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Calm Your Caveman
Welcome to "Calm Your Caveman" – the podcast that gives you the tools for anxiety mastery. I'm Dr. Adriana Jarvis Twitchell, and my doctoral degree in anxiety management strategies qualifies me to guide you on this journey. I've walked the path from chronic anxiety to security, and I'm here to help you do the same. In this podcast, you'll find control through understanding how emotions are generated and learn effective anxiety mastery strategies for every circumstance. By tuning in, you’ll achieve increased productive energy, access to peak performance, and greater self-understanding. No need to be bullied any longer by your anxiety. Join me on "Calm Your Caveman" and start your journey towards a life where you're in control, balanced, and thriving.
Episodes
93 episodes
Why Big Life Changes Feel So Overwhelming (And What Helps)
Big life transitions — like losing a loved one, changing identity, or stepping into a new phase of life — don’t just bring grief. They often bring anxiety on top of everything else.In this episode, we explore how to reduce that extra layer ...
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Drugs and Anxiety
Can you medicate anxiety away?In this episode, we take a balanced, research-informed look at the role of chemical manipulation in anxiety — including prescription medications, alcohol, cannabis, beta blockers, and emerging treatments. This ...
3 Ways to Feel Less Anxious Around People
Avoiding social situations can feel like relief…but over time, it can actually make anxiety worse.Your brain is constantly asking one question in social situations: “Do I have what it takes to handle this?” If the answer feels like “no,” yo...
The Comparison Trap: How to Stop Feeling Behind
Do you feel anxious or “not good enough” when you compare yourself to other people? In this episode, I break down what research shows about how happy people relate to social comparison—and how you can shift from feeling threatened… to actually ...
How to Escape the Anxiety Treadmill
Do you ever solve one problem…only to immediately start worrying about the next? That’s the anxiety treadmill. Your brain moves on so fast from what’s okay that you never really get to feel it. So it feels like you’re always chasing relief— but...
Kindness and Anxiety: More Connected Than You Think
Feeling better might be closer—and simpler—than you think. In this episode, we explore new research on acts of kindness and why doing something for others can reduce anxiety and increase your sense of connection more than:• Planning social ...
The Question That Reduces Anxiety
What do happy people do differently—especially when they feel stressed or anxious?Most of us assume that reducing anxiety means changing our circumstances. But research shows that our thought patterns and daily mental habits have a far g...
Reframe Your Past, Rewire Your Anxiety
Your brain is constantly predicting the future. And what does it use to make those predictions? Your memories. Join me as we explore the fascinating science behind how memory shapes anxiety—and a simple practice you can use to help retrain your...
The 6 Pillars of Anxiety Mastery
If you’re trying to reduce anxiety, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the advice out there. After more than 80 episodes of Calm Your Caveman, I wanted to answer a simple question: Where should you start? If I had to pick the most...
The Sleep Schedule Fix That Helps Anxiety
Sleep is one of the most powerful tools for managing anxiety—but it’s not just about how much you sleep. Research shows that when you sleep also matters. In this episode, we explore how sleep timing affects anxiety, sleep quality, and overall h...
How to Make New Habits Without Burning Out
Feel like you know lots of anxiety tools, but can’t seem to turn them into habits? In this episode, I share four ideas that make new habits dramatically easier:Let learning “soak in” instead of forcing itStart smaller than ...
What to Do When Anxiety Takes Over Your Day
Ever had a day where anxiety completely hijacks you—and you know all the tools, but can’t seem to use them? This episode is different. Instead of teaching something new, I walk you through how I used the strategies we’ve already discussed… on m...
Suicide Prevention with Dr. Greg Hudnall
What if one of the most powerful ways to support struggling teens isn’t trying to fix them—but teaching them how to show up for each other? In this episode, Adriana speaks with Dr. Gregory Hudnall, founder of Hope Squad, a peer-to-peer school p...
How to Lower Anxiety When Life Feels Out of Control
When life feels out of control, anxiety spikes. But here’s something you can control — a 3-minute daily practice that research shows can reduce rumination and depression, boost stress resilience, and help your brain shift out of threat mode. It...
Letting Go of Perfectionism
Perfectionism doesn’t just push you — it pressures you. And that pressure fuels anxiety. When your brain believes your worth depends on your performance, mistakes feel like threats — not feedback. This week on the podcast:✨ Why ...
You’re Still Here—and How That Can Calm Anxiety
If anxiety feels like a loop you can’t escape, it’s not because you’re broken—it’s because habits take practice. In this episode, we examine a simple exercise: by reflecting on the “close calls” you’ve survived, you can exit the threat mindset ...
Change Your Stress Response With Nature
Many people with anxiety unknowingly miss one of the most powerful, research-backed tools for lowering baseline anxiety. In this episode, we explore modern neuroscience showing how natural environments restore the brain’s attention system, redu...
How to Break Down Overwhelming Tasks
Big projects can trigger anxiety when they feel too large to handle. In this episode, you’ll learn a simple, practical method to turn overwhelming stress into productive stress. Using a real coaching example, I walk you through how to break dow...
Reduce Your Anxiety About the Future
Feeling overwhelmed when you think about the future? This episode offers a practical two-question exercise you can use anytime the future feels overwhelming. Using two real coaching examples, you’ll learn a simple but powerful way to change how...
Your Brain Is Built to Handle Change
You already have what it takes to meet what’s coming.In this episode, we explore why the desire for stability is natural, but also why humans are biologically and psychologically built to adapt. You’ll learn how your brain is designed t...
When You Feel Powerless and Stuck in Victim-Anxiety
Many people with anxiety get stuck in a victim mindset — a way of seeing life where outside forces determine how things are. In this episode, we explore why that mindset fuels anxiety and how a shift toward feeling powerful can he...
Embracing Uncertainty Without Anxiety
Most of us assume we’d feel happier and more in control if life came with more certainty — predictable outcomes, fewer surprises, and fewer unknowns. But decades of psychology research say the opposite: uncertainty can actually increase joy, me...
How to Train Your Brain to Handle Stress Better
Can you train your brain to handle stress better? Absolutely. In this episode, webreak down the science of self-efficacy — your brain’s belief about your ability tosucceed under stress. This belief is one of the biggest predictors of re...
How to Stop Hating Your Work
Feeling bored or drained by your job? In today’s episode, we explore three science-backed strategies to transform even the most mundane work into something meaningful, interesting, and motivating. Drawing on research from psychologist Tod...
How to Stay in Love for the Long Haul
Can long-term love really stay exciting, vibrant, and surprising — even decades in? The answer from global wellbeing research is a clear yes. In this episode we dig into the science behind what keeps long-term relationships emotionally alive, d...