00:03
Welcome to the anxiety proof her podcast, where amazing women come for education, inspiration and hope around healing from anxiety. Each month, you're going to hear from other women who took control of their mental health by using outside the box holistic strategies to cope with their anxiety and to ultimately thrive. You will also learn from experts in the health and wellness industry, about the tools they use every day to help their patients or claim their well being. We hope this information allows you to see that there are many different paths to healing. I'm your host, Jennifer Bronsnick, and I'm a licensed clinical social worker, and anxiety treatment professional. I help women and teen girls who struggle with anxiety, self doubt, and perfectionism to tap into their innate resilience, get to the root of their fears, and implement custom healing strategies so that they can experience peace of mind, more self confidence and be liberated from the suffering that living with anxiety causes. I have lived with anxiety my whole life, and know how hard it can be. I also know that there is hope, and it's 100% treatable with the right information and support. Thank you so much for showing up for yourself and taking the first step to reclaiming your wellbeing and resilience.
01:36
Welcome to the anxiety prepare podcast. As always, we start by getting centered and grounded within ourselves. And in this moment, I'm feeling a little sleepy. So for this grounding practice, I'm actually going to invite you to call it a little bit more energy. So take a moment and just focus on the area of your heart or chest area. And imagine that a bright, bright energetic light is beaming into that space. And with every breath you take in, connecting with your heart, but also connecting with the divine energy that is all around us. And inviting that energy to come into each of yourselves into your mind, your heart, your spirit, and just activating any part of you that needs to be awakened in this moment. And trusting that from this awakened energized place that during the next 30 minutes or so as you're listening to myself and my guest that you will receive exactly what it is that you need to receive during this time. And maybe even there's a thought that drops in of I'd like to receive this and just let that come through. And when you're ready come back into the room into the present moment. So I am excited for my guest today Kat Nelson. She is a certified life coach with a bachelor's degree and postgraduate qualifications that are long, she's certified in NLP master hypnosis, which I feel like I could use like right around now. Timeline and level two Reiki I want to hear more about timeline it never heard of that before. And she's also studying for her master's degree, so full of talent. And the reason I had her on really was because she also has her own story of healing as well as helping others. And so as this podcast is about these different ways of healing, I love it when my guests not only can share from personal experience, but also their expertise in a variety of fields. So welcome. Thank you for being here.
04:32
Thank you so much for inviting me. So, just
04:38
give us a little background tell, you know, this is a show about anxiety, obviously like we're all in the same boat. We've all had anxiety, we know how challenging it is, but I would love to hear kind of like the beginning, middle and end for you, you know how it started, where you you know, were able to bring these tools in and sort of where you are now.
04:58
Sure. So As you've just described a whole lot of study, so my whole life was just study. I worked in the homeless youth space with mental health for about 17 years, then transitioned into local council working with disadvantaged young people, helping them get their driver's license. Had two beautiful children. From the outside, everything looked perfect. I had a house, a husband, two kids, everything was, you know, really good. However, inside I just wasn't coping. My life was just I was so out of alignment. I was having all these feelings of depression, I was anxious. I was having panic attacks I couldn't get through the day. I turned to drinking. So I drank for about 17 years functioning alcoholic, so yeah, could be I could work and absolutely fine. Raise the kids. But every single afternoon after work, I would just be pouring a drink.
05:58
And yeah, others for sure. It
06:02
was my coping mechanism to get through the day. And I got to a stage where I had to change, I could not keep living with this constant fear. And just I was so exhausted and stressed. I was too. I was too scared to go and get a diagnosis from the doctor. So I diagnosed myself. I didn't want to go down the medication track, because I'm all about the natural. So I thought there has to be another way. Yeah.
06:37
And was there a specific
06:38
moment? I'm just wondering, like, was there a moment of, I'm here, this happened. And it's sort of like almost an awakening? Really? Yes.
