference in how we can deal with life.

451. Awkwardness can just be a feeling we get from being in a situation we haven’t experienced. The subject makes me think about what it must be like when raised and been protected from the world by parents that felt they were doing the right thing. When these protected children enter the world most, everything could fell awkward to them. When these feelings aren’t dealt with, they can become like the people in Plato’s cave, hiding from the world.

452. Embracing awkwardness feels very playful, Annie, not the type of serious analising which gives often a headache.

453. Embracing awkward moments and seeing and expressing them for what they are feels so freeing and expanding, letting things be and not reacting to them. The beauty and appreciation of this is clear in our lives and can stop over eating or doing things to not feel what we don’t like in awkward moments, instead simply embracing them by observing and not reacting to life and all that is offered to us to learn from and grow.

454. We avoid awkwardness by going into politeness and niceness and sometimes making light of a situation, or saying something in attempt to break the awkwardness. It’s all feels yuk really and I’ll be on the look out more to see how I respond the next time I feel awkward.

455. And when we allow ourselves to be awkward the space is opened up for other things to occur, that might not if we are to become embarrassed and contracted instead.

456. I feel that allowing oneself to be awkward is one of the gateways to having true fun. Isn’t awkwardness just the road block we hit when we have the opportunity to be more of ourselves… It’s like the so called uncomfortable silence most of us has experienced some time in our lives. If we allow ourselves to just be in that and allow it there is a whole world that can open up that is naturally at ease with everything and full of joy.

457. Living life without perfection is part of being able to live with awkwardness at times as we are not always proficient at everything or in every situation. Showing this imperfection and being comfortable to be uncomfortable at times is quite a beautiful thing to see.

458. This is great Annie. Allowing ourselves to feel how awkward a situation is and not needing to change it – that’s something I’m not good at so thanks for the blog.

459. I do know that feeling of awkwardness to well as it happens regularly in my life. When I reflect on these moment they feel to me as moments where I am asked to stand for who I am and how I know how I would behave in that situation. Not adhering to that feeling will keep me in that awkwardness but the I adhere to the call for me to grow I will be in my strength again and have learned the lesson that was presented to me. Thank you awkward moment…

460. living life from reactions creates constant tension and anxiousness. Feeling who we are and living life from there opens up opportunities to observe and see clearly.

461. Awesome what you are sharing Annie, as so many of us can relate. ‘I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong.’ This really highlights for me how important it is to stay connected to ourselves and not try to change ourselves to suit any situation or avoid feeling what’s comes up for us to feel. This is such a great example and thank you for sharing with us to learn and be inspired.

462. Like you Annie I too have felt those awkward moments and not quite known how to handle them. I will in future follow your lead and meet them full on with humour in the moment, and not mull over what I might have done. To be lighthearted lifts that awkward feeling.

463. Annie, thank you for writing this blog, I can so relate to what you share here, having many awkward moments and often reacting to them and berating myself about them, and you remind me here that it’s not always just about me, it’s about all of us, and there is a bigger picture where we are indeed asked to hold steady and as you say ‘If I can stay steady with myself, allowing openness and trust in my body, I can support others to also build trust again in people and in relationships.’ I needed reminding of this.

464. Almost looking forward to an awkward moment after reading this blog.

465. Spot on Annie, I’d never really seen that this clearly, that our reactions are in effect a rejection of ourselves or a rejection of each other, they put some expectation above what is actually there to be acknowledged/accepted.

466. You’ve nailed this Annie in sharing that it doesn’t matter if we have a particular feeling such as awkwardness, but it is how we respond that matters. This is a learning that we can apply to almost any feeling that we have. When we don’t react but allow ourselves to be with what it is that we feel, we offer that feeling space to shift and change. When we react to a feeling, it is like that feeling digs its heels in and says “no, I’m going to stay”. Be open and accepting of that feeling and it no longer has a hold over us.

467. This blog has initiated an appreciation of ‘Awkwardness’ – true and instant communication from the body that there is something there to be felt and communicated – it makes me smile now rather than run 🙂

468. I have come a custom to feeling awkward or not comfortable in my body. I know deep down this feeling in my body is a marker of truth. If I am not feeling anything in my body then there is a chance I am disconnected to my body and therefore my truth.

469. After reading this blog Annie, I can feel how often I judge myself for feeling a certain way in life, instead of merely allowing the feeling to be there without reacting to it negatively. This feels like a huge drain on me as well, as if I am fighting against myself. Every moment we don’t allow ourselves to just be and not try to constantly change things it’s a moment that we are holding back what we all have to offer to each other, our true essence.

470. This morning I was looking at the awkwardness of certain moments and then I remember how awkward I always felt simply walking. The first thing that came then was did I just show up at these awkward moments or did I walk awkwardly to them. I remember feeling like walking was something simple I could do but the feeling just wasn’t right, I didn’t like how the way I walked felt, it felt awkward amongst other things. When I read this blog yesterday I could really relate to what it was saying and today I realised the awkward was me walking it to situations, it was my feeling that was there long before I got in front of anything or anyone. I watch the way I walk and I spend time just walking to know how it truly feels for me to walk. That way if I can’t feel ‘my’ walk then I know that’s the first place for me to settle.

471. When we don’t fight how we feel and just let it be, it creates the space for something other than reaction – we can be far more at ease with ourselves and with others.

472. One of the things I lIke from this blog is that it says it is OK to have an awkward moment. And that it is only ever the moment itself that is awkward and never that you as a person are wrong or need to be ‘fixed’.

473. Allowing what is there to be felt seems such a simple thing but the reality is that most of what we feel we have learnt to push it away, or down in our bodies. I know I’ve dug a bit of a well of these pushed away feelings so even if I’m having a fairly ‘simple’ awkward moment, it’s very possible it has lots of company to make it all seem bigger than it is. I love what you share Annie simply saying out loud “that feels awkward.”

474. I like when you say “we laughed about it”. We take everything so seriously, we are so protected from showing our true selves; the pretences and lies that we are telling ourselves and everyone are…well, sometimes they can be just plain so ridiculous that, when exposed, are funny. This has been happening to me recently. A lack of judgement and an increased tenderness with myself has allowed me to be OK with any faults, frailties or short-comings. I’m not perfect and it’s good to laugh at the imperfections.

475. ’If I can stay steady with myself, allowing openness and trust in my body, I can support others to also build trust again in people and in relationships.’ – A super important point, steadiness offers a true reflection for others to let their guards down and to start to truly trust.

476. “The reaction to awkwardness was there if I felt the slightest bit of rejection or exclusion from a group, or if I said the ‘wrong’ thing….” There is so much self judgement in these moments, but by acknowledging the awkwardness, as you did Annie, the hold these feelings have over us is broken and is replaced by a lightness and openness. Very inspiring.

477. I love this Annie. We have all had our little awkward moments (like me just trying to spell the word awkward 🙂 and there is a lightness about embracing these and accepting them. Not making these moments bigger than what they are and not letting them diminish who we are.

478. Well said Annie, what makes us awkward most of all is the judgement of events, and feelings that we have. These thoughts start us down a trail of continual escape, relentless hiding our head in the sand. If we can make it through the day without an awkward exchange or moment it’s a big success, and we have created a million techniques to avoid it. Yet what you share helps us see awkwardness is in fact a door to understanding which we can choose to open, with acceptance and allowing we have the key.

479. And what you shared can be translated to so many other feelings. What came to my mind was fragility. How often I have over-ridden this feeling and not allowed myself to be with it. Now I am changing that more and more and actually an expression and allowance of that fragility can be an amazing break-down of the protection in me and in others. I have had so many experiences of how this feeling (that I have hidden for so long) is actually what I and others have been crying out for. If it is our truth – express it. Simple.

