The Anxiety Coaches Podcast

In today's episode, Gina continues her discussion of Claire Weekes' approach to anxiety clearing, particularly how nervous system exhaustion can manifest and how to proceed with anxiety clearing gradually. Anxiety recovery is generally a slow and uneven process, even boring. Letting go of constant monitoring and checking for anxiety can help us pivot into a general state of anxiety recovery, allowing sensations as they present themselves and continuing with our daily living activities. We grow more accustomed to adverse sensations over time and become more resilient. Listen in today.

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

Quote:

Summary
0:27 Anxiety Recovery Is Boring
1:53 Quiet Progress Counts
4:59 Claire Weekes’ Gentle Approach
8:18 Ordinary Mornings Matter
11:33 Live Before Confidence
15:05 Notice Recovery Backward
16:18 Safety Without Alarm
18:01 Living With Anxiety
19:55 Let Time Pass
21:02 Recovery Feels Like Nothing
23:17 Life Returns Slowly

Summary
In this episode we continue our series on Dr. Claire Weekes through the Anxiety Coaches Podcast lens, focusing on her approach to anxiety recovery alongside current understanding of the brain and nervous system. We explain her idea that “you are not ill, you are tired,” using it to describe nervous system exhaustion rather than disease.We explore the idea that recovery is often boring and gradual rather than dramatic.

Instead of a sudden breakthrough, we usually notice small stretches of ordinary life where anxiety is less central, such as making breakfast, driving, or talking to someone without focusing on symptoms.We discuss how repeated checking, monitoring, and fear can keep anxiety important in the brain. By continuing with ordinary activities while allowing sensations to be present, we give the nervous system new information that these sensations are not emergencies.We also talk about the common habit of turning recovery into a performance, with rules around acceptance, floating, exposure, or meditation.

The episode emphasizes that we do not need to do these perfectly, but rather reduce interference and let attention return to life.Another key point is that confidence often comes after action, not before it. We encourage starting small and living while still anxious, such as going to the store, taking a walk, or making plans, so that confidence can build from experience.We also explain that progress is uneven and may only become visible in hindsight.

#AnxietyCoachesPodcast #GinaRyan #ClaireWeeks #AnxietyRecovery #MentalHealth #NervousSystemHealing #AnxietyRelief #PanicAttackHelp #AcceptanceAndCommitment #FloatAndLetTimePass #Mindfulness #MentalHealthAwareness #StressRelief #OvercomingAnxiety #Overarousal #NervousSystemRegulation #MorningAnxiety #GentleExposure #HealthAnxiety #SelfHealing #InnerCalm #PeaceOfMind #MentalWellness #SelfCare #BrainNeuroplasticity #Neuroscience #EmotionalWellbeing #HealingIsBoring #OrdinaryRecovery #RecoveryJourney #ACP
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In today's episode, Gina discusses Claire Weekes' thoughts on setbacks in the anxiety recovery process. Difficult days are a part of the anxiety recovery process. Even after much progress and periods of peace and calm, we are bound to experience the return of angst and discomfort. The key is to not let such bumps in the road lead to a loss of hope or a belief that we are on the right path towards more peace and groundedness. Listen in for more thoughts about setbacks during anxiety recovery and why they do not mean you are not getting better!

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:

Let time pass. It is the great healer.

-Dr. Claire Weekes

Chapters
0:27 Setbacks Aren’t Square One
2:30 Stop Perfecting Recovery
8:39 Homework Becomes a Trap
11:05 Techniques Can’t Guarantee Safety
12:56 Chasing Certainty Never Ends
15:01 You’re Not Back at the Start
17:17 Recovery Is a Relationship
18:48 Continue, Don’t Restart

Summary
In this episode we talk about what a setback means in anxiety recovery and why it does not mean we have lost our progress. We explain that a difficult day, a return of anxiety, or a panic attack does not send us back to square one.We use Claire Weekes’s terms “sensitized nerves” and “loosen your grip” to describe a nervous system stuck in alarm mode and the need to stop over-controlling sensations.

We connect this to the idea that recovery is about trusting our body and mind to heal over time.We look at common patterns that make recovery feel harder, including perfectionism, making recovery into homework, collecting techniques, and chasing certainty. We note that practices like breathing, meditation, grounding, and journaling can be helpful, but they become burdensome when we treat them as required for safety.We also describe a more helpful response: continuing ordinary life while anxiety is present, rather than waiting for total calm first.

