You know what's wild? I woke up one day with what I thought was a spider bite on my face. Turns out it was shingles.

When the doctor asked if I'd been stressed lately, I laughed. My son was scheduled for his quarterly post-cancer scan, he'd been feeling unwell with the same symptoms that led to his diagnosis two years ago, and my cortisol was through the roof. The doctor's advice? "You're going to have to learn to not worry about these scans."

Yeah, thanks for that genius insight.

But here's the thing - he was right. Not in the way he said it, but in the wake-up call it gave me.

Because every emotion you feel manifests itself somewhere in your physical body.

And if you're a mum raising a child with a disability, medical complexities, autism, or any additional needs, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

That tightness in your chest that never fully goes away. The shallow breathing. The shoulders that live permanently up by your ears.

In this episode, I'm getting real about living with a heightened nervous system and what I call "scanxiety" - that constant low-lying anxiety that comes with quarterly scans, therapy appointments, and just the daily reality of keeping a medically complex child alive and thriving. I'm sharing my personal journey through my mum's cancer relapse and death, my son's cancer diagnosis and leg amputation, and how my body literally stores that trauma and fear.

But this isn't just me venting (though there's some of that too). I'm breaking down five actual strategies that are helping me take back some control:

→ The One-Minute Interoception Practice from neuroscientist Andrew Huberman - how tuning into your body's signals can interrupt the stress spiral → How to hack your vagus nerve to literally tell your brain "we're safe now" even when everything feels chaotic → Lewis Howes' powerful reframe on fear vs faith and why our anxiety is often about past pain, not future possibilities → The Fear Sit Down technique and Joy Conditioner exercise for managing worst-case scenario thinking → Why what you're eating and scrolling is either feeding your anxiety or fighting it - insights from gastroenterologist Dr. Will Bulsiewicz

I'm referencing the research from "The Body Keeps the Score" by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Andrew Huberman's work on the brain-body connection, Lewis Howes' "The Greatness Mindset," and Dr. Will Bulsiewicz's gut health research. But I'm translating it all into language that makes sense for exhausted mamas who don't have time for jargon.

If you're tired of being told to "just relax" or "try yoga" or "practice self-care" when you're living in survival mode, this episode is for you. If you've ever felt like your body is betraying you because it won't stop being on high alert, you're not alone. And if you're raising a child who needs extra everything while trying not to completely fall apart yourself, I see you.

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