Book Recommendation: Anxiety is Really Strange by Steve Haines
Why Understanding the Nervous System Can Change Everything
In Canada, the prevalence of anxiety disorders is significant, with approximately 1 in 4 Canadians experiencing a lifetime diagnosis of anxiety (Statistics Canada). Anxiety is common, and can be deeply destructive to overall health and quality of life. If you have experienced anxiety, you know it’s more than excessive worry and racing thoughts. It can feel like your whole body is on high alert - your heart races, your breath shortens, your muscles are tight and sore. You can’t think your way out of anxiety, no matter how hard you try to "calm down," your body just won’t cooperate.
Anxiety is Really Strange
Anxiety is Really Strange by Steve Haines offers a fresh, body-based perspective, bringing neuroscience and trauma theory together in a gorgeously illustrated (by Sophie Standing), easy-to-understand guide that reframes how we conceptualize anxiety. Haines offers a refreshing, science-backed perspective exploring how anxiety often starts in the body, specifically in the nervous system - and offers tips and tools to begin to relate to it differently.
Shifting From Fixing to Listening
One of the book’s central ideas is that you don’t need to fight your anxiety—you can learn to listen to it. That means getting curious about the sensations in your body and understanding how your system responds to stress. It’s not about controlling your feelings but learning to work with your body’s innate intelligence.
This approach is central to how I support clients at Wholehearted Counselling. In sessions, we explore the somatic (body-based) experience of anxiety, helping you notice where tension, numbness, or overwhelm show up—and gently finding ways to regulate and reconnect. This might include grounding exercises, breath work, or simply creating space for your body to feel safe again.
Why Understanding the Nervous System Matters
When you understand what’s happening inside your nervous system, you begin to see your anxiety as a form of communication, a natural response to feeling unsafe or overwhelmed, instead of as a personal failure or a flaw. This shift can be incredibly validating and empowering.
Rather than getting stuck in spirals of self-judgment or endless overthinking, you can start to build a relationship with your body that feels grounded, compassionate, and healing.
An Invitation to Go Deeper
If you're curious about this body-based approach to anxiety, Anxiety is Really Strange is a wonderful place to start. It's short, visually engaging, packed with information, and deeply affirming.
If you're ready to go deeper, you don’t have to figure it all out alone. At Wholehearted Counselling, I integrate somatic therapy, nervous system education, and trauma-informed counselling to support you in making meaningful, embodied change.
Whether you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, grief, stress, or simply feeling disconnected, there is a path toward wholeness.
Reach out when you're ready. I’m here to walk with you.
I specialize in offering holistic/integrative counselling support for anxiety, depression, grief, and nervous system regulation. I serve clients in-person in Revelstoke, and virtually anywhere in British Columbia. Book a free 20-minute consultation today.