Owning It: The Anxiety Podcast

For this episode of Owning It, it's just me and I'm talking through a very real anxiety that a lot of us are facing: anxiety around returning to normal post covid. It might sound silly, to be anxious about getting back to the life we lived before - when Covid has been a major source of anxiety for many of us, but something has happened. We've found comfort in the discomfort and we've gotten very used to life in lockdown, so emerging out of it brings its own challenges, socially and physically for our bodies. I hope you find this episode helpful and reassuring.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Dermot Whelan, comedian and radio presenter Dermot Whelan talks shares his story of anxiety, how he burned himself out to the point of arriving at a comedy festival (where he was due to perform) in an ambulance. After reaching this crescendo, Dermot eventually found meditation, and though it was somewhat underwhelming, he noticed a much calmer version of himself begin to emerge. Now he is a meditation teacher and has learned many techniques to dissolve anxiety, which he shares here. With humour and simplicity, Dermot will convince you that focusing on your breath is perhaps your most under utilised anxiety reducing tool. His new book, Mind Full, is out now and is a super enjoyable and informative read that will open your world to meditation and its many benefits. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I am joined by the wonderful Alyson Stoner. A super successful child star, Alyson appeared to have it all going on: she was the featured dancer (as a little girl) in the Missy Elliot Work It video. She was on several Disney projects, Cheaper by the Dozen franchise, the Step Up franchise and so much more. But with such a high pressure environment that was sent against the backdrop of a chaotic and turbulent home life, things were not as wonderful as they may have seemed. Alyson chats to me here about the trauma she experienced, how her anxiety manifested as an eating disorder, how and when she knew she needed some help, how she came through it, and how she now reconciles her childhood experiences so that they inform her life as a wellbeing and mental health advocate now. She's incredibly articulate and she's just launched a new positive mental health platform called Movement Genius which I urge you to check out.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on A

For this episode I am talking about the power of journalling - with an old school pen and paper - for anxiety management. How can it help? How can we ensure it's not something else to feel pressure with? How can we make sure it's proactively helping us to own our anxiety? I take you on a guided tour of my new journal - Own It: The Anxiety Journal based on my number 1 International bestseller Owning It (on which this podcast is also based!), which is available to purchase here.https://own-it-journal.myshopify.com/products/journalSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I am flying solo to talk about toxic positivity. What is it? Why do we do it? How can we avoid it?Buy Naked: Ten Truths To Change Your Life now, widely available online. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode my guest is the incredible cognitive neuroscientist and author Dr Caroline Leaf. We talk about anxiety and how important it is as a messaging system and how we should not want to live a life without any anxiety at all. In her new book, Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess, she talks through the 5 steps of neurocycling - which is a term I had never heard before - and how it will help with phases of considerable stress, anxiety and depression. We use my own experience as an example (I got the date wrong for our recording and FREAKED out when I realised I had messed up). I hope you find this episode and Caroline's insights helpful. Her new book is available now. My new book NAKED is available here. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I am joined by Gareth Mullins, head chef and self described perfectionist and high achiever at Dublin's 5 star hotel The Marker. Gareth reached out to me a few years ago to say he was struggling, he didn't understand why and he didn't want to admit that he was having a hard time with anxiety. He went to the doctor, who suggested medication, which he didn't want to take because to him that meant admitting defeat or weakness. Here we talk about the stigma that unfortunately still lingers around mental health, particularly when it comes to men. Is there room for anxiety in a high pressure, nothing-less-than-perfection work environment? There needs to be. Gareth runs regular cooking courses online - they are brilliant - check him out at @garmullins on Instagram for more details and announcements of upcoming courses and classes.My new book NAKED is out now, get it here! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati

Fiona Brennan is a hypnotherapist and two-time author of bestselling wellbeing books. Her latest book, The Self Love Habit, is what we discuss here, in relation to anxiety of course. How can self love really impact our anxiety? What is the divided self she speaks of? How do we engage with our inner critic: the driving force of our anxiety for the most part and what can we do each day to bring more self-compassion into our routine?Fiona's book is out now. You can buy it here. And you can buy my latest book, NAKED, here too.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I am joined by Greg O'Shea, Rugby Sevens star here in Ireland who shot to fame across the UK and Ireland after appearing on Love Island. A reality TV series where everyone wants a piece of you, and as soon as you do something that doesn't please the masses, you're down over 700,000 instagram followers. Is it possible to keep self worth and such a measurable metric of success separate? How do you cope with the opinions of the world coming at you? Greg talks death threats, remembering what's important and knowing how to measure his self worth and keep anxiety at a level he can manage. For 25, he has an impressive perspective on what counts and what doesn't (25 was the age I was when everything fell apart for me) and almost without realising it, he has cultivated a set of skills for keeping his mental health in excellent condition these past few years. He's a genuinely nice, humble guy who knows how important it is to normalise mental health struggles and I was delighted to have him as a guest.M

Ethan Kross, neuroscientist, psychologist and Professor at the University of Michigan joins me on Owning It to talk about his new book - CHATTER - and how we can better understand and then harness the voice in our head that leads us to all sorts of maladaptive issues, namely anxiety. We talk through some seriously effective tools such as 'temporal distancing' which give a useful structure to concepts we've already explored in Owning It, or things you may already practise yourself but aren't even aware of. Ethan's new book is out now and it's a compelling read. Buy it here. You know what else is a compelling read? My new book, NAKED: Ten Truths To Change Your Life, out now. Click the link to order! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode I am joined by the brilliant writer Stefanie Preissner for what I would say is my most radically honest and open conversation on this series to date. Stefanie and I talk about therapy, smart ways of finding the right person for you and knowing whether or not it's working for you, we talk about Stefanie's own anxiety, the fact that she is currently in the midst of not feeling so wonderful (and so often we only talk about bad times once we've come out the other side of them), we talk about both of our needs to be liked by others and we also discuss an issue that had bothered us both: I thought Stefanie didn't like me (she had blocked me on Instagram) and Stefanie thought I didn't like her (so she decided to block me from her Instagram). Both of us feeling the same anxieties, grappling with the same fears and so we talk it out. I hope you find this one as refreshing to listen to as I found discussing it. Stefanie's own podcast is BASICALLY and available wherever you get your podcasts. Buy my new

