Thrive with Lucy Wood

Thrive with Lucy Wood The Thrive Programme is an exciting and empowering training programme that teaches people how to tak

07/01/2026

Anxiety itself isn’t a problem - it’s just a passing feeling like any emotion.

It becomes problematic when you’re stuck feeing anxious. When that happens it’s helpful to understand how you’re -innocently - keeping it alive.

Overthinking it.
Analysing it.
Trying to logic your way out of it.
Monitoring it.
Fixing it.
Getting rid of it.

That’s called intellectualisation and it can turn managing anxiety into a full-time job 😓

Your mind says: “If I can just understand this properly, it will stop.” But all that thinking and efforting sends one message to your nervous system:
👉 This matters. Stay alert.

The shift doesn’t come from thinking more - it comes from
thinking differently.

Choosing not to get involved with every thought.
Letting anxiety be there while you carry on living.
Building confidence in your ability to handle anxious thoughts and feelings.

Calm doesn’t come from figuring things out and avoiding things - it comes as a side effect of learning to respond differently to anxious thoughts, feelings, sensations and urges.

It’s a skillset you can learn, so if managing anxiety has become your full time job, send me a message. I can help 🧡

24/12/2025

I hope you all have a lovely Christmas 🎄

And remember it doesn’t need to be perfect, and if you don’t feel happy, calm, or grateful - sobeit.

Thoughts are just thoughts.
Feelings are just feelings.

Enjoy to the best of your ability and that is absolutely good enough 🫶

23/12/2025

This was revolutionary for me.

Knowing that it was ok to have unpleasant thoughts, uncomfortable feelings, funny bodily sensations and urges to control without having to act on them.

When for years I had been so focussed on doing everything I could to not have them. Resisting them. Getting rid of them. Avoiding them. Trying to logic my way out of them. Getting frustrated by them.

If this is all you know, please save this post. Give yourself permission to have them, feel them, let them be there. It’s the opposite of what you want to do and it feels so counterintuitive when every cell in your body has been fighting them. But what if it’s the fight that’s the problem? 🫶

You can’t change that you think and feel the way you do right now (over time, yes), but you always have control over how you respond - that is your super power 💪

16/12/2025

If your fear feels constant - like it’s on your mind 24/7 - this is for you…

* If you’re always thinking “what if I’m sick?”
* If you’re constantly checking how you feel.
* If every morning you’re figuring out whether you think can handle the day ahead.
* If your mind never seems to switch off.

Please know this: you’re not broken. And you’re not weak. You’ve actually got a really clever thinking mind 🫶

What’s happening is your brain has learned a habit: “If I keep thinking, checking, figuring out, controlling…I’ll prevent something bad.”

It’s innocent. It’s not your fault. But it is what’s keeping the fear alive. Because when you constantly monitor your body, try and figure out the future, check how anxious you feel, decide your day based on fear, your brain receives the message “this is a threat - stay on alert”.

So it stays on. All day, every day. That’s why it feels relentless and exhausting. Not because you’re in danger - but because your mind never receives the message from you to stand down.

Here’s the thing: thinking about fear doesn’t protect you from fear. It creates it. 😵‍💫

You don’t need to get rid of the thoughts to feel better. You don’t need to be 100% sure you’ll be ok at school today.

You can feel anxious and still go to school. You can have the thought “what if I’m sick?” and still carry on with your day. That’s how you train your brain that you can handle uncomfortable thoughts and feelings. You make yourself feel safe by the way you respond to these fearful thoughts and feelings. Not by avoiding (physically or mentally). But by living your life and learning to cope WITH anxious thoughts and feelings.

If you want some help to make this happen, send me a message 🧡.

11/12/2025

Rule no. 2 that school failed to teach you: emotions are not facts.

We’re educated on maths, grammar and photosynthesis but not on why our feelings can be SO convincing yet so misleading.

You see, emotions don’t happen ‘to’ you - they’re not proof of what’s happening outside of you. They’re created ‘by’ you - they’re a reflection of your internal state of mind.

Here’s the facts I wish I’d have known earlier:
* feeling something doesn’t make it accurate. How many times have you felt scared without being unsafe, or feel guilt without doing anything wrong?
* a strong feeling doesn’t mean something is wrong. It just means your thinking is loud right now.
* emotions are temporary. They rise, peak, soften and pass on their own provided you leave them alone. Underneath the noise is always calm - your default state.
* emotions are part of being human, not a personal failure. Feeling low, anxious, worried doesn’t mean you’re broken or there’s a problem, it means you’re in a moment of clouded thinking.
* you can welcome emotions without treating them like instructions. You don’t need to act, avoid, hide, escape, react just because a feeling is strong.
* if you feel anxious or panicky, it’s not a problem and no, you’re still not doing anything ‘wrong’. You’ve just momentarily been convinced by your fearful thinking. Just gently remind yourself, “ah, there I go getting caught up. Not a problem, I don’t need to believe these thoughts right now”.
* in fact, the stronger the feeling, the less trustworthy the story. Strong emotions are like watching a scary movie at night with all the lights off - gripping, convincing, intense…but not real.

