Regulate & Rewire: An Anxiety & Depression Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Understanding Self-Harm from a Nervous System Perspective May 19, 2026

Show notes

Understanding self-harm through a nervous system lens changes everything — and in this episode, Amanda breaks down what's actually happening in the brain and body when this behavior shows up, why it works as a short-term regulation strategy even when it comes at a high cost, and what genuinely helps address the root of the pattern rather than just the behavior itself.

3 Takeaways:

Self-harm is a nervous system regulation attempt. Understanding this is not permission to continue it — it's the foundation for approaching it without shame.
The nervous system underneath self-harm is physiologically dysregulated, not just psychologically. Healing has to target the nervous system itself, not just thoughts or behaviors in isolation.
Effective alternatives work when they do the same jobs as self-harm — building discharge pathways and widening the window of tolerance. That takes time and often professional support, and healing is genuinely possible.

CLICK HERE for the full show notes, resources, and 3 tangible takeaways!

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Resources:

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988
Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741

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Research referenced in this episode:

Cornell Research Program on Self-Injury and Recovery — The Neurobiology of NSSI
PMC/NIH — Self-harm and emotional regulation research
MedlinePlus — Self-harm overview
Nature Mental Health (2025) — Electrodermal activity and self-harm

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Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Website: https://www.regulatedliving.com/podcast
Email: amanda@regulatedliving.com
Instagram: @amandaontherise
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Why Walking Is Actually a Nervous System Practice May 12, 2026

Show notes

Walking for mental health goes deeper than most people realize — and in this episode, Amanda breaks down exactly why increasing your daily step count is one of the highest-return nervous system practices you're probably underutilizing. From bilateral movement and cortisol metabolism to blood sugar stability and sleep, the science behind a simple daily walk is more connected to your emotional wellbeing than you might think.

3 Takeaways:

Walking regulates your nervous system through several physiological pathways at once. Bilateral movement, cortisol metabolism, blood sugar stabilization, and sleep quality are all influenced by consistent daily walking. That’s why the research on it for anxiety and depression is so consistent.
The right goal is a real stretch from where you actually are. Find your current daily average, then set a target that’s meaningful but reachable in your current life. Sustainable habit change doesn’t start with the ideal number. It starts with the next number.
Walking is one lever, and it’s worth pulling. If you’re already walking consistently and still struggling, something else needs attention. But if this is a lever you haven’t been pulling, the research is clear enough and the barrier low enough that it earns its place as a genuine mental health practice.

CLICK HERE for the full show notes, resources, and 3 tangible takeaways!

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Looking for more personalized support?

1:1 Coaching (RESTORE): Learn more or book a free discovery call (HSA/FSA eligible & includes comprehensive bloodwork)
Regulated Living Membership: A mental health membership and nervous system healing space (sliding scale pricing available). Join here.
Order my book: Healing Through the Vagus Nerve

*Want me to talk about something specific on the podcast? Let me know HERE.

—

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Website: https://www.regulatedliving.com/podcast
Email: amanda@regulatedliving.com
Instagram: @amandaontherise
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Listener Q&A — Your Questions from the Stress Management Series Apr 28, 2026

Show notes

In this listener response episode, Amanda answers three thoughtful follow-up questions from the five-part stress management series. She digs deepest into a question about reorienting to a baseline mindset stressor — using the trigger vs overwhelm distinction to help listeners diagnose what's actually happening before deciding what to do about it. She also honors a listener's real-life editing win in the middle of profound grief, and offers a few grounding thoughts on going it alone, the impulse to flush everything and start over, and what chronic consumption does to your inner knowing.

3 Takeaways:

When something you love starts to feel overwhelming, the most important diagnostic question is: is this the trigger, or is it the final drop? Those two scenarios need different responses. One is primarily a load management problem. The other points toward nervous system associations that need to be slowly rebuilt. Knowing which is which changes where you focus your energy.
Your nervous system learned the associations it’s operating from, which means it can unlearn them. But rewiring requires capacity first. You cannot rebuild an association from inside a survival response. Regulation comes before rewiring, and that sequencing isn’t a detour it’s what makes the rewiring actually stick.
That immediate felt sense of relief when you make the right edit? Trust it. Your nervous system is giving you real-time feedback. That signal the exhale, the release is data. And it builds momentum for the next edit.

CLICK HERE for the full show notes, resources, and 3 tangible takeaways!

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Looking for more personalized support?

1:1 Coaching (RESTORE): Learn more or book a free discovery call (HSA/FSA eligible & includes comprehensive bloodwork)
Regulated Living Membership: A mental health membership and nervous system healing space (sliding scale pricing available). Join here.
Order my book: Healing Through the Vagus Nerve

*Want me to talk about something specific on the podcast? Let me know HERE.

