The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

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   Number 1: Books at Bedtime By Calming Anxiety - The Tale Benjamin Bunny - By Beatrix Potter

   The Tale of Benjamin Bunny by Beatrix Potter — A Calming Bedtime Story for Sleep & Insomnia | Books at Bedtime Drift off with this gentle bedtime story for sleep and insomnia relief, read aloud as part of Calming Anxiety's Books at Bedtime strand. Tonight's tale is The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, Beatrix Potter's much-loved sequel to Peter Rabbit, first published by Frederick Warne & Co. in September 1904 — long in the public domain, with Potter (1866–1943) having died more than seventy years ago. For more calming audiobooks and sleep stories whenever you need them, download Anchored, the free companion app to Calming Anxiety, with offline-ready relaxation and Books at Bedtime sessions for any hour of the night. Get it on the App Store at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 or on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored. In this soothing bedtime audiobook, young Benjamin Bunny slips back into Mr McGregor's garden with his cousin Peter to rescue Peter's lost clothes from the scarecrow — and the pair find themselves waiting, hidden and hopeful, for the danger to pass. A gentle, unhurried classic, perfect for winding down, easing anxiety, and drifting off to sleep. Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett, as part of Calming Anxiety's Coffee Break for the Soul and Books at Bedtime story readings. And in everything, my friend, be kind. Support the Show: Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners! YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1 Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/ Music: All music by Chris CollinsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

   September 13, 2026·10min
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   Number 2: Why Am I So Tired But My Body Won't Switch Off — A 10-Minute Meditation for Tired But Wired Anxiety

   I'm Tired But Wired — A 10-Minute Meditation for a Body That Won't Switch Off | The Switch Off Breath That feeling where you're so tired — not ordinary tired, the kind where your eyes ache and your thoughts have gone slow and thin — and yet you sit down, and your body hasn't got the message. Jaw still set, shoulders still up near your ears, a restlessness in your legs while the rest of you is running on empty.If you've been quietly asking yourself why you're so tired but your body won't switch off, this episode is for you. Anchored is now on Android as well as iPhone, and if you can't face listening to a voice tonight, not even this one, the app's visual breathing tools work without any narration at all:https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored (Android) or https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 (iPhone). Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett, today's episode puts the paramedic hat on to explain bracing — the body's habit, after weeks or months of pressure, of staying slightly above idle all day, muscles tight and breathing shallow, whether or not you've actually sat down. We use vagus nerve breathing, four in and eight out, which Martin calls the switch off breath, followed by a warm amber light body scan to help release what the day left behind. ⏱️ Time Chapters* 00:00 – Cold open: tired, but your body hasn't got the message* 00:52 – Channel open: Anchored on Android & the breathing tools* 01:31 – The paramedic's view: why the body keeps bracing* 02:28 – Breathing: the switch off breath (4 in, 8 out)* 04:38 – Deepening: a warm amber light* 06:38 – Today's Gentle Affirmations* 08:17 – Three Daily Caring Tips* 09:30 – Coming back, stretch and open your eyes* 10:04 – Outro & be kind 🌿 Today's Gentle AffirmationsSay them in the middle with me, in your own voice:I am tired but wired, and that is something my body is doing, not something I am failing at.I am tired but wired, and it can pass.I do not have to force my body to relax. I only have to stop holding it tight.My long out breath is a signal my nervous system understands. My long out breath is safe. My long out breath is enough.I release the anxiety I have been holding in my body.I am allowed to be still, even with things unfinished.I am safe. I am here. There is nothing to fear right now. 💡 3 Daily Caring Tips1. **The four-second reset** — Set a phone alarm for the middle of your afternoon, and when it goes, do nothing except unclench your jaw and drop your shoulders. It takes four seconds and interrupts the bracing before it sets.2. **Legs up before bed** — Tonight, before you get into bed, lie on the floor with your calves resting on the seat of a chair for three minutes and let your legs be somebody else's problem.3. **Leave one thing unfinished** — Choose one thing on today's list that genuinely doesn't have to be done today, and cross it off unfinished. Your body is reading your workload as much as your mind is. 📱 Take Calming Anxiety With You AnywhereAnchored is with you whenever you need it, now on Android as well as iPhone — including breathing tools with no narration at all, for the nights even a voice feels like too much. 👉 [Get Anchored on Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored) 👉 [Get Anchored on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669) If this episode found you at the right moment, would you share it with one more person? Someone in your life is exhausted and buzzing tonight and hasn't got the words for it — this might be the words they need. …be kind. 👉 Click to subscribe and unlock ad-free episodes now! Support the Show: Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners! YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1 Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/ Music: All music by Chris CollinsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

