How to deal with anxiety: Kat saw her anxiety as ambition until she became a mother

Anxiety has a strange relationship with productivity. So many of us learn early on to read our racing minds and tight chests as evidence that we are driven, disciplined, on top of things, rather than as a sign that something in us is asking for attention. We call it being type A. We call it ambition. And because our culture tends to reward that kind of anxious output, it can take years, sometimes decades, before we're able to name what is actually happening in our bodies. That is where Kat finds herself in this week's session. For most of her adult life she understood her anxiety as the engine behind her success, the thing that kept her moving forward while she was single and building her career. It wasn't until she became a mother in 2021 that the symptoms started to feel less like drive and more like something she couldn't shake, a weight on her chest most mornings, a sense of dread with no clear trigger, a feeling that the day is already lost before it has even begun. In our session together, we slow down enough to actually look at where that anxiety lives, and an active imagination exercise takes Kat somewhere she didn't see coming. In this episode, I'm joined by my friend and fellow coach Jenn, who has her own long history with anxiety and panic attacks, to talk through what came up in the session. We get into why our culture is so quick to reward anxious productivity, what it actually looks like to sit with anxiety instead of managing it away, and the practices, from breathwork to active imagination, that Jenn has found genuinely change the nervous system rather than just distracting it.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 02:05 Jenn's journey: Motherhood as a gateway into confronting anxiety and panic attacks
• 09:34 Coaching session with Kat: Embracing anxiety as drive until motherhood revealed its true nature
• 25:47 Coaching session breakdown: Breathwork, meditation, active imagination as ways to calm the self and decode anxiety

ABOUT THE HOST:

Shagun Chopra is an individuation coach, speaker, and educator. Her unique approach combines Jungian depth psychology with ancient Vedic wisdom to create the ultimate personal transformation. She supports professionals, entrepreneurs, and creatives in bringing their wildest dreams to life and leapfrogging their career, business, and relationships. To learn more, visit shagunchopra.com

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Jennifer Schaefer is the founder of Reveal Your Inner Hero™ and Your Emotional Fitness Coach, where she helps women who have done a lot of inner work and still find themselves overthinking, second-guessing, people-pleasing, or talking themselves out of what they know. A Master Jungian Life Coach, Archetypal Family Field Systems Practitioner, yoga teacher, Jennifer is fascinated by the space between knowing yourself and actually trusting yourself. She helps people listen beneath old patterns and conditioned roles to the deeper intelligence within. She can be found at www.revealyourinnerhero.com

JOIN THE SHOW:

To ask a question or get coached on the show, visit shagunchopra.com/ask - all coaching clients are assigned a pseudonym and given the option to not share their video

DISCLAIMER:  

Conversations on Partners in Sublime are for educational purposes only, and do not constitute medical or psychological advice or treatment. Please consult a licensed professional for any mental health concerns.