The Anxiety Coaches Podcast

In today's episode, Gina shares part two of her interview with author Scott Berkun. In addition to being a successful author, Scott has a listener to the Anxiety Coaches Podcast and a client of Gina Ryan's private coaching. Scott experienced a significant "mental breakdown" in the past and recovered over the course of about a year. Listen in as Scott describes his experience and some of the processes and tools that helped him overcome his difficulties with fear and anxiety.Find out more about Scott and his work athttps://scottberkun.com/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.comJoin our community Group Coaching Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program1:1 Coaching Learn more about our One-on-One CoachingIf 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 AnxietyChapters0:27 Finding Calm Through Mischief3:09 Modern Life and Our Natural Needs7:18 Rebuilding Community and Connection11:13 The Turning Point in Recovery15:39 Accepting Feelings Through Practice17:14 Preparing for Future ChallengesSummaryIn today's episode, Gina shares part two of her interview with author Scott Berkun. In addition to being a successful author, Scott has a listener to the Anxiety Coaches Podcast and a client of Gina Ryan's private coaching. Scott experienced a significant "mental breakdown" in the past and recovered over the course of about a year. Listen in as Scott describes his experience and some of the processes and tools that helped him overcome his difficulties with fear and anxiety.Chapters0:27 Finding Calm Through Mischief3:09 Modern Life and Our Natural Needs7:18 Rebuilding Community and Connection11:13 The Turning Point in Recovery15:39 Accepting Feelings Through Practice17:14 Preparing for Future ChallengesSummaryWe continue our conversation with Scott Berkun about the ideas behind his book and its cover, which features a laughing skeleton. Scott describes it as an image of the trickster spirit: mischief can challenge how seriously we take ourselves and remind us to appreciate being alive amid pressure to achieve and keep up with modern life.We discuss whether modern society contributes to stress and disconnection. Scott reflects on Freud’s argument that civilization brought rules, bureaucracies, jobs and careers that can complicate mental well-being, while Gina recalls how people once found relief through neighbors and small gatherings. We also talk about how online contact can extend beyond the small communities people are suited to know, and how difficult it can be to build supportive relationships when connection is needed most.Scott shares how, during a mental health crisis, he organized a daily schedule of seeing a different friend each day for several months. He describes the support this gave him and the challenge of creating such connections while anxious or depressed. We consider whether communities and organized groups could help people find regular social support.Scott explains that finding a helpful therapist, reliable mental-health resources and breathing exercises helped him gain stability. Recovery took about a year, and he gradually stopped comparing himself with an idealized version of his past self. He also discusses how reading *Radical Acceptance* helped him become more present with difficult feelings, and how patience, meditation and regular practice supported his recovery.We close by discussing the value of learning meditation and tolerating small discomforts before a crisis. Scott says earlier experience with meditation and journaling gave him useful habits, though his crisis remained overwhelming, and argues that people could benefit from learning more about how the mind works.#AnxietyCoachesPodcast #GinaRyan #ScottBerkun #MentalHealth #AnxietyRelief #Mindfulness #Meditation #RadicalAcceptance #TaraBrach #MentalHealthAwareness #InnerPeace #StressManagement #OvercomingAnxiety #SelfHelp #EmotionalWellness #CommunitySupport #DunbarsNumber #Psychology #SelfCare #HealingJourney #MentalHealthRecovery #EasternPhilosophy #Wellness #MentalHealthMatters #MindfulnessPractice #ACPSee 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 shares part one of her interview with author Scott Berkun who shares his personal story of overcoming fear and anxiety. Scott is the best selling author of nine books covering topics from design through self-help. Scott is a long time listener of The Anxiety Coaches Podcast and was a client of Gina's after having what he describes as a mental breakdown. Listen in and learn how Scott overcame his nearly constant fear and anxiety!Find out more about Scott and his work athttps://scottberkun.com/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.comJoin our community Group Coaching Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program1:1 Coaching Learn more about our One-on-One CoachingIf 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 AnxietyChapters0:27 Scott Birkin on Living with Fear4:28 Fear, Anxiety, and Unexpected Lessons7:39 Finding Ways to Manage Anxiety10:11 How Crisis Changed the Book12:08 The Book’s Rules for Living16:38 Wisdom, Humor, and Waking UpSummaryAuthor and speaker Scott Berkun discusses his career, his experience with fear and anxiety, and his book *How to Live: Rules for People Who Don’t Like Rules*. He describes starting in software, then leaving that career to try writing despite not having formal journalism or English training. His first book did well, leading to a career as an author.Berkun says he learned to manage the physical energy he felt before public speaking and athletic competition, interpreting it as preparation rather than a signal to stop. After a mental health crisis near the end of the pandemic in 