Heal and Stay Healed with Kelly B Haney
The Heal and Stayed Healed with Kelly B Haney podcast is for anyone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired, particularly those with autoimmune disease or other chronic illness. It's for those who are ready to truly heal, and more importantly, truly STAY healed.
Through my training as a Certified Nutrition Coach, but mostly through insight gained from my personal experience with overcoming severe Ulcerative Colitis, I want to equip you to get better, stay better, and to become healthier than ever.
I've been able to stay completely autoimmune flare-free for well over a decade, and I believe that if I can do it, then you can too! Our bodies want to heal. They know how to heal. We just have to give them the support that they need.
I'm honored to walk alongside you as you take the next step in your own healing journey. Let's heal and stay healed together.
Heal and Stay Healed with Kelly B Haney
Healing Health Anxiety: From Fear to Freedom with a Holistic Approach
In this comprehensive episode, we dive deep into the tenacious affliction that is health anxiety (also know as hypochondria or Illness Anxiety Disorder).
Kelly shares how, after experiencing her battles with severe autoimmune disease, she found herself entangled in the relentless grip of health anxiety. This episode offers a raw and insightful exploration of this common yet deeply challenging form of anxiety, particularly prevalent among those who have experienced a serious illness or witnessed loved ones suffer.
Just as in the pursuit of physical healing, Kelly explains how, to truly heal health anxiety, we must find and address the root causes through a holistic mind-body approach. We also explore 7 natural strategies for better managing health anxiety that is not yet healed.
For anyone grappling with health anxiety or supporting someone who is, this episode offers compassionate understanding, experiential insights, and actionable steps towards lasting relief and healing.
Website: www.kellybhaney.com
Email: info@kellybhaney.com
Instagram: @kellybhaney
Facebook: Kelly B Haney Wellness
Welcome to the Heal and Stay Healed podcast, where we talk about healing and, more importantly, staying healed from chronic disease and other ailments and issues. We'll cover all the crazy things about health and life the good, the bad, the ugly and the hilarious. My name is Kelly and I'm a survivor and overcomer of severe autoimmune disease, and I can't wait to share with you what I've learned so that you can heal and stay healed too. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show. Hello there and welcome. Thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker 1:Picture this you wake up with a dull throb in your temple. Instantly, your mind starts racing. Is this the first sign of a brain tumor? Or you feel a sudden twinge in your chest and your heart starts pounding. Is this the beginning of a heart attack? Or maybe you're scrolling online and come across an article about a rare disease. Suddenly, every little ache and pain in your body seems to match the symptoms perfectly. Does this sound familiar? That surge of panic, the racing thoughts, the overwhelming urge to google your symptoms for the 10th time today, the inability to shake off the fear that something is seriously wrong, even when logic tells you otherwise. This is the world of health anxiety, a world where every bodily sensation becomes a potential threat and where peace of mind seems just out of reach. If any of these scenarios resonate with you, you are not alone.
Speaker 1:Today we're diving into this topic that hits home for many, especially those who've battled serious illness. Health anxiety is a condition that directly affects about 1 in 20 people. However, I would guess that number is actually way higher if we could count undiagnosed and unreported cases too. You may have heard of health anxiety referred to by its former name. May have heard of health anxiety referred to by its former name, hypochondria, or its current clinical term, illness anxiety disorder. For our conversation we'll stick with the straightforward term health anxiety.
Speaker 1:Health anxiety is characterized by excessive worry that something is medically wrong with us. It's a relentless, gnawing fear that we are or will become seriously ill. This fear persists even when there's little to no evidence to support it. As someone who struggled significantly with health anxiety myself, I know firsthand just how awful it can be and just how much it can impact every part of our lives. In today's episode, we'll dive right into health anxiety, its manifestations, its impact on our lives and, most importantly, my natural approach for addressing it. This involves exploring methods for uncovering the root causes of health anxiety in order to promote long-term healing, as well as practical strategies for managing symptoms along the way. This comprehensive approach has been transformative in my own journey with health anxiety and I'm very excited to share it with you today. For me, health anxiety really first showed up in my life as I was recovering from my massive, life-threatening, year-long flare-up of the autoimmune disease, ulcerative colitis, back in 2010. I've since learned that I am far from being alone in this.