06:47
Yes, there was. So I got to a point where it was so low that I got myself into that mess, I had to get myself out. So my aha moment was, I've got to do something. And it really triggered an awakening in me. And I had to sit with all that darkness. I had to process it all I have to go through all that healing. And I suppose that's when I turned to personal growth. I read all the books. I thought, I've done all this study, but it hasn't, hasn't made me happy. Like, I have all these external wonderful things, but it's not making me happy. So I just had to go back to the drawing board. He said, What am I going to do with my life? I cannot keep living with these feelings. I believe that emotions are messages. And I had to I had to ask, What am I? What are these emotions trying to tell me? So then, yeah, it just it all lit up from there. Oh, it was it's been a journey totally up and down. But
07:50
yeah, so like, I
07:52
miss that healings, like, oh, you start and then you end? Like, no, no, no, now, it's like, there's gonna be another thing that you're gonna have to heal from or like, get triggered. And it's just like, now, I don't know if you've ever read existential kink. But that book just transformed my life. And so basically, it's that, you know, you sit with the feelings and almost get to the point where you like, are turned on by them, where it's like, This is amazing. This is what I wanted. This is what my soul asked for is this depth of darkness that if you wanted to experience this, and there is this mental shift that happens, I think, when you stop running, which is what it sounds like you did like you saw you sat down and then
08:40
the meal today, yeah, the more you resist, it seems to persist. And from that darkness, there's always that light. And every time your lesson comes up, you're ready to deal with it. And then once you go through it, and you you heal from it. The next lesson is going to come and the next lesson may even be harder, but you're ready. You're ready for that.
09:01
Yeah. So how like, what was the first tool? Like what was your gateway healing
09:09
drug? Yeah. So coaching, definitely coaching and studying NLP.
09:14
Okay. Can you describe NLP for people who might not know what that is? Sure.
09:18
So it's Neuro Linguistic Programming. It's about understanding your programs. And your unconscious mind is gaining awareness of what is happening in your head, and the programs that we are living on a day to day basis. So a lot of our core beliefs or programs are stemmed from childhood. So if something happened in my childhood, and I believe that I wasn't good enough, or I wasn't loved, we can be carrying those programs ball on our whole life into our adulthood. And if we don't stop to identify that it's not serving us, we're gonna keep holding on to those limiting beliefs forever. So NLP really helped me with the addiction side and habit So your coaching and NLP would definitely the first tools that helped.
10:05
Was it because I know a lot of moms listening can relate to that, you know, 5pm, pour the drink, and so I can get through the night. So was there? How did you shift that habit? Was it a replacement? Was it cold turkey?
10:25
I tried everything for about five years seriously, I tried everything, okay? It's dealing with the root cause is just sitting with why you know why wanted to drink in the first place. It's also a habit. So it's just really trying to beat that habit, which is, which is hard. And that was about replacement. It was about finding the underlying emotion that I was craving, the unmet need there. There's lots of things. And when I work with people, I always say that one strategy may not work for someone else, you have to find your own strategy. So we experiment. So it's a case by case an individual thing. So what works for some person may not work for someone else. So it's finding that strategy, that really powerful reframe, that's going to help you in that moment to move you forward. And then what worked on one day may not work on the other day. So it's finding those tools and those short term strategies that can help you move past in that moment. Also doing that inner healing. That's where hypnosis comes in as well. Dealing with the root cause, and that's where timeline comes in. Timeline floats you back to the root cause of whatever you're dealing with. And then once you deal with the underlying issue, because the problem is never the problem, the drinking was never the problem. Once you deal with the underlying issue, that's when you get your long term success. So
12:00
I mean, are we talking like a miracle cure here? So like, I think it was probably, I don't know, maybe 14 years ago, and I started having panic attacks in the grocery store. And I was like, I'm just gonna get hypnotized, because it seemed like, you know, getting hypnotized was going to like, fix all the things. And so I went in to this hypnotist type person. And he refused to hypnotize me like, he wouldn't do like any of like hypnosis, but he made me meditate for 60 minutes every single day. And I don't know if it was, that was my own self hypnosis, maybe. But it did. between that, and I started doing gratitude walk. So I'd walk a dog and I would just activate, like, I'm just so grateful for my dog or this time or this moment. I don't know what was what's your experience, but I feel like I'm, you know, like, not a great hypnosis seller. So maybe you could elaborate a little bit more.
