Take A Breath

Polly Warren

A podcast for creating practical calm in the messy middle of midlife. This is your space to pause.  Because life in midlife is full-on. Between work, family, menopause, and the mental load, your nervous system can easily end up in constant overdrive — leaving you feeling exhausted, reactive, and overwhelmed by even the smallest things.  Each week, I’ll share my own tools, alongside honest conversations and practical nervous system support —  to help you create more calm, peace, joy, and inner steadiness. Not by escaping your life, because that’s totally unrealistic, but by meeting it differently. So when you're ready, let’s take a breath together… 

  1. 15H AGO

    How To Breathe Better So You Feel Calmer, Clearer & Less Overwhelmed

    You breathe more than 20,000 times a day. But if your breathing is shallow, fast, noisy, or stuck high in your chest, your nervous system may be receiving a constant signal that you’re not safe yet. Which means your body can stay stuck in stress mode even when you’re desperately trying to relax. And over time, that can look like: 😮‍💨 Feeling tense, overwhelmed, or constantly “on”  😴 Poor sleep and waking up exhausted  💭 Racing thoughts, overthinking, and brain fog  💥 Snapping at people in ways that don’t feel like you  ⚡ Feeling wired, anxious, and unable to properly switch off The way you breathe directly affects your nervous system. So when your breath changes, your body changes too. In this episode of Take a Breath, I’m sharing part of my Breathe Better Basics course where I teach my NGSE Method - a simple approach to breathing that helps you: ✅ Calm your nervous system ✅ Reduce anxiety and racing thoughts ✅ Improve focus, sleep, and energy ✅ Feel steadier, clearer, and more regulated in your body No overwhelm. No complicated techniques. Just learning how to breathe in a way your nervous system actually responds to. If you'd like the full Breathe Better Basics course for £47 go to: https://www.pollywarren.com/bbb Download 15 Breaths to Calm Anxiety - a FREE 5 minute audio to calm you down in real time. Download The Breath Check-Up - your FREE guide to understanding how well you're breathing right now. Download my energising 5 Minute Morning Practice to get your day started in the best way possible. To find out more about my membership The Inner Space go to:  https://www.pollywarren.com/theinnerspace Email me at:  info@pollywarren.com https://www.pollywarren.com/ https://www.instagram.com/pollywarrencoaching/

    32 min

  2. 5D AGO

    Thursday Thoughts - Complaining

    This week on Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about complaining. We all love a good vent now and again, and sometimes it’s healthy to let those emotions out. But when we stay stuck there, replaying the same thoughts over and over, it can keep us trapped in a really low-energy state. In this episode, we share our thoughts on the difference between releasing emotions and ruminating, plus some simple ways we try to catch ourselves before getting pulled into the cycle of constant complaining. Because sometimes the most powerful shift is asking: “Do I want to stay here… or do I want to move forward?” We hope you find something useful in here. Love,  Polly & Lucy x Download 15 Breaths to Calm Anxiety - a FREE 5 minute audio to calm you down in real time. Download The Breath Check-Up - your FREE guide to understanding how well you're breathing right now. Download my energising 5 Minute Morning Practice to get your day started in the best way possible. To find out more about my membership The Inner Space go to:  https://www.pollywarren.com/theinnerspace Email me at:  info@pollywarren.com https://www.pollywarren.com/ https://www.instagram.com/pollywarrencoaching/