Speaker 1:Health anxiety is way more common for folks who have been through severe and life-threatening illnesses themselves or have experienced seeing a loved one go through a severe illness. Those of us who have experienced a severe illness, we've experienced our own worst case scenarios, so to speak. So that has put us in an unfortunate position where our bodies and our minds have proof that bad things can happen to us, because bad things have happened to us. As a result, we find ourselves, unwillingly, excessively on guard for the slightest concern related to our own physical health. And, as if that weren't enough, this heightened state of alert often extends beyond ourselves, leading to excessive fear over the health of our children, parents, partners or other loved ones.
Speaker 1:In the early years of my natural healing journey, my focus was solely on physical healing and working to prevent another ulcerative colitis flare-up. That was my top priority and as time passed, I was so blessed to experience the joy of physical healing and staying healed as I remained flare-free. However, alongside this triumph, I was also experiencing and battling with the mental and emotional challenges that health anxiety brings. I found myself frequently battling fears that something was or soon would be horribly wrong again. Whether that was signs of another severe UC flare-up emerging or signs of an entirely different health affliction. With my physical health stable, I realized it was time to expand my healing journey. I needed to address the other crucial aspects of my well-being my mental and emotional and spiritual health. A key part of this was finding ways to better understand and address my own health anxiety, and that is no easy task.
Speaker 1:Anxiety is a tricky foe. What makes health anxiety so tricky is actually the mind-body connection. Our minds are so powerful. The mind-body connection can, of course, be a wonderful thing and actually is one of our best tools for healing of all kinds. But when health anxiety comes to play, this strong connection can actually work against us. When we're anxious about our health, our body responds to that stress. Our heart might beat faster, we might feel short of breath, we could experience muscle tension. These very real physical sensations then feed back into our anxious thoughts, convincing us even more that something must be wrong. For example, if we're worried about our heart, we might focus intensely on our heartbeat. This focus can actually make our heart rate increase, which then quote confirms our fears that something is wrong with our heart. But in reality it's the anxiety itself causing the very symptoms that we're worried about. It becomes a self-reinforcing cycle where our anxious thoughts create physical symptoms which in turn increase our anxiety. It's also important to mention that just the mere thought of a symptom can prompt the mind to fabricate the sensation of that symptom. A kind of amusing example of this that points out just how powerful a role that the mind can play is with the topic of head lice. Let's say you get a call from your child's school that there has been an outbreak of lice in your child's classroom. Does your head immediately start itching at just the suggestion that lice may have been brought into your home? My head is literally itching right now just talking about it. Okay, let me reiterate that the power of the mind and the mind-body connection, again, that the power of the mind and the mind-body connection again can absolutely work for us and not against us. More on that a little later.
Speaker 1:So anxiety causes stress and chronic stress can cause all kinds of problems. Stress damages our gut, creates inflammation, disturbs our sleep, causes metabolic changes and impacts our immune system. It's fair to say that chronic anxiety of all kinds can play a huge role when it comes to chronic disease as well as acute issues. So we want to control the anxiety so that we can control the stress. But in reality, anxiety in all forms can be oh so very hard to keep under control. This is demonstrated very well with health anxiety specifically. Again, there is a vicious cycle With health anxiety. We worry about our health and we know that's not good for our health. So then we worry about how worrying about our health is not good for our health. Add all that together and our stress levels shoot through the roof and that's all terrible for our health. In addition to threatening our physical health, anxiety can rob us of our peace, security and overall enjoyment of life our peace, security and overall enjoyment of life. Frankly, anxiety in all its forms is exhausting in every way.