13:08
I use hypnosis along with a lot of other things. So in my practice, we do coaching, we do NLP, and we do hypnosis, it's just another tool to bring in. So it's just, it's a form of Self Hypnosis. That's all it is. It's just self hypnosis to get to in a beautiful translate state. So you can turn inwards, you can find your own answers, because the answers are all within you. And sometimes hypnosis can really help by rewiring the subconscious mind. So if you're programmed and you're your thoughts, if you identify that your thoughts and your your mind is your worst enemy, and you're telling yourself on a daily basis that I'm not good enough, I don't deserve this, I may as well have a drink, who cares? It's about hypnosis can actually reframe that, and you can program your subconscious mind so you can go to bed each night, and listen to the subconscious suggestions that are going to empower you to change. So you can go to bed at night and listen to beautiful things like I am so loved. I am so worthy. I have so much to be grateful for and anything that you need to hear. So I do personalized hypnosis. I don't do I don't do a lot of group work. I like doing it personal because what what someone needs to hear is very personal. Whatever they need to hear is to help them overcome their blocks. So their own subconscious suggestions. Yeah,
14:28
I love that. And it also sounds like just incredibly gentle. Like it's not this we're not going deep into trauma. No, no, don't bring anything up. It's this this very almost like loving voice. It's absolutely
14:42
and a lot of people say that they're scared to do that healing work because they don't want to go back and relive those traumas. I don't want to get re traumatized. And I always say it's not like that. And with timeline and with hypnosis, we gently guide you back along your timeline. And we look above that you're adults, it's the inner child work going back as an adult looking above that event. So you're not, you're not associating in it, you're not returning traumatizing. You're looking above it. And we're getting the learnings if everything happens for a reason, and you, you know, we're meant to go through this, what can you learn from that traumatic experience that can help give you that inner peace? That, that learning that can help bring you forward? So you do not have to keep those keep living with the, you know, the emotions that stem from the past in this present moment? Yeah.
15:33
So in your healing journey, was there? Like, was
15:38
it sort of like stage by stage? Or would you say
15:41
that everything kind of like happened at the same time where you stopped drinking, you got clear on your, your mission? Or was there like, Okay, this was the first thing that sort of falling into place.
15:54
It was a journey that was one step after another. And I'm still learning, I'm still on my journey. I'm still doing so much inner healing work. I'm working a lot a lot of past life regressions at the moment, which is helping to heal a lot of that generational trauma work. So we're always continuously doing that, that worked to move me forward. So yeah, it wasn't just bang, I'm done. It's, it's, I'm on a journey.
16:20
Yeah, no, I love that I'm the same way I am so committed to grow, and learning and try anything I can to just deepen. I just deepen my awareness of myself, and just those behaviors that keep acting up. So tell me a little bit more. What is something like a really common thing that you're seeing amongst your clients? Or the people that you are helping right now? Is there? You know, a really common thing that is just showing up? At this time?
16:57
Yes, a lot of fear. And a lot of overthinking. So, anxiety is all about the future. It's about the construct in your mind, the imagined thoughts that you have. And a lot of people at this time, especially with what's happening in the world, just entrenched in this fear, and worry of the unknown, and what's going to happen. So they let your thoughts take over. And then if you let your thoughts take over, they can loop and spiral and you can construct these amazing, horrible worst case scenarios in your head. And that what will happen is your body your unconscious mind doesn't know what's real and what's not. So you're thinking about all this fear, that isn't even real, that hasn't even happened yet. And your body will respond. So they get themselves into this fight flight response, we can trigger panic attacks. The body is responding to this danger, because it seems real.
17:53
Yeah. It is real. It is, you know, that fear is releasing all those chemicals in the body. That feels terrible. Yeah. So
18:04
yeah, a lot of people are living in constant survival mode, and they're living in the stress response. Yeah, that's what I'm finding.
18:11
Yeah. So where is because I see that as well. Where is your first step with someone that comes to you with that those concerns?
18:24
Yeah, the first step is always awareness. Always awareness, gaining awareness of what is going on in your mind, what your self talk is, what is happening. And if you aware that your thoughts are mainly in the future, which is normally that fear and anxiety, if you're aware that your thoughts are mainly in the past, which is normally that depression, that sadness, is bringing, having awareness of that, and then bringing those thoughts back into the present moment right now. Because everything is okay right now.
18:57
Yeah. And so with that, is there something is there, like an initial tool that you might teach your client? Yes, what I find all the time is that rationally Yes, like we can do that. But generally speaking, and I am a big believer in exposure and and feeling the feelings and sitting with it, but that is freaking hard to do for a lot of people and, you know, generally people when they come into therapy, just like I was when I was 15 years ago, like hypnotize me take the pain away. You know, most people are coming to see us say, like, take this pain away, like do something to give me some relief. So is there something that a tool, a practice that you kind of is like your go to win? come at you?
