COURSE

How To Calm Anxiety And Quiet The Overthinking Mind

This 8-session course introduces simple mindfulness tools to help calm anxiety and quiet the overthinking mind. Rather than offering only guided practices, each lesson explains a practical way to work with anxious thoughts, body tension, breath, self-criticism, control, and uncertainty. You will learn how to recognize thinking loops, listen to the body, return to the breath, meet yourself with more kindness, and take the next wise step from presence instead of panic. This course is for anyone who feels mentally tired, overwhelmed, or caught in the pressure to figure everything out. You do not need meditation experience. Bring only a willingness to pause, notice what is here, and begin again with compassion.

Meet your Teacher

Rod Janz

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Rod Janz has long felt drawn to prayer, meditation, and a deep inner life, especially through time spent in nature. His contemplative journey was shaped in the late 1990s through the practice of Centering Prayer as taught by Father Thomas Keating, which opened the door to meditation, healing, and spiritual direction. Rod is a trained spiritual director, meditation teacher, and coach who guides others in cultivating presence, awareness, and a compassionate connection to their everyday lives.

8 Days

1 students

No ratings

9 min / day

Anxiety

English

Lesson 1

Why Your Mind Won't Stop

In this first session, we explore why the mind keeps racing, replaying, and trying to solve everything. You’ll learn how to notice thoughts without becoming caught in them and begin creating a little more space, calm, and kindness around your busy mind.

Lesson 2

Getting Out Of The Thinking Loop

In this session, you will learn to recognize when anxious thoughts have become a thinking loop. We'll use a simple Loop Map to see how triggers, thoughts, stories, body sensations, and choices all work together, and how you can pause, notice what is happening, and choose your next wise response with greater clarity and kindness.

Lesson 3

Where Anxiety Lives In The Body

In this session, you’ll learn how anxiety is often felt in the body before it is felt in the mind. Body awareness helps you notice tension, pressure, restlessness, and your own anxiety patterns so you can meet physical sensations with curiosity, kindness, and a more grounded presence and care.

Lesson 4

Learning To Breathe Again

Learn how your breath can be a powerful tool for calming anxiety. We'll practice simple techniques to reconnect with your breathing, use it to ground yourself when stress takes over, and gently bring your attention back to the present when overthinking takes hold.

Lesson 5

Self-Compassion For Overthinkers

In this session, you’ll learn how self-compassion can help soften the inner voice that often drives overthinking. You will learn the practice of the kind return, using the breath, a sacred word, or a simple phrase to return to yourself with patience, clarity, greater emotional steadiness, and care.

Lesson 6

Letting Go Of The Need To Control Everything

In this session, you'll look at how trying to control everything (outcomes, people, what comes next) actually feeds anxiety and keeps you stuck in overthinking. We'll work on telling the difference between taking real responsibility and acting from fear. You'll learn to loosen your grip, come back to what's happening now, and figure out what's actually yours to handle so you can move forward with more trust and clarity.

Lesson 7

You Don't Have To Have Everything Figured Out

During this session, you’ll discover how the pressure to have it all figured out can contribute to anxiety and overthinking. You will learn to identify fear-based urgency, stay present in the face of uncertainty, and practice discernment so you can stop forcing answers and take the next wise step with patience, awareness, and greater trust.

Lesson 8

Resting In Calm And Presence

This final session brings together everything from the course: awareness, breath, self-compassion, how to handle control, and learning to trust. You'll discover that calm doesn't come from pushing harder, but from slowing down and being present. We'll explore how to take what you've learned and use it in everyday moments, so you can move through life with more clarity, kindness, and ease.

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