480. Thanks Annie for sharing this, it’s super helpful. How often do we try and push down what we’re feeling because we don’t know how to deal with it rather than acknowledge what’s there and work with it – responding like you have feels like it brings so much lightness with it.

481. There have been many awkward experiences in my life and when I really have wanted someone to fill an awkward silence. This is fantastic Annie, because it empowers me from now on, to feel that moment myself and defuse the situation with an “oops”, a laugh, letting go of it, and feeling it’s no big deal. Reliving the anxiety makes it grow and letting it go releases us.

482. Awkward moments are felt by all, something I have felt many times, I like what you share Annie by just calling the awkward moment out and that allows the situation to be lighter rather than not saying anything and creating a tension. Also the body feels lighter, rather than hardness in the body.

483. Articles like this confirm to me that I am Love before I am any other emotion that seemingly takes me over at times. I’ve never realised that I could ‘just’ feel awkward and still remain connected. It’s just like outing whatever happens inside of me. Without wanting anything to change or be different. Boy oh boy how different is this than awkardness taking over… Which is in fact as a form of control. If we’re acknowledging or not doesn’t matter.

484. Reading this blog again I realise growing up I associated awkwardness with feeling stupid, silly or immature and would try at all costs to push those feelings down and once again rise to a level that I thought was confidence. With many interactions awkwardness seems to come in when we hold back how we feel about another…. like not saying that thing your body is bursting to say, so you stand there ‘making up’ other things to talk about… which in turn feels very awkward 1. for shutting down the true expression and 2. awkward for the other person feeling the pretending conversation instead.

485. It is incredible how adept we are at complicating things, making ourselves wrong, the other person wrong, the situation wrong and carrying the bad taste forward with us, when as your example shows all it can just boil down to a lighthearted honest expression of something like ‘wow that was awkward’. Love the simplicity and the playfulness.

486. I like your practitioners question “What if you allowed the awkwardness in your interactions? What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?” Awkwardness is an opportunity to grow and learn by naming it when we feel it.

487. I really love reading this blog Annie. It often feels like in life we have to be able to handle anything, be perfect and steady. We can be all that but there are moments that feel weird, like the scenario with someone on the phone I can so relate! And in those moments it is good to feel the awkwardness and let it be so as to not check out of ourselves and stay with ourselves. This brings that ability to handle life and feel steady.

488. This is great advice from your practitioner.. and how valuable to know that often what we think is the issue is not at all.

489. When you say that “I can stay with myself, in full presence, allowing my imperfections rather than try to push away my feelings or wish I could rewind life and try again”, it applies to everything that we are uncomfortable with or that doesn’t feel right and warrants further exploration. It actually gets right to the heart of the matter, allowing the time and space to let it unfold.

490. At the end of the day this all seems to amount to responsibility – taking responsibility for our feelings, our actions, for everything we do. And part of that is allowing ourselves to be all of who we are, and loving ourselves anyway.

491. ‘If I shy away from the feeling and push it away, I end up trying to numb and distract myself with overeating and shopping.’ Ah yes, those old chestnuts, retail and food therapy. Enjoyable for a while, then back to square one and the consequences of our actions. And none the wiser as to what we are feeling. Usually it will take ill health to stop us in our tracks, and sometimes not even then.

492. ‘I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong.’ What a great approach to bring to everything we feel – none of it is ‘wrong’, just present and at the end of the day able to pass through us. Feeling what we feel is the key, rather than burying or denying.

493. Day 1 and I have already used what I have learnt from this blog! There were at least 3 potentially awkward moments that I named and we all just laughed! So much simpler.

494. I love what you have written in your last sentence Annie. Whatever we are facing, and in this case embarrassing awkwardness, Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine always offer wise advice and support; it is deeply appreciated.
     “I am appreciative of and inspired by Serge Benhayon and the amazing Universal Medicine community that remind me of who I am and support me to allow more of me to unfold”.

495. Awkward, vulnerable – very similar in many respects, if not the same, and it is important to be at ease with both in order to ensure we do not put up any walls to what there is to feel.

496. It’s about learning and accepting to be ok with tension around us and not take it. More often than not we feel other people’s awkwardness and take it on as our own.

497. This is a beautiful reminder Annie. I used to feel terribly awkward in groups — I would take on other people’s awkwardness as well as my own! Nowadays I nominate it just as you say and have a playful mini conversation with myself — ‘hmmm, this feels awkward’. Not fighting it, observing it, it starts to dissipate and what I really love us I now stay with me. I don’t try to please or compensate — and as a result I now have a lot more confidence in larger groups.

498. ’…and commented: “That was awkward…” We laughed about it and I was able to feel the lightness in the situation.’ – Love this, how simple!

499. Brilliant Annie, how familiar feeling awkward in awkward situations has been for me, I could never quite determine whether it was me or the other and what was ’needed’ in the situation, hence my strategy was to either ignore it or cover it up, with the result that I was left with an uncomfortable feeling in my body.

500. ‘…my awkward moments are actually not the issue, but it’s how I respond in these moments’ – This is really interesting Annie, and is a totally different way of addressing the awkward moments a lot of people experience in interactions and different situations. Instead of getting frustrated or stressed towards the situation itself or the person we’re talking to/with for creating the awkwardness, if we look at our own part in the moment and what quality we are bringing to the interaction then we can evaluate what the true cause is of the tension and choose not to react to this.

501. When we let go of judgement of ourselves or in any situation we invite the lightness of truth to enter through which we are then offered to opportunity to be guided to know what is true and what is not. We then will come to realise that is not about what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ or is what deemed socially correct but more so about what feels true and what does not, and that it is our choices that determines how we feel in any situation, which we have the power to change at any moment.

502. My experience is that when I feel awkward, I feel vulnerable and when I am vulnerable, then I am open. Hence it makes sense to stay with it.

503. It’s interesting how we have labeled so many things right or wrong when really they are just things, situations…life. Not everything feels comfortable and we learn much more when things aren’t. It would be great to go through life completely self assured yet it is much more human to feel everything and not always know the coolest thing to say. Learning to be present and to not take things personally is awesome. Knowing that everyone has their stuff and their hurts and that everyone has their ways of dealing with things is wise.

504. For me many awkward moments came from me saying something that created a reaction in others. I never quite knew how to handle that and in the end learned to hold my tongue and not say anything because I couldn’t handle the discomfort. When we speak from a truly connected place, what we say is only what is needed to be said and we can feel the truth of it in our hearts, so the awkwardness is not there.

505. ” I have often reacted to awkwardness, which has meant a hardening in myself in that moment of how I feel or how another feels, making my feelings or their feelings wrong.” I used to feel awkward all the time but I have noticed the more I stay connected to myself the less awkward I feel and the more I can observe the situation.

506. I love this Annie, it makes so much sense. What a beautifully simple way of dealing with a moment of awkwardness, to literally just be honest about it and not hold back on saying so rather than shutting down what we are actually feeling and seeing, and that in some way we are wrong. Thank you. I will take this into my day.

507. Thanks, Annie. What your blog highlights is how things become challenging when we react to situations and abandon the connection to our inner knowing and the felt sense in the body. Any situation can be accurately read and we can stay solid in the awareness of what is truly going on. Then there is no awkwardness, just opportunities to learn.