Speaker 1:Now, the good news is there are many things we can do to significantly reduce and better manage our health anxiety. Just like physical healing, working to heal anxiety takes a deep commitment, perseverance and time, but it is possible. This requires us to step out of our comfort zone, facing things we might prefer to avoid, things like past traumas, both big and seemingly small traumas or parts of ourselves. We're ashamed of, habits that have harmed us or aspects of our personality we don't particularly like, and it requires us to dig deep to gain understanding about what triggers our anxiety and what the hidden source or sources of our anxiety are. All parts of the healing journey are a marathon, not a sprint, and for mental and emotional healing, I've found that it can at times feel more like an ultra marathon, but let's not allow ourselves to get discouraged by that. When we are committed to working to bring healing to our anxiety, every step forward is progress and we can find moments of relief and victory along the way.
Speaker 1:Through years of trial and error, setbacks and breakthroughs, I've slowly pulled together a game-changing approach to dealing with health anxiety. This approach has reduced my overall health anxiety and has greatly improved how I respond when it does surface If you suffer from health anxiety. I'm confident that this approach and its strategies can help you too. But first, a crucial disclaimer If your anxiety levels feel totally out of control, are debilitating or are accompanied by other serious concerns, such as depression or suicidal thoughts, please seek professional help immediately. The sooner you seek help, the sooner you can start receiving it. For those whose health anxiety is challenging, but not at dangerous levels, this episode is for you. My hope is that the actionable insights I'm about to share can be as transformative for you as they've been for me. So, if you're ready to start gaining some control over and even start healing your health anxiety, let's go.
Speaker 1:Anxiety, let's go. First, we're going to talk about what I found to be helpful for getting to the source of our anxiety, which I firmly believe is where we need to go in order to be able to find true healing. Then we will cover my seven strategies for better managing the health anxiety that is not yet healed. So, first and foremost, let's talk about getting to the source of our anxiety. Finding the source of our anxiety is vital because when we discover the source, or sources, that allows us to address the root cause rather than just managing symptoms rather than just managing symptoms, this can lead to lasting relief and true healing.
Speaker 1:I've learned that truly healing my anxiety means following the thread all the way back to its origin. Following that thread often leads to unresolved traumas and or harmful deep-seated beliefs harmful, deep-seated beliefs. This process mirrors physical healing in such a profound way. Just as we can't mend a broken arm with a mere band-aid, we can't overcome anxiety without addressing its root causes. To heal completely, we must dig deep and confront the original wounds. Uncovering the source empowers us to break free from the cycle of fear and worry by confronting core issues head on. This is a necessary journey of self-discovery the good, the bad and the ugly and it provides crucial insights into not just the past but our present thought patterns and emotional responses, promoting greater self-awareness and greater resilience. Ultimately, identifying and working through the source of our anxiety is a powerful step towards long-term healing in every form.
Speaker 1:Now, often the source is not as obvious as it may sometimes seem. This was certainly the case for me. For quite a while, I made the mistake of thinking that it was super obvious why my health anxiety came to be a problem. I had experienced a terrible illness that not only stole my quality of life for over a whole year, but also had been so severe at times that it had actually threatened my life A whole year of pain, suffering, fear and extreme uncertainty, all because of an illness. So, yeah, it's understandable that going through something like that can create a lasting fear. So I mistakenly thought okay, that's it, that's the source of my anxiety that year of being sick. That's it, that's the source of my anxiety that year of being sick. I was surprised to find, however, that working to heal the trauma of that year did not heal my health anxiety or even seem to make much of an impact on the health anxiety. What I eventually came to understand is that my severe illness experience was the trigger for my health anxiety the trigger, not the source and so I've had to do the work of digging much, much deeper, to hunt for the source or sources in my case and then to address them.