    27 min

  3. MAY 19

    The Missing Piece in the Perimenopause Conversation

    In this episode, I’m sharing a big realisation I’ve had recently, one that feels like a real full-circle moment for me. Nearly 10 years ago, I left my teaching career feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, anxious and completely disconnected from myself… although at the time, I had no idea that perimenopause was playing such a huge role in how I was feeling.  Looking back now, I can see that this was the beginning of a much deeper journey into understanding stress, the nervous system and what my body was really trying to tell me. Over the years, I immersed myself in learning - from coaching to breathwork and nervous system regulation - while also supporting hunderes of other women navigating midlife.  And the one thing I kept seeing over and over again was that so many women weren’t simply struggling with hormones alone… they were living with chronically overwhelmed nervous systems. In this episode, I explore why perimenopause can suddenly make life feel harder to cope with, why so many women feel like they’ve “lost themselves”, and how hormonal changes can make the nervous system far more sensitive to stress.  I also share why learning to regulate my nervous system changed everything for me, and why I now believe this is one of the missing pieces in the perimenopause conversation.  In this episode, I share:  How hormonal changes affect the nervous system and our ability to cope with stress  Why anxiety, overwhelm, irritability and exhaustion often intensify during midlife  The connection between chronic stress, survival mode and feeling “not like yourself anymore”  How breathwork and nervous system regulation helped me feel calmer, steadier and more like myself againDownload 15 Breaths to Calm Anxiety - a FREE 5 minute audio to calm you down in real time. Download The Breath Check-Up - your FREE guide to understanding how well you're breathing right now. Download my energising 5 Minute Morning Practice to get your day started in the best way possible. To find out more about my membership The Inner Space go to:  https://www.pollywarren.com/theinnerspace Email me at:  info@pollywarren.com https://www.pollywarren.com/ https://www.instagram.com/pollywarrencoaching/

    33 min

  4. MAY 14

    Thursday Thoughts - Self Doubt

    On this week's Thursday Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about something every single one of us experiences at some point…self-doubt. We discuss why it’s so common and why it stops us speaking up, going for things, or trusting ourselves fully. We also share some of the things that have genuinely helped us quiet our inner critic and build more self-trust over time. Because life is far too short to spend it constantly second-guessing yourself, shrinking yourself, or waiting until you feel “ready.” We hope you find something useful in here. Love Polly & Lucy x Download 15 Breaths to Calm Anxiety - a FREE 5 minute audio to calm you down in real time. Download The Breath Check-Up - your FREE guide to understanding how well you're breathing right now. Download my energising 5 Minute Morning Practice to get your day started in the best way possible. To find out more about my membership The Inner Space go to:  https://www.pollywarren.com/theinnerspace Email me at:  info@pollywarren.com https://www.pollywarren.com/ https://www.instagram.com/pollywarrencoaching/

    32 min

  5. MAY 12

    Healing, Grief & Trusting Yourself: Carly’s Story

    In this episode of Take a Breath, I’m joined by my lovely friend Carly for a deeply honest conversation about her journey through breast cancer and everything that came with it.   Nearly three years ago, Carly was diagnosed with breast cancer and advised to undergo a mastectomy and radiotherapy. Instead, she chose a very different path,  one that focused on radically changing her lifestyle. And of course, it wasn’t easy. We talk openly about the reality of what that looked like day-to-day, cutting out sugar, preparing everything from scratch, trying to reduce toxins, learning to slow down, and turning inward through meditation. During this time, Carly also lost her mum to cancer, while continuing to navigate her own diagnosis and the fear and uncertainty that came with it. At one stage, the cancer spread, yet Carly continued to trust the path she was on and doubled down on caring for her body and mind in a completely different way. Now, two years later, after recent scans, doctors could find no trace of cancer. This episode is not about telling anyone what they should or shouldn’t do medically, and Carly’s experience is uniquely her own. But it is a powerful conversation about trust, intuition, resilience, lifestyle, emotional wellbeing, and the incredible connection between mind and body. We talk about: Carly’s diagnosis and the emotions that followedWhy she chose a different routeThe intense lifestyle changes she madeStress, grief, and the nervous systemMeditation and emotional healingLearning to trust herselfWhat this experience taught her about lifeIt’s a raw, moving, hopeful conversation and one I know so many of you will take something meaningful from. Download 15 Breaths to Calm Anxiety - a FREE 5 minute audio to calm you down in real time. Download The Breath Check-Up - your FREE guide to understanding how well you're breathing right now. Download my energising 5 Minute Morning Practice to get your day started in the best way possible. To find out more about my membership The Inner Space go to:  https://www.pollywarren.com/theinnerspace Email me at:  info@pollywarren.com https://www.pollywarren.com/ https://www.instagram.com/pollywarrencoaching/