508. ‘Awkwardness’ – uncomfortable moments. This is great to ponder Annie because I have had similar experience where I have not known what to do with myself when finding myself in a situation that doesn’t feel quite right. I am realising that it is the perspective I choose, which is often influenced by my past experiences and often are about me and not getting myself out of the way, just allowing whatever is there to be there. This also questions my expectation or images I am carrying around that stop me from being present and holding stillness in that moment. I loved it when you named the awkward situation and how it diffused what was there. Thanks Annie 🙂

509. Awkward is such a great word, isn’t it? It looks, and perhaps sounds, as awkward as awkward feels. The derivation is interesting – it means something like ‘turned the wrong way, the wrong way round, upside down’… which is pretty much how we feel when we are in that state. From goofy to mortified, we do awkward well. The example of the boyfriend sandwich probably sat in the latter category, and I can recall a number of cringe-worthy moments like that in my life too. They seem to be moments where we’re out of sync, or caught on the hop or the fly or in an unexpected situation. Perhaps in is a case of not being in our rhythm, aligned with our natural selves.

510. Super awesome blog Annie with many little gold nuggets. I have always felt awkward around groups of people, not knowing quite how to just be myself, but then I was deeply insecure, lacked self worth and confidence…. However, those awkward moments are less and less as I have learned to trust in myself, which is the biggest gift to myself, and even if there is an awkward moment, I no longer beat myself up or make myself wrong for it – simply I go ‘ oops’ which keeps it light along with the reminder that we dont have to be perfect, as long as we are open and connected with ourselves, connected with our divine essence, the heart always knows how to respond – such is the wisdom of the heart.

511. I love the idea of embracing awkwardness Annie rather than reacting to it and going hard to avoid feeling any possible rejection. This feels so much more allowing and accepting of the fact that life is not always smooth and when we acknowledge it we are much more likely to be able to stay with ourselves and move onto whatever is next without carrying the impact of having felt awkward.

512. To learn to observe instead of absorb, but stay connected, is key in every situation I would say.

513. Great realization Annie, “Often I have taken it personally when I have felt another person be awkward with me, but I realise that people have their own hurt and fears around rejection” and I agree, we do not serve in any way when we join in here. To take situations and people’s reactions personal is so egocentric ;). In fact is it all about energy that comes through us – not personal.

514. “Do you ever have awkward moments with people?” I think everyone in the world could answer yes to this if they were honest. We all have those awkward moments where we don’t know what to say or how to respond. It feels so much better if we can be honest about it rather than try to hide it. It opens the way for humour and lightness, and we can feel more close to each other as a result. We are all human after all.

515. “What if you allowed the awkwardness in your interactions? What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?” This is so helpful Annie, how often do we judge the feeling of awkwardness as being a bad thing and so try and hide or dismiss what we are feeling because it feels uncomfortable. By accepting that we are feeling awkward and staying with it keeps us present in the moment, and stops all the other thoughts flooding in that there is something wrong, or we shouldn’t feel this way.

516. It’s lovely what you share Annie. It’s OK to have awkward moments, but not to stay in them, simply breeze them away lightly.

517. I found too that to accept my feelings is key to go on. If not they stay with me – unresolved – and do increase and multiply. It is like getting stuck with them. No fun. No lightness.
     I love how you describe the moment you chose to express how it felt awkward and you all together had a laugh and it was gone. Life can be so simple and easy if we are honest and let go of control…

518. What I used to find with feeling awkward was how embarrassed I could feel after the situation had occurred and wished I had reacted differently, and then every time after if I thought about the situation I would cringe and be hard on myself, and try my hardest not to think of it. It is so much easier to acknowledge how we feel in that moment than keep re-visiting the situation in our heads and reliving it.

519. Annie I love this blog about awkwardness because there is not a person in the world who has not experienced this moment in some shape or form, whether it be dressed up as embarrassment, shyness, blushing, anxiety etc. Here you have given us permission to observe these reactions without self-judgement rather than run away from them and hide – I can’t speak for everyone, but this is certainly music to my ears!

520. ““That was awkward…” We laughed about it and I was able to feel the lightness in the situation.” I can feel Annie by you nominating how you felt that allowed the awkwardness to be out there and hence not for you to be owned by it, which may well have happened had you suppressed those thoughts and held onto them in your body.

521. “…..try to push away my feelings or wish I could rewind life and try again.” All of us can relate to having a picture of what we should be like, how to emulate the friends that look so at ease with life and never seem to wobble, the amassed aspects that make our ideal of perfection. Hence anything that does not fit into this pictures becomes a negative, a fault, and as we find more and more of these we begin to see them as part of us. I can really relate to your feelings of awkwardness Annie, I have found that the more I build a relationship with my body the more presence I feel in situations like this, and by being more in my body I do not get drawn into so much self doubt or questioning.

522. What a relief to be able to express how you feel Annie without judgment. Learning to accept all our feelings without deeming them right or wrong is a big step in un-doing many of the social restraints we have been raised with. How refreshing it is for people when we can simply say how we feel with no angst or tension, it paves the way for a much more honest and open society.

523. “The practitioner asked me “What if you allowed the awkwardness in your interactions? What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?”” Wow Annie, i love these questions, because they give you permission to engage with and embrace the awkwardness, walk towards it and get to know it – as you rightly say many would see this as a fault and self bash about it.

524. Annie I think this is great, it certainly helps me approach situations in life with a lot more freedom and openness. If things are awkward then thats ok, what I really take away is if I try to stop them being awkward, ignore what I feel or act in a way that is not myself then that is the real issue.

525. When we allow ourselves to acknowledge what our body is feeling however unpleasant it may be, we can learn so much about ourselves, which can be very revealing. This can be empowering as it can lead to us make changes that are enhancing, as you share Annie.

526. Love the advice from your practitioner. There are moments in life that simply are awkward… and yet what is the problem with that? We try furiously to brush over them, or pretend they did not happen rather than simply saying it out loud… and then it has no power of us and we don’t walk away filled with a subtle anxiety.

527. ” I have often reacted to awkwardness, which has meant a hardening in myself in that moment of how I feel or how another feels, making my feelings or their feelings wrong. It has felt like a rejection of me and my delicate nature and a rejection of the other person, and all in not wanting to feel any discomfort.”- I too, can relate to times of feeling awkward and reacting, without having the courage to say exactly how I felt in the moment. But I am now learning that if I stay connected with me, and something unexpected happens I am less likely to react. I can observe the situation and see it for what it is and therefore not get affected.
     It still is a work in progress. I am learning to not judge myself or the other person as something being wrong.

528. Thanks for writing this Annie, awkward moments will never be the same again I will check into how I react from now on and try and bring a lightness and humour to them and see how I go from there.

529. Annie, this is such a great article, I had not really nominated that I feel awkward in certain situations, reading this I can feel how this can be the case,I love how you share that it is not ‘wrong’ to feel awkward and that allowing this feeling rather than trying to cover it up and ignore it is much more true and loving, it’s beautiful that you said you felt awkward to your friend with the hug, I love your honesty – simply saying what you are feeling without feeling like there is something wrong with you or her – very beautiful!

530. Expressing how we feel in these awkward moments creates an open space for everyone to in turn share how they feel too. We are not alone in these moments and when we are open it breaks down the protection held and creates a lighter space to share and connect.

     1. Sometimes, awkward moments may be awkward because we need to claim ourselves at that moment like the telephone conversation Annie describes where the most supportive action could be to walk away. Awkward can be many things.

531. Thanks for sharing Annie. Great blog. Acknowledging an awkward moment just keeps it as that – an acknowledgement – lessening the chance of lacing it with a judgment or self critique. And usually then we can see the funny and lighter side of this as we process the awkward interaction.

532. I know those awckward moments and often do not allow them to be felt but react to them. This is a great call, Annie, to stay with them and just feel them.

533. Giving ourselves permission to be less than perfect, and to be seen to be so, is very freeing not just for the one doing so, but for everyone else too. Thanks Annie, this sort of honesty in relationships allows for much greater depth in my experience.

534. A very healing account of awkwardness and how you have come to see it now allowing understanding and just being and not reacting which is a real inspiration to read.

535. When we are just being ourselves we can take ourselves anywhere in the world and not be awkward. Just being ourselves is universally understood, whereas being who we are not brings up a plethora of discomfort wherever we are.

536. If everyone was simply themselves then there would be no awkward moments. Awkward moments only exist because we have entered a made up realm of human beaviour and so people feel lost as to how to behave as opposed to the ‘one size fits all’ natural way of just being ourselves.

537. It seems that our mind is super quick to categorize each of our moments as they arise, which we then respond to by feeling a certain way depending on what category the moment falls into. If we deem that it was an embarrassing moment then we go red, sweat and contract, if it’s a happy moment then we smile, relax and expand. If we can get to the beginning of the process and remove the categorization and simply see all moments as life and the learning that life delivers then our constant contraction and expansion would come to an abrupt halt and we would be left with evolution.

538. Annie when I read your opening question ‘Do you ever have awkward moments with people, situations where you just want to run or hide – or do both?’, I could clearly feel the memory of recoiling in my body at remembering such times. It really is such a horrible physical feeling, a type of implosion and the opposite of expansion.

539. Annie that is really a good tip to do if I am feeling awkward: “If I acknowledge the awkwardness and just say to myself “That felt really awkward!,” I can stay with myself, in full presence, allowing my imperfections rather than try to push away my feelings or wish I could rewind life and try again.” It feels like more fun to stay and feel it in full instead of overriding it as I am more aware and so do not need to bury it what is in the end very exhausting.

540. I can also relate to many awkward moments that I have felt over the years, but in retrospect I can recognise that much of the awkwardness can come from my own disrespect or disregard for another or a situation, or from another showing disrespect or disregard towards me – and so I feel awkward in having to own up to the situation OR I feel awkward in exposing the other person’s disregard towards me. Such as an issue as you have mentioned Annie – for someone to not have paid their debt and for you to have to chase it up is exposing the other for their disrespect towards you, yet the awkwardness comes from us not being comfortable with letting them know they have been in the wrong.

541. I love how you have talked about allowing the awkwardness – this takes the pressure off and allows the situation to be as it is. Life is full of situations that are not perfect, that may not feel that great, that can be painful or awkward or embarrassing etc, but the moment we allow it to be what it is and not try to make it something it is not, then we are more free just to feel and be in the moment. It could be as simple as calling us to just feel how awkward something feels, or how ‘off” we feel, but the simplicity of this is freeing. Thank you Annie for sharing this simple yet awesome experience and understanding!

542. Embracing how we feel be it with awkwardness, shyness or uncomfortablity for example, is empowering in that, it offers us the opportunity to truly and honestly observe how we respond to situations, how it feels in our bodies, through which we can then choose to heal and let go of that which keep us from living and expressing in full who we truly and naturally are in essence.

543. Beautiful Annie – no one can fault that – as it is experienced by you and you actually bring some amazing points to the surface. I always wondered , but never truly questioned this awkwardness (feelings like that) and felt most of the time shamed about them. But now I can understand that these feelings were never wrong – just by my imagine I had made them to be. So is it not about wrong or right feelings – but actually admitting them and feel what it is offering you (learning, confirmation of your truth).

544. I have found it amazing to discover the power of honesty and acceptance. Whenever I am honest and accept how I am feeling in a situation and simply express this, I then feel a natural sense of lightness, like a weight has been lifted off, as in that moment I have freed myself from hiding, protecting, discounting or dismissing how I truly feel. I am learning more and more how it is this openness and honesty that rebuilds trust in relationships, as it is this that we all deeply crave and appreciate in the relationships we share.

545. Thankyou Annie, I have those moments of feeling awkward also, particularly about things I’ve said, for me I can either stay in there and continue to feel awkward or just accept myself and possibly make light of it and have some fun. The moving on from it is essential and not staying in that moment going over it. What I have learned is that a lot of comedy can come about from being open about awkward moments. 🙂

546. I used to get this feeling of awkwardness whenever there was a silence during a conversation and my mind would go into overdrive trying to think of something to say. I am getting so much better now at simply enjoying the silence as being part of the natural rhythm and flow that happens during the course of some of our conversations.

547. Awkward moments are only that way because of our reactions, whereas allowing ourselves to feel and understand what is going on within ourselves helps us to learn and move on.

548. “Often I have taken it personally when I have felt another person be awkward with me” This was a big one for me too Annie and it took me a long time to finally come to the realisation that it actually had nothing to do with me whatsoever.

549. Embracing what we feel, be it awkwardness or another uncomfortable feeling, puts it in perspective so that it does not rule us. I love how you made light of that very awkward hug moment just by speaking what you felt!

550. Thank you Annie for this lovely and very relevant topic covering ‘awkwardness’. Once upon a time, from childhood, I used to be feeling constantly ‘awkward’ in almost every situation, whether it was meeting someone new, being asked to speak for example in a youth group when it was my turn to offer my thoughts on a matter etc., meeting once a year relatives etc., but since being a student of Universal Medicine I am learning to just be me, be myself and if another responds rigidly or awkwardly then it is possible that a seed of a different response may still have been germinated. I have experienced that even during these past few years where rigidity may have been the response to a hug previously, there is now a willingness to receive the naturalness of a warm and gentle connection. We don’t always know the loveless or harsh circumstances that may be behind a response from another that feels like awkwardness or rigidity, in which case I am finding being just honestly ones’ loving self may possibily open the door to the heart for another.

551. The lovely thing I have come to appreciate is that as I am becoming more accepting of myself and feeling more ‘comfortable in my own skin’ those awkward moments have become fewer and far between.

552. For me “allowing awkwardness” means being gentle and understanding equally with ourselves and others.

553. Love this blog. Awkwardness is something that we all experience. To call it what it is is the simplest way to deal with it. Thank you Annie

554. ‘Embracing Awkwardness’ You have nailed it in one in your title Annie!

555. What pressure we put on ourselves to be all things to all people, instead of just appreciating our differences and loving that we all bring our own essense. Tension is just an indicator and a tool that we can observe and respond to but not shrink away from, as it presents an opportunity for deeper connection and understanding.

556. What i love Annie is that because you know your level of awkwardness so well, you can spot this in another and respond holding them as you now hold yourself in the understanding of what awkwardness is really about and what we have a hard time with – accepting all that’s being felt. What a healing your ‘awkwardness’ offers Annie for the loving space you hold a person in, and the presence of your own understanding that makes you so accessible and real to others.

557. “I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong” – very helpful Annie, i can relate to this, yes, there’s the default that goes if something’s negative (awkwardness), we’re wrong/in the wrong, and if it’s positive then it’s right/we’re right… and yet what is more true – is acceptance of exactly whatever we do feel, irrespective of any mindset or belief used to measure our worth, and puff us up in arrogance or deflate in reduction or subservience.

558. Annie I have allowed myself to be subjected to the same level of self judgement and critism. It’s painful to live with, as it was always there to to either run from or get through. Until I started to appreciate we all have our purpose and we are all playing our part, as soon as I started to love myself instead of letting the critical head rule, my whole approach has released the tension, and embraced the equality we all are, my expression is now there no matter who I am talking with. I realise one key change was not allowing the head to bring it back to being all about me but rather the responsibility of openly expressing and enjoying the opportunity to meet and share with other people.

559. I love this blog as I don’t allow myself enough to feel this and can so relate to wanting to go and eat or shop. I love how you have made it something that isn’t so serious- I really needed to read this today- thanks.

