The Anxiety Coaches Podcast

In today's episode, Gina shares part one of an interview she conducted with a long time group member and listener of The Anxiety Coaches Podcast. Diane shares her own wisdom and experience in overcoming the worst of her anxiety and how the show helped her do it. Listen in for some simple steps to help you maximize your benefit from listening to the show in your own anxiety clearing journey.

Stillpoint Fridays is my once-a-week Friday note — a slower, more personal reflection that’s different from what I share on the podcast.
If you’d like a quiet place to land as the week winds down, you can join here: http://eepurl.com/bR2F9P or on our website anxietycoachespodcast.com and sign up for the newsletter.

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Website https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com

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Learn more about anxiety What is anxiety?

Free Guided Meditation for Calming Your Anxious Mind 10-Minute Body-Scan Meditation for Anxiety

Chapters
0:27 Journey to Calm
5:22 Overload and Recovery
6:55 Safe Haven Found
11:13 Relearning the Tools
14:01 Daily Practices Grow
15:47 Advice for the Overwhelmed

Summary
In this episode, we share a listener interview about anxiety recovery and how it unfolded over time. We focus on a long-term listener named Diane, whose experience shows that healing can happen gradually through repeated listening, small practices, and persistence rather than through a quick fix.

Diane describes a period in early 2020 when several major stressors happened at once, including COVID pneumonia, hospital care, airway problems, a new asthma diagnosis, a car accident, lockdown stress, pre-diabetes, and heavy exposure to news and other stressors. She says she eventually found the podcast while looking for help with anxiety and what she called a nervous breakdown.

We discuss why she kept returning to the show and what made it feel supportive. Diane says the calm, reassuring tone helped her trust the guidance, and that she began with a few suggestions that worked before adding more. She describes the podcast as a safe haven and says she often listened to episodes more than once before fully understanding them.

We also talk about the specific strategies she used. Diane says stopping TV news helped immediately, and that over time she learned to notice tension in her body and calm herself. She uses routines like walking, meditation, regular sleep times, reading, piano, crosswords, and short daily journaling. She also revisits episodes for affirmations, panic support, and ideas like Claire Weekes’ facing, accepting, floating, and letting time pass.

Diane says her understanding of anxiety changed as she saw recovery was possible. She explains that she now sees anxiety as her mind preparing her body for an emergency, even when there is no real emergency. She says the work takes patience and consistency, and that she has become more calm, honest, compassionate, and less fearful.

#AnxietyRecovery #MentalHealth #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #GinaRyan #PanicAttacks #NervousSystem #Mindfulness #HealingJourney #SelfCompassion #StressManagement #Breathwork #Affirmations #Resilience #MentalWellness #EmotionalHealing #ClaireWeekes #HolisticHealing #OvercomingAnxiety #DailyRoutine #Meditation #InnerPeace #SelfCare #PersonalGrowth #MentalHealthAwareness #CopingStrategies #StressRelief #EmotionalWellBeing #WellnessJourney #Calming #MindBodyConnection #ACP
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In today's episode, Gina discusses the important tool of breathwork for calming anxiety. Specifically, breathwork is addressed in the frame of when it goes wrong: sometimes, trying to use breathwork with the wrong idea in mind can make anxiety worse. Listen in for a better understanding of how using breathwork in the wrong ways or at the wrong times can make anxiety worse, and how to use breathwork in a gentler way to help get the most benefit out of it.

Stillpoint Fridays is my once-a-week Friday note — a slower, more personal reflection that’s different from what I share on the podcast.
If you’d like a quiet place to land as the week winds down, you can join here: http://eepurl.com/bR2F9P or on our website anxietycoachespodcast.com and sign up for the newsletter.

Please visit our Sponsor Page to find all the links and codes for our awesome sponsors! https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com/sponsors/

Website https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com

Join our community Group Coaching Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program

1:1 Coaching Learn more about our One-on-One Coaching

If you prefer to listen AD-FREE, try our Supercast premium access membership:

Learn more about anxiety What is anxiety?

Free Guided Meditation for Calming Your Anxious Mind 10-Minute Body-Scan Meditation for Anxiety

Quote:

The soft overcomes the hard; the gentle overcomes the rigid.

