In this episode, I sit down with Lauren Rose, an author who knows what it’s like when anxiety takes over your life. For two years, Lauren was housebound, navigating agoraphobia and the raw reality of toilet anxiety — the kind of struggle most people don’t dare to talk about.

We dive into the shame, the panic, and the coping strategies that helped her slowly reclaim her freedom. Lauren shares openly about blankets over her head on the way to hospital, writing her book, and the weekly meditation sessions that now anchor her healing.

This is not a polished conversation — my cat meows, her dog barks — but maybe that’s the point: anxiety isn’t polished. It’s messy, human, and something so many of us secretly carry.

I found it so refreshing how openly and freely Lauren speaks about this taboo topic. By putting words to what many people feel but rarely admit, she helps strip away the stigma and shows us that healing begins with honesty.

About Lauren Rose

Lauren is an author and mother of two from Australia. She has written a book about building a compassionate relationship with ourselves through panic and anxiety, and she also runs a podcast and YouTube channel on agoraphobia, panic disorder, and toilet anxiety. Lauren is a big believer in books, cups of tea, and laughter.

A common theme in her work is learning to accept anxiety as a part of what makes us whole. What began as an attempt to “overcome” anxiety in her writing evolved into a love-letter to her anxious self — an invitation to feel the fear and everything that comes with it, and to meet it with compassion.

Lauren openly shares her personal experiences of agoraphobia, being housebound, re-learning how to travel and explore, returning to work, and finding a gentle appreciation for her body despite the challenges of toilet anxiety.

Mentioned in this Episode

• Book: Here You Are, Courageous (Hay House) — available wherever you get your books

• Calm Community videos: Lauren’s free weekly meditation practices on YouTube

• Anxiety doesn’t have to be something to “get rid of” — it can be accepted as part of your wholeness.

• Toilet anxiety and agoraphobia are far more common than most people realize, and talking about them helps remove shame.

• Healing is not always glamorous — it’s messy, nonlinear, and often requires compassion over control.

• Sharing openly (even about taboo fears) creates connection and makes others feel less alone.

  
  

✨ If you’ve ever felt trapped by fear or embarrassed by your body, this conversation is a reminder: you’re not alone, and there’s strength in sharing the unshareable.

A few years ago, Flo wrote out his “perfect day.”
Waking up somewhere warm. Slow mornings. Meaningful work. Freedom. Connection. Movement.

Fast forward to now — much of that vision has come true.
But one thing kept casting a shadow over it all: money.

In this episode of Grow with the Flo, Flo dives into a form of anxiety that quietly haunts many dreamers, creators, and purpose-driven people — money anxiety — and how it can distort our sense of success.

Together, we explore:
- Why even a “dream life” can feel heavy without financial stability

- The psychology of the hedonic treadmill and why satisfaction always seems to move just out of reach- The cultural myth that equates success with financial wealth- How money anxiety might actually be a sign of alignment and growth, not failure
And a reflection exercise to help you redefine success on your own terms

This isn’t an episode about budgeting — it’s about meaning. It’s about noticing when fear is just the echo of stepping off the safe path… and realizing that maybe, just maybe, it’s pointing you toward something truer.

Reflection / Journaling Prompts

1. What does success mean to me — and which part of that definition is truly mine, not inherited?

2. When I feel money anxiety, what deeper fear might be hiding underneath?

3. Where in my life am I already living parts of my “perfect day” — and not giving myself credit for it?

4. Am I chasing alignment, or just approval?

5. What’s one small step I can take this week to move closer to my definition of success?

Takeaway
Money anxiety doesn’t always mean you’re failing.
Sometimes, it’s the tremor that comes with building something real.

Success isn’t what the world tells you it is — it’s what you decide it is.
And when you start building from that place, the rest has a way of following.

Everywhere you look, there are women’s circles. Safe spaces for sharing, crying, laughing, healing.

But where are the men’s circles?

In this episode of Grow with the Flo, Flo opens up about the quiet epidemic of male loneliness and emotional suppression—and why the old belief that “real men don’t cry” is costing lives.

Through personal stories, psychological insights, and cultural reflection, Flo explores:

💭 The stigma that teaches boys to hide pain instead of express it

🧠 How emotional suppression turns into stress, anger, addiction, and depression

📊 The heartbreaking truth that men make up 75–80% of suicides worldwide

🤝 Why men desperately need spaces for brotherhood, honesty, and vulnerability

🌱 And how vulnerability isn’t weakness—it’s courage, and it’s how healing begins

This is not an episode about blame. It’s an invitation.

To create spaces where men can finally say, “I’m not okay.”

To rebuild the missing brotherhood—one conversation, one act of honesty at a time.

Reflection / Journaling Prompt

What would it look like to create brotherhood in my life right now?

Who’s one man I can reach out to—not to fix anything, but to connect honestly?

When was the last time I allowed myself to say, “I’m not okay”?

What old belief about strength am I ready to release?

Takeaway

True strength isn’t about silence—it’s about honesty.

It’s about being brave enough to be seen.

Because “boys don’t cry”? Maybe they should.

And maybe that’s where real healing begins.

How often do you catch yourself saying, “I’ll start when I feel ready”?

Maybe it’s a project, a dream, or a conversation you’ve been postponing for months.

