0:07

Welcome to the Anxiety Coaches Podcast,

0:09

a relaxing and informative show where

0:12

we explore anxiety, panic, and PTSD,

0:14

sharing how you can overcome them

0:16

for life. Aloha,

0:24

welcome back to the Anxiety

0:26

Coaches Podcast. I'm your

0:28

host and coach Gina Ryan, and

0:30

I am so happy to be

0:32

with you again today as together

0:35

we can consider the many

0:37

ways to bring your mind

0:39

and body back to its

0:41

natural peace and calm. In

0:43

today's episode, I wanted to share

0:45

with you an awesome

0:49

book that I was

0:51

sent by the authors by

0:53

their publisher, actually, and

0:55

I wanted to share it

0:57

because it is exactly

0:59

what we have been looking for. As

1:02

far as overcoming

1:05

burnout, anxiety, ease,

1:08

chronic pain, find clarity

1:10

and purpose in less than one minute per

1:12

day, that's what the book says. And

1:15

when I went through this book, I get

1:17

a lot of books and I don't talk

1:19

about most of them, but when I get

1:21

one that really speaks to me, I love

1:23

sharing it with you. And this

1:25

is one of them. And the title of

1:28

it is The Power of Awe. And

1:31

so let me tell you a little bit

1:33

about the authors to begin with, because who

1:36

writes these things, right? Who are these

1:38

people? And they

1:40

are Jake Eagle,

1:43

and he is a psychotherapist,

1:45

a mindfulness instructor, and a

1:47

fellow member trainer of the

1:50

International Association of NLP. And

1:54

so the co-author is Michael

1:56

Amster, MD, and he's a

1:58

physician and a physician. faculty

2:00

member of the Touro School

2:02

of Medicine and he

2:04

has 20 years of experience

2:06

as a pain management specialist

2:08

and he is currently the

2:10

founding director of the pain

2:12

management department at Santa

2:15

Cruz Community Health. So

2:17

we're talking about some very interesting

2:20

people here that teamed

2:22

up because they

2:24

both practiced this and

2:26

so what is it? So what

2:28

it is is think about

2:30

awe. We all have experienced awe

2:33

and so experiencing

2:35

awe does not require any

2:38

demanding discipline. It

2:40

doesn't require that you have fancy

2:43

skills or as they

2:45

say in the book, quote,

2:47

awesome settings. The

2:49

AWE awe method ensures

2:51

that awe and its

2:53

many benefits are accessible

2:55

to you at any

2:57

time. This is why I

2:59

said this is what we are looking for.

3:02

Many of the things that we

3:04

plan to do or want to

3:06

do require us to set a lot

3:09

of time aside if nothing else. It's

3:11

not so much that we talk about

3:13

you needing to have a lot of

3:15

equipment or go any fancy places. I

3:18

certainly don't talk about that but

3:20

sometimes it's like oh it feels like

3:22

it could be time consuming or I

3:24

need to set time aside to do

3:26

my meditation or my breathing practice or

3:29

my even my qigong or my yoga.

3:32

Like all of these things are what

3:34

would we call it on our to-do

3:36

list, right? But not

3:38

this kind of practice

3:40

that these two guys are

3:43

talking about. This

3:45

is accessible to you and me

3:48

at any time in any

3:51

place, sitting at a

3:53

stop light, cooking a meal, petting

3:56

our pets or listening to a

3:58

loved ones laugh. And

4:00

now many times I say we can

4:02

do our breathing practices,

4:04

our mindfulness practices while we

4:06

are out and about. And

4:08

actually this is the goal

4:10

is to have mindfulness be

4:13

your way of living. And

4:16

I think that this awe,

4:18

the power of awe can actually

4:20

be one of the ways that

4:22

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6:00

give you right from

6:02

the book what they

6:04

are calling AW. A-W-E

6:07

stands for attention,

6:11

weight, exhale

6:13

and expand. And

6:16

this is a direct quote from the book. The

6:19

method is a 5 to 15

6:22

second three-step process. A

6:25

type of microdosing

6:27

mindfulness or

6:29

a brief informal mindfulness

6:32

practice that also is

6:34

supported by science. The

6:37

AWE method quickly

6:39

transports us into AWE,

6:42

an incredibly powerful

6:44

emotion that produces

6:46

wonderment and heightened

6:49

states of

6:51

consciousness along with

6:53

some remarkable changes in

6:55

the mind and body that

6:58

can improve health and wellness.

7:01

End of the quote from the book. And

7:03

so I think you will understand now

7:05

why I am finding this so interesting.

7:09

Because this is what we need to

7:11

do throughout our

7:14

days. This is how we want to

7:17

be living our

7:19

lives. And it comes to

7:21

us eventually, very

7:24

easily, when we have

7:26

practiced it on purpose for a

7:28

long while. It's kind of like

7:30

when I first learned Tai Chi.

7:33

I remember practicing these beginning

7:35

opening moves because it's 108

7:38

moves and you learn them bit by

7:41

bit. And I remember learning them and

7:43

practicing and learning and practicing. And I

7:45

remember going back to the instructor at

7:47

one point and saying, I

7:50

actually see myself doing these moves throughout

7:52

my day. And he just lit up

7:54

like a Christmas tree and he said,

7:56

yes, that's exactly what it is. Your

7:58

life becomes a part these

8:01

movements and it's

8:03

how it is when we are practicing

8:05

anything kind of mindfulness. We will find

8:08

that we are doing

8:10

it throughout our day without

8:12

even thinking okay now I'm going

8:14

to do mindfulness. It will just come

8:16

to us and that's why

8:18

I was so excited to be going through this

8:21

book with them. Now I'm going to put a

8:24

link to the book in the show notes and

8:26

again it's called The Power of Awe and

8:28

I think you might find it interesting if

8:31

you feel like you are into

8:33

reading a new book or picking up something

8:35

new. I know we don't

8:37

all need a whole bunch of new

8:39

information. Just hearing me talk about this

8:41

today this might be ringing a bell

8:43

for you as you are now out in

8:46

your life and even being able to

8:48

pick up that you are

8:50

doing awe. And

8:52

like they said in that preface

8:54

there that I shared with you

8:56

this is backed by science and I

8:58

know that's important to a lot of people.

9:00

I've practiced a lot of things to

9:03

get through and out the

9:05

other side of my anxiety that were

9:07

never approved by science or

9:10

proven by science. They

9:12

just were ancient

9:15

ways of being that

9:17

worked for thousands of years

9:19

and that helped many people.

9:21

There wasn't a lot of

9:23

quote science but you know

9:25

what if the science is going to

9:27

back these things awesome we'll take it.

9:30

We'll take it but you don't have to wait

9:32

for that. If something's working for you just

9:35

know that it's working for you. But some

9:37

of the science here is they

9:39

did talk a bit about depression and

9:42

anxiety and I'll pull out a couple

9:44

of pieces here for you. One

9:47

quote from the book here is

9:49

although depression and anxiety are mental

9:51

health issues they affect us physically

9:53

as well. Even mild

9:56

cases of depression and anxiety

9:58

can alter health. and

10:00

well-being causing digestive heart,

10:02

respiratory sleep and thyroid

10:04

problems. They go on

10:06

to say current interventions

10:08

for depression and anxiety

10:10

include things such as

10:12

medication, talk therapy,

10:14

mindfulness and exercise and

10:17

these treatments work for some people some

10:19

of the time. But the bottom

10:21

line is that there isn't strong enough

10:23

evidence to say with any certainty whether

10:26

what we're currently doing to

10:28

help the millions of people

10:30

who suffer from depression and

10:32

anxiety is adequately addressing the

10:35

problem. For the

10:37

most part, the research shows that

10:39

there's much room for improvement and

10:42

that's why if you are on medications,

10:44

if you are doing talk therapy, if

10:47

you are doing mindfulness, whatever it

10:49

is and you are

10:51

not getting to the place where you

10:53

want to be or where you know

10:56

you can be, the peace

10:59

and calm that you have known deep

11:01

in your soul, then there

11:03

is more to do. There

11:06

is more to open

11:08

yourself up to and that's why I

11:10

find books like this very, very helpful.

