61. Fear Is Lying to You: How to Take Your Power Back

Fear is sneaky. Sometimes it’s loud, like panic gripping your chest. Other times, it hums in the background, subtly shaping your choices, dulling your joy, and keeping you small. In this episode of Everyday Epigenetics, Susan Robbins and Kate King dive deep into the physiology, psychology, and epigenetic impact of fear, and how to rise above it with grace, tools, and powerful self-awareness.

Understanding Fear: It’s Not Always the Enemy
Fear isn’t inherently bad, it’s biologically wired into us to keep us safe. But when that fight-or-flight switch is stuck in the “on” position, it can hijack your nervous system and trick your body into thinking you’re always in danger. Kate explains the critical difference between fear (a primal response to threat) and anxiety (a persistent mental pattern), and why understanding both is key to healing.

The Epigenetic Cost of Chronic Stress
Susan breaks down how long-term fear and stress literally reshape your health, impacting inflammation, hormone function, and sleep. She also reveals how your genes influence your stress response (hello COMT gene!) and why learning your personal blueprint can help you better support your body and mind.

Joy as the Antidote (and Why It’s So Scary)
Here’s the kicker: Joy is actually one of the most vulnerable emotions we can feel, and for many people, fear shuts it down. The episode explores why we unconsciously block joy and how small moments of gratitude and connection can begin to shift the script. Your body can’t thrive if it thinks it’s constantly under attack.

Tools to Shift from Fear to Freedom
This episode isn’t just talk, it’s packed with actionable tools you can start using today:

Breathwork techniques to activate your parasympathetic nervous system
Gratitude practices rooted in heart-brain coherence
Byron Katie’s 4-question framework to reframe fearful thoughts
Epigenetic insights to personalize your self-care and recovery

Final Thoughts: You’re Not Broken. You’re Wired.
You’re not “too much.” You’re not weak. You’re human, and your nervous system has been trying to protect you. But with awareness, support, and tools, you can choose to rise. One breath, one thought, one empowered step at a time.

Learn More about Kate King:

Kate brings nearly two decades of experience as a licensed psychotherapist and board certified art therapist, combined with her work as a Radiant Life coach to the table. She is also the multi-award-winning author of three powerful self-help psychology books. Kate’s work integrates epigenetics through a relational, behavioral, and intergenerational family trauma lens. She also incorporates brain and nervous system science with psychology, spirituality, and creativity for a dynamic approach to deep inner work and personal healing.

Learn More about Susan Robbins:

Susan is a retired law enforcement officer and an accomplished Certified Epigenetic Human Performance Coach with a diverse and extensive background in wellness. She began her wellness career in 2015 as a holistic health and stress management coach. Her passion for helping others led her to expand her expertise into epigenetics in 2019, where she discovered the missing piece of the health optimization puzzle: Personalized health.

As a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Certified Level 2 Apeiron Zoh Epigenetic Human Performance Coach (DNA), and Certified PH360 Coach through Precision Health Alliance, Susan has developed a unique approach to health and wellness through completely personalized health. She is the proud recipient of the 2023 Precision Health Alliance Coach of the Year award. Susan works with clients to elevate their health and overall quality of life by understanding their unique needs based on their genetic makeup, taking out the guesswork, and getting results.

Their Synergy

Susan and Kate come from two very different, but perfectly complementary, worlds in the health and wellness space. Together, their synergy is magnetic. Think: science meets soul, strategy meets intuition, real talk meets radical transformation.

RESOURCES:

Find all of Kate and Susan’s Resources and links on the show notes!

https://healthyawakening.co/2025/06/09/episode61

Connect with Kate King: