Regulate & Rewire: An Anxiety & Depression Podcast

In this episode, we're diving into the 3rd step of the Stress Bucket Exercise, which is all about managing your stress bucket. You'll learn three ways to increase your "buffer zone" and manage our stress bucket: poking holes in the bucket, "scooping" out, and making your bucket bigger. 🪣 We also discuss the difference between baseline stressors and daily stressors -...

In this episode I admit that as a thirty-something year old I currently have the average heart rate variability of a healthy 60 year old. I've significantly decreased the chronic stress load on my nervous system, but unfortunately not before it took a really and measurable toll. The good new is that there are ways to improve HRV, things I'm actively doing in my life today. The bottom lin...

We’ve all heard the saying you can’t pour from an empty cup, but I’d also like to put a twist on it today and say you can’t add to a full one. Join me for part 1 in a 4 part series unpacking the steps to the Stress Bucket Exercise. Todays conversation is all about step 1: Assess - this answers the question of, "What is in my stress bucket?" Until you can get it out of your head and onto...

None of us will ever be a perfect friend, parent, partner, or self-healer – so one of the most valuable skills we can learn is how to repair. In the last two episodes I’ve shared pretty openly that my default survival mode is FIGHT, I’m someone who’s nervous system is still pretty primed for quick activation and as a result I’ve often shown up in relationship with other people in way’s I'm le...

Last week we talked about default survival responses and I invited you to see if you could identify yours – if you haven’t listened to that episode yet I recommend starting there because today’s conversation is a natural extension of that chat where I’ll expand on reasons why it might be helpful to identify your partner’s default way of responding when their sense of self or safety feels at all th...

When you're in an argument or when something doesn't go according to plan - do you face it head on? Avoid conflict? Say sorry when it wasn't your fault? Shut down? We all have a default way of responding when our sense of self or safety is threatened, and that default response looks different for each of us based on biology, our past lived experiences, and the perceived intensity of...

It can feel important and go undone if your capacity isn’t there. For me right now sitting on the porch with my kid is more important than a lot of the house projects I’d like to get done. And getting to bed by 9:30pm is more important to me than any shows I want to watch or DM’s I want to get caught up on. Ask yourself, what takes care of me so that I can better take care of my kids? Choose that....

Have you ever felt like being a parent is simultaneously the best and hardest thing you'd ever done? In my opinion, it is both of those things. Today's conversation is guided by some incredible and vulnerable parents who submitted questions to my AMA form that I want to provide some support for today. We chat through navigating anxiety & depression, activation and shut down, as paren...

🗝️ In this special episode, I'm diving into questions submitted by our amazing listeners. I'll be sharing insights and offering thoughts on a variety of topics that you've been curious about. This format is something I'd love to do more of in the future, so keep those questions coming! Drop your questions or struggles in the form link below for future AMA episodes.⁠ ⁠🔍 In this...

If you’ve been trying to heal your health anxiety & haven’t been able to, it might be because you’re missing one of the 4 evidence-based approaches I discuss in today's episode. My hope is that this 2 part mini series on health anxiety gives you a really clear roadmap as to some possible next steps on your journey to overcoming health anxiety. We'll discuss the brains built in negati...

In this 2-episode mini series on health anxiety we'll discuss what it is and how to overcome it using an evidence based 4-pronged approach. Join me today to learn more about the anxiety response in your brain and body, how this applies to health anxiety, and an exercise to explore your unique experience of health anxiety symptoms, thoughts, and behaviors. Gaining understanding of the basic ph...

The minute we are born we start to lay down patterns of protection and connection.  Join me for a reflective conversation on the piece of your healing that might be impacted by early patterns of protection and how vital laying down new patterns of connection are to your healing. I offer some suggestions in this episodes takeaways on how you might be able to do just that. Hit play to learn more! Jo...