11:14

So back to the science

11:16

piece again, the thing that comes up for

11:18

me when I was even reading that is

11:20

that we do a lot of things. There's

11:22

a lot of doing. Even here

11:24

when I'm talking to you guys

11:27

week after week, well try this,

11:29

let's try that. A lot

11:31

of times what we really need is to not

11:33

be doing. We want to

11:35

just be. And

11:37

that to me is

11:39

what we are in when

11:41

we are in awe. We are

11:44

just being. And

11:47

it's wonderful the way they describe it

11:49

here through the book. But here's another

11:51

quote for them. Just so

11:54

you can see that they are really

11:56

paying attention to the health issues here

11:58

and the science of it. what they

12:01

are working on. They

12:03

said that the long-term solution

12:06

for anxiety has eluded medicine

12:08

and psychology. It

12:10

says cognitive behavioral therapy which

12:12

is CBT, a treatment

12:15

model that helps patients change

12:17

unhelpful thinking patterns and therefore

12:20

their behaviors has been shown

12:22

to reduce general anxiety disorder.

12:25

But as helpful as therapy can be, it's

12:28

still a form of

12:30

striving. We must

12:33

try to be better by

12:35

thinking up more appropriate responses

12:38

to what angers or scares us.

12:41

All this requires ongoing

12:44

effort. I

12:46

hope that you can hear that. I thought

12:48

that was extremely important. It

12:51

is very effortful. And

12:53

the book goes on to say, anti-anxiety

12:57

medications which include brand names

12:59

drugs such as Xanax, Clonopin,

13:02

Valium and Ativan work quickly

13:04

but they are not a

13:07

cure. The medication eventually

13:09

wears off and the anxiety

13:11

returns especially in those

13:13

who haven't taken other steps

13:16

to remove sources of anxiety

13:18

from their lives or

13:20

learn to deal effectively with

13:23

those that can't be removed.

13:26

Further, some drugs used to

13:28

treat anxiety such as

13:30

benzodiazepines cause dependency

13:32

and after consistent repeated use,

13:34

the body develops a tolerance

13:37

to the drug and

13:39

its impact wanes. To

13:41

make up for the decreased effect,

13:43

the inclination is to take more

13:46

than prescribed. If

13:48

this happens, anxiety ridden individuals

13:50

may then have the added

13:52

angst of addiction. Further

13:55

down they say, we have found

13:57

AWE to be a convenient

14:00

option to behavioral

14:03

therapy, even mindfulness-based

14:06

cognitive behavioral therapy

14:08

and other therapies and

14:11

an important addition to the storehouse

14:13

of techniques used to address depression

14:16

and anxiety. That's why I wanted

14:18

to bring it to you guys.

14:20

It is another tool and

14:23

to me, I just absolutely

14:25

loved reading the pieces of

14:27

this book because of that

14:29

effortlessness, the actual

14:32

point of just getting

14:34

into beingness that this

14:36

little technique that they have can

14:39

offer. So

14:41

they say that through

14:43

their research, they learned

14:45

that AWE is

14:47

a remarkable, effective tool

14:49

that provides relief from

14:51

depression and anxiety and

14:53

even accelerates progress in

14:56

talk therapy. According

14:58

to some of the study participants, they

15:00

did a big study, AWE

15:02

works in part because

15:04

it targets the source

15:06

of what ails us

15:10

and that is our state

15:12

of mind and

15:14

invites us to see our

15:16

situations through a new lens. Okay,

15:19

that's a big one. Seeing

15:22

our situation through a

15:24

new lens is exactly what we

15:26

need to do when we are

15:28

struggling with a lot of stress

15:31

and anxiety. It brings

15:33

us back to acceptance

15:36

and being able to work with

15:38

what we have, working

15:40

with the cards we've been dealt. We can

15:42

play these. We didn't ask for

15:44

these, but we can do it. We can

15:47

play with these. We don't have to go

15:49

down. Another piece that

15:51

I have here, and this is from the

15:53

chapter called Finding Awe in Times

15:55

of Strife, they

15:57

say anti-anxiety pills antidepressants,

16:01

benzodiazepines and

16:03

more recently the psychedelics such

16:05

as mushrooms and MDMA have

16:08

been used to reduce symptoms

16:10

of all types of anxiety

16:13

including existential anxiety.