-Tao Te Ching

Chapters
0:27 Breathwork Backfires
4:21 Why Breath Control Fails
8:34 The Shame Loop
9:35 Less Control, More Ease
13:55 Clinical Wisdom on Anxiety
14:58 Real-Life Breathing Shift
16:53 Softening the Exhale
Long Summary
In this episode we talk about when breathwork can backfire for anxious people and why controlled breathing sometimes increases stress instead of easing it. We explain that while breath awareness and structured techniques can be helpful for some, they can also become uncomfortable when they turn into a task that must be done correctly.

We describe how practices such as box breathing, 4-7-8 breathing, guided breathing apps, and other counted methods can lead to monitoring, checking, and pressure to perform relaxation. For people with high anxiety and heightened bodily awareness, focusing closely on the breath can amplify sensations like air hunger, chest tightness, dizziness, and muscle tension.

We also discuss the shame that can follow when a technique does not work as expected. Instead of feeling calmer, people may start thinking that something is wrong with them, which adds anxiety about anxiety and can make them give up on helpful practices altogether.

As an alternative, we suggest less control and less effort. We focus on a gentle, slightly longer exhale without counting, tracking, or trying to force calm. The emphasis is on reducing struggle, allowing the breath to soften naturally, and avoiding the expectation that the practice should immediately erase anxiety.

We close by noting that the goal is not perfect calm, but less self-judgment and less internal pressure. We encourage a simple experiment of noticing the next exhale and letting it be a little softer, with the reminder that sometimes the most regulating thing is to stop trying so hard to regulate.

#Anxiety #Breathwork #Mindfulness #PanicAttack #BoxBreathing #NervousSystem #MentalHealth #SomaticHealing #ACTTherapy #StressRelief #SelfCare #OvercomingAnxiety #Interoception #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #GinaRyan #Calm #EmotionalHealth #SelfAcceptance #HealingJourney #HolisticHealth #AirHunger #NervousSystemRegulation #ClaireWeeks #SomaticTracking #HypervigilanceRecovery #AnxietyTips #BreathworkBackfires #Parasympathetic #StopTryingToFixYourself #PermissionToSoften #LessControlMorePeace #AnxietySupport #MentalHealthAwareness #GentleHealing #DropTheStruggle #EmotionalRegulation #ItsOkayToJustBe #MindfulBreathing #SensoryOverload #HealingIsNotLinear #ACP
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In today's episode, Gina discusses health anxiety, especially in the context of the dreaded blood pressure reading at the doctor's office. It is important to remember that the blood pressure reading is simply information and the machine and entire process are not in themselves harmful, though they can be uncomfortable. Listen in for practical tips on how to disrupt the anxiety cycle that can form around blood pressure and other medical testing and start to feel more calm!

Stillpoint Fridays is my once-a-week Friday note — a slower, more personal reflection that’s different from what I share on the podcast.
If you’d like a quiet place to land as the week winds down, you can join here: http://eepurl.com/bR2F9P or on our website anxietycoachespodcast.com and sign up for the newsletter.

Please visit our Sponsor Page to find all the links and codes for our awesome sponsors! https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com/sponsors/

Website https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com

Join our community Group Coaching Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program

1:1 Coaching Learn more about our One-on-One Coaching

If you prefer to listen AD-FREE, try our Supercast premium access membership:

Learn more about anxiety What is anxiety?

Free Guided Meditation for Calming Your Anxious Mind 10-Minute Body-Scan Meditation for Anxiety

Quote:

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.

-Marie Curie

Chapters
0:27 White Coat Anxiety
3:58 What It Really Means
7:12 Breaking the Checking Loop
9:01 Numbers Aren’t Judgments
11:49 Calm Before the Reading
14:50 Stop Chasing Perfect Numbers
16:46 Anxiety Before Appointments
18:54 Kindness Over Fear

Summary
In this episode we talk about white coat syndrome and the anxiety many people feel around medical appointments, blood pressure checks, and now also home monitoring. We explain that the nervous system can react with dread, stress, or panic before a reading even begins, and that this response is common and not a sign of weakness.

We look at how medical settings, the cuff, the numbers, and the waiting itself can become linked with danger through repeated fear and anticipation. We also discuss how home monitoring can sometimes extend the stress beyond the doctor’s office, turning what is meant to be useful information into an ongoing cycle of checking and distress.