In this episode of Grow with the Flo, Flo dives into one of the most common growth traps — waiting for confidence before taking action — and reveals why that’s not how confidence actually works.

Through stories from his own life — teaching AcroYoga, launching this podcast, and leaving his corporate job — he explores the psychological loop between competence and confidence, how overthinking keeps us stuck, and what it really means to “feel ready.”

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The truth about the confidence–competence loop — and why confidence follows action, not the other way around

How Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy theory explains why mastery builds belief

What the Dunning-Kruger Effect teaches us about the “I’m not good enough” feeling

How to reframe failure as feedback and start stacking small wins

Practical tools to help you take your next step — even when you don’t feel ready

Reflection / Journaling Prompts

• What’s something I’ve been waiting to start until I “feel ready”?

• What’s the smallest step I could take toward it — something so small it feels almost silly?

• When in my life did I grow by acting before I felt confident?

• How can I reframe “failure” as feedback this week?

• What might change if I saw readiness not as a feeling, but as a decision?

Takeaway

Confidence doesn’t come before the leap — it comes from the leap.

Waiting to feel ready keeps you stuck in thought.

Starting, however imperfectly, is what builds the foundation you’ve been waiting for.

You don’t need to feel ready to begin.

You just need to begin — and let readiness catch up.

Overthinking can feel strangely safe. You’re not failing, but you’re not moving either—stuck in a mental waiting room where nothing terrible happens, and nothing meaningful happens, either. In this episode, Flo explores overthinking not as “the enemy,” but as a shield—a protection against feelings we don’t want to face: failure, rejection, uncertainty, change.

Through personal stories (money anxiety, delaying this podcast, quitting a job, teaching AcroYoga) and accessible psychology, we unpack how the brain’s planning system (prefrontal cortex) and fear system (amygdala) can lock us into a loop: fear → analysis → inaction → fear not disproven → more analysis. We’ll also look at the “privilege paradox”—how comparing our pain to others’ can invalidate our own experience, block self-compassion, and intensify the loop.

What if overthinking isn’t a cage, but a compass? What if each spiral is pointing toward the thing that most needs our attention?

In this episode:

• Overthinking as a defense mechanism (why your brain thinks it’s helping)

• The fear–analysis loop and how it keeps you stuck

• The “privilege paradox” and how comparison silences your needs

• Reframing overthinking from judgment to curiosity: What is this protecting me from?

• Practical tools to shift from paralysis to presence

Tools you can try:

• Self-compassion: Talk to yourself like you would to a friend; name the protector: “My brain is trying to keep me safe.”

• Mindfulness in the body: Three slow breaths; notice chest/shoulders; interrupt the loop by returning to sensation.

• Micro-actions: Reduce the size of the next step until it feels almost silly; take one step today.

• Body-based practices: Breathwork, stretching, movement to drop out of rumination and into presence.

• Share openly: Say the fear out loud to a trusted friend (or aloud to yourself); naming it often weakens it.

Listener prompt (mini-exercise):
Think of a decision you’ve been postponing. Ask: What is my overthinking protecting me from right now—failure, rejection, uncertainty, or change? Notice what shows up in your body. Write it down without judgment.

Journaling prompts:

1. When I spiral, what feeling am I avoiding?

2. If I acted without overthinking, what’s the honest worst-case—and how would I handle it?

3. Where am I invalidating my struggle by comparison? What would self-compassion sound like instead?

4. What is one micro-action I can take today?

5. After taking that step, what changed in my body, mood, or thinking?

Takeaway:
Overthinking might feel safe, but safety isn’t the same as growth. Treat the loop as information, not identity. Get curious, take one step, come back to your body, and let action—not analysis—restore your momentum.

Dark Forest Mini-Series, Part IV
Loneliness is one of the hardest feelings to sit with — but what if it isn’t just emptiness? What if it’s pointing us toward something essential?

In this episode, I explore my own experience of feeling lonely in a crowd, the science of why humans need connection, and how loneliness can guide us back to belonging.

Dark Forest Mini-Series, Part III
Have you ever felt like everything just… lined up? From chance encounters to uncanny timing, moments of flow and synchronicity can feel magical — or simply like coincidence. In this episode, I dive into the science, the mystery, and my own stories of flow, while leaving room for the skeptic in all of us.

Dark Forest Mini-Series, Part II
We often think growth has to be hard — discipline, hustle, pushing past our limits. But is that the only way?

In this special 10th episode, I ask: can growth also be soft, kind, and gentle?

Together, we’ll explore what it means to grow without force, and how to trust the quiet rhythms of change.

Dark Forest Mini-Series, Part I

This year has tested me more than any before — emotionally, mentally, spiritually. In the first of four episodes of the Dark Forest Mini Series , I explore how discomfort, as painful as it is, can also be one of life’s greatest teachers.

We’ll talk about the illusions we lose, the strength we find, and how sometimes, the most uncomfortable moments are exactly what we needed to grow.

If you’re in a season of uncertainty, confusion, or emotional upheaval — this one’s for you.

Who remains, when you peal off the layers of your personality? That's a question that I've been asking myself for a while now.

Big life events can often leave you feeling lost and disassociated with who thought you were. An identity crisis rarely happens suddenly, but when it does, it's tough to find yourself again.

In this episode, we dive into the concept of losing your identity, reconstructing it and the impact it has on your mental health and well-being.