—

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Website: https://www.regulatedliving.com/podcast
Email: amanda@regulatedliving.com
Instagram: @amandaontherise
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

From Knowing Different to Living Different (Part 5) Apr 21, 2026

Show notes

In the final episode of this stress management series, Amanda steps back from frameworks and talks about the gap between understanding what needs to change and actually changing it. She revisits the nervous system ladder as a way to help listeners locate themselves after five episodes of honest reflection, reads from her book Healing Through the Vagus Nerve on the four-phase healing process and her strategic healing philosophy, and closes with a direct look at what personalized, whole-human support actually looks like inside RESTORE.

3 Takeaways:

Know what season of healing you’re in and match your support to your actual capacity. Each phase has its own needs. Trying to force Phase 3 work before your nervous system is regulated enough to hold it doesn’t accelerate healing; it stalls it. Asking “what season am I in?” is one of the most clarifying questions you can bring to your next step.
Healing has a general sequence: education, regulation, rewiring, resourcing. Order matters. Building a regulated baseline is the foundation that makes deeper work possible — not an optional first step you can skip.
Knowing different and living different are not the same thing and that gap is not a willpower problem. It’s a capacity and support problem. Strategic, personalized, whole-human support is what bridges it. If you’re looking for that kind of support, it exists.

CLICK HERE for the full show notes, resources, and 3 tangible takeaways!

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Looking for more personalized support?

1:1 Coaching (RESTORE): Learn more or book a free discovery call (HSA/FSA eligible & includes comprehensive bloodwork)
Regulated Living Membership: A mental health membership and nervous system healing space (sliding scale pricing available). Join here.
Order my book: Healing Through the Vagus Nerve

*Want me to talk about something specific on the podcast? Let me know HERE.

—

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Website: https://www.regulatedliving.com/podcast
Email: amanda@regulatedliving.com
Instagram: @amandaontherise
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Editing Your Stress Bucket (Part 4) Apr 14, 2026

Show notes

In part four of this stress series, Amanda moves from filtering into action — introducing the 3 D's framework for actually editing your stress bucket. She opens by distinguishing between poking holes (reactive regulation) and real editing, then walks through Delete, Delegate, and Do Differently with honest personal examples from her own life. She also introduces Add as the fourth move on the supporter side of the see-saw, and closes with an important reminder that editing isn't just a thinking exercise — letting things go has a felt sense, and that response is normal.

CLICK HERE for the full show notes, resources, and 3 tangible takeaways!

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Looking for more personalized support?

1:1 Coaching (RESTORE): Learn more or book a free discovery call (HSA/FSA eligible & includes comprehensive bloodwork)
Regulated Living Membership: A mental health membership and nervous system healing space (sliding scale pricing available). Join here.
Order my book: Healing Through the Vagus Nerve

*Want me to talk about something specific on the podcast? Let me know HERE.

—

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Website: https://www.regulatedliving.com/podcast
Email: amanda@regulatedliving.com
Instagram: @amandaontherise
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Filter Your Stress Bucket: How to Know What Actually Belongs (Part 3) Apr 07, 2026

Show notes

In part three of this stress series, Amanda introduces the important step that comes before editing your stress bucket — filtering it. She shares two practical filters to help you get clear on what actually belongs in your life: the rubber vs glass ball distinction and your personal core values. This episode is honest about the fact that this process is often countercultural and sometimes relational, and Amanda shares her own experience of what it cost — and ultimately gave — when she first started doing things differently.

Resources mentioned: Brené Brown Core Values Exercise

CLICK HERE for the full show notes, resources, and 3 tangible takeaways!

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Looking for more personalized support?

1:1 Coaching (RESTORE): Learn more or book a free discovery call (HSA/FSA eligible & includes comprehensive bloodwork)
Regulated Living Membership: A mental health membership and nervous system healing space (sliding scale pricing available). Join here.
Order my book: Healing Through the Vagus Nerve

*Want me to talk about something specific on the podcast? Let me know HERE.

—

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Website: https://www.regulatedliving.com/podcast
Email: amanda@regulatedliving.com
Instagram: @amandaontherise
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Assess Your Stressors & Supporters (Part 2) Mar 31, 2026

Show notes

In part two of this stress series, Amanda walks you through a practical, honest assessment of your stress by examining both sides of the see-saw—your stressors and your supporters. She breaks stressors into baseline (chronic) and daily (variable) inputs, helping you identify where your load is actually coming from. This episode emphasizes that real change starts with awareness, and gives you a framework to understand whether your reactions are coming from accumulated stress (overflow) or deeper unresolved patterns (triggers).

