Regulate & Rewire: An Anxiety & Depression Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Today let’s talk about the anixiety attack I *almost* had at the airport earlier this summer. Warning I’m going to take you on this journey with me detail by detail, so if you’re already feeling a little worked up today, maybe come back to this episode later when my airport stress won’t increase your stress but can instead be simply a chaotic story you get to listen to for your education & entertainment purposes. Hit play for the full convo!

Here's the 3 takeaways:

1. When you experience the same situations differently than someone else, that doesn’t have to mean you or they are wrong for the way it is experienced
2. When we’re stuck in states of dysregulation that changes the way we view and interpret situations in our life. The next time you find yourself ranting, spiraling out about, or even simply retelling an experience can you pause to reflect on whether this story is being filtered through a lens of regulation or dysregulation? 
3. If this would have happened a few years ago, I would have had a meltdown equivalent to my toddler's and it likely would have thrown me off for days. I didn’t match his meltdown and I was mostly reset before the plane took off. This is just a testament that you can in fact increase your capacity for stress; there are tangible tools that work to help you regulate your nervous system; you can soften the parts of you or beliefs you have about being too much, not enough, needing to control, etc… that make situations in our lives feel bigger than they need to & this is the work we support clients with every day.
   
   

Looking for more personalized support?

• Book a FREE consultation for RESTORE, our 1:1 anxiety & depression coaching program.
• Join me inside RISE, a mental health membership and nervous system healing space.
• Order my book, Healing Through the Vagus Nerve today!
• Want me to talk about something specific on the podcast? Let me know HERE.

Website: https://www.riseaswe.com/podcast

Email: amanda@riseaswe.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaontherise/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Today, we're talking about something that might surprise you—we’re going to talk about Botox.  If you're asking, “Why are we discussing Botox on a podcast focused on mental health?” Another centerpiece to this podcast is talking about ways to support, heal and regulation your nervous systems, in that it's important to consider how everything we do—including something as common as a Botox—could play a role. Today we'll talk about both the cosmetic & medical uses of Botox as we talk through it's benefits and it’s potential impact on your nervous system, brain, and emotional regulation (potentially of you and your kids). Hit play to learn more!

Here's the 3 takeaways:

1. Botox is a neurotoxin. It is used both medically & cosmetically. Most of the research show’s it’s more safe than not but that doesn’t mean there aren’t risks and side effects. Do you feel aligned with how or why you choose Botox? Does it improve that quality of your life in a way that outweighs potential costs?
2. Potential costs of botox include muscle atrophy, changes in brain activity, and emotional regulation - with potential implication for both you and your children’s emotional literacy.
3. Long-term effects of Botox are not fully understood.

Sources mentioned:

• Stark, S., Stark, C., Wong, B. et al. Modulation of amygdala activity for emotional faces due to botulinum toxin type A injections that prevent frowning. Sci Rep 13, 3333 (2023). 
• Davis JI, Senghas A, Brandt F, Ochsner KN. The effects of BOTOX injections on emotional experience. Emotion. 2010 Jun;10(3):433-40. doi: 10.1037/a0018690. PMID: 20515231; PMCID: PMC2880828.
• Weise D, Weise CM, Naumann M. Central Effects of Botulinum Neurotoxin-Evidence from Human Studies. Toxins (Basel). 2019 Jan 6;11(1):21. doi: 10.3390/toxins11010021. PMID: 30621330; PMCID: PMC6356587.
• BBC Article: Are there long-term health risks to using Botox?

Looking for more personalized support?

• Book a FREE consultation for RESTORE, our 1:1 anxiety & depression coaching program.
• Join me inside RISE, a mental health membership and nervous system healing space.
• Order my book, Healing Through the Vagus Nerve today!
• Want me to talk about something specific on the podcast? Let me know HERE.

