The Transforming Anxiety Podcast

How are you doing this week? I'm doing great...and at the same time, I've been going through some friendship ick over the past year or so and in talking with my clients, I've found I'm not alone in this. Turns out: adult friendships can be tricky . And we've been making ourselves anxious about it. And I thought we'd talk about friendship anxiety this week on The Transforming Anxiety Podcast. Now,...

How are you doing this week? I'm mostly good, and also a little meander-y feeling with the family all out of the house during the week. Now that we're settling in and back-to-school is feeling more like the-routine-of-school I got to thinking about a few old favorites. It seems these friends rushed right back in as soon as things started looking remotely "normal" around here. And by favorites I me...

I got a GREAT listener question a week ago and I had to bring it to the podcast to talk about because I figure there are a few of you wondering the same thing. Namely: why are you still anxious, Kelly? I mean, I get it. Here I am, an anxiety coach, helping other people navigate anxiety, and I still feel anxious . So what gives? Why do I still feel anxious?! Because all human beings do. Anxiety is...

This week on The Transforming Anxiety Podcast, I want us all to slow. things. down. and talk about FOMO vs. JOMO . FOMO = the fear of missing out JOMO = the joy of missing out And they're two sides of the same coin. FOMO has us going all the time, trying to fit in, hustling for approval, and worrying about what could happen if we say "no" to anyone or anything. JOMO is all about the joy that we mi...

This week's episode of The Transforming Anxiety Podcast is an interesting journey: we're going to talk about supersizing, rivers, and perspective (I promise this all ties together). Have you felt like the volume has been cranked up on *all the things* lately? The good stuff is amazing (pool parties! back to school! it's almost pumpkin spice season!!) and the rotton stuff feels intense (headlines.....

Decisions, decisions...we all make decisions throughout the day, but how we approach those decisions and what we believe about decisions makes a HUGE difference. This week on The Transforming Anxiety Podcast we're going to talk about decision anxiety .  Because recently, I got a *great* question from a new listener. She DM'd me on Instagram and asked: " How do I make a decision about whether or no...

This week on The Transforming Anxiety Podcast we're talking about something new: empty thoughts . Empty thoughts are: Thoughts that pop into your head that have absolutely nothing to do with reality...like, " I can't handle this, " or, " I don't know what to do here "

Remember in elementary school how you learned to make sense of new words based on context clues? The words and circumstances around the new word gave you hints to what that word meant. You used everything surrounding that new word to better understand what you were reading. Well, turns out we still use this trick to learn new things about the world...and thanks to those early lessons, it comes pre...

We haven't had a good talk about TIME for a while, so let's do it. Specifically, I want to talk about the idea that "we all have 24 hours in a day..." ...and what total B.S. that is. Most of us think some form of this thought. If you've heard, " Beyonce has the same 24 hours in a day " or thought, " I should be able to get more done, look at what Oprah has accomplished " then you know what I mean....

Last week we covered part 1 (if you missed it no biggie, you can catch it here) and this week we're looking at another round of 5 of the most common thought errors in our sweet minds. Things like: Mental filtering Negativity bias "Should" statements Emotional reasoning Labeling Our minds feed us plot lines the way the Earth spins around the sun: it just happens. Nothing has gone wrong here. If you...

You know how some writers have a formula they use to churn out novels (I'm looking at you John Grisham, James Patterson, Nora Roberts...)? It's because it works. There's a reliable pattern and when you plug in new characters and places, boom, the book writes itself. Well, our minds like to do the same kind of thing to cope with adversity. When something bad happens, our minds want to reach for a r...

Ever since the start of the pandemic, I've found myself outdoors. Craving the fresh air, the space, and the sounds and smells of the Earth. And after a year+ of being so dedicated to getting outside, nature is seeping into so many areas of my life: from hobbies (hiking) and social get-togethers (walking with a friend instead of going out to dinner) all the way to coaching. So this week on podcast,...

Most of the time, when we're faced with something we don't like or don't want it looks like this: NOOOOOOO! And instead of pausing to respond to _______ (fill in the blank with "snarky teenager," or, "demanding boss," or, "inner feeling of dread") we react by resisting, avoiding, and shutting down. This week on The Transforming Anxiety Podcast, we're going to take a look at where, and how, we say...

If you're anything like me, you've tried a lot of things in order to create more certainty in your life: Plan ahead Make all the lists Prepare for the worst-case scenario Plan some more Arrive early Over-pack and bring all the things Ask a bazillion questions Plan some more Play out the what-could-go-wrong possibilities Get exhausted and fall into a heap Anyone? 🙋 It seems as if we can just be ce...

This week on the podcast, we're talking about the most powerful question you can ask yourself. Before we get to that, have you noticed how many dead-end questions we ask throughout the day? What's wrong with me? Why can't I figure this out? What if fill-in-the-worst-case-scenario-here happens? I categorize these as "dead-end questions" because they're asked in a limiting way. They are designed to...

I recently asked our Facebook group community about worry: What do you worry about? What does it look like when you worry? Does worry ever "work" for you? And there were some *great* comments in reply: I can't help but worry... I worry about things I said or did in the past... I worry because I think if I don't worry, then the thing I'm worrying about will happen... I worry about everything... Sou...

As a coach, yoga teacher, and meditation student, I tend to hang out in the realm of emotions, perhaps more often than most. The inner landscape of emotional health is one of my regular playgrounds and I got to thinking about the emotions that we welcome in to hang out with us vs. the emotions we'd rather banish to the far corners of the park. Truthfully, I get tired of labeling some emotions as "...

Ever feel like there's a nonstop chatterbox in your mind, commenting on every single thing that you do throughout the day? Yeah, you're not alone. Most of us are particularly "head-y," meaning we live in our minds and think think think incessantly. We have opinions and judgments and stories. We are constantly listening to a running commentary about what's happening around us. It's nonstop up there...

Ahhh, friend, I'm recently "back" from a 7-day virtual meditation retreat (a truly pandemic experience since I did the whole retreat from home but definitely felt as if I were somehow away at the most divine summer camp). And I have something really special for you this week on The Transforming Anxiety Podcast: lessons from retreat. I'm sharing my experience (including my hesitation to do it at al...

One of the most common things I hear from clients, friends, and family is: I'M DOING EVERYTHING! And when we dig into it together, I hear people say everything from "my partner isn't helping," to, "I don't think my family cares about me," to, "my co-workers are doing it wrong." I know. I've done that dance. And if feels terrible. This week on The Transforming Anxiety Podcast, we're going to talk a...

Does it feel like you can't quite get your ducks lined up some days? Or that they're damn near running you off the road...? I hear ya. I see so many of my students and clients lining those ducks up, day after day, only to have them wander off more times than not. It can wind up feeling like you're completely out of control. Today on The Transforming Anxiety Podcast we're going to talk about how to...

Have you had a good fit lately? A loooooot of people are finding themselves extra irritable, impatient, and at the end of their rope. We're going on a year+ of pandemic life and between the "shoulds" of spring (we should clean! get outside! feel BETTER!) and ongoing uncertainty of COVID (what exactly does the vaccine unlock?) we find ourselves, yet again, in a collective spin situated somewhere be...

Happy (almost) Earth Day! In honor of the spirit of sustainability, we're going to talk about personal sustainability on the podcast this week. If you've ever tried to use willpower to create a specific result in your life or coasted the initial wave of excitement when you start something new, you know that they fizzle out sooner than later. Why? They're not sustainable. And you're right back wher...

Over here, we're officially into the final quarter of our virtual school year (omg we made it) + the boys' golf season started this week (yay, outdoors!) + we're tentatively making summer vacation plans (hello Chicago and Devils Den Park)...the hope is STRONG for a post-pandemic world in the McCormick household! So...what are we up to on The Transforming Anxiety Podcast? This week's episode is all...

It's springtime, which means spring cleaning. And since we focus on all things anxiety around here, I thought I'd bring the 2 together in an episode all about digital spring cleaning. Because: how you interact with your devices could very well be playing a part in how anxious you're feeling on the regular. We're going to look at: Seeing what you *want* to see when you're scrolling (meaning: more o...