The Transforming Anxiety Podcast

I thought it was time for us all to take a breath and sit together. I needed a new meditation, and I love to meditate with you. We sometimes lean towards someone or something out of love, out of curiosity, out of interest. We are pulled off-center, but it's short-term, unattached, and beautiful. It fills us up . Other times, we lean in out of fear, worry, or tension. We grasp and cling. We try to...

Are you familiar with the children's book We're Going on a Bear Hunt ? In case you haven't been inside a preschool in the past, well, ever, it's a children's story about overcoming obstacles. For some reason, 4 kids, a baby, and a dog are on this adventure (hunting bears?!) and they encounter a bunch of barriers (a deep cold river, thick oozy mud, a big dark forest) on their way to the bear's cave...

Who needs some rest? My hunch is that we're all experiencing that "tired but wired" sensation that we sometimes get right before bed. You know, where you can't stop scrolling through Instagram even though you *know* you should put the damn phone down and go to sleep already? But on a mass, collective scale. The pandemic just. keeps. going. The election is looming. The kids are back to school but e...

Well, this isn't the sexiest podcast episode, buuuut, what it lacks in glamour and happily-ever-after it makes up for in vulnerability, real-life anxiety, and legit: this is why I do this work. I have to remind my clients and students all. the. time. that the goal with this work is not to get rid of anxiety, never stress out again, and live a life free of overwhelm, worry, and self-doubt. But whil...

If you had a dollar for every time you've recently heard, "these are uncertain times," am I right? Listen, times *are* uncertain. But not any more uncertain than pre-pandemic. Times have always been exactly this uncertain... So how do we deal with that sensation of being untethered and groundless? Where do we find certainty? Why do these times feel more uncertain than normal? Let's explore it toge...

Do you have a tendency to lump things into THIS or THAT category? Label people, experiences, and emotions as GOOD or BAD? Indulge in ALL or NOTHING thinking? Yeah, you're not alone. This seems to be an extra-special feature of the thinking-mind that we all fall into...especially when things are intense. And (I think) we can all agree that things? They're intense. So this week, we're going to tackl...

When the memo for 2020 landed on our collective desks (pandemic! racial injustice! political strife!) it didn't sound great. And eight months in, it's still not sounding so hot. But every once in a while, I come up for air and look around and think, "Huh, look at us! We're doing it!" And I got to thinking... no matter how life-y life gets, we humans were made for this . Our capacity for resilience...

Many times, I've had the idea that I want OUT of anxiety: it wasn't even enough to push against it or try and avoid it, it was like I wanted to take my skin off, throw it on the ground and get AWAY from the whole experience. And that was just on a Tuesday. Add to that a pandemic, political strife, the cancellation of *life* as we knew it, racial injustice, and overall uncertainty and that sense of...

Is your idea of *handling* anxiety hiding, playing small, and resisting the whole thing? I get it. And you're certainly not alone if this seems like a solid plan for managing the ick. There's such a deep sense of groundedness and authenticity on the path through the discomfort that just can't be found any other way. And in the end, that path, the very journey of healing and discovery, is the most...

I'm interested in all kinds of ways that I can care for my mental and emotional wellbeing. Because I don't know about you, but I've found that there's no *one thing* that eases feelings of anxiety and overwhelm every time. So there are a few things in heavy rotation on this path: yoga, meditation, sleep, lots of water and tea, and self-compassion . Self-compassion consistently helps. No matter wha...

We're doing something a little different this week on - I'm sharing a bit about where I'm at, in my personal journey and in my offerings for you, and then I'm inviting you to take a short seat with me for a sweet meditation backed up with music from the amazing DJ Sol Rising . This week, we're making some Breathing Room together. Together, apart. I've been on the path of self-discovery and growth...

Jack Kornfield defines  mindfulness  as, " paying attention to the present moment without judgment, characterized by interest, friendliness, and clear seeing ." And this week, I want to bring that sense into the work we do around here on mindset. There's a lot of energy behind achieving, doing, going, more more more...we live in a power society that's borderline obsessed with busy-ness. So I want...

