1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,880 Welcome back to the Anxiety Guide podcast, my friends, where we move past coping and into real 2 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:17,200 lasting healing. If you've been wondering why your progress feels fragile or why anxiety symptoms 3 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:24,280 keep returning, this episode might change everything because we're diving deep into the 4 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:32,200 real reason behind your setbacks and how living beneath your capacity mentally, emotionally, 5 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:38,800 physically, and spiritually can be the doorway to full recovery. Let's dive in. 6 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:50,560 Welcome to the Anxiety Guide podcast where we delve deep into the heart of anxiety, 7 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:57,880 providing you with the tools, insights, and inspiration to reclaim your life from the grips 8 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:05,880 of fear and uncertainty. I'm your host, Dennis Simsek, a former anxiety sufferer turned anxiety 9 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:13,120 healer, and each week we will explore proven strategies, share personal stories, and create 10 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:21,240 more than anxiety moments towards inner peace and empowerment. Get ready to break free from the 11 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:28,600 chains of anxiety and step into a life filled with purpose, joy, and unshakable confidence. 12 00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:36,200 This is the Anxiety Guide podcast and your path to liberation starts now. 13 00:01:36,200 --> 00:01:47,600 Before we dive in, just a quick reminder. If health anxiety has been ruling your life, 14 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:54,560 it's time to take your healing into your own hands. The all-new Health Anxiety Recovery 15 00:01:54,560 --> 00:02:02,840 Program is now live at anxietyguideprograms.com. It's a 12-week deep dive designed to help you 16 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:11,280 retrain your nervous system and shift fear-based habits and finally break free. My friends, this 17 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:21,840 isn't just information, it's transformation at anxietyguideprograms.com. Let's start here, 18 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:30,720 my friends. Most people don't even realize they're doing this, but it's the number one reason why they 19 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:40,800 stay stuck. They are living above their baseline capacity. Not in terms of ambition or drive, 20 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:51,400 but in terms of nervous system tolerance, emotional space, and even spiritual bandwidth. You might wake 21 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:58,200 up with symptoms and your first thought is, how do I fix this? We've all been there, right? And you 22 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:07,000 rush through routines, you stack on stimulation, maybe even overdo self-care techniques just to 23 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:17,120 feel in control. Can you relate? But your system doesn't need control. It needs space. It needs 24 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:27,760 slowness. It needs you to stop throwing more doing at a body that's asking for less because 25 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:35,640 living above your capacity is like pouring water into a cup that's already full. Eventually, 26 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:47,400 it spills and we call that a setback. But friends, it wasn't random, it was a message. You weren't 27 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:57,960 failing. You were overflowing. So in this episode, I invite you to slow down, to recognize the 28 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:05,840 importance of dropping below the line, and start practicing life differently. And let's break this 29 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:15,920 down here. Okay. If I could sum up the biggest mental shift in healing, it's this. You are not 30 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:26,120 your thoughts. You are the space that notices them. For most people in anxiety recovery, mental 31 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:34,440 noise feels urgent, right? You hear a fear-based thought and immediately believe you must analyze 32 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:44,440 it or answer it or neutralize it. But that effort is exactly what keeps it alive. You're trying to 33 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:52,320 logic your way out of a subconscious safety program. And the more attention you give it, 34 00:04:52,320 --> 00:05:00,400 the more you teach your nervous system, that the thought must be important. And this is where 35 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:08,320 setbacks start, not in the thought itself, but in your reaction to it. A new thought appears, 36 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:15,720 such as, I might faint, or what if it's something worse this time, right? We've all been there. And 37 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:25,440 the protector inside you wants you to react. It wants you to check it. It wants you to fix it. 38 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:32,600 It wants you to Google it, or mentally review the last 24 hours to find proof that you're okay. 39 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:41,240 But real freedom starts when you say things like, that's just a mental habit. I don't have to follow 40 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:51,600 it. I choose a new path today. Notice what I said there. Notice that I said, choice, not effort. 41 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:59,760 Because recovery isn't about replacing bad thoughts with good ones. It's about recognizing 42 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:08,640 that you have a choice in how much energy you feed the narrative. And you want to start small, 43 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:16,520 don't try to fight your thoughts, just let them pass. Let them float by like clouds and return 44 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:25,960 to your true intention. That choice will begin rewiring your mental pathways from fear to freedom. 