Website: https://www.riseaswe.com/podcast

Email: amanda@riseaswe.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaontherise/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Episode 71

Have you ever found yourself rushing to do something or rushing get somewhere when you really didn’t actually need to rush? You weren’t running late, there wasn’t a timeline, no one was waiting on you and yet you felt this urgent need to move faster. If so, this episode is for you. 

We all have default patterns, default ways of responding to the world around us because of our past lived experiences. Join me for a conversation about why these patterns take hold, but more importantly what it looks like to begin to rewire and repattern these default responses if they're no longer serving you. Hit play to learn more!

Here's the 3 takeaways:

1.  Catch: Notice this week anytime you feel rushed when you might not need to be?
2.  Challenge: Pause, and ask “can I slow down?” (& know that your brain will immediately scream "NO!"at you, pause again, maybe asking, "but what if we just try?")
3.  Change: Do differently. Maybe you keep driving, doing the dishes, or walking but can you do  just 1% slower, with 1% less urgency, 1% less tension. If you do differently enough times, and things work out, you reset your baseline responses.

Looking for more personalized support?

• Book a FREE consultation for RESTORE, our 1:1 anxiety & depression coaching program.
• Join me inside RISE, a mental health membership and nervous system healing space.
• Order my book, Healing Through the Vagus Nerve today!

Website: https://www.riseaswe.com/podcast

Email: amanda@riseaswe.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaontherise/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Episode 70

If you've ever felt frustrated by a therapist or coach responding to your request for tools with something like, "Well, what do you think a helpful tool would be?" then today's chat is for you. in this episode I share what I learned in attending my first ever ecstatic dance class and how it demonstrated for me the importance of suggestions in our healing journeys. When you've lived so much of your life inside a specific box, it can be really hard to see anything else. 

Join me as I discuss the balance between being client-led and offering guidance in therapeutic practices, emphasizing the importance of context, choice, and connection for creating a sense of safety; and as I reflect on my desire (and maybe yours too) to feel more free.

Here's the 3 takeaways:

1. If you, like me, don’t have a practice of moving your body, of dancing freely, here's my invitation to start. Remember, "the weirder I move my body, the more I fit in."
2. Healing requires action and changes in daily living. Seek out practitioners and spaces that offer practical tools and suggestions to support your journey.
3. I’m sending you my love and support as you also figure out how to learn to feel more free. As always, we would love to support you. My calendar is open for those of you interested in booking a discovery call to learn more about our 1:1 coaching program, doors to the membership are always open, as is my inbox (amanda@riseaswe.com). I love love love hearing from you.

Looking for more personalized support?

• Book a FREE consultation for RESTORE, our 1:1 anxiety & depression coaching program.
• Join me inside RISE, a mental health membership and nervous system healing space.
• Order my book, Healing Through the Vagus Nerve today!

Website: https://www.riseaswe.com/podcast

Email: amanda@riseaswe.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaontherise/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Episode 69

One of my deepest beliefs is that “I’m too much” – I’m too loud, I’m too energetic, I ask too much, need too much, my idea’s or dreams or plans are all too much, my pace is too much, etc… It’s a wound that gets triggered a lot in my friendships, entrepreneurship, and especially in my marriage. It's also a belief that holds me back from fully showing up in a lot of areas of my life.

Join me for a conversation about how all our beliefs, while well-meaning and self-protective at one point, may no longer serving us anymore and when left unchecked they'll hold you back in your healing journey and keep you stuck in patterns you don't want anymore.

Here's the 3 takeaways:

1. If you’re feeling stuck in your healing, it might be happening out of order. Reflect on my  pyramid of healing (pg 85 in my book Healing Through the Vagus Nerve) and ask yourself if you maybe skipped a step? Often times before we can do the deeper healing and rewiring work, we need to first stabilize and regulate our nervous system.
2. As long as I believe it to be true, that I’m too much and people prefer a muted version of me, I’ll filter everything through that. What belief do you currently have as a filter that are no longer serving where you'd like to go?
3. If you can identify a belief, spend some time with these final two questions: “What do I risk if I stop doing or believing X?” and “What do I gain if I stop doing or believing X?”

