In this solo self‑help session, Susie Taaffe addresses the experience of overwhelming, "crippling" fear that feels like walls closing in or quicksand pulling you down. She explains how constant exposure to distressing news amplifies that fear and recommends an immediate, practical reset: stop watching the news and reconnect with nature. Susie describes her own prescription—going to the beach, feeling sand and cold water, watching the sunset, and using the sun’s light as a form of medicine. She reflects on how plants and animals operate instinctively without the over‑thinking that fuels human anxiety, using this observation to suggest a mindset shift toward simple, present‑moment actions. She outlines a playful decision‑making game: at any moment ask yourself what feels good (sit, stand, build a sandcastle, etc.) and follow that impulse. She also teaches a box‑breathing exercise (4‑4‑4‑4) repeated several times, followed by checking in with the heart to identify current needs. Additional tools include creating a feel‑good music playlist, physically shaking out tension, and “donating” time to oneself as a self‑gift. Throughout, she emphasizes grounding—physically touching earth, feeling the pulse of the planet—and encourages listeners to experiment with these practices, promising to report back on her beach experience.
Chapters
Hello, welcome. I'm Susie, and this is the Susie Unshaped session. So firstly, let's all just take a big deep breath because we all need that. Let it all out. Um, so I want to talk to you today about fear and how to overcome The fear of the unknown, the fear of— sorry, not sure where that came from. Um, when you get into that state where like it feels like the walls are closing in on you, like at the moment it feels like, like the 3D walls are like just getting tighter and tighter and tighter. Is there— there used to be Oh, I don't know, a bit like quicksand. Like, the more that you sort of fight, the worse it gets and the more you sink. And whilst quicksand, you can't breathe your way through it, I believe with fear you can. So, um, I have been having bouts of crippling fear, like crippling fear lately, like take your breath away. God, like, oh my God. And another thing will come at me and it's like, oh my God, how am I gonna make that work? Oh my God, how am I gonna make that work? Like So many things just going pelted at me, pelted at me. And so breathing and realizing that our nervous system is going to translate these fears, it will translate these inputs into fear. So everything by itself, if you could segment it out, it's not such a big deal. But if you're already carrying a level of Like a high level of unknown and uncertainty and fear, little things can just push you over the edge. So what is the remedy for these, like, it's like gut-wrenching fears, I suppose. It's— and I think there's so much going on at the moment, and you can get so caught up in all of the awfulness and the terror and the— and I think that that energy is in the ether as well. So We're already surrounded by an energy of fear. There's so many things changing in the world, so many horrors, so many, um, that you can get so caught up with it. So number one, if you're not already doing this, stop watching the news. Definitely number one, um, because the more you feed that into you, the more your fear levels and anxiety levels and, and just, I suppose it's a feeling of being powerless. To feel powerless to be able to change any of these things. So yes, number one, stop watching the news and start surrounding yourself, um, in nature. In actual fact, this afternoon, my medicine, my prescription for my current state of fear is actually to go down to the beach and get my feet into the sand, maybe put my feet in the ocean. It's very cold, but I might try and watch the sunset. One of my most favorite things to do, like, I don't know. If, like, I love the sun, I love everything about the sun. I love sunrises, I love watching it filter through the trees. I want— I love watching, uh, I love lying in the sun. I love watching the sunset and the beautiful light it puts through all the clouds. So for me, I really think the sun is actually a form of medicine. So I am going to treat myself to watch the sunset over the ocean, and I will put my feet in, um, no matter how cold it is, and just feel the earth and feel the sand and feel the pulse of the earth that we are here living in. So getting back out into nature— like, nature has been here for a lot longer than we have. Like, nature doesn't have this fear brain. Nature just grows. Like, the flowers just know how to grow and to bloom. They don't need to think about it. Oh, I've got to put more energy into that. petal, I've got to put more energy into this leaf. They don't do that. They just, they just grow. And the, and the same with all, even animals. I was actually talking to one of my kids the other day about, I think we were, we were looking, I don't know if it was a bird or a squirrel or something like that. And we were like, I wonder what he's thinking. And then that brought on the big question is, Do they think? Do they actually have thoughts? Do squirrels and birds have thoughts? Do they actually think to themselves, oh, that looks like a tasty nut, or, oh, I might go and eat that seed, or I'm gonna fly to that tree? I don't know. It was a great— it was a great thing to think about, um, and I probably need to do some research into that. So I'm assuming it's more of an instinct thing. So more of a— I personally probably don't think that squirrels and