Episode 112: Create Calm: The Professional Guide to Overcoming Anxiety with Dr. Katie Thompson Aitken, ND

FitMama

Hi, Fit Mama our guest on the podcast episode is Dr. Katie Thomson Aitken, ND, author of Create Calm: The Professionals Guide to Overcoming Anxiety.

For Dr. Aitken, anxiety is not a fact but a response or reaction that occurs naturally to help and protect us. It should not be a permanent state, but a transient state. There are some things that people are anxious about that don’t go away which may give rise to a recurring anxiety state. We tend to get caught with our anxiety when we personalize the experience, such as saying “I have anxiety” rather than saying “This situation makes me feel anxious right now.”

To help create calm and attain peace, she discussed several concepts of her Tranquil Minds Method, such as living and building a conscious life, setting boundaries, practicing mindfulness, and the catch-and-release method.

Creating a conscious life- When we own the values we like for ourselves to have, determine for ourselves where we want to be at rather than looking at someone else’s standard, make that commitment to ourselves and work on the follow-through contribute a lot to our happiness and help ease with our levels of anxiety.

Setting boundaries- By asking ourselves “What do I want to get out of this?”, “How do I want this to go?”, “What stops it from happening that way?” or “What do I need to put into place to make this easier for me?” are some questions that can help us set our boundaries.

Practicing mindfulness- We can deal with stress and anxiety better. The first step to mindfulness is prioritizing ourselves and putting ourselves on the top of our very own list.

Catch-and-release method- For times we feel overwhelmed. The catch is when we look underneath that overwhelm to discover the abundance of emotions that are hanging out underneath and around this feeling of overwhelming. Next is to do the release. We would want to let go or process the situation.

We can do this by sharing it with somebody important to you or perform an intense physical activity. These things don’t change the situation and the feeling but they help in losing the intensity so that we can later on go back into the problem and solve it with a much clearer head.

Dr. Katie Thomson Aitken is a Naturopathic Doctor and founder of the Tranquil Minds Anxiety Program for Professionals with Anxiety. Having overcome Generalized Anxiety Disorder herself, she uses her education and experience to help her patients reclaim their mental health and their life. Her new book, Create Calm The Professionals Guide to Overcoming Anxiety makes the Tranquil Minds Method available to everyone. She believes you can create your own calm, from the inside out. You can connect with Jen almost anywhere online through the social media links on her website or email her. Timestamp: 1:00 - Professional's Guide to Overcome Anxiety Book 4:00 - Transition State 7:00 - Coping Mechanism 9:00 - Taking Responsibility instead of Blaming 13:30 - Powerful Statements to the Universe 15:30 - Concept of Conscious Life 17:00 - How People Define Value 19:00 - Idea of Resonance and Boundaries 22:00 - FitMama ADS 26:00 - Mindfulness 27:00 - Teach our own Ways on our List 31:00 - Easing Our Levels of Anxiety as a Whole 33:00 - Recommendations to get that first Domino 36:00 - We Need Support 38:30 - The Feeling of Overwhelm 42:00 - Catch and Release 44:30 - Conclusion