Anxiety as a Physiological Survival Response

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This week on the Less Stressed Life, Dr. David Hanscom joins me for his 4th appearance to explain why anxiety isn’t psychological—it’s physiological—a survival response that we can learn to regulate, not control. We talk about how unprocessed emotions and repetitive thoughts get stored in the body as pain and how tools like expressive writing, calming the body, and softening the ego help break those loops.

You’ll walk away with a new way to think about anxiety, pain, and healing—one that focuses on awareness, compassion, and creating safety in your body so your mind can follow. It’s about rewiring your nervous system, not forcing it.

Dr. Hanscom’s past episodes:
• Ep 71: Roadmap out of Anxiety and Chronic Pain
• Ep 72: Anger & Anxiety in the Family
• Ep 325: Overwhelm & Pain

KEY TAKEAWAYS:
• Anxiety and anger are body states, not character flaws
• Calm the physiology first; thoughts will follow
• Expressive writing helps separate from looping thoughts
• Awareness and compassion are core to lasting change

Free resource: Try Dr. Hanscom’s Expressive Writing Exercise (PDF), a foundational tool from The DOC Journey to help calm the nervous system and release looping thoughts. 

ABOUT GUEST:
David Hanscom, MD is a former complex spine surgeon who left his 32-year Seattle practice to help people heal from chronic physical and emotional pain. After overcoming his own 15-year struggle with anxiety and pain, he developed the Dynamic Healing approach, which focuses on calming the body’s threat physiology and rewiring the nervous system for lasting relief.

He’s the author of Back in Control: A Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain and the upcoming Calm Your Body, Heal Your Mind: Transcend Pain, Anxiety, Anger, and Repetitive Unwanted Thoughts (June 2026).

WHERE TO GUEST:
Websites: https://backincontrol.com/ and https://thedocjourney.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdavidhanscom/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drdavidhanscom
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DrDavidHanscom

WHERE TO FIND CHRISTA:
Website: https://www.christabiegler.com/
Instagram: @anti.inflammatory.nutritionist
Podcast Instagram: @lessstressedlife
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lessstressedlife
Leave a review, submit a questions for the podcast or take one of my quizzes here: ****https://www.christabiegler.com/links

SPONSOR:
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