Speaker 1:This is where mind-body work comes in. For me, the path to finding the true source of my health anxiety has been digging deep through one particular method of mind-body work. We talked earlier about the mind-body connection and how it can be twisted to make health anxiety worse. Now let's turn it around and talk about how it can be our greatest tool in healing health anxiety. Mind-body work refers to a range of healing practices that recognize and utilize the powerful connection between the mind, emotions and physical body. Mind-body work is particularly effective for uncovering the source of anxiety and other effects of trauma because it helps us access and process experiences that are stored both in our conscious mind and in our body's cellular memory. By engaging both our mental and physical awareness, these techniques can reveal hidden connections between past events, current thought patterns and physical sensations, allowing us to identify and address deep-rooted sources of anxiety that may not be apparent through conscious thought alone.
Speaker 1:There are numerous forms of mind-body work that I've used over the years, and they've all played their own unique role in my healing, but there have been two in particular that have provided me with access to the source or, in my case, sources of my anxiety. One of them I've been doing for a while. The other one is relatively new, but has been very effective. The first is neuroemotional technique, or NET. The NET approach is founded on the belief that unresolved traumas and stressful events can become stuck or blocked in the body, leading to a variety of issues, including chronic pain, unwanted behaviors and mental health concerns like anxiety. Net uses a combination of muscle testing and stimulation of body reflex points to identify and release these stored emotional patterns. By peeling back layers of emotional responses, responses, net can reveal the original source of trauma and then unblock it, potentially alleviating associated physical and psychological symptoms.
Speaker 1:I refer to NET as therapy on steroids, even though, to be clear, it is not psychotherapy. I'm sure the description that I gave may have been a bit vague or confusing and, yeah, I don't even pretend to fully understand it or how it works, but for me, I just know that it's worked. In every single NET session that I've had, something comes up that has seriously blown me away. Things have come out that I would have said I had completely forgotten about, but clearly my body had not. Net has given me the gift of understanding so much more about myself, particularly my younger self, little Kelly, and though I can't really explain it, it has been a key part of my approach to addressing my anxiety, as it has definitely led me to at least some of the sources. It's been an incredibly powerful experience for me. If you're curious to hear more about NET, there's a lot of good information online about this technique, and if you want to try it out for yourself. Make sure you look for a trained and certified practitioner.
Speaker 1:Another practice I've started with just this past year and have had much success with is called somatic experiencing work. Somatic experiencing is another mind-body therapy that can be used to access and heal trauma by focusing on nervous system regulation and grounding. This approach involves paying attention to bodily sensations and using specific techniques to release stored tension and trauma. It's similar to NET in a lot of ways, but it's also very different. This method has opened up a whole new world for me. Somatic experience, like NET, brings more awareness and balance. Again, it's a bit hard to explain and everyone's experience is different, but what I found to be very interesting is that a lot of what's come out in my somatic experiencing sessions has reinforced and even built off of what's come out in my NET sessions, and so it's likewise been highly effective for me in my continuing efforts to identify and address the root causes of my anxiety. If you want to try out this method for yourself again, be sure to find a trained and qualified practitioner.
Speaker 1:There are other mind-body-work methods that I have not personally tried, but are known for helping to get to the core of issues like anxiety. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of these. Cbt seems to be most useful when we have already been able to identify a trauma that is at the source of our anxiety. Working with a trained and licensed therapist, that specific trauma can be targeted and addressed, and it's not only for addressing past traumas but also for changing current thought patterns and behaviors related to anxiety. Another great thing to know about CBT is it's typically a short-term process, ranging between 5 and 20 sessions. There's a lot of good info about CBT out there that you can learn more from A couple others that I haven't personally tried but may also be worth looking into. One of these is biofeedback. Biofeedback is a therapy that can help us take conscious control over certain involuntary bodily processes. Another one is EMDR, which is eye movement, desensitization and reprocessing, and there are surely others out there too.
