When did you last feel totally safe in your body? When did you last connect with yourself on a deep level? For most of us, those questions sound almost foreign — and that, according to today's guest, is precisely the problem.
In this episode of The Health Review I sit down with Suzy Reading — chartered psychologist, yoga teacher, coach and author of ten books, including her latest How to Be Selfish. Suzy has spent two decades at the intersection of neuroscience, somatic therapy and psychology, and her work keeps coming back to one simple idea: that caring for yourself isn't selfish. It's the foundation of everything else.
This is one of the most warm, honest and moving conversations I've had on the show — and one that I think will stay with you.
Suzy shares her own deeply personal story of reaching what she calls energetic bankruptcy — becoming a new mother at the same time as losing her father to motor neuron disease, and what happened when she gave everything to everyone else and had nothing left.
What she found her way back to became the heart of this book.
We cover:
Why mental health is not just something that happens in our head — it's a function of our nervous system, our breathing and our bodies
What somatic therapy actually is and why it reaches places that talking alone can't
The hand on heart practice — a 30-second somatic hold that shifts your nervous system out of stress response
Why we've been systematically distracted from ourselves — and why sitting with yourself can feel genuinely terrifying
The difference between guilt and shame — and why shame is the hidden current running beneath so much of our exhaustion and self-criticism
Why the most successful people are often running hardest from their own sense of not-enoughness
Energetic bankruptcy — what it feels like and how to find your way back
The seven steps to coming home to yourself from How to Be Selfish
Why a healed nervous system doesn't mean being calm all the time — it means being responsive
Awe hunting — Suzy's favourite spiritual practice and why it's more accessible than you think
Why self-compassion is the single most important thing for being a healthy and whole human being
This episode is for you if:
You've been giving everything to everyone else and feel like you have very little left. You feel disconnected from yourself and don't quite know where to start. You feel guilty every time you try to prioritise yourself. Or you simply want permission — backed by psychology and neuroscience — to finally stop abandoning yourself.
About Suzy Reading:
Suzy Reading is a chartered psychologist, yoga teacher, coach and the author of ten books on self-care and mental health, including How to Be Selfish, The Self-Care Revolution and Stand Tall Like a Mountain. She is one of the UK's most trusted voices on wellbeing and has spent two decades helping people build sustainable habits for head, heart and body.
This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own clinician before making changes to your health.
Topics: self-care | self-compassion | somatic therapy | nervous system healing | burnout recovery | energetic bankruptcy | shame | self-abandonment | coming home to yourself | inner child | how to be selfish | Suzy Reading | somatic holds | awe hunting | perimenopause mental health | self-worth | emotional numbness | self-limiting beliefs | yoga therapy | psychologist self-care | seven steps self-care | nervous system regulation | hand on heart practice | wellbeing psychology
Suzy's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzyreading
Suzy's website: https://www.suzyreading.co.uk
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