560. Great subject matter. I have never thought of embracing awkwardness in the way you have described. I usually avoid or run, I might give it a go next time one of those moments come up.

561. This is such a pertinent conversation for me at the moment. I hadn’t really felt this before and yet this week I have been aware of it around me and I was unsure what to do in many of the situations. I am sure I will come back to this blog again as I take time to see the consequences of this understanding in my life now.

562. Ah awkwardness, what joy to embrace it and what freedom this movement expresses, what a gift your are.

563. Expressing how awkwardness feels to us is love back to ourselves. But what is awkward anyway but a picture which is not commonly accepted in our normality of life, and what is normal but another picture that most have agreed to accept? We know what awkwardness is and why we feel awkward with the confirmation from our bodies.

564. This is a really simple and helpful blog about allowing our awkward feelings, rather than pushing the reaction away and labeling it as something bad or unwanted. It’s something I can see I’ll be reminding myself of when something comes up that I’d rather push away than simply allow and accept is there.

565. In reading this I’m realising how much allowing my, sometimes acute, feelings of awkwardness would allow me to stay present with myself, allow me to trust myself more and wouldn’t inhibit me from accessing situations/ connections with people that I otherwise avoid in order to hide any vulnerability through experiencing an awkward moment. Self-acceptance and acceptance of life would blossom.

566. Love that your lightness with yourself allowed you to treat an ‘awkward situation’ lightly and have fun with it, bringing others into the acceptance of what you were feeling.

567. Some find silence awkward but is that just because we have learnt or have been taught that we need to fill in the gaps, keep the conversation going and not ever felt how beautiful the silence can be, how powerful it is to have the space and to allow another the time to feel into things rather than respond rapidly out of reaction just to avoid the awkward silence?

     I don’t have an issue with the silence or the space in a conversation, I don’t feel awkward with it…… I love it.

568. Annie I love this. It reminds me of recently being told that it’s ok to feel uncomfortable, that much of life is feeling uncomfortable. I’d been going around with a picture that to be content in life one must feel at ease most of the time and though I often feel at ease i also feel uncomfortable a lot- being asked to do something I’m unsure of, feeling someone reacting to me, feeling vulnerable etc etc.I was beating myself up for feelings of discomfort thinking I’d failed somehow. Now I’ve given myself permission to feel the discomfort and stay present in whatever situation I find myself.

569. In those awkward moments, usually the others around me are also feeling it so if I am able to speak up and not get caught in it or feel that it is just me, just talking about it can change it all for everyone.

570. Love this sharing, Annie, and I can so relate to so much of what you have said. I realise now that I have been plagued for most of my life with feeling awkward, but it is only now that I see that the problem all along is how I have reacted to feeling awkward. How much sense it makes to just allow the fact that I feel awkward and accept that. No more drama, it is just how it is! Wow, I feel I have let so much go in that, thank you.

571. Thank you for sharing this awesome blog Annie, inspiring us to embrace what we feel instead of reacting to it. The key for me is to nominate my feelings and express it as much as possible without hiding it or holding back. I have found this to be the answer to dissolving awkwardness, comparison, judgement, etc. The power of simply choosing to feel and express is absolutely incredible, it feels freeing and deeply loving.

572. how awesome to be able to say “embracing awkwardness”.. awkward situations usually turn out to be the funny ones.

573. “If I acknowledge the awkwardness and just say to myself “That felt really awkward!,” I can stay with myself, in full presence, allowing my imperfections rather than try to push away my feelings or wish I could rewind life and try again.” Love this. It’s a really practical way of supporting ourselves and realising that we are not our reactions. So cool Annie.

574. When we are light and honest about an awkward moment, we also give others the opportunity to be free from the tension and to accept what they are feeling.

575. In not acknowledging how we feel (even to ourselves) – we create an unnecessary issue – that we are wrong, or should have done things differently.
     How simply this dissipates by simply acknowledging what we are feeling without judgement.

576. A timely read for me Annie. I can relate very much to not allowing to feel the awkwardness or any other reaction. Today I hardened as a result of feeling vulnerable and sad about something that went different that expected. To me this felt very important, but it clearly didn’t matter so much for others. This time I allowed (after a little while) to feel and let go of whatever was built up in me. This still feels awkward / uncomfortable, but it’s so much better than pushing it away. Reading this blog now feels very confirming and supportive.

577. Our body tells us the truth, as soon as we are no longer feeling spacious and loose the connection with our body something is ‘cooking’. And allowing and expressing what you feel is the key to unravel.

578. Making things or ourselves wrong and judging doesn’t support anybody. Not ourselves and not the other in the situation. We grow and learn when we are open, curious and willing to observe, so we can read what is going on in this situation and what learning it offers us.

579. There is always something for us to feel into when we react, and often something to learn.

580. Awesome playful blog with great suggestions: there is no such thing as awkward situations, only if you don’t allow yourself to feel and/or express your feelings.

581. Trust and openness are key ingredients for developing our relationship with ourselves as well as with others. The way we are with our body reflects so much. When we stay open in our body we let people in and any awkward moments can simply dissolve.

582. Oh my… next time office celebration cake is called..I am having a quick re-read of this blog and I am going to embrace the awkwardness that I always feel and just be with it. Thank you.

583. “If I can stay steady with myself, allowing openness and trust in my body, I can support others to also build trust again in people and in relationships.”. This line is pure GOLD Annie, this is one of the most amazing gifts you can bring to the world and is one that is so so so needed. It is the perfect anecdote to people that want to run away from the world because it just sets up other people to do the same. Steady is the new black….and oh btw…so is openness and trust!

584. I chuckled as I read this as a fellow awkwardness officianado. Such wise words from your practitioner which I am so grateful you have shared. Such a simple tool and one I look forward to applying when my next awkward moment comes along.:-)

585. Annie I appreciate you talking about this- we certainly know how to feel awkward and then bury it which is actually causing a build up of tension in the body. But if we actually nominate when we feel awkward and why in full, we can let go of the feeling and not react.

586. Hello Annie and awkward is even an awkward word. I can relate to what you are saying about awkward but it sits more in the right and wrong basket for me. So often I walked into situation to get them right, say the right thing only to walk away feeling wrong. There was a hold on being this perfect person that is never possible. But I like you just stay with the moment and not give it or allow any thought to categorise what I am doing or what had been done but more just dedicating to staying with what I am doing and how I am truly feeling. I use to always walk away from situations replaying them over and over until I perfected a sentence or a meeting, I found this never helped and was always a revolving door back to the start again. The more and more I just stay in the moment and then if something comes up afterwards again I don’t let thoughts walk me away from where I actually am, it comes back to presence, presence in each movement and moment.

587. Embracing awkwardness is not what I have done so far. I always try to change the situation I am in to not feel awkward anymore or I have no idea what to do with it and I am definitely choosing to react. But just as all other feeling it is to observe and allow to be what is there to be felt. And I love your experience Annie and how it just can be like that, light, playful and open.

588. Annie what you share is very appreciated, as awkwardness is something that is felt, not understood and then I can turn it on myself in a way I can be hard on myself. This is a gem to bring the light and love to, as I choose to deepen my connection to myself supporting me to bring all of who I am to every situation – whether it is awkward or not.

589. I love this exposing of awkwardness Anne. I was reflecting on some recent awkward moments I have had and noted that this has not been much of an issue for of late as I have not made myself wrong for feeling or saying or doing something a bit awkward – as you identified, I have just allowed it and acknowledged it.

590. “…allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong.” When we make (judging) something wrong we often feel wrong ourselves in the first place, i.e. judging ourselves or are not in harmony with ourselves. The moment we come back to feeling okay with oneself even when feeling awkward the need to protect through judgement ceases.