45 00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:35,840 What about emotionally? Emotionally, many of us are addicted to stimulation. Even in healing, 46 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:43,760 we chase emotional highs, such as the perfect meditation, that relief after a good cry, 47 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:52,480 the breakthrough moment that makes it all worth it. But that's still stimulation. Your nervous 48 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:59,160 system doesn't distinguish between positive or negative energy. It only knows when it's being 49 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:09,120 pushed, right? True emotional healing, therefore, doesn't come from spikes in joy or drops in 50 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:18,360 despair. It comes from staying neutral. It comes from staying grounded and steady. When you start 51 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:26,340 living below your emotional capacity, you give up the chase. You stop needing to feel amazing to 52 00:07:26,340 --> 00:07:35,960 feel safe. This is huge. You start to allow life to be okay. And this might sound boring at first, 53 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:44,520 but that's only because your brain is used to drama. It's used to intensity, to emotional 54 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:53,320 turbulence, but neutrality is actually your healing zone. It's where you can finally breathe. 55 00:07:53,320 --> 00:08:04,160 So how do you begin, Dennis? Okay. We begin by stopping the chase over emotional highs, 56 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:14,160 as proof that you're healing. Learning to sit with the flatness, the stillness, without judging it. 57 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:25,680 Reminding yourself that peace isn't always a feeling, it's a decision, right? This kind of 58 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:32,800 emotional steadiness becomes a deep nervous system recalibration because you're no longer yanked 59 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:41,760 into the highs of, I'm cured, or the lows of, I'm doomed. You're basically anchored. You're 60 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:52,240 rooted and you're finally safe. Now let's talk about your body, your body, because most setbacks 61 00:08:52,240 --> 00:09:01,720 happen when we push too hard. When you overexert during a workout, when you skip rest days, or even 62 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:08,440 rush through daily tasks without checking in with your body. You're basically telling your system, 63 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:18,160 we're not safe until we do more. Can you relate? But healing is not a boot camp, my friends. It's 64 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:27,960 a restoration. The body heals when it feels safe, not when it's being forced into performance. That 65 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:33,720 means if you're doing high intensity workouts while your body is still in fight or flight loops, 66 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:44,520 you're reinforcing survival. And what do survival systems do? They hold on to symptoms. They don't 67 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:53,120 release tension. They brace instead of breathe. So let's reframe physical movement. Let's start 68 00:09:53,120 --> 00:10:01,920 asking, what kind of movement feels nourishing right now? I love that question. Or can I stay 69 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:11,000 connected to my body while I move? Can I stop before I feel exhausted? Remember, my friends, 70 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:18,240 a 15 minute walk in nature done with presence does more for your healing than an hour long, 71 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:30,080 intense workout fueled by fear. Now, this part of going beyond your capacity, I hope speaks to you 72 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:36,440 deeply. We're going to talk a little bit about the spiritual aspect. Many of us unknowingly treat 73 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:45,240 fear like everything, right? We follow its instructions. We rearrange our lives to accommodate 74 00:10:45,240 --> 00:10:54,960 its demands. We surrender our freedom in exchange for a false sense of control. But my friends, 75 00:10:54,960 --> 00:11:04,640 fear isn't truth. It's protection. And protection is only necessary when you believe you're under 76 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:13,240 threat, but you're not. You're not in the way your subconscious thinks. Your inner protector 77 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:21,520 is trying to keep you safe, but it's using outdated data. It doesn't know that you've grown, 78 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:31,280 that you've healed, that you've survived every single moment you once feared you wouldn't. So 79 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:39,720 what does spiritual healing look like? It looks like taking your power back. It looks like noticing 80 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:48,600 a fear-based signal and saying, I see you. I know you're trying to help, but I don't need that kind 81 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:57,680 of help anymore. It means choosing trust over vigilance, presence over control, and most 82 00:11:57,680 --> 00:12:10,920 importantly, practice over perfection. So in essence, if you're tired of setbacks, stop asking 83 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:20,720 what else you can do, and instead ask, where am I living beyond my capacity? Where am I still 84 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:29,680 chasing safety through stimulation? And how can I start living below the line with intention? 85 00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:38,120 Because healing isn't just what you practice, it's how you live. And your nervous system is 86 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:47,320 always listening. I love you all so much. Thank you for your presence and your time here. Until next 87 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:54,880 time, be gentle with yourself. You're definitely not failing. You're learning a new way to be in 88 00:12:54,880 --> 00:13:01,800 the world. And if you're ready to take the next step, the 12-week health anxiety recovery program 89 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:10,760 is waiting for you at anxietyguyprograms.com. You've got this, and you are more than anxiety. 90 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:19,440 See you in the next one. Bye-bye. The most powerful anxiety guy books on true anxiety 91 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:24,720 recovery are now available on Amazon. Pick up Beyond Anxiety and F Coping, 92 00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:32,480 Start Healing, and supercharge your healing journey today. Also visit www.theanxietyguy.com 93 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:38,080 to connect with Dennis and find the right online program for you. Remember, you are more than 94 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:41,440 anxiety. See you in the next podcast episode.