We emphasize that recovery is rarely linear, that nervous systems react to many stressors, and that familiar fear does not mean we have forgotten how to heal.We close by returning to Claire Weekes’s approach as a relationship with fear rather than a performance. We encourage patience, allowing time to pass, and continuing without starting over, while remembering that recovery is measured by our growing willingness not to organize life around fear.

#Anxiety #AnxietyRecovery #AnxietySupport #AnxietyRelief #PanicAttacks #PanicAttackRecovery #Setbacks #RecoveryIsNotLinear #NervousSystem #NervousSystemHealing #OveractiveAmygdala #Hypervigilance #ClaireWeeks #FaceAcceptFloat #LetTimePass #SensitizedNerves #LoosenYourGrip #SelfRegulation #MindBody #MindBodyConnection #SelfTrust #HealingJourney #RecoveryJourney #Perfectionism #MentalHealth #MentalHealthAwareness #MentalHealthPodcast #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #GinaRyan #StressRelief #ChronicStress #SelfCompassion #SelfCare #Mindfulness #MindfulLiving #OvercomingAnxiety #InnerPeace #PeaceAndCalm #EmotionalWellness #MentalWellness #OvercomingFear #LiveWithoutCertainty #GentleHealing #MentalHealthMatters #YouAreNotStartingOver #ACP
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In today's episode, Gina discusses another core Claire Weekes anxiety clearing concept: facing. It is important to remember we can keep on living even when anxious feelings are present. Being able to turn towards either sensations or situations that make us uncomfortable and live through them is a key component to facing and to clearing anxiety in general. Listen in to learn more about Claire Weekes' facing and improve your anxiety clearing progress today!

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 gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’

-Eleanor Roosevelt

Chapters
0:27 Welcome Back to Gentle Living
2:18 Living Before Anxiety Leaves
6:48 Willingness and Values
11:35 Do Life Gently
13:08 Confidence Follows Action
16:18 Relearning Safety
18:46 Reclaiming Life Slowly
22:29 Eleanor Roosevelt’s Courage

Summary
In this episode we continue exploring Dr. Claire Weekes’ approach to anxiety recovery and focus on the idea that life cannot always wait for anxiety to disappear. We discuss willingness, values, and the importance of taking gentle action even while uncomfortable feelings are present.We look at the common habit of postponing life until we feel calmer, more confident, or more rested, and how this can gradually shrink our world.

We explain that recovery does not require getting rid of anxiety first, but learning to participate in life with anxiety along for the ride.We discuss Claire Weekes’ term “facing,” which we describe as gently turning toward feared sensations or situations instead of avoiding them. We contrast this with forcing, white-knuckling, or fighting anxiety, and emphasize that the goal is to move forward in manageable steps.We then connect this to values, describing values as qualities such as connection, kindness, health, creativity, or service.

We show how values can guide small actions, such as meeting a friend briefly, walking for a few minutes, or returning to a hobby, without needing perfect comfort.We also talk about confidence, explaining that it usually follows action rather than coming before it. We note that each small, willing step gives the nervous system new evidence that discomfort can be carried, and that healing and living can happen together.

#Anxiety #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #GinaRyan #DrClaireWeekes #ClaireWeekes #MentalHealth #AnxietyRecovery #FacingFear #ExposureTherapy #GentleExposure #ApproachBehavior #Willingness #ValuesBasedLiving #NervousSystemHealing #OvercomingAnxiety #PanicAttackRecovery #HealthAnxiety #Agoraphobia #IntrusiveThoughts #BuildingConfidence #SelfCompassion #Mindfulness #MentalWellness #SelfCare #EmotionalHealing #ACTTherapy #StressRelief #SelfGrowth #InnerPeace #HealingIsNotLinear #LivingWithAnxiety #MentalHealthAwareness #MentalHealthMatters #OvercomingAvoidance #SmallSteps BigChanges #GentleLiving #MindsetShift #EleanorRooseveltQuotes #AnxietyRelief #InnerCalm #ACP
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In today's episode, Gina discusses Claire Weekes' idea of "the habit of fear" and how anxiety is often largely a learned pattern of sensations, interpretation of these sensations and exaggerated emotional reactions to these sensations and interpretations. Learning to reinterpret anxiety related bodily sensations as not necessarily threatening or dangerous can go a long way to helping us in our anxiety recovery. Listen in and strengthen your ability to interpret bodily sensations and environmental factors in ways that do not signal danger to your body-mind and become more resilient and less anxious today!