16:17

Medications are perhaps necessary,

16:19

appropriate and helpful in

16:21

certain circumstances. In

16:24

some cases they are not

16:26

always a true solution but

16:28

a kind of medical bypassing

16:31

which is akin to

16:33

the spiritual bypassing people

16:35

sometimes use to avoid

16:37

taking responsibility for problems

16:39

in life. There's

16:42

a lot more around that but I

16:44

thought it was important to hear because

16:46

I see that the handing

16:49

out of anti-anxiety meds

16:51

and benzos and antidepressants

16:55

are not slowing down at all. So

16:58

I'm always happy to see

17:00

that some physicians and therapists

17:02

are really working at bringing

17:04

this to our attention so

17:06

that we can make better

17:09

choices. They

17:11

talk about awe. You know the awe

17:13

that you get when you look in

17:15

a baby's eyes. I'm trying to think that

17:17

I love being in awe. I watch the

17:19

sunset. I actually could cry thinking about this

17:22

because I live in such a place that

17:24

I can go on my lanai and watch

17:26

the sunset at night and

17:28

I can either watch it depending on the

17:30

season, I can watch it

17:32

go down behind the West Maui Mountains

17:35

or dip right into the ocean depending

17:37

on what season it is and where

17:40

the sun is right then. And

17:43

it's awesome. That is

17:45

the word. You are struck

17:47

for those moments of

17:50

being transported out of

17:53

our littleness and into

17:55

being a part of

17:57

something huge, something vast.

18:00

and we are not alone. Back

18:02

to the book. They

18:04

also say in the chapter called Finding

18:06

Awe in Times of Strife, they

18:09

say awe is a

18:11

partial remedy in that

18:13

it brings us to the present.

18:16

And one of the reasons that

18:18

we aren't present is that we

18:20

are distracting ourselves because

18:23

of existential anxiety.

18:27

Awe disrupts distraction.

18:30

When we access awe, we

18:33

experience less anxiety in

18:35

our lives overall. Feeling

18:38

less anxious, we have less

18:41

need to distract ourselves. It

18:44

becomes a positive feedback

18:46

loop. That's

18:48

what we want. The

18:50

positive feedback loop is the

18:52

opposite of the fear, adrenaline,

18:54

fear cycle that we are always trying

18:57

to break, that we are trying

18:59

to interrupt. And I say we should

19:02

give a whirl of interrupting

19:04

it with awe. So

19:08

it wouldn't be fair of me to let

19:10

you go without telling you what the awe

19:12

method was. It's very simple,

19:14

and so I will share it with you here.

19:17

And again, if you are interested in

19:19

this, to take it further, you could

19:21

look up that book, The Power of

19:23

Awe, grab it from your library, even

19:26

your online library, your bookstore, or

19:28

I'll have a link to it

19:30

in Amazon in the show notes.

19:33

The awe method, the

19:35

A-W-E method, first,

19:38

attention means focusing your

19:40

full and undivided attention

19:43

on something you value,

19:45

appreciate, or find

19:47

amazing. Look around

19:49

the room you're in. Find

19:52

that special, beautiful something that

19:54

you value and appreciate. Look

19:57

at it closely. Really

19:59

look. If it's

20:01

a small object, pick it up

20:03

and begin to notice everything about

20:05

it. If it's a

20:08

plant, touch the leaves, notice

20:11

the texture, color and smell,

20:14

and notice the life inside

20:16

it. If it's

20:18

a painting, imagine the

20:20

painter painting it and notice

20:22

the depth, light and colors.

