1256: From Listening To Living The Tools: Diane's Anxiety Recovery Journey

Gina Ryan (0:00): Starting something new isn't just hard. It's vulnerable. When I started hosting this podcast, I had all the classic fears. What if no one listens? What if I fail?

Gina Ryan (0:11): What if I'm just talking into the void? But here's what I know now. Growth doesn't come from certainty. It comes from support. And that's what I love about platforms like Shopify.

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Gina Ryan (1:19): When I started hosting this podcast, I had all the classic fears. What if no one listens? What if I fail? What if I'm just talking into the void? But here's what I know now.

Gina Ryan (1:31): Growth doesn't come from certainty. It comes from support, and that's what I love about platforms like Shopify. They're built for people who have an idea but don't want to get lost in the tech. Shopify helps you create a store that actually reflects your brand even if design isn't your thing. They help you reach the right people with email and social tools that don't feel overwhelming.

Gina Ryan (1:56): And if you hit a wall, their award winning customer support is there twenty four seven. Because building something meaningful is hard enough, you shouldn't have to do it without backup. Start your business today with the industry's best business partner, Shopify, and start hearing Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at shopify.com/coaches. Go to shopify.com/coaches. That's shopify.com/coaches.

Unknown Speaker (2:38): Welcome to the anxiety coaches podcast, a relaxing and informative show where we explore anxiety, panic, and PTSD, sharing how you can overcome them for life.

Gina Ryan (2:54): Aloha. Welcome back to the anxiety coaches podcast. I'm your host and coach, Gina Ryan, and I am so happy to be with you again today as together we can consider the many ways to bring your mind and body back to its natural peace and calm. In today's episode, we're going to do something a little bit different. I'm sharing a beautiful journey with you.

Gina Ryan (3:22): This journey that I have watched happen over time. And now I'm letting you in on what worked on this healing journey and what didn't from a listener's point of view. First off, I wanna thank you, Diane, for your time, your patience, and your vulnerability in opening up to all of us. You know, over the years, I have received thousands of emails from listeners all over the world, and many share their struggles with anxiety, of course, and panic, their health fears, their grief, overwhelm, and all the ways life can suddenly turn upside down. But every now and then someone shares a story that beautifully captures what anxiety recovery really can look like.

Gina Ryan (4:11): Not a quick fix, not a miracle cure, and not a straight line. Just one person, one day at a time, learning how to calm a frightened nervous system and slowly rebuild a life. Now, a longtime listener by the name of Diane recently agreed to participate in an email interview with me. Diane found the podcast during one of the most difficult periods of her life. What followed was not an overnight transformation, but something far more real, and I think far more hopeful.

Gina Ryan (4:57): Today, I'll be reading my questions that I asked her and sharing Diane's answers in her own words. And I'll be reflecting on some of the wisdom and lessons woven throughout her journey. Now, as you listen, I really wanna invite you to notice how often healing happens in small moments. A walk around the block, a few minutes of meditation, maybe turning off the news, choosing rest, and trying again after a setback, and trusting that change is possible even when it feels impossibly far away. If you're struggling right now, I hope Diane's story reminds you of something I say often here on the show.

Gina Ryan (5:51): Recovery is not about becoming who you were before anxiety. Sometimes it's about becoming someone even more compassionate, more resilient, and authentic than you ever imagined possible. So let's get started. My first question to Diane was how did you first find the Anxiety Coaches Podcast? Do you remember what was happening in your life at that time?

Gina Ryan (6:25): And Diane's response is the following. In early twenty twenty, I had COVID pneumonia for three months with a four day hospital stay. Then I had airway blockages for about six months and later got a diagnosis of asthma for the first time. A few weeks after the hospital, I totaled my car. My first car accident ever.

Gina Ryan (6:56): No one was hurt, but my body was electrified for two weeks after. Then the lockdowns. Eating carbs and drinking alcohol, watching COVID news for hours on TV, race riots, ugly political campaign. By October, I could barely function. I saw my doctor who ordered medication and a diabetic diet for newly diagnosed prediabetes.

Gina Ryan (7:29): The medication knocked me out for a good week, but it was just the break my nervous system needed. In my grandmother's time, they called it a nervous breakdown. I looked for anything on anxiety and found you. It all changed after that, but slowly and incrementally. I just wanna take a brief pause here and point out that Diane had so much on her plate all at once, And often, we don't recognize that.

Gina Ryan (8:07): Maybe she didn't even see that at the time, that what was happening was layering one thing on top of the other. So please be patient with yourself if this is happening to you. Now let's continue with Diane's wisdom. My second question to her was, what made you decide to keep listening? And I asked her that because many people run across the podcast, listen once or twice, but then they move on.

Gina Ryan (8:38): They find something else. I know I do that with podcasts. Maybe I listen for a few weeks, and then it just doesn't really serve me, so I keep moving. So I wanted to ask her what was it about listening to the show that made her keep coming back. And she said, I could tell you had been to the bottom and back.

Gina Ryan (9:01): Your voice was calm and reassuring. I trusted what you were saying and tried a few suggestions. When those worked, I gradually added more strategies. I hope you can hear that. She didn't do everything all at once.

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Gina Ryan (14:17): Next, I asked Diane, was there a moment when you realized the show was becoming a real support for you? And she answered within a few months. And within a few months, the show was a safe haven for me. I listened to many episodes over and over again. I didn't understand it all, but I just kept listening.