Have you felt like you've been checking a lot of the boxes but still don't feel like you're making much progress in your healing? Today's conversation discusses the difference between in-the-moment nervous system regulation tools vs having a more regulated nervous system overall. The reality is, there’s no amount of healthy living, reactive regulation, or vagal toning exercises...

Today you get another more candid conversation where I share with you some fundamental pieces that need to be in place on your healing journey. You will never be able to talk therapy, vagal tone, or meditate your way to healing anxiety or depression if you're sleeping 5 hours a night, eating crappy food, sitting too much, or hanging out with toxic people. Certain people who benefitted from th...

The same way a professional athlete creates a game plan for specific scenarios they may find themself in during their next match – you too can create a game plan to guide your towards regulation when you find yourself dysregulated in states of activation or shut down, anxiety or depression. In today’s episode I walk you through creating a “Regulation Game Plan” which creates a map for how you can...

CLICK HERE to submit a question for me to answer on our next "Ask Amanda" episode. Today I answered 3 questions from listeners just like you! We talked about how to build in self care as a parent, EMDR vs our 1:1 coaching, and a desire for advice and tangible tools for depression. Hit play to learn more! CLICK HERE for the full show notes, resources, and 3 tangible takeaways! — Looking f...

ADHD is one of the most common overlapping diagnosis for people who struggle with anxiety or depression. Today I take you on a little trip down my personal exploration of whether my symptoms that were diagnosed as ADHD were actually ADHD or rather a natural result of the unsustainable life I was living at the time. I also invite you to muse about some of the same things if it applies to you. Hit p...

Episode 22 Join me for a less polished episode where I pull back the curtain a bit on this whole podcast thing and give you a peak into the juggling act that is my life as a business owner, mom, and podcast host. I also share my desire for you to play an active role in this podcast, here's the two links I mention: CLICK HERE for the full show notes, resources, and 3 tangible takeaways! — Look...

Episode 21 This is part 3 of a 3 episode mini series about depression. It's not enough to understand WHY you're struggling with depression, you also need to have tangible tools to regulate your nervous system and heal. In this episode we will build on the education and exploration from part 1 & 2 of this mini series. You'll learn that the secret to regulating your nervous system...

This is part 2 of a 3 episode mini series about depression. Welcome to Part 2 of my 3-episode depression series. Today's conversations first discusses dissociation, what it is and why it happens. I then invite you into exploring how you uniquely experience this shut down state. Mapping this nervous system state involves exploring the different sesnation, emotions, thoughts, and behviors that...

This is part 1 of a 3 episode mini series about depression. I mismanaged my depression for SO LONG because I didn’t understand it. I floundered in my healing because I was told things, by doctors and psychiatrists no less, “that this is just the way I am and would just have to manage it my whole life” or “depression was a chemical imbalance” and the only fix was a pill. Because I didn’t really und...

Episode 18 We've all head that "exercise is good for anxiety" but what if that's generic advice doesn't fit your experience. What if that spin class gives you panic attack? Or just half a mile into your run your start to experience high anxiety? What if it seems like anxiety is making your symptoms worse? You're not alone. Join me in today's conversation around e...

Episode 17 My only tiktok to ever go mega viral to get millions of views was one about "7 signs you're stuck in survival mode." Survival mode seems to be the new default and there's reasons why. Join me for a conversation where I'll cover what survival mode is, why we get stuck in it, and 4 main components to shifting out of survival mode as part of healing anxiety & d...

Episode 16 The line that summarizes my birth story the most is, “I’m in awe of all the things that go right amongst all the things that go wrong.”  Just about everything went wrong. From the outside looking in this was textbook birth trauma and yet I feel like I've walked away untraumatized. I believe this is because of three very specific things that I discuss with you in this episode. My ho...

Episode 15 This episode provides you with much more than just a scientific understanding of your vagus nerve or a list of “vagus nerve hacks.” The vagus nerve is your mind-body superhighway, sending nonstop information from your body to brain and brain to body and is the star of the show in optimizing mental and physical health. In this conversation I help you build an understanding of, and relati...