Looking for more personalized support?

• Book a FREE consultation for RESTORE, our 1:1 anxiety & depression coaching program.
• Join me inside RISE, a mental health membership and nervous system healing space.
• Order my book, Healing Through the Vagus Nerve today!

Website: https://www.riseaswe.com/podcast

Email: amanda@riseaswe.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaontherise/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Episode 68

When you’re not sleeping, eating, breathing, moving, resting, playing, or connecting enough — you should expect to be sick, your mental health will suffer because your brain and overall health are suffering. 

When we, or life, expects us to sacrifice the very habits that nurture our nature of being human — we suffer and there's no amount of talk therapy or meds (while possibly helpful) that heals symptoms caused by a dysregulated nervous system or daily habits that rob you of general health.

You cannot heal when continuing to live in chronic stress.

So, what is regulated living? It’s about living with routines, habits, and practices that support a regulated nervous system, habits that support healthy mental, physical, emotional, and relational health. It involves the habits that make up your daily life as well as cultivating the skills necessary to effectively self-regulate and manage stress.

Today’s conversation acts like a wrap up to the 8 episode Essential 8 series, providing moments of invitation and reflection to step into some aspect of more regulated living.

Here's the 3 takeaways:

1. Regulated living isn’t a perfect protocol to follow but a way of living based in understanding your psychology and physiology enough to meet their needs. It's a general way of living that prioritizes health,  stress & emotional management, and social connections in a way that regulates your nervous system and supports healing from anxiety & depression. 
2. As you do this, your systems will do what they naturally do which is to trend towards healing. There’s often deeper work to do, but it can be helpful to stabilize and create capacity within your system as a whole before diving in.
3. A nudge to join us inside the newly-named Regulated Living Membership (or if you want more personalized support to book a discovery call with me to learn more about RESTORE our 1:1 coaching program). Working through our programs, healing in this way isn’t a quick fix – it’ll invite you over and over again into an assessing and editing your life to step into more sustainable and regulated living. It would be our honor to support you.

Looking for more personalized support?

• Book a FREE consultation for RESTORE, our 1:1 anxiety & depression coaching program.
• Join me inside RISE, a mental health membership and nervous system healing space.
• Order my book, Healing Through the Vagus Nerve today!

Website: https://www.riseaswe.com/podcast

Email: amanda@riseaswe.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaontherise/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Episode 67 - Essential 8 Series (Part 8)

Do you struggle to feel connected or at home in your body? Do you often feel ungrounded? Do you have anxiety or lack self awareness? When someone is having a hard time are you overly empathetic - is it almost like you absorb their hard emotions? Do you struggle to easily feel when you're hungry or full? These are all signs of low or impaired interoceptive awareness.

Interoception is the ability to fell and understand what's happening on the inside of your body and it is a foundational skill to somatic healing. Hit play to join me for a longer conversation on what it is, why it matters, and how to cultivated stronger interocetion.
 
Resources:

• 📓 Download your Interoception Workbook! - CLICK HERE

Here's the 3 takeaways:

1. Interoception is the awareness of how you feel on the inside, it is the key to navigating your nervous system with agency and to really feeling at home in your body.
2. If you struggle to feel connected to your body, find yourself overly empathetic, struggle knowing when you’re hungry or full, or often feel ungrounded – these are signs of weak interoception.
3. Want an easy place to start? Pee when you need to pee. 

Looking for more personalized support?

• Book a FREE consultation for RESTORE, our 1:1 anxiety & depression coaching program.
• Join me inside RISE, a mental health membership and nervous system healing space.
• Order my book, Healing Through the Vagus Nerve today!

Website: https://www.riseaswe.com/podcast

Email: amanda@riseaswe.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaontherise/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Episode 66 - Essential 8 Series (Part 7)

Today we’re taking a deep dive into how community helps you heal & I would go as far as to say how and why community is a non-negotiable for healing, how it’s the cornerstone to it. Humans are hardwired for connection. You were never meant to carry or navigate as much as you have on your own. Hit play to learn more!
 
