Here Lucy Emsley shares her personal change story, where she recently experienced an acute bout of anxiety which led her to being diagnosed with OCD. Lucy talks about an important reflection point where she began to notice a pattern between her changing hormone cycles and experiences with anxiety levels.

Lucy is the founder of Sow Clever, a conscious business with a passion for inspiring everyone to get growing! They provide a subscription box service that gives you all the materials and expertise to grow your own vegetables, herbs and flowers from seed.

We talk about the importance of being persistent with healthcare practitioners to get the support you need - to the relief felt when gaining clarity on the cause of anxiety. For Lucy she found that it was her OCD that was driving her anxiety, which she now has techniques and tools to help manage alongside deciding to take Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), which has also significantly helped reduce her levels of anxiety.

We talk about the dark side of strong coping mechanisms, being too harsh on ourselves, keeping pushing forward no matter what! Discussing the polarizing perspectives of selfishness versus self care! Feelings of guilt around taking the time for yourself! The busy being busy trap! Today Lucy talks about being so much kinder to herself, taking breaks when she needs to and choosing to lower the bar at times to look after her overall wellbeing.