Episode Details

High-functioning anxiety often masquerades as productivity. Your body sends distress signals—tension, racing heart, exhaustion—while your mind insists you're fine and in control. With guest Elke Scholz, we explore why high-achieving women experience this body-mind disconnect and share a powerful nervous system reset you can use at your desk in 2 minutes. Stop ignoring what your body is telling you about work stress before it becomes burnout.

Your body can be in full panic while your mind insists you’re okay, and that disconnect is one of the most confusing parts of work stress anxiety. Cheryl sits down with Elka to trace anxiety back to its less obvious roots, especially for high-functioning women juggling careers, caregiving, and the pressure to be “good” at everything. Instead of treating anxiety as one big problem, we treat it like a set of clues and start narrowing it down.  

We dig into physical drivers that often get missed: caffeine tolerance, alcohol rebound anxiety, sugar crashes, dehydration, and the way sleep debt can wreck your emotional resilience after just a couple of nights. Elka shares how food sensitivities can trigger a body-based anxiety attack even when you feel mentally fine, plus why hormones and blood markers matter. If your finances are fine, your relationship is solid, and you still feel like you’re “freaking out”, we talk about why thyroid issues and iron deficiency are worth checking with a professional.  

Then we zoom out to modern overstimulation and the stress of constant inputs. Phones keep us in FOMO and alert mode, and Elka describes the striking difference between frantic scrolling and the calm that comes from quiet, nature, and gentle sensory grounding. We also name the “shoulds”, perfectionism, and self-doubt that push high standards into chronic anxiety, and we touch on high sensitivity, memory triggers, and trauma held in the body.  

If you want practical coping tools, Elka offers a free two-page PDF you can pick from, plus Cheryl shares a playful idea for a movement-ready playlist to help refill your cup. Subscribe for more conversations on work anxiety and nervous system regulation, share this with someone who’s quietly carrying too much, and leave a review so more listeners can find the support.

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The contents of this podcast are for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. If you have a specific health concern or condition, please consult a qualified Healthcare professional for more details. Check out herguru dot uk forward slash disclaimers

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Work Stress Anxiety by ABGW is part of HerGuru Hypnotherapy and Coaching™ and grounded in the ABGW Method®.

Calm first. Reality first. Then change.™

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