Speaker 1:The key is to try to be open-minded and find what works best for you. A quick reminder here that in most cases quick reminder here that in most cases addressing the root cause and the source is a long-term project. Identifying root causes may happen surprisingly fast through the help of mind-body methods, but in addressing them and healing them we have to remember it's a marathon, not a sprint. So with that in mind, while we're working on uncovering the source of our health anxiety, let's talk about the symptom management strategies that can provide relief in the meantime. These are my seven strategies for better handling our health anxiety that is not yet healed and therefore for improving our quality of life in the meantime.
Speaker 1:The first strategy I want to share is always my number one for healing of all kinds, and that is nourishing nutrition. I believe nutrition is the biggest factor in addressing all of what ails us, including our anxiety. Healthy gut equals healthy brain. Healthy body equals healthy mind. Highly processed and ultra-processed foods contain a chemical cocktail that damages every part of us. The link between highly processed foods and negative impacts on brain health has been shown over and over and over again. At this point, on the contrary, real, nutrient-dense, nourishing, chemical-free, preservative-free foods heal every part of us. What we eat and drink matters. We want to be eating less food that comes from a package and more food that comes from the earth. Real foods that are particularly good for anxiety because of their rich nutrition and their potent healing powers include dark leafy greens, walnuts, turmeric, ginger, avocados, wild-caught salmon, berries and broccoli, just to name a few.
Speaker 1:The second natural strategy for managing health anxiety is exercise, exercise and movement. Yeah, we all know exercise is important for our physical health, right? It's just as important, if not more important, for our mental and emotional health. Good for the body and good for the mind. Exercise boosts our mood as it releases those feel-good brain chemicals that can dispel anxious thoughts. It also boosts cognitive function, which can help us find some composure and some clarity of mind, which is especially helpful when we are spiraling into a chasm of anxious thoughts. Anytime I am feeling anxiety, I find that just taking a walk outdoors, no matter the weather, is both a perspective gaining and a soul-soothing experience. Regular exercise has been some of the best medicine for keeping my head in the game and not letting health anxiety or other kinds of anxiety grow out of control. Getting our blood flowing through physical movement can serve as a natural reset button, bringing us back to the present and calming our thoughts and our minds.
Speaker 1:The third strategy is meditation. Meditation is awesome. It's been incredibly helpful for me in reducing health anxiety, even outside of meditation sessions. This practice trains me to be present in the moment, which is so helpful with anxiety being in the moment, not worrying about the past or the future, but being right here, right now, in this moment where all is well. Often, my anxious mind will calm like a soothed little baby when I can truly be present in the moment, and during meditation experiences I've many times had visions that have been deeply, truly healing. Now, meditation is a very personal experience, so I can't predict what your experience will be or exactly what you'll get out of it, but if you commit to practicing it, I am confident that you will indeed get a whole lot out of it. On my website's resources page, which is kellybhaneycom slash resources, I have links to a couple free meditations that I found to be particularly helpful. One is specific to health anxiety and the other one is a healing your inner child meditation that is really beautiful and so profound.
Speaker 1:Next, I want to talk about visualization, which is something that is along the same lines as meditation and is another one of my very favorite and most effective strategies, and is another one of my very favorite and most effective strategies. A healing energy visualization can be done as a guided experience or on your own, and it has brought me out of many an anxious spiral. For me, a healing visualization practice looks like this when experiencing health anxiety, I sit or lie down, close my eyes, take full, deep breaths and I begin to visualize a healing light entering my body through the top of my head. I visualize the light slowly moving down my body and as it moves, I say to myself a variation of this Healing light, variation of this Healing light healing my body, healing me. I am healed, I am healthy, I am strong, all is well. If there are particular areas of concern in my body, then I visualize the light pausing there and performing a deep healing on a cellular level, all while speaking these affirming words. This can be magical for stopping health anxiety in its tracks. There are many guided visualizations on YouTube specifically for health anxiety, or you can just try it the way that I just described it on your own.