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:

Do not be bluffed by your feelings.

-Claire Weekes

Chapters
0:27 Habit of Fear
6:14 Don’t Be Bluffed
7:42 Predictive Brain Explained
12:47 New Paths of Recovery
18:04 Learning, Not Just Knowing
22:12 Practical Steps to Respond
25:41 Anxiety Returning Again

Summary
In this episode we explore Claire Weekes’ idea of the “habit of fear” and how anxiety can become a learned pattern through repetition. We discuss how fear may start with a body sensation, a frightening interpretation, and then more physical alarm, until the brain begins to expect danger from similar cues.

We explain that the nervous system can become sensitized and that modern terms such as conditioned responses, neural pathways, and the predictive brain help describe the same process. We look at how the brain makes predictions from past experiences and how those predictions can trigger checking, bracing, avoidance, and reassurance seeking.

We also cover Claire Weekes’s reminder to “not be bluffed by your feelings,” meaning that sensations can feel convincing without actually signaling danger. We discuss how short-term relief can reinforce the old fear pathway, while allowing sensations, thoughts, and uncertainty without reacting helps create a new response.Finally, we emphasize that progress is not measured by never feeling fear again. We focus on returning to ordinary life, reducing monitoring, and noticing when an old alarm is active without treating it as an emergency.

#Anxiety #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #GinaRyan #ClaireWeeks #HabitOfFear #AnxietyRelief #PanicAttack #NervousSystem #NervousSystemRegulation #PredictiveBrain #NeuralPathways #ConditionedResponse #AnxietyRecovery #OvercomingAnxiety #AcceptanceAndCommitment #IntrusiveThoughts #MentalHealth #MentalHealthAwareness #StressRelief #Mindfulness #SelfCare #EmotionalWellness #AnxietySupport #InnerPeace #CalmYourMind #HealYourNervousSystem #BodyAwareness #Overthinking #MentalWellness #HolisticHealth #ACP
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In today's episode, Gina discusses the frequent anxiety related behavior of symptom monitoring and how to overcome it. This is another core aspect of Claire Weekes' anxiety recovery protocol: acceptance, and more emphatically, utter acceptance. Learning to become comfortable with any symptoms anxiety throws at us is very helpful for our anxiety recovery. Utter acceptance of the symptoms can help us do this. Listen in and let go of constant self-monitoring today!

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:

Recovery lies in the places you fear. Go to them with utter acceptance and let time pass.

-Dr. Claire Weekes

Chapters
0:27 Utter Acceptance Begins
3:48 The Monitoring Trap
10:20 Body Scans vs Scanning
15:48 Loosening the Checking Habit
20:32 Trust Over Supervision

Summary
In this episode we focus on moving from symptom monitoring toward self-trust through Claire Weekes’ idea of utter acceptance. We explain how this differs from radical acceptance, which is about accepting reality, while utter acceptance means full permission for bodily fear without bracing, checking, or resistance.We talk about how anxiety often keeps us in a cycle of monitoring the body, seeking reassurance, and searching for explanations.

We describe how attention to sensations like heartbeat, breathing, dizziness, or fatigue can make them feel more urgent, which then increases anxiety and creates more sensations to monitor.We also distinguish anxious body checking from mindful body scanning. A mindful scan is described as curious and non-judgmental, while anxious scanning looks for danger and tries to confirm safety.

We note that even meditation can become a checking ritual if we use it to test whether we feel better.We then outline practical steps for reducing monitoring: noticing checking habits without judgment, pausing before checking, shifting attention outward, stopping daily comparisons, choosing one checking behavior to loosen, using permission phrases, and allowing progress to be imperfect. The episode closes by emphasizing that the opposite of monitoring is trust, and that we can notice uncertainty and still continue with daily life.

#Anxiety #AnxietyRelief #PanicAttack #AnxietyRecovery #ClaireWeeks #UtterAcceptance #RadicalAcceptance #HealthAnxiety #Interoception #SymptomMonitoring #Mindfulness #NervousSystem #SelfTrust #MentalHealth #MentalHealthAwareness #AnxietySupport #OvercomingAnxiety #BodyScan #DBT #SelfCare #InnerPeace #StressRelief #DropTheStruggle #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #GinaRyan #EmotionalWellness #Mindset #HolisticHealing #Wellness #LetItBe #ACP
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.