We then focus on the anxiety loop that can form around blood pressure readings. Repeated checking may feel reassuring for a moment, but it often strengthens fear over time. We note that some people also have true hypertension, and that the goal is not to ignore medical care, but to reduce the tendency to treat every reading as an emergency or a judgment.

We offer practical ways to interrupt the cycle, including treating readings as information rather than a life-or-death event, preparing the nervous system before appointments with breathing, movement, prayer, or other calming practices, and avoiding repeated checks beyond what a physician recommends. We also encourage people to notice the meaning they attach to sensations, allow uncertainty, and return attention to the present moment instead of imagining worst-case outcomes.

We close by reminding listeners that the body is not the enemy and that calm can be practiced gradually. The episode ends with a message of self-kindness and a quote about understanding rather than fearing life.

#Anxiety #WhiteCoatSyndrome #BloodPressureAnxiety #HealthAnxiety #MedicalAnxiety #NervousSystem #StressCycle #PanicAttacks #ReassuranceSeeking #SelfAdvocacy #Mindfulness #BreathingExercises #Relaxation #CopingStrategies #ChronicAnxiety #AnticipationAnxiety #MedicalTrauma #HighBloodPressure #Hypertension #MentalHealth #EmotionalWellness #SelfCare #Compassion #GinaRyan #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #DoctorAppointments #MedicalPhobia #HealthMonitoring #FightOrFlight #HeartPalpitations #AdrenalineRush #SomaticSymptoms #CompulsiveChecking #UncertaintyTolerance #SelfSoothing #NervousSystemRegulation #MedicalGaslighting #PatientAdvocacy #SensoryProcessing #TraumaRespons #ACP
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In today's episode, Gina discusses a common theme of many individual's anxiety: rumination about self-existence and threats and uncertainty surrounding this existence. An interesting idea to consider is that these thoughts and feelings relating to existential anxiety can come up when changes are afoot and old coping patterns are no longer helpful. Listen in for tips and suggestions on how to handle this sort of anxiety and how you can use it (and the recovery tools) to grow into a more resilient, happier and stable you!

Stillpoint Fridays is my once-a-week Friday note — a slower, more personal reflection that’s different from what I share on the podcast.
If you’d like a quiet place to land as the week winds down, you can join here: http://eepurl.com/bR2F9P or on our website anxietycoachespodcast.com and sign up for the newsletter.

Please visit our Sponsor Page to find all the links and codes for our awesome sponsors! https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com/sponsors/

Website https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com

Join our community Group Coaching Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program

1:1 Coaching Learn more about our One-on-One Coaching

If you prefer to listen AD-FREE, try our Supercast premium access membership:

Learn more about anxiety What is anxiety?

Free Guided Meditation for Calming Your Anxious Mind 10-Minute Body-Scan Meditation for Anxiety

Quote:

We can’t calm the storm… so stop trying. What we can do is calm ourselves. The storm will pass.

-Timber Hawkeye

Chapters
0:27 Existential Anxiety Explained
6:26 Growth Through Unsettling Change
8:47 Return to the Present
12:23 Grounding Practices That Help
16:36 Meaning in Small Moments
19:06 Final Quote on Calm

Summary
In this episode, we focus on existential anxiety and how it can show up as restlessness, dread, overthinking, and questioning of purpose, identity, and direction. We note that many people may feel unsettled, emotionally exhausted, or disconnected, especially in a fast-paced world filled with constant stimulation and comparison.

We discuss how these questions are a deeply human experience and are not a sign that something is wrong. We also describe how, in periods of growth or change, old coping patterns may no longer fit, which can make people feel more unsteady even when they are moving forward.

We explore how the anxious mind pulls us into regret about the past or fear about the future, and we suggest a simple response of noticing thoughts without fighting them. We emphasize that the present moment is where our power is, and that trying to solve everything at once usually increases distress.

We also share grounding practices that can support the nervous system, including meditation, journaling, walking outside without a phone, quiet time, prayer, breathing, nature, creativity, listening deeply, and resting without guilt. We explain that gratitude journaling can help retrain the mind to notice what is nourishing, meaningful, and supportive.

Finally, we reflect on the idea that meaning may be built through presence, kindness, connection, and daily living rather than one single grand purpose. We close by encouraging listeners to breathe, slow down, and remember that they do not need to solve their entire existence tonight.