Gina Ryan (14:43): Next, I asked her, what were some of the things that you tried before finding approaches that helped? She said crying, drinking, worrying, overeating. She said my therapist and my doctor both told me to stop watching TV news. This was critical and helped me immediately. Next, I asked her, has your relationship with anxiety changed over time?

Gina Ryan (15:18): And Diane replied, At first, I felt helpless and exhausted in the chaos of anxiety and panic attacks. I slowly began to recognize when my body was getting tense, then to find strategies to calm myself. It's important for me to continue those practices daily and to pay attention to my body when it's feeling stressed. Next, I asked her, how do you usually listen to the show? Walking, driving before bed, or what?

Gina Ryan (15:57): And she replied, I usually lie down in the late afternoon in a dark room, turn on episodes, and rest until my sore old back eases and my body calms itself. Sometimes I listen when I'm doing chores and on walks, but I like only being tuned into the environment when I walk. I then asked Diane, are there certain types of episodes that you find yourself returning to when you need support and that you've mentioned you take notes and make lists of favorite episodes. What inspires you to do that? And a little side note here, Diane had emailed me a number of times telling me about the episodes that she listened to over and over again and the ones that she was keeping track of returning at a later date.

Gina Ryan (16:56): And her response to my question about that was, I wanted to be able to find the episodes I needed quickly. My list of favorite episodes changes over time. What I desperately needed to hear the first year was how to feel safe and calm myself. Then I went back to other episodes and heard what I wasn't able to understand earlier. For instance, I needed to know how to get out of a panic attack at first.

Gina Ryan (17:30): Then for a while, I soaked myself in affirmations. Many of these statements became part of my thinking after a while, and I added my own affirmations. I hope that you guys can hear that, how the show was beginning to be something that she honed, that she made into her own healing salve. She would go back to things, ones that she knew were helpful, maybe those affirmations. She soaked herself in those.

Gina Ryan (18:07): And then at other times, would go back to shows and get a new level of understanding afterwards from the first time that she listened to it. We can begin to make this our own, and I'm hoping that you will make the show your own also. Next, I asked Diane, when you relisten to an episode, what are you usually hoping to reconnect with? Her reply was sometimes I can't absorb an idea or strategy the first time I hear it. But after listening over and over to the same episode, it can sink in.

Gina Ryan (18:50): For instance, the roomy poem about letting the bad in with the good seemed impossible for several years, but something about it kept me coming back. Some key phrases are important to me, like, no one is coming to save you. It doesn't happen all at once. It takes time. For Claire Week's plan, I listened over and over, read the books, and listened over and over to those episodes.

Gina Ryan (19:25): I practice the facing, accepting, floating, and letting time pass when I can feel anxiety rising. It's better when I can catch it right away, and that's a little tricky sometimes. Then I asked Diane, has there ever been an idea or concept from the show that changed how you see anxiety? She replied, yes. I believe now that recovery can happen because I've seen it myself.

Gina Ryan (19:58): I now know that my mind is just preparing my body for an emergency, but not everything is an emergency. This isn't a quick fix. You have to do the work, and it takes patient, persistent, and intentional effort, she said. I printed the 12 symptoms of inner peace and posted it where I would see it. I can see my progress when I look back.

Gina Ryan (20:30): Sometimes I don't feel quite right, like I could cry, and I don't know why. I keep a copy of the list of emotions from nonviolent communication and make check marks on the ones that best describe my emotion at the time. This is helpful when I'm lost. And some key phrases for me, she said, are no one is coming to save you. You won't always feel this way.

Gina Ryan (21:04): Pain and discomfort are not dangerous, and hard times by their nature are temporary. Next, I asked Diane, are there practices or perspectives from the podcast that you use regularly in your daily life? And she said, predictable routines, walking, meditating, listening to one to four episodes a day, regular bedtime and wake up times. I take the time to read books, play the piano, and do hard crosswords because they keep my mind totally occupied. I write a one line in a notebook each day for the following, gratitude, something to celebrate, a kindness to someone, a stoic exercise, something tough that she dealt with, and what's the best thing to do that day?

Gina Ryan (22:13): And next, I asked Diane, what has surprised you the most about your own growth? She replied, what surprised me the most about my own growth is that I didn't go back to my old self. I'm becoming a different and better person. Facing helplessness was humbling. I'm more compassionate with myself, happier, calmer, more honest and authentic, and more understanding about loved ones, friends, and strangers.

Gina Ryan (22:50): I don't need to maintain a facade anymore. My nervous system is less trigger happy and fewer things scare me. Then I asked Diane, what would you say to someone who just discovered the podcast and is feeling overwhelmed by anxiety? She said, to someone who's desperate for help and is just starting climbing out of the wormhole, I would say to give it time and more time. Just sit and listen.

Gina Ryan (23:29): Minimize stressors, negative people, stressful situations, TV media, and negative input from anywhere. Just breathe and breathe and breathe slowly and with a longer exhale. Look for people and activities that you notice calm you. She said also cut back on unnecessary interactions, errands, traffic, exposure to unpredictable places and people. Quit toxic relationships even if they push back hard.

Gina Ryan (24:14): You'll be glad you did. This is a good place to stop for today, but be sure to listen to the next episode because I know you wanna hear the rest of Diane's anxiety recovery journey. I'll be back in a few more days with another podcast. Until then, be well and aloha.

Unknown Speaker (24:40): Thanks so much for joining us for today's episode of the Anxiety Coaches Podcast. Find more information at the anxietycoachespodcast.com.

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