Three in the morning. Brain already running. Every unfinished thing in your life suddenly very urgent. Sound familiar?
We pulled this week’s question because when Tami asked Martha Beck what to actually do in that moment, her answer was genuinely not what we were expecting. No breathwork protocol. No journaling prompt. What Martha offers is something way simpler — and honestly, kind of revolutionary in how low the bar is.
Martha Beck is a Harvard-trained sociologist, bestselling author, and one of the sharpest minds out there on anxiety and how we actually heal it. She’s been working through her own anxiety since childhood, and she’s arrived somewhere really good. (Spoiler: it involves audiobooks, furry blankets, and thinking like a golden retriever.)
Here’s some of what she gets into:
- Why she plays Sounds True audiobooks at half-speed in the middle of the night — and why slowing down is the whole point
- The self-kindness practice she uses when her brain won’t quit, including the exact question she asks herself
- A story from Liz Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love about a two-word message that Martha keeps coming back to — it’s a good one
- How decades of anxiety can actually rewire into something peaceful, and why what fires together really does wire together
Honestly, this one left us wanting to go take a nap. In the best way.
Taken from the full Insights at the Edge conversation with Martha Beck. Find the complete interview in this feed or at soundstrue.com.
This episode is sponsored by Omega Institute, a global gathering hub for lifelong learning and spiritual exploration. Omega offers weekend workshops, special events, rest and rejuvenation retreats, professional training, online learning, and more. Discover what calls to you at eomega.org/true.