#Anxiety #ExistentialAnxiety #MentalHealth #Mindfulness #Presence #Meditation #Grounding #NervousSystem #SelfCare #PersonalGrowth #SpiritualAwakening #EmotionalHealth #StressRelief #InnerPeace #CopingMechanisms #SelfReflection #Gratitude #Journaling #HealingJourney #ThomasMerton #TimberHawkeye #AnxietyRelief #SleepAnxiety #Overthinking #EmotionalExhaustion #LifePurpose #Consciousness #MentalWellness #Calming #Relaxation #HolisticHealth #Breathwork #MidlifeCrisis #Identity #SelfDiscovery #MentalClarity #MindfulnessPractice #PsychologicalWellBeing #EmotionalResilience #BurnoutRecovery #StressManagement #IntentionalLiving #SoulSearching #InnerCalm
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In today's episode, Gina discusses urge surfing as a technique for relating to our stress and anxiety differently, interpreting such signals less like immediate emergencies and more like fleeting, temporary conditions. Urges like overthinking, checking, and scrolling are included. We can use urge surfing to observe these often powerful urges, rather then simply reacting to them. Listen in and learn how to use urge surfing to your immediate benefit and give yourself more space and grace.

Stillpoint Fridays is my once-a-week Friday note — a slower, more personal reflection that’s different from what I share on the podcast.
If you’d like a quiet place to land as the week winds down, you can join here: http://eepurl.com/bR2F9P or on our website anxietycoachespodcast.com and sign up for the newsletter.

Please visit our Sponsor Page to find all the links and codes for our awesome sponsors! https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com/sponsors/

Website https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com

Join our community Group Coaching Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program

1:1 Coaching Learn more about our One-on-One Coaching

If you prefer to listen AD-FREE, try our Supercast premium access membership:

Learn more about anxiety What is anxiety?

Free Guided Meditation for Calming Your Anxious Mind 10-Minute Body-Scan Meditation for Anxiety

Quote:

You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.

— Jon Kabat-Zinn

Chapters
0:26 Urge Surfing Explained
4:33 How Urge Surfing Works
9:58 Practicing the Surf
16:34 Start Small, Stay Steady

Summary
In this episode, we discuss urge surfing as a mindfulness-based way to relate differently to anxiety, stress, and uncomfortable emotions. We focus on how this practice can help us stop treating every anxious feeling like an emergency and instead notice it as something temporary.

We talk about the common urges that come with anxiety, such as overthinking, checking, reassurance-seeking, scrolling, avoiding, and trying to escape discomfort. We emphasize that an urge is not the same as an emergency, and that we do not have to act on every impulse the mind produces.

We explain urge surfing by comparing emotions and urges to ocean waves that rise, peak, and fall. We note that much of the suffering comes not only from the feeling itself, but from resisting it, fearing it, or creating a story around it. Urge surfing teaches us to observe instead of reacting immediately.

We also describe how to practice it in daily life: pause, notice the urge, identify where it shows up in the body, use simple words for the sensations, and breathe while allowing the wave to move through. We mention that even short pauses and small moments of awareness can help retrain the nervous system and build self-trust.

We close by encouraging a gentle, gradual approach, especially when the practice feels difficult at first. We remind listeners that healing often happens through repeated small steps, and that we can learn to stay with discomfort instead of automatically fleeing it.

#Anxiety #StressRelief #MentalHealthMatters #Mindfulness #UrgeSurfing #NervousSystemHealing #EmotionalRegulation #SelfCare #WellnessJourney #Healing #Meditation #Calm #InnerPeace #MentalHealthAwareness #PersonalDevelopment #Grounding #MentalWellness #Resilience #SelfGrowth #MindfulLiving #Recovery #OvercomingAnxiety #StressManagement #Psychology #CopingSkills #EmotionalHealth #HolisticHealing #SelfLove #PeaceOfMind #AnxietySupport #Breathe #Presence #Awareness #MentalHealthSupport #HealthyMind #MindBodyConnection #SelfTrust #Podcast #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #Gentleness #Neuroscience #Therapeutic #CalmYourMind #Zen #DailyMindfulness #ACP #GinaRyan #AnxietyCoachesPodcast
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