The Real Work with Maggie Sterling

Learn about my Sensitization course: https://www.maggiesterling.com/soft-regulation

You didn't develop chronic anxiety from one traumatic event. You got stuck in a sensitization loop—where your nervous system learned to stay vigilant even when the threat was gone. In this episode, I break down what sensitization actually is, how it happens gradually (not dramatically), and why understanding this changes everything about how you heal. This isn't about finding the "root cause" or reliving your past. It's about seeing how your nervous system learned this pattern—and why acceptance, not fixing, is what helps you get unstuck.

In this episode, Dr. Brad Fanestil—a medical doctor with 30 years of experience—explains how chronic pain and anxiety can actually be healed, not just managed. If you've been told you just need to "learn to live with it," this conversation will challenge everything you thought you knew about healing.

About Dr. Brad Fanestil Dr. Brad Fanestil is a board-certified Internal Medicine doctor with 30 years of primary care and hospital experience. Throughout his career he saw patients come into his exam room and into his hospital with problems that didn't always respond to medications and procedures. 'In 2018 he started reading about the new neuroscience and discovered that anxiety, chronic pain and many other hard-to-treat medical conditions are nothing more than learned behaviors in the nervous system - habit loops in the neural circuitry of the brain.' Most of his patients have seen dozens of doctors and other healthcare practitioners without relief. Now, using the tools of Mind Body Medicine, Dr. Fanestil offers online and in-person classes to teach people how to rewire the neural circuitry of anxiety and chronic pain.

Connect with Dr. Brad Fanestil: https://www.bouldermindbodymedicine.com

YouTube - ‪ @Dr.Fanestil  ‬

TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/Nv-Ol3l4QX4?si=ljn_bXPN2Cer14kJ

Most nervous system advice is missing something critical — and it kept me stuck for years.
If you've tried everything (the breathing exercises, the tapping, the vagus nerve resets, the meditation) and nothing seems to work… you're not broken. You might just be using the wrong tools for where your system actually is.
In this episode, I'm breaking down the difference between a dysregulated nervous system and a sensitized nervous system — and why that distinction changes everything about how you heal.
Take the quiz to find out if your nervous system is sensitized or dysregulated
Join the waitlist for my new program, Soft Regulation for Sensitized Nervous Systems

You're doing all the "right" things — the breathing exercises, the meditation apps, the journaling — and you're still anxious. Still wired. Still can't relax. Here's the thing: some of the habits you think are helping are actually keeping your nervous system stuck in survival mode. In this video, I'm sharing 3 things to stop doing if you actually want to feel calm. These aren't obvious mistakes. They're the subtle patterns that keep you in the loop of trying to fix yourself — which is the exact energy that keeps your nervous system on high alert. If you've tried everything and nothing seems to work, this might be why.
Soft Regulation System Waitlist

You've heard that acceptance is the key to healing. But when you try to "accept" your symptoms, nothing changes. That's because acceptance isn't something you do—it's what happens when you stop doing. In this episode, I'm breaking down what acceptance actually looks like in practice (hint: it's not saying affirmations or trying to feel calm). I'll share why your "fix it" energy is keeping you stuck, what to remove before you add anything new, and how to know if you're actually accepting or just using acceptance as another tool. Hw If you've been asking "but HOW do I accept this?"—this one's for you.
Soft Regulation System Waitlist