Stop Trying to Feel Better — Get Better at Feeling: Heal Anxiety from the Body Up with Dr. Russell Kennedy

If you've tried therapy, medication, journaling, and every
mindset tool available — and you're still anxious — this episode
is for you. Dr. Russell Kennedy, physician, neuroscientist, and
certified trauma therapist, makes the case that anxiety doesn't
start in your mind. It starts in your body, as a physiological
alarm that's likely been there since childhood. And until you
address the alarm directly, you're only ever managing symptoms.


Dr. Kennedy explores why perimenopause turns up the volume on
anxiety that felt manageable before, why overachievement is just
another way of outrunning the alarm, and what you can actually do
— today — to start healing from the body up. Fair warning: Dr.
Kennedy takes Dr. Stephanie through a live exercise to find her
body alarm. There were tears in the production room.


Episode Overview
(0:00) Intro/Teaser
(1:30) Stand-Up Comedy, Mother's Death, and What Anxiety Is
(08:28) Why We're So Anxious in a World That's Never Been
Safer
(12:51) Alarm vs. Anxiety: The Distinction That Finally Makes
Sense of It All
(26:00) JABS, the Default Mode Network, and Overachievement
(46:00) Perimenopause and SSRIs
(53:00) Live Exercise: Finding the Alarm in Your Body (Baby
Steffi)
(01:06:00) How to Start Feeling Your Feelings Without Blowing the
Lid Off Pandora's Box
(01:11:39) Three Beach Balls and No Progesterone
(01:17:00) The After-Party with Dr. Stephanie


Resources mentioned in this episode:
https://drstephanieestima.com/podcasts/ep474


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P.S. When you're ready, here are two ways Dr. Stephanie can help
you:


Subscribe: The Mini
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