20:25

And then comes weight. Weight

20:28

means slowing down or pausing.

20:31

So take a breath, inhale

20:34

deeply while you appreciate this

20:37

cherished item in your home. And

20:40

the final step, exhale and

20:43

expand. This

20:45

amplifies whatever sensations

20:48

you are experiencing. As

20:51

you exhale, making a

20:53

slightly deeper exhalation than

20:55

normal, allow what you're

20:57

feeling to fill you and grow. What

21:01

do you notice? Did

21:03

you smile? Did you relax? Did

21:07

you feel a warmth in your belly?

21:11

Did your vision soften? Your

21:14

eyes moisten with gratitude for

21:16

this precious item you are

21:18

observing? Do you

21:21

feel a surge or a release

21:23

of energy? Congratulations,

21:26

you have just experienced awe.

21:31

And I think that that is

21:33

a wonderful way for you

21:35

to just practice

21:38

that. It doesn't take anything

21:40

extra. You don't need to go anywhere.

21:43

You don't need to do anything extra.

21:46

Don't need to carve out any time

21:48

in your calendar. And

21:50

it just gets me excited because again,

21:52

like when I was learning Tai Chi,

21:54

it just all of a sudden you

21:57

practice it on purpose long enough.

22:00

It becomes a part of your

22:02

life, being

22:04

in the present moment

22:06

and actually taking

22:08

it all in. I

22:11

hope that today's show was helpful for you.

22:14

I think it's exciting to learn

22:16

what other people are working on,

22:18

what they're thinking about, writing about,

22:21

and being able to get

22:24

all of these things dropped in my

22:26

lap is pretty awesome itself. I

22:28

am amazed at how wonderful

22:32

the world is with all of these books

22:34

that are coming out and people are working

22:36

on all kinds of projects. Like

22:38

I said, I've been trying to go

22:41

through them now and put together ones

22:43

that I think you really need to hear

22:45

about. This was top of

22:48

the list because it

22:50

just sings to me. It reminds me

22:52

of what brings me

22:54

joy and peace and presence.

22:57

What brings me to the present moment

22:59

in life is awe. Now

23:02

I'm going to practice it even

23:04

further by paying attention to my

23:06

breath when I am in one

23:08

of those situations where I am

23:11

in awe or bring myself

23:13

there on purpose. Again,

23:15

I hope this show was helpful. I

23:18

so appreciate you listening and I don't know

23:21

if I say that to you enough. The

23:23

email I get from you is awesome

23:26

and actually sometimes can

23:29

bring me to tears. You sharing

23:32

such beautiful personal things

23:34

with me and your gratitude

23:36

for the show. It

23:38

makes me feel like we've got to just

23:40

keep right on going. Again,

23:42

if you appreciate the show, maybe you could

23:45

share it with somebody else or

23:47

you could subscribe in whatever

23:49

player you're using. That

23:51

helps us stay top of mind on all

23:53

of the apps. Beyond

23:55

that, just know that I appreciate

23:58

you. here

24:00

at ACP is saying

24:02

a big mahalo to you. And

24:05

now for today's quote. People

24:11

often say that beauty is in

24:14

the eye of the beholder, but

24:17

I say that the most liberating

24:19

thing about beauty is

24:22

realizing that you are

24:24

the beholder. And that's

24:27

from Salma Hayek. I'll

24:30

be back in a few more days with another

24:32

podcast. Until then, be well

24:35

and aloha. Thanks

24:38

so much for joining us

24:40

for today's episode of the

24:42

Anxiety Coaches podcast. Find more

24:44

information at theanxietycoachespodcast.com. I'd

24:57

like to invite you to

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our exclusive group coaching membership.

25:01

It's an opportunity to join

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a community of like-minded individuals

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that are committed to achieving

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You'll have the opportunity to participate

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me. By becoming a member, you

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also gain access to

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26:00

and group members receive feedback

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to see you in the group. acpgroupcoaching.com.

26:34

The link is in the show notes.