I don't think anxiety is a genetic chemical inevitability. I don't think it's a fixed trait about us.

I think certainly we have our genetic predispositions and how we're wired, but I really see anxiety,

as you pointed out, one of two categories. It's either what I call false anxiety or true anxiety.

False anxiety, which can be such a, it feels so invalidating,

and I don't mean it that way, but it can be thought of as, hi, hello, welcome to Mary's

Cup of Tea, the Self-Love Podcast for Women, though all self-lovers are welcome here. I'm Mary.

I write and speak about self-love, and I'm best known for my book,

the gift of self-love, and I also host retreats for women. And this is the podcast that will

inspire you to love yourself. In the mental health space, there's a tendency to talk about

anxiety as a personality trait, sometimes even as a personality flaw, which not only

is pathologizing, it's also disempowering and perhaps not actually what is going on biochemically,

which is why I invited our guest today, Dr. Ellen Vora, to talk about what we misunderstand about

anxiety and mental health and the mind-body connection. Of course, to listen and receive the

wisdom in this episode, you have to approach it with an open mind because it might challenge

a lot of what

you thought you knew or stuff you believed about your own brain. Dr. Ellen Vorra

unpack so much of that with deep, deep, deep compassion. I had such a fun time talking

with her and did not want this conversation to end. And in case

that helps to have her credentials, Dr. Ellen Vora is a board certified psychiatrist who takes

a functional medicine approach to mental health. She received her BA from Yale and her MD

from Columbia University. She's also the bestselling author of The Anatomy of Anxiety, Understanding and Overcoming

the Body's Fear Response, where she shares a whole person perspective on anxiety, mental health,

...