Escapado
Hi, I read your post, and then had an AYP sit. I think that your practices, done daily, will help you with your "problem" of how to deal with silence and talk when relating to others, particularly to women you find attractive.
With the expansion of inner silence, social anxiety decreases. That means you can be in a situation that used to be awkward, but you can be at ease by being present to you own inner spaciousness.
With respect to sexual tension you feel with an attractive woman, remember that before you were with her, you were alone, and after you will depart from her, you are alone. The quality of how you spend that alone time will help you be skillful in the together time. One quick suggestion: notice how you feel about a woman, do your AYP sit, then notice again how you feel about that woman. Is there any shift. When you are more self-aware, then you are not so needy, when you are less needy, you notice a wider range of what is happening.
With respect to knowing what to say to "break the ice" -- the expansion of intuitive ability will go a long way. You can go outside the expected discourse, but do it with a ease, and lightness. It can be funny, or serious, or both.
Wishing you well!