   September 10, 2026·12min
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   Number 3: I Need to Feel Calm Again — 10 Minute Guided Meditation for Anxiety, Stress & Irritability

   Anxiety Relief for Irritability & Overwhelm — I Just Need to Feel Calm Again | Alternate Nostril Breathing Guided Meditation Anxiety relief for those days when everything is getting under your skin. This ten minute guided meditation is for the moment you catch yourself thinking "I just need to feel calm again" — when the noise, the questions, the one more thing have worn your patience thin, your shoulders are tight, your jaw is clenched, and your voice is sharper than you meant it to be. Underneath irritation there is almost always something quieter. You're tired. You're overloaded. You've been holding too much together. Today we use alternate nostril breathing — nadi shodhana, the balancing breath — breathing in for four and out for six, giving your mind one gentle thing to do at a time while your nervous system finds its way back down. Slow, rhythmic breathwork for stress relief, overwhelm and an overstimulated nervous system. Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett, Calming Anxiety is a daily ten minute guided meditation for anxiety relief, panic attacks, stress and sleep. You don't have to become a different person today. You don't have to be endlessly patient. You simply need a little more space. ⏱️ Time Chapters * 00:00 – I just need to feel calm again * 00:20 – When the smallest things get under your skin * 00:47 – What's underneath the irritation * 01:13 – Welcome — this is your moment * 01:31 – Finding your quiet place * 01:42 – Alternate nostril breathing (nadi shodhana) explained * 02:23 – Guided breathing — in for four, out for six * 04:24 – Softening the shoulders, forehead and hands * 04:56 – Visualisation — laying the weight down * 05:44 – Today's gentle affirmations * 08:04 – You don't have to become a different person * 08:21 – Three daily caring tips * 09:14 – Returning to the room * 10:05 – Anchored, sharing and closing thoughts 🌿 Today's Gentle Affirmations Repeat these in your mind's eye, on the outbreath, and see them in your thoughts. * I am allowed to slow down. * I do not have to carry everything at once. * I can feel irritated without becoming irrational. * My feelings are signals. They are not instructions. * I can pause before I react. * I am safe in this moment. * I am here in this moment. * I can be gentle with myself while I find my balance. * I am allowed to feel calm again. 💡 3 Daily Caring Tips 1. Catch the first flicker. When you notice the first flickers of irritation today, don't try to argue with it. Take one slow breath all the way out and give yourself three seconds to respond. 2. Ask what's underneath. Ask yourself, "What am I actually feeling underneath this? Am I overwhelmed, hungry, unnerved?" Sometimes irritation is simply the messenger. 3. Check in before the day runs away. Tomorrow, use Anchored daily to check in before the day gets away from you. Thirty seconds, just enough time to ask yourself, "How am I actually doing right now?" You don't have to wait until you're overwhelmed. 📱 Take Calming Anxiety With You Anywhere If you'd like this feeling again, come back tomorrow — and download Anchored on iOS. Access over 3,000 searchable, offline-ready audio sessions, sleep stories with Books at Bedtime, and built-in nightlight features for the small hours. 👉 Download Anchored on the App Store Today: https://apps.apple.com And if someone you love has been feeling unusually tense, irritable or simply not quite themselves, please share this episode with them. They may not need fixing — they just may need somewhere safe to put the weight down. If the show helps you, a 30-second rating and review on Apple Podcasts helps someone else find it. Be gentle today with who you are. You don't have to carry everything. Breathe, soften, come back to yourself. I'm Martin, I'll be here again tomorrow. Be kind. 👉 Click to subscribe and unlock ad-free episodes now! Support the Show: Ad-Free Listening: Enjoy Calming Anxiety without ads at https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety--4110266/support Buy Me a Coffee: Support hosting costs at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/calminganxiety Newsletter: Subscribe on Substack at https://calminganxietypodcast.substack.com/?r=6zm0sc&utm_campaign=pub-share-checklist Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners! YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calmingReady for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