Resources:

• 📓 Download your Community Workbook! - CLICK HERE
• IG post I referenced
• 3 research studies referenced:
  • The Role of Social Support in Coping with Psychological Trauma
  • Developing trauma resilient communities through community capacity-building
  • How does social support enhance resilience in the trauma-exposed individual?

Here's the 3 takeaways:

1. Human are hardwired for connection, it is a biological imperative. Take a moment to reflect on the spaces, places, and people you feel an authentic connection with. Consider doing the, “Who’s at your table?” exercise.
2. The modern world is moving in away from real-time, in-person connection, be intentional about keeping it in your life. Consider putting your phone away more often and look for ways big and small to create human connection in your daily life.
3. Social support enhances our resilience to trauma. Community-based spaces to heal, connect, play, and have shared experiences are essential.

Looking for more personalized support?

• Book a FREE consultation for RESTORE, our 1:1 anxiety & depression coaching program.
• Join me inside RISE, a mental health membership and nervous system healing space.
• Order my book, Healing Through the Vagus Nerve today!

Website: https://www.riseaswe.com/podcast

Email: amanda@riseaswe.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaontherise/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Episode 65 - Essential 8 Series (Part 6)

Today we’re chatting about nutrition and its impact on mental health, specifically anxiety, depression. Treat today’s episode sort of like you and I were casually chatting and I said, “Hey, did you know…”

"Did you know that blood sugar regulation (or lack there of) has been linked to anxiety and depression?"

"Did you know your gut is often referred to as your “second brain” and that research shows that emotions play out in your gut and gut issues can create mental health symptoms?"

"Did you know that the quality and quantity of food we eat matter?  If you’re under-eating or under-nourishing yourself then you’re likely nutrient deficient and those deficiencies stress out the nervous system contributing to living in survival mode?"

To which, you’d look at me with awe and wonder and reply, “OMG Amanda, I didn’t know that - tell me more?”

Wonderful, that’s the conversation we’re having here - let’s chat through blood sugar, mind-gut connection, and nutrients needs that can impact your mental health.

CLICK HERE to get on the waitlist for our upcoming new RESET program. 

📓 Download your Nutrition Workbook! - CLICK HERE

So here’s the 3 takeaways:

1. Mind-gut connection is well research and established, if your gut flora isn’t healthy then having mental health implication of that makes sense. Especially if you're someone who struggles with IBS, food intolerances, or other digestive related issues as well as anxiety or depression it might be work taking a deeper look at your gut health.
2. Blood sugar regulation, or lack of, is directly linked to mood and the likelihood and intensity of anxiety or depression symptoms.
3. Both macro and micro nutrients matter, consistently eating too much or too little of the things we need can stress out our system and there are certain micronutrient deficiencies that are been directly linked to symptoms we cluster and label as anxiety or depression

Looking for more personalized support?

• Book a FREE consultation for RESTORE, our 1:1 anxiety & depression coaching program.
• Join me inside RISE, a mental health membership and nervous system healing space.
• Pre-order my new book, Healing Through the Vagus Nerve today!

Website: https://www.riseaswe.com/podcast

Email: amanda@riseaswe.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaontherise/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

A quick intermission from our 8 part "Essential 8" series because my brain needed a break after juggling a lot the past few weeks. At the heart of this episode is a conversation about this quote, “When a flower doesn’t bloom, you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower.”

In the context of your healing the quote can be rewritten as “when you’re struggling with anxiety or depression, you fix the environments in which you’re healing and growing, not you.”

You are not broken, you do not need fixing. Your symptoms make sense and assessing and addressing these underlying factors lies at the heart of healing.

Looking for more personalized support?

• Book a FREE discovery call for RESTORE, our 1:1 anxiety & depression coaching program.

Website: https://www.riseaswe.com/podcast

Email: amanda@riseaswe.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amandaontherise/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise