1161: Bottom-Up Calm: Building Resilience Through The Body
The Anxiety Coaches Podcast
Gina Ryan
4.6 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 23 July 2025
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In today's episode, Gina continues her discussion of using the body to combat anxiety and build resilience. Dr. Stephen Porges' work developing polyvagal theory is touched upon (along with Deb Dana's contributions) and easy to perform practices for developing tolerance to discomfort are provided. Listen in and expand your capacity for distress tolerance today!
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Chapters
0:26 Introduction to Body-Based Healing
2:27 Exploring the Polyvagal Theory
5:38 Notable Authors and Their Works
7:57 Practical Applications of Bottom-Up Regulation
10:55 Tools for Building Resilience
13:12 Understanding Anger and Discomfort
16:18 Embracing Discomfort for Growth
17:04 Previewing the Next Episode on Grief
Summary
In this episode, I delve into the intriguing topic of using bottom-up therapeutic approaches for addressing grief and anxiety, drawing inspiration from Johnny Miller's insights. My passion for exploring how our bodies can facilitate a return to calm and peace takes center stage. I emphasize the importance of integrating bodily sensations into our healing processes rather than merely relying on cognitive techniques, which is a perspective that is gradually gaining traction in the psychological community.
I discuss the foundational concepts of somatic psychology and trauma healing, including principles from the polyvagal theory created by Dr. Stephen Porges. This theory is essential in understanding how our nervous systems respond to stimuli and how we can leverage body-focused techniques to signal safety and calm to our brains. By recognizing that our bodies can inform our mental states, we can build resilience and enhance our emotional regulation skills.
I refer to key figures in this field, such as Deb Dana, who translates the complexities of polyvagal theory into practical strategies, and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, whose book "The Body Keeps the Score" highlights how trauma is stored physically and the importance of incorporating movement and breathwork in recovery. Additionally, I touch upon the work of Peter Levine with Somatic Experiencing, illustrating how all these methodologies advocate for engaging the body as a pathway to emotional healing.
#AnxietyCoachesPodcast #BottomUpHealing #NervousSystemRegulation #SomaticExperiencing #PolyvagalTheoryApplied #TraumaInformed #MindBodyConnection #CalmYourBody #SelfRegulationSkills #StressManagement #EmotionalFreedom #ResilienceBuilding #DiscomfortTolerance #AngerAsEnergy #BreathworkBenefits #ColdExposureTherapy #MovementAsMedicine #HealingJourney #InnerPeace #GinaRyanPodcast #StephenPorges #DebDana #BesselVanDerKolk #PeterLevine #GaborMate #TheBodyKeepsTheScore #WakingTheTiger #WhenTheBodySaysNo #MythOfNormal #AntiFragility #GinaRyan #ACP
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | 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. |
| 0:23.1 | Aloha. |
| 0:24.2 | Welcome back to the Anxiety Coaches podcast. |
| 0:27.6 | I'm your host and coach, Gina Ryan, and I am so happy to be with you again today |
| 0:34.1 | as together we can consider the many ways to bring your mind and body back to its |
| 0:40.5 | natural peace and calm. In today's episode, I'm continuing on with the gems that I jotted |
| 0:48.0 | down from listening to Johnny Miller talk about grief and using bottom up therapy and approaches versus top down. |
| 1:01.7 | And this has been a love of mind for a very long time of using the body to calm the nervous |
| 1:09.6 | system, which will in turn change the way our mind is |
| 1:15.3 | working and perceiving the world around us. But it is not typically talked about. So I wanted to |
| 1:22.4 | bring it to your attention. I know we talk about it here and there, but I wanted to impress upon you how important it is to |
| 1:32.2 | build your resilience through your body and to let your body teach your mind that you are safe |
| 1:42.5 | and that you are going to be able to be calm. Now, there are a growing |
| 1:49.1 | number of respected voices and teachers exploring the idea of using the body, not the mind, |
| 1:55.6 | to calm the nervous system. And I was turned on to some of these people many, many years ago. But then again, |
| 2:03.0 | it's not real popular. So I think it is becoming more and more popular now. And that is very |
| 2:09.0 | exciting because this approach is rooted often in somatic psychology, trauma healing, the |
| 2:16.4 | polyvagal theory, which you have heard about here. |
| 2:19.2 | We had three episodes on the polyvagal theory with Deb Dana and mindfulness-based embodiment. |
| 2:28.4 | And that's where I have always, when people say, oh, should I have a CBT therapist? If they're going to go into |
| 2:36.3 | that style of therapy, I try to have them find a therapist who is working more with DBT, |
| 2:43.7 | which has the mindfulness-based embodiment approach. And that was very useful and very helpful. |
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