   August 26, 2026·11min
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   Number 4: I Feel So Anxious Before Sleep - Night Time Meditation

   Can't Sleep Because It's Too Hot — Coherent Breathing for Hot Night Insomnia & Anxiety | Guided Sleep Meditation Anchored - The bespoke app from Calming Anxiety - https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669Can't sleep because it's too hot? You have turned the pillow over three times, the cool side lasted about forty seconds, and now your mind has decided the restlessness means something is wrong. It doesn't. This ten-minute guided sleep meditation is built for warm, balmy August nights when the body can't settle and anxiety fills the gap. Tonight's breath is coherent breathing — also known as resonant breathing or HRV breathing. Five seconds in, five seconds out, no holding and nothing forced. Martin calls it the still breath, because on a night like this everything else is moving and this is the one thing that isn't. Cool air arrives at the tip of the nose and leaves a little warmer, which means every out breath is quietly letting heat go. From there we settle the body the way it actually cools itself — feet out from under the covers, palms up, jaw unclenched — and move into a soft visualisation of silver-blue moonlight, the light of a night that has already begun to cool. Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett. If you drift off before the end, good. That is success, not failure. ⏱️ Time Chapters * 00:00 – The cool side of the pillow: why hot nights feel like anxiety* 00:38 – Sponsored by Anchored* 01:10 – Welcome from Martin* 01:30 – Settling the body: feet out, palms up, jaw unclenched* 02:01 – Tonight's breath: coherent breathing, five in and five out* 05:08 – Visualisation: cool silver-blue moonlight* 05:56 – Today's gentle affirmations* 08:16 – Your three daily caring tips* 09:19 – Coming back gently* 10:26 – Share the show and sign-off 🌿 Today's Gentle Affirmations Repeat these wonderful words silently after me: I am safe, I am here, there is nothing to fear right now.My body knows how to cool itself, I do not have to manage it.Rest is enough and rest is already happening.I am heavy, I am cool and I am calm.Nothing needs to be decided before morning. 💡 3 Daily Caring Tips 1. Cool your wrists, not the whole room. Run cool water over the insides of your wrists for 30 seconds before bed. The blood vessels sit close to the surface there, and it lowers your core temperature faster than a cold shower will. 2. Turn the clock away from the bed. Do not look at it again tonight, so that your mind cannot keep recalculating how many hours are left. 3. Damp pillowcase and a fan. Lightly damp a cotton pillowcase, lay it over the pillow, and point the fan across it. The evaporation cools the air reaching your face all night without chilling the room. 📱 Take Calming Anxiety With You Anywhere If you wake in the night, Anchored is right there on your phone and it will pick up exactly where you left off — no searching, no bright screen, just my voice again from wherever you drifted away. Download Anchored on iOS. Access over 3,000 searchable, offline-ready audio sessions, sleep stories with Books at Bedtime, and built-in nightlight features for the small hours. 👉 Download Anchored on the App Store today: https://apps.apple.com If these ten minutes gave you relief tonight, please share the show with someone lying awake in the same heat, and leave a 30-second rating or review on Apple Podcasts. Sleep well when sleep comes. Rest well if it doesn't. Both are enough. I'll be right here with you again tomorrow, so in everything …be kind. 👉 Click to subscribe and unlock ad-free episodes now! Support the Show: Buy Me a Coffee: Support hosting costs at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/calminganxiety Newsletter: Subscribe on Substack at https://calminganxietypodcast.substack.com/?r=6zm0sc&utm_campaign=pub-share-checklist Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners! YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1 Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/ Music: All music by Chris CollinsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

   August 14, 2026·11min
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   Number 5: I’m Tired of Being the Strong One - A 10-Minute Meditation for Emotional Exhaustion, Anxiety and Letting Go

   I'm Tired of Being the Strong One — A 10-Minute Meditation for Emotional Exhaustion, Burnout and Always Saying "I'm Fine" Someone asks how you are, and "fine" comes out before the question's even finished. You're managing. Things are getting done. Nobody's worried about you. But underneath all that managing there's a tiredness you haven't mentioned to anyone — not sleepy-tired, something further down than that. This guided meditation sits with exactly that feeling: the emotional exhaustion of always being the strong one, and the quiet relief of putting it down, just for ten minutes. For a place to return to whenever this feeling catches up with you, download Anchored, Calming Anxiety's companion app.Get it on the App Store at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 or on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored. Hosted by clinical hypnotherapist and former paramedic Martin Hewlett, this episode uses a slow 4-2-6 breath (in for four, hold for two, out for six) and a body-awareness technique — noticing everything the chair, floor or bed is quietly holding for you — before moving into affirmation work that gives you permission to be tired, worn out, and not okay for a little while. ⏱️ Time Chapters* 00:00 – The Weight You Don't Mention* 00:57 – Welcome & Anchored* 01:55 – Breathing (In for 4, Hold for 2, Out for 6)* 04:34 – Feeling What's Holding You Up* 05:21 – Affirmations: Putting the Strong Face Down* 08:02 – Three Daily Caring Tips* 08:57 – Coming Back Gently* 09:48 – A Note From Martin 🌿 Today's Gentle AffirmationsSettle in and repeat these gently to yourself:I am tired of being the strong one, and I am allowed to say so.I do not have to be capable to be worth something.This emotional exhaustion is not a weakness in me.I can put this down without letting anybody know.I am being carried — the chair, the floor, the ground beneath it, all of it is holding me.I am allowed to be tired.I am allowed to be worn out.I do not have to earn my rest. 💡 3 Daily Caring Tips1. Say "I can't today" out loud, once, to something small and low-stakes — not to make a point, just to say the words that have been in your mouth.2. Do one thing badly on purpose: a shortcut dinner, the washing up left till morning — and let it stay done badly.3. Sit for five minutes with nothing in your hands — no phone, no tidying, no list — and let the chair take your weight. 📱 Take Calming Anxiety With You AnywhereDownload Anchored on iOS at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anchored-panic-anxiety/id6785035669 or on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.martinhewlett.anchored. Access over 3,000 searchable, offline-ready audio sessions, sleep stories with Books at Bedtime, and built-in nightlight features for the small hours. If this episode helped, please share it and leave a quick rating or review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify — it genuinely helps more people find their way here. And in everything, my friend, be kind. Support the Show: Rate & Review: Leave a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to help us reach more listeners! YouTube: Watch all episodes at https://www.youtube.com/c/calminganxiety?sub_confirmation=1 Social Media Support: For younger listeners struggling with social media stress, visit https://www.icanhelp.net/ Music: All music by Chris CollinsBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/calming-anxiety-guided-meditation-sleep-hypnosis-panic-attack-relief--4110266/support.Ready for More Calm?Thank you for listening to the Calming Anxiety Podcast, featuring guided meditation, mindfulness, and sleep hypnosis sessions with Martin Hewlett. Our mission is to provide you with proven tools for anxiety relief, stress reduction, and a path toward deep relaxation. Use this episode anytime you need to calm your mind and feel more at ease.

   September 13, 2026·11min
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