Speaker 1:The fourth strategy for managing our anxiety is getting help. Getting help is crucial, whether from professionals or loved ones, or ideally, both. Earlier I mentioned, get help if your situation is severe, but even those who are experiencing moderate levels of health anxiety can benefit greatly by getting help. Of course, a therapist who is a good fit can be an excellent resource here. I have often found that just being present in that safe space of a therapy session, allowing myself to get all my anxious thoughts out can make a world of difference. Especially during particularly anxious times. Just getting it all out to someone who's there to listen and not to judge is extraordinarily healing. But in addition to a therapist, a loving partner or a trusted friend can also provide tremendous relief when we openly and honestly share our anxieties, these loved ones can provide something that is of the highest value for someone who is stuck in an anxious space, and that is reassurance. So often my husband has patiently let me share all the turmoil that my mind can come up with, and then in just a few sentences, he'll say something that is incredibly reassuring. It doesn't have to be anything extraordinary either. Just hearing him say super basic things like I really don't think there's anything to worry about or everything is fine. Sometimes that's enough. Just hearing those simple phrases from someone else gets me out of my own head and is often enough to at least temporarily calm my worries. So if we are lucky enough to have a caring person in our life who loves us and really wants to help, let's take advantage of that opportunity to get some help from them. There are also support groups and online forums where this type of support can be found. Of course, always be cautious and do your due diligence before getting involved in any group or online forum, but the point is you don't have to do this alone.
Speaker 1:The fifth strategy is sleep Both quality and quantity, is so important for everything, including managing our health anxiety. But, as anyone who's battled anxiety knows, getting good sleep when you're in a state of anxiety is easier said than done. Anxiety is notorious for causing many a sleepless night, but there are things we can do to set ourselves up for sleep success, even when anxiety is trying to keep us awake. For example, chamomile tea. It's naturally calming and it can help ease us into sleep. Chamomile has such a reputation for being a good sleep aid, and that's because it really is.
Speaker 1:Another idea put those screens away for two really good reasons. First, because the blue light from our devices can really mess with our sleep patterns. And, for heaven's sake, do not google symptoms or doom scroll before going to bed. I know it can be really hard to resist doing those things when health anxiety kicks in, but of course, that is a recipe for a sleepless night. Also, take some time to pray or meditate. Doing these kinds of things can help quiet our minds and prepare ourselves for rest. Right before we go to bed or while we're laying in bed is also a great time to do a visualization exercise, like the one that we talked about earlier. A healing visualization can be incredibly soothing and set us up for peaceful sleep.
Speaker 1:Let's also create an environment that is physically conducive to sleep, using accessories such as an eye mask to block out any light, earplugs or a white noise machine to drown out disruptive sounds. Blackout curtains to keep our rooms totally dark, a comfortable mattress and pillows, of course, is always helpful. Cool, breathable bedding. It's important not to be in a room that's too hot. And then, of course, eating nutrient-dense, nourishing food and getting regular exercise during the day sets us up to be able to sleep, even if we're in a time of high anxiety. So if we can make our quality and quantity of sleep a priority, our body and our mind will thank us. When we're well rested, we'll be so much more equipped to handle any anxiety that comes our way.
Speaker 1:Okay, there are two more strategies that I would like to share. The next one is simplicity. Let's talk for a minute about simplicity and how it can be a powerful tool for managing health anxiety. In our chaotic world, simplifying our lives can be like a breath of fresh air for our minds and our spirits. Simplicity can boil down to two main areas, and those are our possessions, as in our stuff, and our schedules. Let's look at our stuff first how much of the stuff that we own truly adds value to our life and how much of it may actually be contributing to our stress and our anxiety. Decluttering our space can be incredibly freeing. It's like decluttering our mind at the same time. Less stuff means less to worry about, less to clean and less visual noise, which are all things that can trigger or exacerbate anxiety.