19:53
Yeah, so I like the stop program. So first of all, it's just gaining awareness of what's going on. In your head, and once you're aware that you're you're thinking in the future, we need to stop that program. So I put a stop sign up, I got a stop. You can do this in your mind, you can do it out loud. I like actually going stop. It works really well for beginner loud cravings. Yeah, like stop. Yeah, it works really well for craving. So smoking or alcohol, what it's doing is it's stopping those thoughts, it's stopping the program, it's just putting a stop holding that program. And then just the initial stop, alright, and then if you're feeling, it'll just stop that program. And if you're feeling, alright, I'm feeling fear, I can feel my body responding to this, taking a big breath, because breathing stops the stress response. And then it's just simply going back into the present moment. And I like to find a beautiful, powerful image, or reframe, or something that can ground you and everyone's different. For me, I have a beautiful anchor point that I can just go into a memory. And I can just breathe into this beautiful memory that can just flood me with these awesome, beautiful emotions from the past. Yeah, some people have images, some people could have like an image of being at a beach or a waterfall or a bird bar, just grounding them in this moment, stopping that program and going up, stop, and then straight immediately into whatever your beautiful, powerful reframe is.
21:28
I love that, that. I feel like that's something you could do hundreds of times a day.
21:33
Yep. And yeah, exactly. And if you are aware that your thoughts are still, you know, drifting off as many times a day, because the more you reinforce it, the more you're going to stop that program, and you can reinforce the fact that you know what everything is okay, let's get back into our heart space right now.
21:50
Yeah, no, I love that. I think that's beautiful. Because there's to me, I think about, there's so many things we can do to prevent the feelings in our whether it's our thoughts, our behaviors, our actions, what we're doing. But we also need tools in the moment. Yeah, because otherwise, we feel like we just we can't handle it. And so it's so easy to go back into whatever that pattern was, that gives us that, because it doesn't give like with drinking, it gives a relief, it works. It's serving its purpose. And then you know that our minds sort of gets in there. And we have other things that come up because of it. And it creates more challenges. But it's a coping tool, you know, and I love that you have sort of this ability to say, I have compassion for wherever I am at whatever tool I'm using. And I'm just in this, like you said, this awareness of is this. Is this working? Is this for my higher good. Is this creating, you know, more pain in my life? Is there something else I can do? And I love that you gave us like a really hard core good example of, you know, something very specific, that is simple that anybody can do every day. Yeah. So. So for someone that's listening, that might be struggling, is there just a message of hope? Although I think your story itself, you know, just gives a lot of hope. But is there something that you'd want someone listening to know? Yeah,
23:26
just that it is possible to change whatever you're going through in life that your brain can rewire. And it does rewire itself? So whatever you're going through, know that, you know, you're going through that for a reason. And if you are feeling, you know, whatever you're feeling the emotions at the moment that that's okay, that this is your journey. And just by going inwards, and just getting curious, why am I feeling like this and asking those really hard questions, you may actually find, you know, that inner peace in the answers that you need, because it all comes from within, knowing that you can control your emotional state. And it really just starts with that awareness of your thinking.
24:07
I love that. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your wisdom can you let everyone listening know how they can find you and if you have any, if you want to share any of the services that you offer, sort of what you have going on in the world right now.
24:22
Okay, sure. Um, so I am under arise coaching and wellbeing so you can find my website, which is just a rise coaching and well being.com.au. I work out of Australia, but I work with people all over the world, and I normally just work on Zoom. I've also got a Facebook group. So if this resonated with you just look me up on Facebook. It's called personal growth to overcome depression and anxiety, which I share a lot of coping tools and strategies and there's lots of videos, on tapping on strategies on any anything. And then if you want to work with me, I've got lots of different programs and we do a lot of inner healing work, whether it's addiction anxiety, panic attacks, traumas depression. It's a really holistic case by case you know, approach that to find your own strategy to move you forward with your journey.
25:12
Thank you. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your energy. Thank
25:16
you for inviting me.
25:20
Have a great day everyone. Thank you so much for taking the time to invest in your well being. I hope you learned at least one new idea or technique that you might want to implement into your own life. Remember, you're not alone. There is hope and with the right information and support you can thrive. If you're dealing with panic are looking for a step by step process that will allow you to break free from this crippling fear state. I want to invite you to check out my panic attack survival guide, you can grab your free copy at WWW dot Jennifer bronsnick.com Thanks for listening
