In this episode of Us Anxious Folk, I talk all about the impact of long-term anxiety on the body, and how to work towards a sense of ease and peace within.

Anxiety is designed to have noticable (and uncomfortable) physical effects within the body. Short-term, this is fine - our bodies know how to recover. When it comes to long-term anxiety and panic, however, we start to find that our bodies are becoming a tricky place to inhabit.

I discuss how it felt to be in my own body during my housebound years, and the toll of chronic fear on my emotional and physical wellbeing. From digestive issues, muscle tension, sensory sensitivities, and food stress, to that full-body feeling of "no", and what the pathway towards willingness looks and feels like.

Mentioned in this episode:

Mary Oliver - Wild Geese

"You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

- Mary Oliver, Wild Geese

Bloodaxe, 2004

I hope you enjoy this episode, and as always, if you would like to be a guest on Us Anxious Folk to share your anxiety story, please get in touch with me at hello@iamlaurenrose.com