2021, however, anxiety became persistent and affected him physically and mentally.He describes going to the gym for hours as a way to reduce that energy. He also says the crisis changed how he understood people and influenced the more personal focus of his book.He explains that *How to Live* draws on philosophy, other writers’ ideas, and his own experience. The book contains 26 short rules and aims to be honest, accessible, and humorous rather than presenting its author as having everything figured out.Berkun says many self-help books can feel difficult to apply in daily life, and he wanted to write something that readers could engage with more easily.The first rule, “Don’t die,” is about recognizing the value of being alive and appreciating ordinary experiences. The second, “Wake up,” encourages readers to notice when they have learned something or recognized a mistake, and to focus on what they can do now rather than dwell on lost time. Berkun and host Gina Ryan discuss humor as a way to shift perspective, and the value of drawing on the long history of philosophical and spiritual guidance while recognizing that simply encountering advice may not be enough to create lasting change.#Podcast #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #GinaRyan #ScottBerkun #HowToLive #Fear #Anxiety #MentalHealth #PersonalGrowth #Mindfulness #SelfHelp #OvercomingFear #MentalBreakdown #Philosophy #Wellness #LivingFully #MindBodyConnection #SelfImprovement #MentalHealthAwareness #EmotionalWellbeing #StressRelief #Inspiration #Podcasting #AuthorInterview #LifeAdvice #Psychology #AnxietyRelief #Humor #Resilience #Awareness #ACPStillpoint 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.comJoin our community Group Coaching Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program1:1 Coaching Learn more about our One-on-One CoachingIf 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 AnxietyQuote: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 fear in the context of the physical nervous system. Claire Weekes' fear-adrenaline-fear cycle is explored, as well as the understanding of anxiety as a state of over-sensitization. Gina offers tips and suggestions to help listeners break out of this cycle and prevent it from happening.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.comJoin our community Group Coaching Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program1:1 Coaching Learn more about our One-on-One CoachingIf 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 AnxietyQuote:I discovered I always have choices and sometimes it's only a choice of attitude. -Judith M. KnowltonChapters0:27 Understanding the Fear Cycle2:47 When Sensations Feel Dangerous5:53 How Fear Fuels the Cycle7:39 Interrupting the Cycle10:32 Anxiety, Exhaustion, and Indecision13:47 Rest and Recovery14:58 Finding Your Way Out16:18 A Closing ThoughtSummaryIn this episode we discuss the nervous system’s fear cycle and how anxiety can make ordinary physical sensations feel alarming. We describe nervous-system sensitivity as a spectrum, from being able to let sensations pass to feeling overwhelmed by them, and share an example of mistaking a painful gas bubble for a heart attack.We explain how fear can lead to a physical stress response, including the release of adrenaline and cortisol, which can heighten sensitivity and feed further fear. Repeated cycles of fearful thoughts and reactions can become exhausting, and new sensations or thoughts may arise even after earlier ones have eased.We discuss observing thoughts and bodily sensations rather than reacting automatically. Creating a small pause can help us decide whether a thought requires action or can be allowed to pass, and can make room for a calmer response. We also note that exhaustion can contribute to indecision, reduced self-confidence, and greater distress.We encourage recognizing where we are in the cycle, allowing ourselves to rest when needed, and accepting that the cycle may begin with chronic stress or sudden trauma. The episode closes with a reminder that even when circumstances offer few options, we can choose our attitude.#AnxietyCoachesPodcast #Anxiety #NervousSystem #FearCycle #MentalHealth #AnxietyRelief #StressManagement #OvercomingAnxiety #ResponseVsReaction #MindBodyConnection #SelfCare #Mindfulness #MentalHealthAwareness #InnerPeace #RestAndRecovery #EmotionalWellness #AnxietyRecovery #StressRelief #SelfAwareness #HealthAndWellness #MentalWellness #OvercomingFear #EmotionalRegulation #BurnoutRecovery #MindsetShift #AnxietySupport #HealingJourney #MentalHealthMatters #HolisticHealth #PeaceOfMind #GinaRyan #ACPSee 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 concludes her discussion of the benefits of aromatherapy and fragrance for people recovering from anxiety. Specifically, how using fragrance can enhance our experience of the present moment is discussed, including how it can enhance meditation, prayer, contemplation and even our everyday routines. A brief practice for experiencing our senses is included using scent and breathing. Listen in and explore yourself in new ways through the power of scent!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.comJoin our community Group Coaching Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program1:1 Coaching Learn more about our One-on-One CoachingIf 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 AnxietyQuote:And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.