591. What if awkwardness actually makes us aware of something missing or being out of line to what we naturally know to be true and harmonious? It can offer us a moment of awareness, an inquiry into something we may carry with us or recognise in another and the awkward moment exposes it so that we can learn, heal and grow from it. Accepting what is and learn from it instead of avoiding or denying and hence trying to escape or hide from it.

592. The lightness in just expressing what you feel is universal it is great to allow this simplicity.

593. There can be no awkwardness without an ideal from where we judge ourselves or another for not resembling that ideal. Without trying to be different it is easy to just be with what is.

594. Awkwardness is really very awkward and I still tend to react to it, either my own or someone else´s awkwardness nevertheless, more and more I figure out how to deal with it in an open and upfront way just as you share, Annie, either by admitting the awkward feeling and expressing it, and thereby taking away the tension of trying not to feel awkward. Also by truly seeking connection with the other person (and of course first with myself) saying and nominating everything to build our relationship.

595. “What if you allowed the awkwardness in your interactions? What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?” Love this, if we accept ourselves it is such a relief to drop the manipulation and control most of us live with.

596. I can totally relate to this, Annie, having felt very awkward many many times in my life, and still do often. I love how you bring it back to connection with ourselves. Awkwardness is often a feeling of ‘I should be doing something now’ for me, but when I am connected, I am fine just being and have no feelings of pressure to do something else.

597. Nominating awkwardness is a great way to not take it into your body and keeps the situation as one of truth. Great example,Annie.

598. Thank you Annie for this exploration of awkwardness. What comes to me by reading this is that we seem to make awkward moments awkward as well as we can make sad moments sad by holding on to the sadness/awkwardness. So it is a reaction to a reaction. But as you show when we say what we feel in the first moment we simply dissolve any further reaction.

599. Great topic Annie for a blog. To feel the awkwardness, knowledge it , not judge it and not let it own you. And to actually say ‘ Well that was Awkward !’ … tools for these moments.

600. It’s seems so simple – to not react to our feelings or sense of awkwardness but to acknowledge what’s there – and even though it is simple in my experience too it makes a big difference and supports me to be more present and open.

601. I’ve said ‘that was awkward’ to someone close to me after walking away from an awkward situation but I can’t remember saying it openly at the time. I can feel how by actually saying it, most people would be like ‘ahh yes, someone said it!’…. there is so much to be said for expressing what is needed because most of the times it is not just for us or for us at all to hear but an opportunity to reflect that it is okay and natural to do.

602. I never considered that awkward moments could be anything but that, but reading this article I see that all the awkwardness is highlighting is that something needs attention.
     Your examples show everyone feels there is awkwardness taking place. I have found that if such a moment is just left it just sits as an unresolved moment, but it can also affect future interactions. What a wise move to instead of running away, to break the hold by calling it out with lightness and playfulness as you did. Thanks for the tip.

603. the skill and learning you present is gold, learning to be in your own skin through the joy and the ouch and the awkward moments, something I am not mastered in by any stretch but developing each day

604. I love what you share about building trust again. Trust that all these situations and moments are ok, that we are ok (more than!) and that we can just be, without getting judged or rejected. If we build that trust in ourselves, we can share this with others. This is what the world needs. Trust.

605. This is such an awesome realisation and thank you for sharing because I have often felt like an awkward person, and not sure how to handle a situation if it does become awkward. What you sharing is that we don’t have to react or go into the mortification of the situation but instead nominate that’s how we feel but it’s not an issue.

606. Thank you for this blog. Recently I went to a party and experienced an awkward moment, it seemed to go on for a long time and instead of settling more in my body and staying with myself and the situation I chose to feel small, awkward and then duck out and from there I put myself into a truly disharmonious place. This was a great learning for me and a confirmation that embracing awkwardness is the way to go.

607. How light and gorgeous Annie, to be able to let go of awkward situations, simply by claiming that they were awkward. I may have thought in the past that wouldn’t make any difference but I can feel how it does, it simply acknowledges it so both parties can laugh and move on.

608. How freeing for you to say.. “That was awkward’.

609. Annie what became apparent whilst reading your article was how often we add things like hardness, blame, criticism, shame, embarrassment, self loathing on top of another feeling. We do this so automatically that we don’t question it. How much simpler would life be if we didn’t turn moments of learning into bottomless black holes!

610. Awkwardness can often be felt when we are uncomfortable with being seen for the truly powerful and loving person we are. The more we accept and appreciate all that we bring and how powerful we truly are the less uncomfortable we are with others also seeing it.

611. Over indulging in food is still my no. 1 go to for so many situations! I still have work to do in the area of awkwardness in my life. Appreciation Annie for sharing an area that exposed an issue I had swept under the carpet.

612. This is a great topic to have brought up as I am sure the majority can relate to what you are sharing Annie. How often I have felt awkward at being awkward and then have had to deal with this double whammy! Sharing that it is important to accept what you are feeling without judgment and simply articulate it, is golden advice. Thank you for sharing this!

613. It is an honouring of ourself to acknowledge what we feel in every moment. It frees us up to be all that we are, not in protection of the feeling awkward, as that is what there is to feel in some moments.

614. The most awkward moments I experience are the ones where I have so much to say and don’t know how to express it or people have taken me the wrong way.

     Nothing is perfect with relationships and most of the time taking a step back, learning and laughing about the situation is all you can do.

615. When we do not want to feel the tension in our bodies that certain situations cause, we go into an extensive array of numbing behaviours to override the fact that we registered tension. But we are beings fashioned from love and as such deep down we all know that love is our measure of whether something feels ‘right’ or not. That is, love is our measure of truth and any situation that contains even an ounce of an energy that is not of this love will cause our bodies (which in essence are a finely tuned radar for truth) to register the harming energy. The key here being to develop a relationship with the tension in which we are able to respond and not react to it. Responding meaning to observe it. Reaction meaning to absorb it.

616. There is nothing more awkward than not admitting that something is awkward! It seems admission is the key to dissolving the tension that would otherwise arise here. Great point Annie and like all things true, so simple.

617. When we allow ourselves to observe what we are feeling – be it awkwardness, anxiousness or even anger – rather than judging and reacting, we then have the space to process it and move on. Reacting and judgment only serve to lock the feelings within.

618. Reading your blog what stood out to me was this notion of how we think things should be a certain way and if they are not the way that we think they should be then we think there is something wrong. That is a lot of so called thinking going on in all that! What is needed is exactly what you are talking about in this blog, which is to just let ourselves feel, and then respond to what we are feeling. It makes a huge difference.

619. Love this blog on awkwardness Annie. The tension of awkwardness in many situations is something that dogged my footsteps for years until making different choices to work at bringing more conscious presence and awareness to my body. Serge Benhayon’s presentations have been very supportive for letting go of the ruling of awkwardness.

620. It’s all about feeling what we are feeling, staying with it and accepting the feeling so it can dissipate. This is what I am learning and practicing every day. Feel it, don’t run and hide and bury and discard. Allow it to be and allow it leave.

621. Thank you Annie for sharing how beautiful and simple it is when we allow everything we feel to be there and accept and express.

622. I adore this blog Annie, especially the part where you write about the honouring of your delicate nature. Life is awkward for all of us at different times and in my experience I am often reacting to something I have felt (but don’t necessarily want to admit) when I start feeling awkwardness. Simply allowing the feeling to be there gives me an opportunity to understand why I feel awkward in the first place.

623. It is amazing how much we complicate life when it can be so simple. I love how you get to the point of simply saying that you feel awkward when you feel awkward. It is one of my sayings too “say it as it is”!

