Finding Freedom

Choose your hard, an expression that Dawn and many of us have heard a lot. But what does it mean? Listen into this solo episode of Overcoming Anxiety, where Dawn talks all about this expression, how it relates to anxiety and why making a plan means the choices we make become easier.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  Many of us imagine and dream of a life we could live if we made some changes. Yet we seldom actuall...

This is the sixth in a series of interviews with people who have suffered and dealt with anxiety in their own way. Many people have used a mixture of therapies and medication and have insights into the way they have dealt with and overcome many of the challenges associated with anxiety and depression. Their stories help to show the vast range of circumstances where anxiety shows up and gives us al...

We often tolerate, compromise and accept without exception and in this episode Dawn explores why. She discusses the values and concepts of tolerance, compromise and acceptance and their original meanings, how holding them as values affects your daily life and how they can impact your anxiety.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  To be tolerant is to recognise and respect the belief, rights and practices of others. Co...

This is the fifth in a series of interviews with people who have suffered and dealt with anxiety in their own way. Many people have used a mixture of therapies and medication and have insights into the way they have dealt with and overcome many of the challenges associated with anxiety and depression. Their stories help to show the vast range of circumstances where anxiety shows up and gives us al...

Destination is defined as being the end of a journey, it’s about the end point. For many years Dawn’s anxiety was centered around ‘destinations’, to getting to an end point, to a goal, to whatever she was focused on or striving for. Listen in to this episode to hear how she managed to overcome this mindset, what she does and instead and what you can do to start living a happier life in the present...

This is the fourth in a series of interviews with people who have suffered and dealt with anxiety in their own way. Many people have used a mixture of therapies and medication and have insights into the way they have dealt with and overcome many of the challenges associated with anxiety and depression. Their stories help to show the vast range of circumstances where anxiety shows up and gives us a...

Dawn grew up in the wet county of Devon, people who live in Devon accept rain as part of their lives and do all the preparation they can to deal with it the best they can. In this episode Dawn compares this to anxiety and life in general, life will always have rain but it’s how we prepare for it, deal with it and accept it that matters and helps us carry on with our lives.    KEY TAKEAWAYS  We kno...

Most of what we see and read in the news isn’t just facts. It’s a lot of opinion and sometimes even propaganda. It’s important that we try and remember this when we feel emotional when consuming the news. Listen in to this episode with Dawn to find out why what we read and consume often doesn’t serve us, why it evokes anxiety and stress and what we can do to stop it impacting us in such a big way...

This is the third in a series of interviews with people who have suffered and dealt with anxiety in their own way. Many people have used a mixture of therapies and medication and have insights into the way they have dealt with and overcome many of the challenges associated with anxiety and depression. Their stories help to show the vast range of circumstances where anxiety shows up and gives us al...

Fear is a natural feeling and is often felt alongside anxiety. Listen in to this episode where Dawn talks all about the feeling of fear, what we can do to deal with it and how accepting that change is inevitable can help us start to overcome and conquer our fears and anxiety.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   It may be easy to see that a fear isn’t rational but this doesn’t stop us feeling the fear. What we must...

  Many of those who suffer from anxiety also suffer from perfectionism, that is a need to get everything perfect and anything less than perfect is unacceptable. This can be something we are taught in early life but it isn’t often helpful. Listen in to this episode to find out how we are sent unhelpful messages throughout our lives, how we can learn to understand that perfection does not exist and...

This is the second in a series of interviews with people who have suffered and dealt with anxiety in their own way. Many people have used a mixture of therapies and medication and have insights into the way they have dealt with and overcome many of the challenges associated with anxiety and depression. Their stories help to show the vast range of circumstances where anxiety shows up and gives us a...

  When someone we love is suffering from anxiety, it’s only natural to try and help them. However, this isn’t always helpful to them or what is needed. Listen in to this episode to hear Dawn explain why and what you can actually do instead to help those we love cope and deal with their anxiety.   KEY TAKEAWAYS   We all see the world through our own lenses. We can’t possibly see and understand ever...

This is the first in a series of interviews with people who have suffered and dealt with anxiety in their own way. Many people have used a mixture of therapies and medication and have insights into the way they have dealt with and overcome many of the challenges associated with anxiety and depression. Their stories help to show the vast range of circumstances where anxiety shows up and gives us al...

How open are you to new ideas? There has been countless people in history that were ridiculed and mocked for their radical and new ideas which actually turned out to be true. Listen in to this episode where Dawn explores the importance of being open minded and how this relates to the many differing attitudes around treatments for anxiety and other mental health conditions and mood disorders.     K...

Do we create our thoughts or do they create us? In this episode Dawn explores the power of thoughts, the role they can and do play in our lives and what we can do to stop them from dictating how we feel.   KEY TAKEAWAYS As humans we have an incredible imagination. This can create positivity and happiness but it can also have a downside. We can imagine negative situations that cause us fear, stress...

Dawn has helped many tackle their struggles with fear and anxiety. In this episode she speaks to Pam about her own experiences with anxiety after a traumatic event. Pam and Dawn discuss the fear that was holding Pam back, the lack of hope and depression this was causing and how they then worked together to overcome the anxiety and get her life back.    KEY TAKEAWAYS  Pam was recovering from back s...

Where does our anxiety come from? In the final episode of this three-part series, Dawn looks at what is called modelling. As children we copy the people around us and this continues into adulthood. We are born to learn from others for survival and this is why we ‘copy’ or ‘model’. Modelling has the same effect on our subconscious mind as beliefs and experiences, listen in to this episode to find o...

Where does our anxiety come from? In this second episode of three, Dawn looks at our experiences. Our experiences form how we approach the world, our attitudes and our reactions. Experiences have a bearing on how we tackle something particularly difficult as well as something every day and simple. Listen in to find out why this is and how exposure, balance and tolerance is significant in whether w...

Where does our anxiety come from? In the next three episodes Dawn breaks this down, in this first episode Dawn looks at our beliefs. Our beliefs are rules, expectations and understandings that are embedded in our very self and play a very big role in how we interpret the world around us.    KEY TAKEAWAYS  We create beliefs through both understanding and misunderstanding.  Many of our internal beli...

What happens in our bodies when we are suffering from anxiety? Listen in to this episode to hear Dawn explore and explain the response our body has when we are dealing with anxiety. She talks about the fear response, why this is how our body chooses to respond to stimuli as well as the action we can take to overcome the often learnt behaviours associated with it.   KEY TAKEAWAYS  Even just mild an...

Welcome to the very first episode of Overcoming Anxiety. Join your host Dawn as she tackles what it is to be human and all the thoughts, emotions and experiences that come with it.  Do you ever feel overwhelmed, stressed and out of control? Do you suffer from feeling your heart racing and become overcome with feelings of guilt and dread? Then you may be suffering from anxiety. In this episode, Daw...