    55 min

  6. MAY 7

    Thursday Thoughts - Small Steps When Noone's Watching

    On this week's Thursday's Thoughts, Lucy and I are talking about the small, unglamorous steps that we take when nobody’s watching, that ultimately get us to where we want to go. For example, I talks about the tiny, seemingly insignificant physio exercises I'm doing every day to help heal from my knee operation - it would be easy to feel like they weren’t doing anything, but I'm trusting the process, showing up every day, knowing that they will pay off eventually. So if there’s something you’d like to do, remember that it’s those baby steps you take that nobody else sees that are actually having the biggest impact of all. We hope you’ll find something useful in here. Love, Polly & Lucy x Download 15 Breaths to Calm Anxiety - a FREE 5 minute audio to calm you down in real time. Download The Breath Check-Up - your FREE guide to understanding how well you're breathing right now. Download my energising 5 Minute Morning Practice to get your day started in the best way possible. To find out more about my membership The Inner Space go to:  https://www.pollywarren.com/theinnerspace Email me at:  info@pollywarren.com https://www.pollywarren.com/ https://www.instagram.com/pollywarrencoaching/

    30 min

  7. MAY 5

    You Keep Saying You’ll Do Something for You… But You Keep Choosing Everything Else First

    You know the phrases…  “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” “Put your oxygen mask on first.” But here’s the real question… Are you actually doing it? Or are you still giving your time, energy, and attention to everyone else…  and hoping you’ll get a moment for yourself somewhere down the line? In this episode, I’m sharing a very honest reflection, one that’s come from being forced to slow down after surgery, and what it’s helped me realise about what I thought was self-care… versus what actually supports your nervous system. ✨ In this episode, I also explore:  Why knowing you should prioritise yourself isn’t the same as actually doing it  The hidden ways you might be “pushing” under the guise of self-care  What your nervous system really needs to feel calm and supported  Why one-off self-care (like holidays or occasional treats) isn’t enough  The power of small, consistent moments to reset and reconnect  A simple 3-step approach to start showing up for yourself dailyTo claim your FREE month's membership for The Inner Space (offer ends at end of May 2026) email INNER SPACE to info@pollywarren.com  Download 15 Breaths to Calm Anxiety - a FREE 5 minute audio to calm you down in real time. Download The Breath Check-Up - your FREE guide to understanding how well you're breathing right now. Download my energising 5 Minute Morning Practice to get your day started in the best way possible. To find out more about my membership The Inner Space go to:  https://www.pollywarren.com/theinnerspace Email me at:  info@pollywarren.com https://www.pollywarren.com/ https://www.instagram.com/pollywarrencoaching/

    26 min

  8. APR 30

    Thursday Thoughts - It's All an Inside Job

    On today’s Thursday's Thoughts, Lucy and I are exploring the idea that ‘it’s all an inside job.’ Your inner world shapes how you experience everything around you, and your outer world becomes a reflection of what’s happening within.  When you start to notice your thoughts, and how you’re really feeling, something shifts. You respond to life differently with more awareness and often more calm and compassion. In this episode, we share some of the simple tools that have helped us navigate our own inner worlds. We hope you find something useful in here. Love Polly & Lucy xx Download 15 Breaths to Calm Anxiety - a FREE 5 minute audio to calm you down in real time. Download The Breath Check-Up - your FREE guide to understanding how well you're breathing right now. Download my energising 5 Minute Morning Practice to get your day started in the best way possible. To find out more about my membership The Inner Space go to:  https://www.pollywarren.com/theinnerspace Email me at:  info@pollywarren.com https://www.pollywarren.com/ https://www.instagram.com/pollywarrencoaching/

    29 min
See All (322)

Trailer

4.6
out of 5
31 Ratings

About

A podcast for creating practical calm in the messy middle of midlife. This is your space to pause.  Because life in midlife is full-on. Between work, family, menopause, and the mental load, your nervous system can easily end up in constant overdrive — leaving you feeling exhausted, reactive, and overwhelmed by even the smallest things.  Each week, I’ll share my own tools, alongside honest conversations and practical nervous system support —  to help you create more calm, peace, joy, and inner steadiness. Not by escaping your life, because that’s totally unrealistic, but by meeting it differently. So when you're ready, let’s take a breath together… 

Information

  • Creator
    Polly Warren
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    322
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Take A Breath
  • Show Website
    Take A Breath

You Might Also Like