1278: Back-to-School Anxiety Isn't Just for Kids: It's Stored in Your Body Too

In today's episode, Gina discusses why anxiety can increase with an often overlooked time of year: early September, the traditional timing for the restart of the school year. This late August, early September anxiety is suggested to be intrinsic to somatic memory established during childhood, particularly of the stress of newness, uncertainty and social pressures. A particular anxiety clearing practices is included: the September body audit. Listen in and start clearing your seasonal anxiety today!Stillpoint Fridays is my once-a-week Friday note — a slower, more personal reflection that’s different from what I share on the podcast.If you’d like a quiet place to land as the week winds down, you can join here:  http://eepurl.com/bR2F9P or on our website anxietycoachespodcast.com and sign up for the newsletter.Please visit our Sponsor Page to find all the links and codes for our awesome sponsors! https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.com/sponsors/Website https://www.theanxietycoachespodcast.comJoin our community Group Coaching Join our Group Coaching Full or Mini Membership Program1:1 Coaching Learn more about our One-on-One CoachingIf you prefer to listen AD-FREE, try our Supercast premium access membership:Learn more about anxiety What is anxiety?Free Guided Meditation for Calming Your Anxious Mind 10-Minute Body-Scan Meditation for AnxietyQuote:The past is never dead. It’s not even past.-William FaulknerChapters0:27 September Anxiety Begins5:03 Old School Patterns9:11 Social Nervous System13:52 September Body Audit17:52 Building a New SeptemberSummaryIn this episode, we talk about why late August and early September can trigger anxiety or dread even when there is no current reason for it. We explore how familiar seasonal cues, like school supplies, changing weather, and routines, can activate bodily sensations tied to earlier experiences.We explain somatic memory and how the nervous system can respond to patterns without conscious recall. We also discuss how repeated childhood experiences of school transitions, uncertainty, evaluation, and social pressure may leave the body expecting change when September returns.We look at the role of the social nervous system, including the ideas of neuroception and the body’s ongoing sensitivity to cues of safety, belonging, and threat. We note that even small environmental details can be enough to bring back a felt sense of alertness.We then offer a simple “September body audit” practice: locate the sensation in the body, acknowledge that it is an old pattern from another time, and lengthen the exhale to help the nervous system settle. The episode ends by encouraging a new present-day September experience built through repeated, gentle awareness.#anxiety #nervoussystem #somaticmemory #polyvagaltheory #septemberanxiety #backtoschool #stressrelief #mindfulness #grounding #neuroception #emotionalwellness #bodyaudit #mentalhealth #anxietyrecovery #seasonalchanges #innerchild #subconsciousmind #copingmechanisms #selfcompassion #stressreduction #ginaryan #anxietycoachespodcast #somatictracking #relaxation #mentalwellness #holistichealth #nervoussystemregulation #implicitmemory #psychology #wellness #ACPSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy