In years of CBT, ACT and CFT training, nobody ever taught me why nasal breathing matters, and plenty of the breathing exercises I was taught, inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth, work against it without anyone meaning them to. That’s an odd gap, because how you breathe has a direct line to the […]
Why Breathing Through Your Nose (Not Your Mouth) Helps Calm Your Threat System Read More »
Imagine you’re walking through a park and a dog suddenly lunges at you, barking. In that moment your body doesn’t wait for permission. Your attention locks onto the dog and nothing else. Your muscles tense, your heart rate spikes, your breathing changes. Your mind starts generating pictures of what happens next, most of them bad.
The Six Areas Where Anxiety Gets Its Grip Read More »
You’ve been really busy at work lately, you’ve picked up extra responsibilities and there have been a fair few changes, more moving parts than usual, and your mind is finding it difficult to switch off when you leave the office. You’re finding that this is affecting your sleep, that you’re waking in the night and
Worry Is Solving the Wrong Problem Read More »
You sent the email at four in the afternoon, but by nine that evening it is still with you. You have read it back twice, maybe three times, hunting for the word that landed wrong. You are picturing the person opening it in the morning and deciding what they make of you. Part of you
Why Fighting Your Anxiety Only Makes It Stronger Read More »
You have probably tried to reason your way calm. You have talked yourself through it, weighed the evidence, told yourself it will be fine, and noticed the worry barely flinched. That is not a personal failing. It is a clue about how anxiety actually works, and why the usual advice to think positive or just
Stop Fighting Your Anxiety: How to Build a Healthier Relationship With It Read More »
Maybe you cannot switch off, your mind races at night and your shoulders seem to live somewhere up around your ears, and even on a quiet evening your body stays braced for something that never quite arrives. Or maybe it is the opposite, and you feel flat, heavy, and oddly far away, going through the