1140: Rewiring Anxiety: Claire Weekes Meets Polyvagal Theory

The Anxiety Coaches Podcast

Gina Ryan

Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.6 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2025

⏱️ 20 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In today's episode, Gina discusses Dr. Claire Weekes' monumental approach to overcoming and healing anxiety in the context of Dr. Stephen Porges' science based lens of Polyvagal Theory. Claire Weekes' approach to overcoming anxiety is outlined and clear connections are drawn with the science behind Polyvalgal Theory. Through this discussion, clear understanding of scientific reasoning and principles underpinning Clair Weekes' approach to healing anxiety emerges. Listen in and become better equipped to overcome your anxiety and understand why the process works! Please visit our Sponsor Page to find all the links and codes for our awesome sponsors! https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com/sponsors/ Thank you for supporting The Anxiety Coaches Podcast. FREE MUST-HAVE RESOURCE FOR Calming Your Anxious Mind 10-Minute Body-Scan Meditation for Anxiety Anxiety Coaches Podcast Group Coaching link ACPGroupCoaching.com To learn more, go to: Website https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program Learn more about our One-on-One Coaching What is anxiety? Find even more peace and calm with our Supercast premium access membership: For $5 a month, all episodes are ad-free! https://anxietycoaches.supercast.com/ Here's what's included for $5/month: ❤ New Ad-Free episodes every Sunday and Wednesday ❤ Access to the entire Ad-free back-catalog with over 600 episodes ❤ Premium meditations recorded with you in mind ❤ And more fun surprises along the way! All this in your favorite podcast app! Quote: The more we feel safe, the less we are triggered by stress and fear. -Stephen Porges And The greatest mistake you can make with anxiety is fearing it. The moment you stop fearing, you start healing. -Claire Weekes Chapters 0:26 Introduction to Healing Anxiety 2:09 Settling Into the Conversation 3:21 Bridging Two Perspectives 9:36 Understanding Polyvagal Theory 15:03 Integrating Claire Weeks and Polyvagal Insights 16:33 Embracing a New Approach to Anxiety 17:15 Closing Thoughts and Invitation Summary In this episode, I delve into the intersection of two profound frameworks for understanding anxiety: the teachings of Dr. Claire Weeks and the polyvagal theory developed by Dr. Stephen Porges. I aim to illuminate how these two perspectives can complement and enhance our relationship with anxiety, focusing not on eradicating it, but on understanding and working with it in a compassionate manner. We begin by grounding ourselves in the essence of Dr. Claire Weeks' wisdom. Weeks was a trailblazer in the treatment of anxiety, offering a message that resonated deeply with those struggling with panic and fear. Her approach emphasizes that anxiety is not a pathology but rather a natural response, and she passionately reinforced the idea that recovery is achievable. Her method, encapsulated in four critical steps—facing, accepting, floating through, and allowing time to heal—provides a gentle yet powerful framework for engaging with anxiety. I explore each of these steps, illustrating how facing the fear can diminish its hold on us, accepting our current feelings can foster healing, and floating through the sensations can transform our experience from one of resistance to one of ease. Having established the foundations laid down by Weeks, I then transition to the polyvagal theory, a scientific framework that elucidates how our nervous system responds to cues of safety and threat. #Anxiety #AnxietyRelief #PanicAttack #PolyvagalTheory #ClaireWeeks #NervousSystem #MentalHealth #Wellbeing #HealingJourney #MindBody #Neuroscience #SelfCare #Resilience #TraumaInformed (given the discussion of nervous system states) #Acceptance #FacingFear #LettingGo #TimeHeals #SafetySignals #ConnectionMatters #ACP #AnxietyCoachesPodcast #GinaRyan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Barclay's ready-made investments. The clue's in the name. Not Barclays, where do I begin investments?
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0:12.0	And you can choose your risk level, so they're hardly in at the deep end investments.
0:16.2	So if you've got savings and you want to help grow your money over five years or more,
0:20.3	then search
0:21.0	Barclays ready-made investments. Make money work for you. Investing is not for everyone. The value of
0:25.9	investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invest. T's and Cs apply.
0:43.2	Welcome to the Anxiety Coaches podcast, a relaxing and informative show where we explore anxiety, panic, and PTSD, sharing how you can overcome them for life.
0:53.3	Aloha. Welcome back to the Anxiety Coaches podcast. I'm your host and coach Gina Ryan,
1:00.6	and I am so happy to be with you again today as together we can consider the many ways to bring
1:08.6	your mind and body back to its natural peace and calm.
1:14.0	In today's episode, I want to explore the bridge between Claire Weeks and the polyvagal theory.
1:23.4	Yes, I'm exploring something that could gently shift the way you relate to anxiety,
1:30.0	not by trying to get rid of it, but by better understanding it and learning how to work
1:36.0	with your body rather than against it. I want to try to bridge the two beautiful perspectives,
1:42.7	the gentle but firm, groundbreaking wisdom of Dr.
1:49.0	Claire Weeks, her compassionate way of dealing with the anxious soul, and the science-backed lens of
1:58.2	polyvagal theory by Dr. Stephen Porges. Now, Deb Dana worked closely with Dr.
2:04.9	Porges to take the science of polyvagal theory and to bring it into the clinical therapy world.
2:13.1	You heard a little bit about polyvagal theory on episode 1122, 1122, with therapist and author Deb Dana.
2:22.9	If you haven't heard that, I highly recommend that you check that out.
2:27.0	She is a total delight and really makes understanding this possible.
	...

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