High-Functioning Anxiety with Georgie Collinson, Australia’s #1 Anxiety Therapist

Georgie Collinson is an Anxiety Mindset Coach, RTT Hypnotherapist, Naturopath and Nutritionist, helping busy women master their anxious mind. Her mission is to see women asking for MORE from their lives than just stress, exhaustion, overwork, confidence crashes and pleasing other people. Salt Lab was started after our Founder hit burn out. Our premium Magnesium Oil products have been carefully formulated with only the purest ingredients to help you help you relax and fall asleep after a stressful day. We ask Georgie how she too helps women shift away from high-functioning anxiety and towards more energy and radiant health. 

1. Can you share with our audience a bit more about what you do?

I am passionate about helping people with high-functioning anxiety to master their anxious mind - that means: doubting the self doubt, outsmarting the mind’s sabotage programs and quietening down the negative self talk. That anxious mind lies to us all the time, but we can figure out how to evolve beyond anxiety. Together we release old fear-based stories and patterns and create ways for the body to feel really safe.

2. What qualifications do you have?

I’ve trained in many different therapies and modalities over the years. I’m a Naturopath, Nutritionist, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Inner Voice Facilitator. The best training I’ve had has been through navigating my own inner world and now years of clinical experience working with people.

3. What is high-functioning anxiety?

High-functioning is the pressure-fuelled, perfectionistic type where on the outside it appears like you have your life together, but on the inside it’s a different story. There’s often a great deal of negative self-talk and it can be especially difficult to rest, relax and go with the flow. People-pleasing tendencies and low confidence are at the forefront. People with high-functioning anxiety are essentially really good at pretending that they aren’t impacted by anxiety, but they are.

4. How do you help women love themselves more?

Years ago I noticed in my naturopathy sessions that some people just could not stick to a wellness plan and take care of themselves, even though all the information and tools were in front of them. That’s because this isn’t about willpower or wanting to feel better. This self-sabotage pattern comes from the subconscious mind. Even though consciously they know they should take care of themselves, deep down they don’t believe they deserve it, they feel unworthy or like they don’t love themselves enough to continue to apply self care. A lot of these patterns stem from childhood experiences and the care that was modelled growing up. I help women break through the limiting beliefs holding them back from letting the love in by working on the subconscious mind. Once they can let those old beliefs go, they can finally come back to their true nature and see themselves as loveable and worthy, just the way they were born. We program in new beliefs using hypnotherapy-based techniques and leverage neuroplasticity, so over time they can really change how their brain automatically functions. When we feel deeply loved, we feel truly safe. So self love is crucial when working with anxiety.

5. What transition have you seen with your clients?

I’ve seen most women go from 10/10 intensity of anxiety to a 1/10 in 4-months. Ratings of fatigue drop right down, as energy increases. Procrastination levels and catastrophising (worst-case thinking) all typically go down to a 3/10 or lower by the end, starting out at 8 or 9/10. At the beginning, everyone is afraid that it won’t work for them. Part of living with trauma (and anxiety is a result of some degree of past trauma) is believing it will go on forever. But as the weeks go on, they start to realise they’re capable of so much more and that their experience was so familiar that they didn’t know how good they could feel.

I think my past client Rachel described the experience best, when she said, “I was a highly strung worry wort… After only 4-months I feel like a different person. Georgie helped me to discover the reasons my nervous system was so shot. I never thought I could live a life with a calm, settled feeling inside. I now have much more confidence at work, home and socially.”

6. What are your top daily go-to tools to help reduce anxiety?

I do have some daily tips, but please note that these are band-aid solutions. There is always a deeper cause to anxiety to address. One of my favourites is tasting sour lemon juice to trigger the vagus nerve and send the nervous system out of “fight or flight” and back into “rest and digest” mode in a matter of seconds. If you’re producing saliva, you are operating in your nervous system’s calmer state. This can be done by licking a wedge of lemon or squeezing the juice into a small glass of water. Another tool is taking a regular shower with 30 seconds of cold water at the end. This has a wonderful calming effect on the mind and body, for those who are brave enough to give it a try. Breathing exercises like counting in for 4 and breathing out for 8 counts can also be useful for management, but again, they’re not addressing the underlying beliefs and trauma.

7. When did you start the podcast and what are some of your highlights?

I began podcasting in 2020 through lockdown. Some highlights have been hitting over half a million downloads earlier this year and interviewing world experts in the field, such as best-selling author Sarah Wilson, renowned neurology researcher Dr Caroline Leaf and hormone expert Dr Lara Briden. The best part is honestly hearing the feedback from listeners who tell me it has changed their lives just from listening each week!

8. You’ve now tried our products. What benefits did you experience?

I can almost instantly feel the muscle tension release when I apply it to my neck and shoulders, or my sore muscles after a workout. I love how specific I can get in targeting specific muscles with the spray, as well as using it as part of my wind-down ritual for a deeper sleep. I definitely feel the difference in my sleep quality when I use magnesium oil!

9. What role does magnesium oil play in anxiety reduction?

Tension in the muscles, poor sleep and a heightened nervous system are all unpleasant features of anxiety that magnesium oil can support. It is so difficult to receive an adequate dietary intake of magnesium and when we are stressed or anxious, we churn through the stores we do have available at a faster rate. So anxious bodies are extra hungry for magnesium. Applying magnesium oil is an easy way to top up our levels to further support the nervous system and relaxation.

10. How do you suggest new customers integrate Salt Lab into their self-care routines?

I love Salt Lab as part of a wind-down routine in the evenings, to help set the framework for bedtime. Applying Salt Lab is an action that shows your body love, supports your nervous system health and can really help the transition to sleep time after a busy day.

Try our Starter Bundle  specifically designed to safely restore magnesium levels in your body, lower stress and inflammation, relieve sore muscles and joints, calm your nervous system and – last but not least – facilitate restful sleep. You'll wish you'd discovered it earlier.