624. I have very rarely allowed myself to feel my feelings, and that becomes crazier and crazier a concept as I allow these feelings to be felt more. Doing this is the absolute key to allowing ourselves to be ourselves. all sorts of emotions, reactions and behaviours that weren’t me had to be pulled in just so as not to feel. It is an absolute illusion that feeling what we feel brings a heaviness. As you showed in your example of the awkward hug, it actually brought lightness to the situation, and made the tension and awkwardness pass. No big deal at all. No longer was that feeling of awkwardness a private affair. When you shared what you were feeling, it brought lightness to everyone and was an opportunity for everyone to express. Very inspiring thank you Annie.

625. After reading Annie’s words, I realise that by acknowledging our feelings of awkwardness, or vulnerability, means we are not being so hard on ourselves and can let go of being ‘perfect’ which can lead to comparison with others which can be very destructive and lead us down the path to self-doubt and self-criticism.

626. Annie, thank you so much for your very touching blog. I was moved by your words because I seem to have spent most of my life feeling awkward, and finding (or choosing to put!) myself in awkward situations, believing that I was the only one who felt this way and that everyone was more confident, open and gregarious than me. I realise now that this is not always the case, and this has come to me by being honest about how I am feeling too, and after reading your words I shall take it to another level and appreciate my level of awareness, and not be hard on myself because acknowledging my own awkwardness allows others to do the same, and everything opens up from there onwards to expressing more of myself to another and them to me.

627. When we resist a tension, it creates a bigger tension. Embrace the tension and it starts to dissolve.

628. I can very much relate Annie to your article and what a great topic to discuss. Awkwardness like other feelings, when we out them, they lose their hold over us. Deepening our relationship with those feelings that we are not so fond on, takes the sting out.

629. Allowing the awkwardness with no attachment feels a simple allowing and acceptance of all we are.

630. Such an empowering and sweet blog. I can relate to so much in this. So often I have taken someone’s awkwardness as being something I have done, and owned it, creating an awful amount of anxiety for myself. Just today, a friend whose house I bought, came to visit for the first time; she was still very attached to the home and it was awkward at times. I went to go into doubt about my decor compared to hers, but then became very steady and simply allowed her to feel all she was feeling.

631. I remember a situation many many years ago which was very awkward (in which I’d made a comment about another person which I hadn’t intended them to hear, however they did..) and although I apologised, I had still deeply hurt the other person and the awkwardness between us remained for many many months afterwards. I’m sure at the time I beat myself up and /or tried to justify my behaviour so I didn’t feel so bad, but looking back – while simply being honest about the awkwardness between us would not have absolved my responsibility for my behaviour – I’m sure it would have supported to address how we both felt in this situation much sooner than we did.

632. Gosh Annie, this is revealing something big to me. If we are reacting and trying to dull or numb the feeling of awkwardness we are actually being irresponsible in the sense that we are potentially hardening and keeping people out. Embracing awkwardness teaches us a lesson even though it is not nice to feel. It offers an opportunity to grow within ourselves.

633. I used to have loads of awkward moments when I was younger and completely forgot about these until I read your blog. I relate this change to having more confidence and presence within my body and myself, previously it was like I always wanted to run out of the energetic ‘back door exit’ a kind of fight or flight mode that also left me in constant nervous tension or anxiety within my body. I can really appreciate how much I have changed and how my relationship with myself has deepened with the help and support of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine. But you are right, no one is perfect and with these awkward moments at least you are willing to feel and be honest about a situation it shows your sensitivity as well which is a beautifull quality for someone to have. I also loved what you shared about awkward moments … allow them to be there, there is nothing wrong with that 💕

634. It’s great what you’ve shared Annie. We can choose to react to awkwardness or call it out, and when we do the latter we create an opportunity to read WHY the awkwardness came about and what is going on for ourselves and the people involved in order to cause the slight tension and disruption of a flowing interaction. This means instead of contracting and reacting to the situation, we take responsibility for expressing what doesn’t feel right and this means that whatever tension is playing out is exposed and healed.

635. Nothing awkward about your blog though! It feels like acknowledging how it feels, awkward or otherwise, breaks the ice and stops the reaction – super simple.

636. It’s important to feel all that we feel, and not cover up our feelings by trying to numb them or distract them, it’s much better to feel a hurt etc than try and avoid it.

637. Thanks Annie, a beautiful reminder not to make ourselves wrong about anything, let alone awkwardness.

638. Wow Annie, just what I needed to read this morning. The whole idea of judging myself is very familiar, so here’s to embracing the awkwardness and being more gentle with ourselves.

639. Perhaps embracing awkwardness is also a celebration of your deep sensitivity Annie? To feel awkward is a testimony of just how much you can feel the subtleties in any situation and with that an opportunity to hold more steady and be yourself from observation of those moments?

640. Thank you for sharing Annie, I can so relate to this! Allowing myself to feel awkward is allowing myself to be fragile and to feel, doing this brings a trust in myself from which I feel confident in myself. Wow that was one analysis alright but true, the issues really start when I do not allow myself to feel whatever there is to feel.

641. This made me chuckle as I could imagine how we would be able to circumvent our awkward moments if we could only “rewind life and try again”, and I for one would have definitely been doing an awful lot of re-winding. And if I only had realised that there is actually no right and wrong in awkward, I would have been able to stop the awkward moments from escalating into a full blown attack of embarrassment. So it’s time to take some loving advice and simply embrace those awkward moments and save myself a whole lot of angst.

642. Recently I have been recognising that sometimes when a conversation comes to its natural close I do not express this and move on in case the other person feels rejected but that just creates awkwardness which is what I was trying to avoid in the first place! Allowing awkwardness and not making ourselves or others wrong in this means we get to stay with ourselves and not shut down. I love your example and how by simply acknowledging how you felt it dissipated for everyone.

643. The power of nominating makes the most awkward situations lighter and offers a shift to all involved.

644. It’s true of any feelings we avoid or push away by any form of numbing or distraction, such as eating. It would be so much simpler to honesty say okay that hurt, and allow yourself to feel everything. And there would be way less food issues too, and people wanting to loose weight.

645. It deeply hurts to be excluded from a group, as we know with every cell of our body this is not our natural way to be, our natural way of being and living is one of true brotherhood and unity. The learning is to not take it personally.

646. ‘What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?”’ this is another super inspiring line as we can often judge ourselves, our feelings, our truth as being wrong, by giving our power away to other people, ideals, beliefs or pictures in our head of how and what we or a situation should look like or be, but the truth is this is attacking our innermost truth and light, and very self destructive and damaging on the body.

647. ‘I realised through talking with an Esoteric Practitioner about not knowing how to deal with awkwardness that my awkward moments are actually not the issue, but it’s how I respond in these moments.’ Just reading this I feel it can be related to many moments, it’s not actually the moment, the person, what we feel, the situation, that’s the issue, but how we respond to it, we can either go into reaction, hurt, defense, blame etc, or observe, read, understand, and grow from it.

648. Thanks, Annie. The word that comes up for me reading this blog is ‘allowing’ – allowing ourselves to respond without judgement, to feel what we feel and not try and fix it or change it, but read the situation and what is there to be observed and learned from. Then even the most seemingly awkward encounter with another has meaning or significance.

649. This is such a cool blog, what is feeling awkward is simply in a moment not being sure how to be you? Or perhaps the other person is not sure how to be themselves? No big deal, we’re all learning and in this together.

650. Annie awkwardness is such a great topic to write about, nearly all the people I know have shared the fact they feel awkward at different points and we all want to avoid that feeling. What I love is allowing ourselves to not criticize or think we are wrong to be awkward but to bring awareness and lightness to it. I also love how through expression we stop bottling up how we feel and can move forward.

