Managing nerves, anxiety, and burnout | Jonny Miller (Nervous Systems Mastery)

Jonny Miller is the founder of ⁠Nervous System Mastery⁠, a course that has helped hundreds of founders and tech leaders cultivate calm, reduce nervousness, enhance resilience, and elevate their sense of aliveness. Having personally benefited from Jonny’s teachings, I’m especially excited to have him on the show. In this episode, we discuss:
• How shifting your focus from the mind to the body can help ease nervousness
• The power of breath in changing states
• The importance of “interoception”
• Specific breathing exercises to both calm and excite your nervous system
• The A.P.E. (awareness, posture, and emotion) framework for recognizing body signals
• The “feather, brick, dump truck” phenomenon
• The concept of emotional debt and how to release it
• The competitive advantage of feeling emotions

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Where to find Jonny Miller:

Where to find Lenny:

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Jonny’s background
(07:19) The bottom-up approach to nervousness and anxiety
(09:42) The power of breath in changing states
(11:47) The concept of state over story
(13:56) Personal experiences with nervousness
(15:01) Breathing exercises to calm you down
(20:40) The “espresso” breath exercise to give you energy
(25:44) Interoception and the A.P.E. framework
(34:47) The “feather, brick, dump truck” phenomenon
(37:40) Recognizing emotional debt and avoiding burnout
(40:47) Using somatic-oriented therapy for healing
(45:26) Telltale signs of emotional debt
(48:13) The competitive advantage of “feeling the feels”
(50:20) Advice for people overwhelmed by stimuli
(52:36) The NSDR (non-sleep deep rest) practice for emotional release
(55:38) Daily practices for emotional well-being
(58:23) Thoughts on meditation
(01:01:26) The Body Keeps the Score
(01:01:58) Contrarian corner
(01:04:43) Lightning round

Jonny’s If [This] Then [Breathe] Recipes:
• If [overwhelmed], then [⁠hum⁠]
• If [anxious], then [⁠breath of calm⁠]
• If [lethargic], then [⁠espresso breath⁠]

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

[zhuyaj]

Super insigtful episode, thank you! I will say that as a society for us to get to this point where we have to use tactics to regulate ourselves says a lot....

[MikeSowden]

Jonny is the nicest of blokes and really, really knows his stuff, so I'm thrilled to see this.

[hcubill]

Awesome episode! I love how you summarise the learnings at each step. It makes it differentiate from the normal podcast experience.

[AditSharda]

Pranayama was mentioned in scripts as old as 500BC. Glad to see it being adopted..

[clarmso]

Thank you for an episode on mental health!

[Msj]

Episode request: how to do product management with adhd

[teleshyam]

Really nice video! i was wondering if i could help you edit your videos and make them more engaging as well as create short content out of them.

[bodywisebodycoachingPDX]

I agree with Jonny’s foundational principles, but believe there is benefit to a more practical and compassionate framework for understanding one's moment to moment experience as a reflection of their nervous system state.

As human BEings, our super power is to cultivate safety in our BEingness through the body. When we are safe and resourced in ourselves, we not only improve our individual lives, but we become a source of safety, compassion, and connection for others creating a ripple effect in our families, and communities. This is how we create the change we want / need for ourselves, and our collective humanity.

[dezinerg]

I think the goal is to heal anxiety, not just manage it.

[VinsP-jg]

Yoga repackaged perfectly to sell to the corporates😅.