Save this post so you can read it next time you’re being tricked by your convincing thoughts 🫶

10/12/2025

Rule no.1 that school failed to teach you: your thoughts are not facts. You’re going to want to save this to your favourites 🔖

Thoughts are just mental events - not evidence, not truth, not warnings. Let me explain…

Your mind doesn’t think in truth - it thinks in patterns.

Your mind thinks thoughts - today - based on the beliefs, thinking habits, mood, energy levels you have TODAY.
That means your thoughts are predictable, understandable, but not necessarily accurate!

Thoughts can ‘feel’ true without being true – they’re your voice inside your head – it’s so easy to be convinced by them, especially when you’re anxious, stressed, tired, or overwhelmed.

But loud thoughts aren’t any more real. They’re just… louder. In fact, the louder, more urgent and convincing they are, usually the less trustworthy they are because they’re not based on fact – they’re influenced by emotion.

Thoughts can be challenged, changed or sometimes just left alone. You don’t have to fight them, resist them, or get frustrated with them (that actually makes them stickier 🥴). You also don’t have to follow every single one. You can think something without acting it. Thoughts are not instructions or directions and you don’t have to listen. Your mind will soon move on provided you’re not giving that thought specific focus and attention. And if you are, not a problem - some thoughts are harder to let go of for various innocent reasons 🫶, so just know - when it happens - it’s not a problem, there’s nothing ‘wrong’, it’s just a thought you’ve been momentarily convinced by. Come back to the basics, read this post, and remember thoughts are not facts 💪

09/12/2025

Anyone stuck in this unwinnable game (that’s less like a game and more like a horror movie 😵‍💫)?

Comment “me” if you’re ready to stop engaging with it and I’ll DM you the first step 💪

Here’s what you need to know to overcome emetophobia, health anxiety, OCD, agoraphobia…control never kept you safe. You ...
26/11/2025

Here’s what you need to know to overcome emetophobia, health anxiety, OCD, agoraphobia…control never kept you safe. You were safe regardless 🧡

My DMs are open if you want guided support.

Just 2 months ago, Becki had a great life, only she was carrying the weight of emetophobia around with her. It was all s...
25/11/2025

Just 2 months ago, Becki had a great life, only she was carrying the weight of emetophobia around with her. It was all she knew. She’d had it as long as she could remember.

Her goal:
* to not think about sickness before every decision she makes. To be able to embrace life without anxiety or fears. To fully enjoy activities, eating out, socialising, travelling without fear.

Catching up with her today was like talking to a different person. Self-assured, confident, clear-headed, in control emotionally. What a transformation, and just in time for her travels which she’s super excited about now that she doesn’t have to carry that extra weight of emetophobia around with her 🌟

20/11/2025

After 37 years, Doron is emetophobia-free 🧡

Comment “link” and I’ll give you access to the full video jam-packed with everything he did to overcome it.

19/11/2025

Doron overcomes emetophobia after battling it for 37 years…

He’s not just learned to cope with it or got better at suppressing it - he doesn’t have it anymore, so there’s nothing left to manage.

Doron wants to share his story to help others know how to access effective help.

If you’re ready to experience life without emetophobia in it, comment “help” and I’ll DM you with the first step.

19/11/2025

Emetophobia-free after 30+ years of struggling 🌟

In July, Doron was totally debilitated by chronic nausea - unable to go out, signed off work, desperately searching for a way out.

Well, he found it. Just 3 months later he is over it. Back at work, socialising, with not a sick-related thought in sight. How?

Comment “me please” and I’ll send you the link to this interview where he shares what he did and how he did it. This episode is jam-packed with insights, knowledge and inspiration if you’re currently struggling.

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Learn to Thrive with Lucy

The Thrive Programme is mental health training that teaches people the skills and resources to fully overcome mental health issues and learn to thrive. Based on over 30 years’ clinical experience treating thousands of people around the world, and is thoroughly research-backed and evidence-based. Quite simply, it teaches you how to completely re-wire how you think, feel and behave.

Thriving people have a skillset that makes them more robust, resilient and confident...they feel powerful and more in control of their lives...they are less prone to stress, anxiety and depression. Thriving people find it easier to resist social pressures, take more responsibility for their physical and mental health and live a more positive and active life.

The programme is simple, accessible and affordable for all ages aged 8 upwards. It takes around 6-8 weeks to complete and contains everything you need to overcome your mental health symptom and learn to thrive.