-Kahlil GibranChapters0:27 Scent as a Ritual of Presence2:24 Aromatherapy’s Spiritual Roots4:24 Scent as a Doorway to Presence5:58 Making Ritual Simple9:27 Creating Sacred Space11:07 Scent and Remembrance12:39 Meditation Through Scent14:10 A Mindful Scent Practice16:04 The Gift of Being HereSummaryIn this episode, we explore fragrance as a ritual of presence rather than a remedy for anxiety. Drawing on Valerie Ann Wurwood’s *Aromatherapy for the Soul*, we consider how scent has been used in rituals, prayer, meditation, remembrance, and sacred spaces—and how ordinary fragrances can help us mark moments as meaningful.We discuss the difference between routine and ritual: routines are repeated actions, while rituals involve attention and meaning. A familiar scent paired with breathing, meditation, prayer, or reflection can become a cue to slow down and be present. Which scent feels calming is personal, shaped by memory, context, expectations, and individual preference.We consider how a small space or everyday activity can become a place for intention, without requiring elaborate preparations or a religious setting. Pausing to notice a scent can interrupt anxious thoughts about what comes next and bring attention back to the present.We also explore fragrance as a prompt for memory. A scent may bring to mind a person, place, season, or experience, including memories connected with grief. We can notice what arises without holding on to it or pushing it away, then return to the breath and the current moment.We close with a brief sensory practice: settle comfortably, notice a scent you enjoy, and gently return your attention to it and your breathing when thoughts wander. The episode reflects on how simple acts of noticing can make ordinary moments more meaningful and offer a way to be present without trying to force a particular feeling.#AnxietyRelief #Mindfulness #Aromatherapy #NervousSystemCalm #GroundingPractices #GinaRyan #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #Presence #SelfCareRoutine #SensoryGrounding #AromatherapyForTheSoul #MindfulLiving #Intentionality #StressRelief #SacredSpace #InnerPeace #MentalHealthAwareness #CalmYourMind #SensoryAwareness #MeditationPractice #Breathwork #HolisticWellness #DailyRituals #EmotionalWellbeing #PeaceAndCalm #ACPSee 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 continues her discussion of the benefits of aromatherapy and fragrance for individuals recovering from anxiety. More specifically, today the scientific research findings on scent and aromatherapy are explored. Safety considerations to remember when practicing self-care with essential oils are also included in this episode. Listen in and come to better understand the proven benefits of essential oils and how to use them for greatest effect!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.comJoin our community Group Coaching Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program1:1 Coaching Learn more about our One-on-One CoachingIf 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 AnxietyQuote:Our senses connect us intimately to the past, connect us in ways that most of our cherished ideas never could.-Diane AckermanChapters0:27 Welcome to the Anxiety Coaches Podcast2:20 What the Research Says About Aromatherapy4:27 Lavender and Anxiety5:57 How Scent, Memory, and Context Interact9:59 Pleasant Scents and the Body11:38 Using Aromatherapy Without Pressure14:01 Creating a Grounding Scent Ritual15:12 Essential Oil Safety16:26 What We Know—and What We Don’t17:36 Let Your Senses Support YouSummaryIn this episode, we examine whether aromatherapy can help with anxiety and what current research can—and cannot—tell us. Reviews of studies on inhaled essential oils report reductions in self-reported anxiety, including studies of lavender, but the research varies in quality and methods. The evidence does not establish essential oils as a treatment for anxiety disorders.We discuss why people may respond differently to the same scent. Personal memories, preferences, expectations and surroundings can shape the experience, and scents are difficult to study without participants knowing what they are smelling. A scent enjoyed during a quiet, repeated practice may also become associated with settling down.We consider emerging research linking personally pleasant odors with changes in breathing, heart rate and heart rate variability. This does not mean that one particular oil calms everyone. Aromatherapy may be a complementary part of a supportive routine, alongside practices such as taking comfortable breaths, sitting quietly, journaling or meditating—not a replacement for other care.We suggest approaching scent with curiosity rather than expecting it to remove anxiety. A scent could be an essential oil, tea, flower, citrus or another familiar smell; we can notice whether it feels pleasant, brings up a memory, irritates us or has no effect. There is no need to find a “perfect” oil or to feel that something is wrong if a scent does not help.We also cover safety. Essential oils are concentrated and can cause skin irritation, allergic reactions or other effects; some can increase sensitivity to sunlight when applied to the skin. We advise against ingesting them without appropriate medical guidance and recommend consulting a healthcare professional before therapeutic use when pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or managing health concerns.#Anxiety #Aromatherapy #EssentialOils #Lavender #MentalHealth #StressRelief #Relaxation #Scent #OlfactorySystem #MindBody #Breathing #HeartRateVariability #NervousSystem #SelfCare #Mindfulness #Calm #Grounding #HolisticHealth #WellBeing #ComplementaryTherapy #Psychology #BrainBody #Presence #Rituals #SensoryExperience #PersonalWellBeing #InternalPeace #Neuroscience #WellnessPractices #EmotionalHealth #Memory #AnxietyRelief #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #GinaRyan #DianeAckerman #BeWell #Aloha #ACPSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.