birds have thoughts. Um, and I might come across as really naive and dumb that I don't know the answer to that, but it was an interesting, um, thought to ponder. So, um, but the point is that nature gets by. Like, it, it just knows what to do without this human brain of ours that overcomplicates everything. So yes, this afternoon I'm just going to sit But on the beach, watch the sunset. I'll probably take a big jumper because it will get cold and just marvel in the beauty, feel my feet in the sand, like really get into the sand and, and reconnect back. I suppose it's a form of grounding, which we're all— we all need to ground more. Like, I think they actually sell grounding sheets you can sleep on, so I'm not sure how that technically works. I think they plug in and anchor outside. I'm not sure if that's even a thing. I think going actually onto the real earth is probably a little bit easier. So That, or go to the park and just, you know, like watching the sun come through the leaves, like that dappled sun. I love— and the way that the sun's rays— and I'm not sure if anyone else thinks this at the moment, but the sun to me just seems to be so much whiter and lighter and brighter, and I can nearly see more rays coming off it. So, um, I'm not sure if that's just me or if anyone else has seen that too. So Obviously we've had— it's been visited by my favorite, um, my favorite interstellar object, 3i Atlas. And I wonder if 3i Atlas hasn't had a little conversation with the sun, because the sun seems to have just picked up its step and, and, um, it's a lot brighter and shinier and sparklier. And, and I was actually lying outside the other day looking at the clouds, and I did have my sunglasses on. And again, I don't know if this is something sunglasses do, but I could actually see rainbows in the clouds, like on the periphery of the clouds. So I've never noticed that before. So I don't know if you've ever noticed rainbows in the clouds, but I believe the sun— it must be the water particles and the sun is hitting it and it's refracting into all the light spectrum, which— oh, beautiful. So I think, yeah, that's my prescription for the fear. The fear is to get out of this brain and go and be like the squirrel and be like the bird and, and don't think about it and just Do it. What do you feel like? What feels good? What, what, like, oh God, I can't even, I can't even say it because I don't think we're supposed to speak it. We're just supposed to stop this off and just— and I did a little, um, we had a little play around with like what, like doing stuff and listening from here instead of trying to figure it out. Like hop in your car or walk out your door. And just take a breath and say, am I going left or I'm going right? And then follow that. And then if you come to another pathway, am I going left? Am I going right? Um, and just continue to follow the thread and see where it ends. Actually, see where you end up. I'm going to do that this afternoon. I'm going to start my thread at the beach because I've— that is a yes for me. I'm going to the beach to watch the sunset, but when I am there, I'm going to Play that little game and just ask, do I want to sit? Do I want to stand? Do I want to put my feet in the water? Do I want to build a sandcastle? Do I want to dig a hole? Do I want to who know take photos? I don't know what I'm going to do. But anyway, I will update you tomorrow after I have done this, whatever this is. So fear, if you get the if you get that like gut wrenching, like takes your breath away fear. Like, oh my God! Or like something gets shot at you—an email, something—a notification. Ding, ding, ding. It's like, ah! And you're just like, oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Breathe. Breathe. I'm only going to do one breath now. I'm going to bore you with five breaths, but five breaths. If it helps, do the box breath. So in for four, hold for four, out for four, hold for four. In for 4, you get it. So 4 box breaths. So 5 box breaths. Breathe and then try and come back into your heart. And what do I need? Like peel off all of that fear and all of that noise. And after your 5 breaths, really try and connect in. What do I need right now? And music's also another good idea. Sorry, it's like boom, boom music. You're like, get a playlist together. Donate some time to yourself. I keep using this, donate some time. Well, I suppose donating is a gift, isn't it? When you donate something, it's a gift to a worthy cause. So that's potentially why I'm using the word donate, because I want you to give yourself the gift because you are the worthy cause. So donate some time to yourself and create a feel-good playlist, something that if you're in this funk, you can press play. And just shake it out and physically shake it through your body. Like if I get a really big whammy, I'll even walk around the house. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in and physically shake it out, shake it out of your body. So shake it, shake it. Okay. And then from that place, maybe put your playlist on, get out of that, go outside, just go outside and if, and try and find the sun, it might be cloudy, but try and find where it is. And, or just, If it's freezing cold, put a big jacket on and go and watch the leaves blowing in the, in the wind or the tree branches. That's really soothing too. Or go and wonder what the squirrel or the bird is thinking. Um, anyway, I love you lots. This is how I deal with gut-wrenching fear, and, um, I'll let you know how the beach goes and send you a photo. Bye.
