Today, on The Unraveled Life I'm talking about anxiety, and how we tend to get stuck only in thinking about tackling it with our thoughts. But, in actuality, one of the best ways we can work with anxiety is by using our bodies and nervous systems - by tuning into the cues or body provides us.

In this episode, we explore into:

- The typical ways we understand anxiety from a cognitive behavioural perspective;

- How anxiety is our body and nervous system perceiving a threat and why this shows up when there is no real threat;

- How to listen to our body and the cues it is giving us about what it needs to feel less anxious.

Want to dive into this work further with me? The Work of Healing Anxiety, my signature 8-week online course, is now open. Doors close on October 4th. Find out more and register here: https://kelseymech.com/the-work-of-healing-anxiety

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I’d love to hear what you think! Come say hello over on IG @kelseymech. And as always, it would mean the world to me if you could leave a rating and review for this podcast.

Today, on The Unraveled Life I’m talking to Elli Doran about doing hard things to get out of deep depression or anxiety. Along with being one of my best friends, Elli is a photographer, writer, and wellness advocate based outside of Portland, Oregon. You can find her on Instagram at @elliexplores.

In this episode, we dive deeply into:

- Elli's honest and raw story of her struggles with depression;

- The seriousness of suicidal feelings and what it takes to climb out of the depths of darkness;

- How taking care of ourselves and true self-care means more than the glamorous images we see on Instagram;

- Elli's story of using running to pull herself out of depression;

- How to get out of your own way so you can actually change your life.

Links to things we talk about in this episode:

- Sign up to be added to the waitlist for The Work of Healing Anxiety online course and community: https://www.kelseymech.com/the-work-of-healing-anxiety

- Crisis Line in Canada: 1-833-456-4566

- Online crisis chat and email counselling for young adults in Canada: youthspace.ca

- Suicide Prevention Line US: 1-800-273-8255

I’d love to hear what you think! Come say hello over on IG @kelseymech. And as always, it would mean the world to me if you could leave a rating and review for this podcast.

Today, on The Unraveled Life I’m answering your questions! A few days ago on Instagram Stories I asked what you wanted to know. Based on the themes of the questions I got, I picked out three that really stood out and seemed to be in line with the most common questions people were asking.

In this episode, I riff on the following question:

- How do you accept the disappointment that you aren’t living how others want you to?

- What if I don’t even know what I want or need? My therapist keeps asking this and I struggle to answer.

- Signs that your therapist is right or wrong for you?

I’d love to hear what you think! You can find me at http://www.kelseymech.com or come say hello over on IG @kelseymech or drop me an email at [email protected]. And as always, it would mean the world to me if you could leave a rating and review for this podcast.

Self-trust - what is it? How do you cultivate it? So many of us want to feel more confident, but we struggle to really trust ourselves, our choices, our desires and our decisions. We put other people’s needs before our own or value external approval over internal approval. How did we get here and what do we do about it?

In this episode I discuss:

- What does confidence and self-trust actually mean and look like;

- What gets in the way of our ability to trust ourselves;

- How we can actually start building self trust by giving ourselves permission to put ourselves first, steps for starting small, and defining whose opinion actually matters;

- And, I provide suggestions for a daily practice to help you build self-trust and share how you can protect your growing sense of trust in yourself.

In this episode I share all about my recent experiences of burn out and how I am working toward feeling more fulfilled and in charge of my life again.

In this episode, I discuss:

- What burnout is and how we become burnt out

- My own story about burn out and how it has been showing up for me recently

- A potentially useful metaphor about a bucket and burn out

- The ways you can begin to recover from burn out including the hard but important questions you may need to ask yourself to recover

Let me know what you think over on Instagram. You can find me at @kelseymech or on my website at www.kelseymech.com

This episode is all about connecting to and getting to know your inner child – you know, that younger part of you that still tends to show up from time to time.

In this episode, I discuss:

- What the inner child is

- How to identify when it may be coming up for you

- What to do when you recognize a response is actually a reactivation of an old pattern from your inner child and how to treat yourself with compassion in these moments

- The four pillars of reparenting your inner child

Want to dive into this work more fully with me? As I mentioned in the podcast I’ve got a new self-study course launching on July 6th all about connecting with your inner child, healing from old wounds, and taking your power back.

If you pre-order the course before July 6th, I’ll be donating 30% of the cost of the course to the Vancouver Black Therapy and Advocacy Fund.

You can sign up for the course here: https://www.kelseymech.com/embrace/

And here is a link to the Vancouver Black Therapy & Advocacy Fund if you want to donate directly: https://ca.gofundme.com/f/vancouver-black-therapy-amp-advocacy-fund

In this episode, I discuss:

- How we can lean into the discomfort of hard and painful feelings, particularly in reaction to the events taking place in the world right now

- The importance of being willing to get uncomfortable in order to tackle our white privilege and white fragility

- How to create a movement, not just a moment, and ensure we prioritize self-care in ways that allow us to conduct anti-racist work in a sustainable way

- Grounding tools for when we do experience overwhelming emotions

For full show notes, visit: https://www.kelseymech.com/2020/06/14/episode-2-leaning-into-uncomfortable-feelings/

Want to connect?

Find me on Instagram: @kelseymech

Or on my website: www.kelseymech.com

Welcome to The Unraveled Life - a podcast all about coming home to yourself. In this first episode, I'm introducing the podcast, what it's all going to be about, and telling you a little bit about my own story of unraveling.

Beginning next Monday, episodes will be released every second week.

Until then, you can find me over on Instagram @kelseymech or on my website at www.kelseymech.com