For this episode I am joined by Ali Ryan, CEO and founder of popular website GOSS.ie. Ali kindly shares her story with me, after having experienced public shaming following a sexual encounter with a former partner that she had assumed was private but found out it had been recorded and then shared without her consent. The anxiety that ensued was crippling for this woman who now bravely opens up about something that to this day is incredibly difficult for her. We also talk generally about public shaming, cancel culture and how nasty things can get online, which can be such a source of anxiety for all of us listening too.My new book NAKED is out now, and as per the title, it will change your life, I promise! Buy it here if you're in Ireland, or here if outside of Ireland.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My new book NAKED is out now. You can buy it here.We have all experienced stress and anxiety around our work life. During the pandemic, perhaps more than ever. Maybe you were let go. Maybe you had big plans that were put on hold. Maybe outside of the pandemic you're looking for a change but anxious to take a leap of faith. Maybe you've been offered something that sounds exciting but you're afraid you'll regret the move. Maybe your work anxiety stems from a job you're in and that you like, but some inter issues are causing you to finish your day feeling upset. How do you navigate any and all of these issues? I'm joined by career consultant Lynda Barry who has worked in NYC, London and Ireland to help course correct her clients' careers. This episode is very practical and is well worth listening to with a pen and paper. To work one on one with Lynda, simply DM her on instagram: @lyndabarry_careerconsultingSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv

Welcome back to season 5! For this episode I want to introduce you to my brand new. book - NAKED: Ten Truths To Change Your Life. It's what I've been working on since wrapping up the last season. It's all about the power of vulnerability as a tool to create a calmer life. In it I explore ten sometimes uncomfortable truths about our thoughts feelings and behaviours that cause us stress and discomfort and set about finding an alternative path. For this introductory episode, I wanted to share some of my favourite chapter which is all about what I call The Vulnerability Paradox. I do hope you find it helpful and if you want to buy a copy of NAKED, you can get it here on Amazon. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a special one off episode I have done with the HSE to highlight the importance of consent as well as discuss the specifics and language around consent as for some people, knowing what to say or do can cause some anxiety. I will be back with season 5 in January! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I take some time to answer your anxiety questions that you have sent into me recently. I cover everything from postpartum anxiety to the fear that we'll never get rid of our anxiety and lots more. I hope you find it helpful. Thanks for listening and supporting the series via the Supporter feature on Acast and/or by buying any of my books. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For this episode - one of my last of the season - I am joined by the beautiful Daniella Moyles who shares her anxiety story with me. Apologies for the sound quality on this - the internet connection was very dodgy while we tried to speak on Zoom! I've known Daniella for a good few years now and when I first met her, I would have been completely shocked to be told she struggled with anxiety, but that just goes to show you that anxiety is something that anyone can experience. She seemed to have it all - confidence, beauty, success, she was always sharing pics from some exotic destination around the globe. Nothing phased her, I thought, while my anxiety stole me of so many travelling experiences (but that just happens to be one of the ways in which it affected me). But I was wrong. Thanks to Daniella for her honesty and vulnerability here and if you are looking for a page-turning read that's beautifully written, get yourself a copy of her book JUMP. It was number 1 on the Irish bestseller list for a number of we

For this episode I am joined by my lovely mammy Aideen to talk about what it was like for her to see me, her daughter, go through a very tough time with anxiety and help listeners when it comes to articulating their anxiety to their parents if they find that their parents don't understand. This is also a great episode to ask a family member to listen to in order to support you. She talks about what she learned about mental health, anxiety and how things have changed since her generation when anxiety was never spoken of and mental health issues were put down to 'suffering with your nerves'. I hope you find this episode helpful and thanks to my mammy for being a great sport. Please support Owning It via the supporter feature on Acast or via my patreon page patreon.com/carolineforan or by buying any of my books! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Owning It I am joined by Dr Malie Coyne who is an incredible clinical psychologist. She is the author of Love In Love Out, which is a compassion based approach to parenting your anxious child. Whether or not you have kids it's incredibly helpful to understand how anxiety manifests in children; it helped me to understand my own childhood anxiety in terms of learning about the development of a young brain, particularly how we learn to store long term memory and our fear response in our brain long before we develop logic and reason which enables us to rationalise our fears and worries. Don't miss Malie's book, widely available in stores and online and follow her on instagram for lots of child related mental health content. Please support Owning It with a one time tip via the Acast supporter feature, or by buying my books.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/owningittheanxietypodcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I am joined by Alison Curtis, national broadcaster with Today FM here in Dublin, Ireland. Alison is Canadian but we consider her one of our own. She has a very interesting story about her experience of health related anxiety that stems back to events she remembers when she was just 7 years old. She very openly shares her struggles and how this anxiety has affected her throughout her life, losing both of her parents to illness and now as a mother to 9-year-old Joan, how she navigates her worries there. She's one of the kindest happiest people I know and proves to me that you don't have to be anxiety free to live a good life, as long as you can find ways to manage it. Which Alison has done.Thanks for supporting me if you already have by tipping the series so that it can keep going via my Patreon page, patreon.com/carolineforan and don't forget the books (OWNING IT and The Confidence Kit - OWN IT and You Got This if you are in the US/Canada) are widely available around the globe on Amazon or loc