CLICK HERE for the full show notes, resources, and 3 tangible takeaways!

—

Looking for more personalized support?

1:1 Coaching (RESTORE): Learn more or book a free discovery call (HSA/FSA eligible & includes comprehensive bloodwork)
Regulated Living Membership: A mental health membership and nervous system healing space (sliding scale pricing available). Join here.
Order my book: Healing Through the Vagus Nerve

*Want me to talk about something specific on the podcast? Let me know HERE.

—

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Website: https://www.regulatedliving.com/podcast
Email: amanda@regulatedliving.com
Instagram: @amandaontherise
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Understanding Stress (Part 1) Mar 24, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Amanda introduces a new four-part series on stress by reframing what stress actually is, and why stress itself isn't really the problem. She explains how stress is a natural, necessary nervous system response, but becomes harmful when it remains unresolved and accumulates over time. Using the stress bucket and see-saw metaphors, she offers a more honest and actionable way to understand and work with stress in modern life.

In this episode you'll learn:

What stress actually is and why it’s not the enemy
The difference between acute stress and chronic stress, and why that distinction matters
Why stress is either processed or stored, and what happens when it accumulates
Two core metaphors, the stress bucket and the see-saw, that reframe everything about how you approach your own stress load

CLICK HERE for the full show notes, resources, and 3 tangible takeaways!

—

Looking for more personalized support?

1:1 Coaching (RESTORE): Learn more or book a free discovery call (HSA/FSA eligible & includes comprehensive bloodwork)
Regulated Living Membership: A mental health membership and nervous system healing space (sliding scale pricing available). Join here.
Order my book: Healing Through the Vagus Nerve

*Want me to talk about something specific on the podcast? Let me know HERE.

—

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Website: https://www.regulatedliving.com/podcast
Email: amanda@regulatedliving.com
Instagram: @amandaontherise
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

Does This Give More Than It Takes? Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

Amanda shares the nervous system framework behind a real family decision — getting a puppy with three kids under five — and why saying yes to something stressful can still be the regulated choice.

Using the seesaw model (stress bucket on one side, supporter blocks on the other), she introduces a simple filter for everyday decisions:

"Does this give more than it takes?"

She walks through two examples, the puppy she said yes to and the ceramics class she said no to, and names the two hardest directions this question cuts.

If your season doesn't allow you to reduce stressors, the question becomes: where can you add more supporters? Hit play for a simple decision-making filter for anything you're considering adding (or removing) from your life.

CLICK HERE for the full show notes, resources, and 3 tangible takeaways!

—

Looking for more personalized support?

1:1 Coaching (RESTORE): Learn more or book a free discovery call (HSA/FSA eligible & includes comprehensive bloodwork)
Regulated Living Membership: A mental health membership and nervous system healing space (sliding scale pricing available). Join here.
Order my book: Healing Through the Vagus Nerve

*Want me to talk about something specific on the podcast? Let me know HERE.

—

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Website: https://www.regulatedliving.com/podcast
Email: amanda@regulatedliving.com
Instagram: @amandaontherise
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

"You'd Never Know": A Song About What Depression Actually Looks Like Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, I'm breaking down the song "You'd Never Know" by Blu Eyes—a devastatingly honest look at what depression actually feels like from the inside, and why it so often goes unseen from the outside.

We talk about what dorsal vagal shutdown really looks like, why the gap between "you look fine" and "I'm screaming inside" is so dangerous, what happens when a doctor says "everything looks good" and you turn that into self-blame, and why healing isn't a straight line—even when you're functioning again, your body can still be carrying the weight of what you went through.

If you've ever asked yourself "what's wrong with me?" —this episode is for you.

Hit play for the full song here:

→ Check out Regulated Health | Functional Labs for Mental Health

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Looking for more personalized support?

1:1 Coaching (RESTORE): Learn more or book a free discovery call (HSA/FSA eligible & includes comprehensive bloodwork)
Regulated Living Membership: A mental health membership and nervous system healing space (sliding scale pricing available). Join here.
Order my book: Healing Through the Vagus Nerve

*Want me to talk about something specific on the podcast? Let me know HERE.

—

Disclaimer: The Regulate & Rewire podcast and content posted by Amanda Armstrong is presented solely for general informational, educational, and entertainment purposes. The use of information from this podcast, materials linked, or content found elsewhere is done so at the user's own risk. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions.

Website: https://www.regulatedliving.com/podcast
Email: amanda@regulatedliving.com
Instagram: @amandaontherise
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@amandaontherise

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