Anxiety Slayer™ with Shann and Ananga

What helps morning anxiety

#508: This week we're talking about how to calm morning anxiety as many of us are facing returning to work, or have children returning to school or heading off to college.
 
This episode of Anxiety Slayer is brought to you by revivingmind.com Reviving Mind offers virtual Therapy and Anxiety Support Groups facilitated by experienced licensed clinicians.
 
For a limited time, Anxiety Slayer listeners can get a FREE 15-minute consultation with a trained specialist that will guide you to your best option whether it be Individual Therapy or one of Reviving Mind's Support Groups. Learn more at https://www.revivingmind.com/find-support
 
 

Women’s health, hormones & happiness with Dr. Sarah McKay

#507: Welcome back to the award-winning Anxiety Slayer podcast. Today Shann is speaking with Dr. Sarah McKay about the neuroscience of women's health, hormones and happiness.
Sarah is an Oxford University-educated neuroscientist, educator, media commentator, director of The Neuroscience Academy, and author of The Women's Brain Book: The neuroscience of health, hormones and happiness.
Sarah lives on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia with her Irish husband. Together they're raising two boys and a cocker spaniel, and they can be found sailing, surfing, mountain biking or skiing. 
Show Notes
-Sarah's journey and why she wrote a book about the female brain, 
-How hormones affect our brain, and in turn our emotions, behaviors, and anxiety? 
-What are some of the greatest myths or misunderstandings we have about the female brain and PMS? 
-What Principles of neuroscience should all of our listeners know?
-Habits, motivation, and behavior change — The struggle is real and the brain is the reason why.
-Can you really ‘think yourself’ into a healthier happier version of yourself? 
 
Learn more about Dr. Mckay and get a copy The Woman’s Brain Book at www.drsarahmckay.com You can also download her Free Check List: 9 Daily Habits of Highly Healthy Brains
 

Health Anxiety: how to stop fixating on symptoms and feel more peace

#506: This week we're talking about health anxiety and sharing some practices from Qigong and EFT Tapping to help you feel more relaxed and at peace in your body when symptoms are triggering fear.
 

How to regain calm when anxiety hijacks your brain

#505: Anxiety frequently hijacks our thinking with a fearful narrative. For example: “what if” thoughts or worst-case scenarios.
The body responds as if those fearful thoughts are true—because it doesn’t know the difference between a real threat and imagined scenarios.
When the body reacts it makes the mind more disturbed and we get caught in this fear cycle that feels frightening and completely takes over our body and mind.
 
Here’s what happens:
 
Anxiety starts with a trigger, a symptom or sensation, a message, or news item - something that strikes a vulnerable place in us.
 
The mind zooms in on it and instantly creates an anxious narrative. A story around the trigger that makes it instantly more solid, or a potential threat.
 
As soon as the mind creates its story, and it can happen in an instant, the body reacts. Our heart beats faster, our breathing becomes shallow, we might feel lightheaded, or shaky. And these sensations in the body feedback into our mind and further disturb the mind.
 
This repeats and builds into a fear cycle that feels very real and very hard to bear.  Until we know how to stop it.
 
A mind in balance can respond calmly to incoming information, but a mind that’s already challenged by anxiety will react rather than respond. It lacks the resilience to process the incoming information and respond in a self-supporting way.
 
The good news is that we can change this. We can learn to break the fear cycle. Listen in to learn more.
 
For help with calming heightened anxiety, you can join Ananga for a new Guided Tapping Session video on Patreon at patreon.com/anxietyslayer