Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: This podcast is brought to you by MHA of Dutchess county and produced by CMJW Entertainment.
This episode of the Vital Women Podcast is proudly sponsored by Salt Boutique Labs.
You're listening to the Vital Women Podcast.
[00:00:19] Speaker B: In the world of anxiety, the physical component is often where the mask slips. We can tell people we are fine, just tired, but our bodies are notoriously bad at lying. This is the second segment of the Anxiety Audit, focusing on the physical toll of the January diet hangover, taking off the New Year mask and looking at how our body processes financial fear. Welcome back to the Vital Women.
Last week we talked about the mental loops we get stuck in, the should haves and the what ifs. But now I want to talk about the mask. In January, we wear the New Year, the New Me mask. We go to the office and we say Happy New Year to everyone and we smile like we talk about our resolutions. But underneath that mask, your body's recording a different story.
It's writing a biological receipt for every dollar spent in December that you don't have in January.
Let's look at the physical symptoms. What happens when we stop pretending and look at the reality of those statements.
The gut Punch the nervous system first, let's talk about the digestive system. Have you noticed that since the bills started arriving your appetite has shifted? You don't feel as hungry or sometimes you want to eat a lot because that's what anxiety does. Or maybe you have a constant knot in your stomach and you can't figure it out. When you see a credit card balance, your brain triggers that fight or flight response. It treats that amount to like a predator to prepare. You want to run or you want to fight. Your body shuts down the non essential foundations.
The first thing to go is your digestion. The symptoms. How do you feel? You feel sick to your stomach when the mail arrives? Or a sudden sharp pain in your stomach when you see that bank balance. You just want to run and hide.
The reality is this isn't just nerves. This is your body sending blood flow away from your gut and toward your limbs, your arms, your legs. Because it thinks you are in physical danger. You want to fight.
Some of us do.
Some of us want to hide.
Next is that musculatory response when we often say money Stress feels like weight. That is not a metaphor. It is actual weight on your shoulders. When we are under chronic financial pressure, our muscles stay in a state of guarding. You might notice that jaw clench when you wake up with a headache or a sore face because you've been grinding your teeth all night, calculating your debt in your sleep, trying to figure out how am I going to pay these bills?
Your shoulders are in pain because of the tension you feel.
You feel extremely fatigued, like you were running a marathon in the middle of the night. That's because your muscles have been active for 16 hours straight. Brace for a financial blow that hasn't landed yet.
The heart. That cardio muscle.
Finally, let's talk about it. This is where the math truly slips. You can be sitting perfectly still at your desk looking at a spreadsheet, but your heart is beating like you're running at marathon.
That thump, thump, thump in your chest when you remember a bill that you forgot to account for. When those unexpected bills creep up in December, you aren't taking full breaths. Your chest breathing only, which keeps your carbon dioxide levels off balance and makes you feel dizzy or lightheaded. This is the body's way of saying I'm overwhelmed and you want to scream and pull your hair out. Taking the mask off means acknowledging that the these physical sensations aren't a medical emergency, they are a response to financial crisis.
It is so difficult to deal with this, but you're not alone.
It is hard to ignore when the body is screaming this loudly. When our hearts are racing and our stomachs are in knots, it changes how we act.
And that's when we're going to find out how our behaviors component will help us to handle this during our third segment.
So stay tuned for next week.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: This podcast is brought to you by MHA of Dutchess county and produced by CMJW Entertainment. This episode of the Vital Women Podcast is proudly sponsored by Salt Boutique Labs.