Do you ever find yourself in the middle of something and wonder, " WHAT am I doing?! " Maybe it's a habit you can't break out of and you watch yourself spin through the same cycle day after day. Maybe it's a tempting dessert that you weren't planning on having, but then you find yourself asking for a second helping. Or maybe it shows up as a general sense of, "I can't handle this," and that though...

Do you ever feel your attention being tugged all over the place? Social media, the to-do list, ads, the kids, work, the news...there's a lot out there vying for our attention. Your attention is *yours*. But it's a consistent practice to cultivate the meta-skill of being able to reliably direct your attention to the most meaningful and impactful aspects of your life. This week's episode covers: The...

The breath is having a big moment right now: between a global pandemic centered around a virus that affects the lungs and our ability to breathe, and the protests centered in no small part around every human beings right to breathe, the breath is at the center of our attention. So this week, we're going to slow things down and turn inward a bit. We're going to take a moment with the breath. The br...

This week, I'm not teaching; I want to have a conversation with you instead. Actually, it occurs to me we should have conversations like this more often. That I should share more about where I'm at, that we should get to know each other and connect in a more open way. I tend to shy away from giving you my opinion; this podcast, community, and my coaching has never really been about *my* opinion, a...

you don't need me . You don't need a white, privileged woman talking to you. Things are too big, too scary, too heartbreaking, and too real for me to be the one talking. What I need right now is to listen. I'm muting myself, and listening. So, to that end, here are some people I'm listening to and learning from, with their Instagram handles in case you want to join me: Rachel Cargle (@rachel.cargl...

Everything I'm hearing, from clients to friends, family to neighbors, points to the idea that we all need to take it easy on ourselves. That we could use a few more permission slips to be gentle with our days. That we can't get enough reminders that we are absolutely enough, exactly as we are, and that we are allowed whatever support and assistance we require. Basically: that props are proving to...

What do rockstars have to do with coaching? What do managers have to do with mental health and managing your mind? This week on the podcast, we're talking about one of the most fun tools I've created and something that I use with most of my clients: Rockstars & Managers. We all have an inner rockstar. Y'know, that creative visionary who dreams big and lives wild and wants everything NOW? And we al...

You've seen the endless memes about decluttering, learning a foreign language, and reading Anna Karenina during quarantine, yes? It's like we're all supposed to be *winning* Coronavirus by being ultra-productive while we're stuck at home. This week, we're going to explore the concept of Non-Productive Productivity. Meaning: instead of all of the  doing we're going to sink in to simply  being .  So...

The longer this whole pandemic goes on, the more we are all invited (forced?) to sit with and in our emotions. The emotions of this time, of our lives, are quarantining with us. Have you noticed? I heard Dr. Susan Davis make such a simple and beautiful point about our heightened emotional experience during this time:  our emotions are signals . In this episode, we're going to talk about: Values Ju...

This week we're talking about Disassociating, which is an experience that ranges from daydreaming to pure survival skill (especially for those who have experienced trauma). Join me to understand more about disassociating (also: dissociating), how this may show up in your life, and the practice of reassociating, or coming back home to yourself. I made a worksheet to go along with this episode; you...

Happy Earth Day! Today on The Transforming Anxiety Podcast, we're going to do something to honor sustainability, but from the perspective of you, your body, and your mind. We're talking about creating a sustainable life using the natural resources of YOU. Think for a moment about the natural resources of the Earth: water, land, air, the biosphere (plants and animals), fossil fuels (coal and petrol...

Have you noticed that in any group, there's a certain energy amongst the people? If someone gets excited, the group rallies around them with more excitement. If someone expresses fear, the group gloms on and generates more fear. In this episode, we're going to explore how this all happens - emotions don't spread like viruses, so why are they so contagious? Join me to learn about emotional contagio...

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Whether you're currently overwhelmed or whether any part of your current overwhelm is Coronavirus-related, or not, overwhelm is something we're all *pretty* familiar with, amiright? Today, on The Transforming Anxiety Podcast, we're going to talk about 2 simple ways to get out of overwhelm. See, overwhelm depends on being big and confusing. Overwhelm feeds on your getti...