651. ‘This time I acknowledged how I felt after I released from the hug and commented: “That was awkward…” We laughed about it and I was able to feel the lightness in the situation.’ Annie, I love how you brought humour to your ‘awkward’ moment and by doing so you were able to feel the lightness of the situation. Sometimes I feel we can take life too seriously and when we bring humour to life it completely changes the energy of a situation.

652. Annie, your blog, confirms the importance of not making assumptions about people, based on how we perceive them to be. Most most people live guarded and protected lives and rarely reveal how they’re truly feel within. Irrespective of how others appear to be, we always have a choice in the way we respond to them. As Serge Benhayon presented recently, when we are steady within ourselves we more likely to respond lovingly to another, rather than react and stand apart from them.

653. Your blog Annie highlights how often I have awkward moments where I don’t allow the awkwardness just to be there and react rather than stay with my body. What I’m finding more and more is just how unreliable my head is and that living from my body is the only way.

654. The last time I had a hanging in the air awkwardness was when I was talking to a friend I know and were talking things we hold back. She was saying that she knows she is amazing, beautiful women but holds herself back from the world with conditions. I replied ‘you’re amazing, but…’ a reflection of her holding back. The words hung in the air and in the silence that followed, she replied at the same time it came to me what I said could have been ‘your amazing butt’, and I finished the sentence that had hung in the air and we both just smiled.

655. I love that playful way you responded to your first experience of awkwardness after receiving wise counsel from an esoteric practitioner. Simply expressing what you felt in the moment, dissipated the tension, and it was over.

     1. They say honesty is the best policy, and having the awareness to feel how you are feeling, and expressing it, even to yourself, opens the gateway to a more deeper form of expression and as you rightly say, kehind2012, dissipates any tension, not only between our interactions with others, but in our own bodies too.

656. Beautiful Annie, and thank your practitioner as well for me. I have many awkward moments and the last thing I ever thought to do about them was allow them to be there with no judgement, accept them without trying to make believe they didn’t exist or trying to cover them up.

657. Annie, you show the importance of observing feelings and emotions, rather than judging them. We are called to acknowledge and accept inner discomfort not push them away or ignore. This mirrors life how we can be with other people, often too easy when we feel discomfort with another to push them away rather than dig deeper to understand why.

658. I am sure many will relate to this blog and feeling awkward and not knowing how to deal with it, I know I can and have had my fair share over the years. So thanks for the tip Annie of what to do in those awkward moments.

659. Accepting the awkwardness for being what it is – just awkward really brings a lightness to any awkward situation. Its a great blog Annie that reminds me of not wanting in those moments the awkwardness to go away, but just accepting it for what it is!

660. I had never really considered awkwardness before so it was lovely to read your Blog Annie. It is so easy to brush aside an awkward moment and make excuses for it or just discard it as being one of those things that happen without really addressing it. If we don’t acknowledge them to ourselves or as you did with the hug Annie, expressing that that moment felt awkward…without trying to justify why, releases the feeling of awkwardness from our body.

661. Sometimes we imagine or create awkwardness in a situation where there is none; the awkwardness is all in our mind. The mismatch may be because our body is telling us one thing, to express how we feel, and our mind is telling us the opposite because we think it is easier to say nothing – a cop out. When we express the truth, it is felt by all and no awkwardness is created.

     1. Great point Mary, awkwardness is often the result of past hurts and protections. When I connect to truth it is never awkward.

662. I suppose that is part of what acceptance is all about – allowing yourself to accept that what you are feeling is OK, and not something that needs to be “fixed.”

663. Thank you Annie and yes feeling awkward is not generally a favourite but how amazing to be able to hold yourself and not run from it any more. I love how the esoteric modalities and practitioners support us to look at our ‘awkward’ issues and discover that we can be still and steady in an awkward moment, we don’t have to diminish ourselves or disappear as a consequence. Being able to not react when things get uncomfortable with other people is very important, we create a steady platform that other people can stand on too, so we can all observe, learn and move on from. The more we can learn to do it, the stronger the relationship we build with our selves and one another.

664. This is beautiful to read and I know the feeling of awkwardness only to well. What a delight to feel we can embrace this and stay who we are and allow another to do this also and the trust in each other we can build from this.

665. “…making my feelings or their feelings wrong.” Yet how can our own feelings – or anyone’s – be wrong? Where did we learn this? At home? At school? How wonderful it would be if all children were taught to accept their feelings as being ok – also the difference between feelings and emotion.

666. really loved reading this blog Annie, there’s a simplicity to it. “If I shy away from the feeling and push it away, I end up trying to numb and distract myself with overeating and shopping.” I wonder how many people do this also? might not be around awkwardness specifically but not allowing ourselves to feel whats going on results in a lot of devices used to distract ourselves away from it all. Thanks for sharing the power of just allowing yourself to be with whatever is happening 🙂

667. Allowing and acknowledging truthfully how we are feeling is such a powerful game-changer as your article deonstrates, Annie. Thank you for sharing.

668. Acknowledging awkwardness and speaking honestly how we feel is really important. I was taught to hide my feelings ( of sadness) as a child, as they weren’t considered acceptable. It’s amazing how long this ‘education’ can stay imprinted in the body until we take a fresh look and know that whatever we are feeling it is us being true to who we are.

669. “What if you allowed the awkwardness in your interactions? What if you didn’t judge the feelings as being wrong and just nominated it and allowed the awkward feelings to be there?” This is an awesome way to be with it. Not having a picture on how a situation should be but just allowing it.. to me, this open space up for the potential of what could be.

670. It certainly does change any situation when we express how we feel about it, I love your sharing about the hug, far better to say how we feel in these types of situation and as you proved Annie, this brought a lightness to what had happened.

671. I also felt to say that this reveals how much we are constructing us a life where we put out a face to the world that doesn’t want to be exposed too much. We want to show this much to the world but not all of it. There’s a lot of literature covering this how we construct our identity and our self but I feel that us doing that is just us not feeling comfortable in showing all of us so we create this persona that really is a semi version of our true selves and not the full one.

672. I say yes to embracing awkwardness – I feel it’s related with anxiousness also. Sometimes I can get a little anxious and nowadays I just allow it to be and see what it wants, usually it doesn’t want anything : ) Sometimes I think that awkwardness is just the gateway to experiencing more joy, it’s just that we haven’t gone there before because it’s been safer on the other side.

673. Reacting to our own reactions, there is so much that goes on in an exchange between two people, reading what you have written makes me realise how often we are taught to dismiss and bury our reaction leading to complications and loosing the ability to be honest with what we are feeling.

674. Ahh yes “Awkward” is such a great word that we desperately avoid wanting to feel or be involved with. Crazy how we try to fit in instead of simply being ourselves and calling out what can be awkward situations. Thanks Annie this blog reminds me to claim what is me and not get distracted by the ‘awkwardness’ that everyone is trying to avoid – and in doing so not being with themselves at all. Great Blog could also be titled Embracing Confidence!

675. Very well said Annie, the best thing is to not put away any feeling that comes up as it is telling us something about ourselves or the situation we are in. If we dismiss this part of ourselves we do not live ourselves in full. This said I will embrace life in in its fullness and allow the awkwardness there to be in all its awkwardness, sounds I wil have fun with that.

676. “I realise that allowing the awkward feelings to be there is actually allowing me to be me, observing and letting things just be how they are, without making it wrong.” I love this line Annie and it feels so lovely to allow ourselves to just be and even express how we feel in a playful way takes the pressure off the moment at hand. Always learning and always discovering something new. Thank you for your light and playful take on a moments in life we have all felt at some time.

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