Speaker 1:Now let's quickly examine the anxiety relief that can be found when we simplify our schedules. Our cultural norm of being constantly busy is a fast track to stress and all forms of anxiety, so let's challenge those norms by taking a good look at our commitments and how we use our time. A simplified schedule not only reduces our current stress, but it also gives us the time and the energy for the other powerful tools for managing health anxiety that we already talked about, such as meditation or visualization exercise, preparing nourishing meals and more time for sleep, or simply just more time to rest. It's so easy to forget this in our society, but we all need downtime, time to just rest. Our busy, chaotic lifestyles without a doubt contribute to all forms of anxiety, and certainly health anxiety. A more simplified schedule can give us that precious time that we need to care for ourselves and therefore reduce our anxiety. For the anxious person. I really believe a simplified life is necessary in order for us to be able to find peace and, ultimately, in order for us to be able to find healing.
Speaker 1:All right, here we are at the final strategy for managing health anxiety that I want to share with you today, and this one has definitely been the hardest one for me. It's probably why I saved it for last. This strategy is learning to let go. I am still very much a work in progress with this one. I like to call myself a recovering perfectionist and I am very much a type A personality, so letting go feels extra hard, but from the small amount that I've been able to put into practice, I'm fairly certain that this may be the key to a life that's free of health anxiety, not to mention all anxiety For the things that are ultimately out of our hands. Being able to let go of an uncertain situation and accept whatever the outcome may be, is blissful freedom Easier said than done. Yes, believe me, I know, but it's so worth working towards.
Speaker 1:You've likely heard the AA serenity prayer before. This simple prayer holds so much wise instruction for learning to let go. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. This is like a mantra for health anxiety relief, isn't it? For the things we can learn to accept that we cannot change, can we then also learn to let them go? Prayer can be a powerful tool in this process, and I'm not just talking about the traditional religious prayer here. No matter your religion or lack thereof, this is about offering up your worries and fears to something bigger than yourself. When we reach the end of our capacity, it's a way of saying yourself when we reach the end of our capacity, it's a way of saying I've done all that I can do, so now I'm trusting that whatever happens is meant to happen.
Speaker 1:Letting go requires this deep trust that we are on a path that's unique only to us and no one, including ourselves, can tell us how it should go or what it should look like. It's our own personal journey. I think that learning to let go can start with something that's rather simple, and that is awareness, being more mindful, paying more attention to notice. When we're holding onto something so tightly, when we're trying to control outcomes that are beyond our control, then we can notice this and gently remind ourselves to loosen our grip, take a deep breath and try letting it go. So how exactly does this all relate to managing health anxiety?
Speaker 1:Well, the fact of the matter is, sometimes we do get sick. Sometimes our health fears are not unfounded. So, at the end of the day, in order to win the battle with health anxiety, we have to accept the fact that, even though there are many things we can influence or have some semblance of control over, our ultimate destiny really is out of our control. Once we can get to a place where we can accept whatever may come with an attitude of strength, resilience, gratitude and peace, then I think we've truly won. I think we've truly won. Again, I have not reached this place and I don't know many people who have, but the point is it's the journey, not the destination. If we can work to get ourselves to a place of more trust, where we are less fearful of what may be. Then we can start finding peace in what is. Anxiety can no longer have any hold over us, when we are simply no longer afraid.
Speaker 1:As we wrap up in the approach and all the strategies mentioned today, let's, above all else, be patient with ourselves and let's give ourselves grace. Our foe is tough. Anxiety can be deeply complex. It can be a pain-staking challenge. Anxiety can be a beast.
Speaker 1:I've learned the hard way that healing our body is one thing. Healing our soul is quite another one thing. Healing our soul is quite another. This journey of holistic healing is not for the faint of heart, but it is so worth it. So let's celebrate the small victories, let's support each other and let's keep moving forward. Let's keep chipping away at our health anxiety a little more every day. Health anxiety a little more every day. Thank you so much for joining me for this episode. I truly hope it's been of help to you. If you received value from this episode, I would be so grateful if you would take a moment to subscribe to the podcast, download the episodes, rate and review and, of course, please share it with anyone who you think may receive value from it as well. As always, I am honored to walk alongside of you as we heal and stay healed together. Bye.