The Truth About Healing: Stop Trying To Be Perfect!The Truth About Healing: Stop Trying To Be Perfect!
Retrieving Sanity
Keegan Read and breath coach Jackie Baxter talk about how perfectionism can sabotage recovery and why learning what "enough" feels like is so important. They discuss breathwork, boundaries, identity after long covid, and the power of doing less to support lasting healing.
58:39•3 Apr 2026
The Truth About Healing: Letting Go of Perfection in Recovery
Episode Overview
- Perfectionism can keep people stuck in recovery by pushing them to chase an impossible standard, including trying to heal "perfectly".
- Defining "enough" as the point where something stops being fun helps prevent burnout and constant overworking.
- Simple breathwork practices and conscious pauses support emotional regulation and give the nervous system a chance to settle.
- Setting boundaries, saying no, and creating for oneself first are key to moving away from people-pleasing and towards an authentic life.
- Doing less, stripping back obligations, and allowing rest can reveal what truly matters and support long-term sobriety and health.
“"Our brains will choose familiar pain over unfamiliar pleasure."”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety and healing when perfectionism keeps shouting "do more"? Retrieving Sanity host Keegan Read sits down with returning guest Jackie Baxter, a breathing instructor and coach who recovered from long covid, to talk about why trying to do recovery perfectly can quietly wreck your progress. Jackie shares how she spent years chasing an impossible standard, pushing her body far beyond “enough” and even trying to do recovery itself flawlessly.
A key turning point came when her therapist answered the question "What is enough?" with the line, "When it stops being fun." From there, Jackie began learning to stop before burnout, create for herself first, and let go of the constant pressure to please others.
You’ll hear them chat about practical breathwork as a tool for emotional regulation, why our brains often choose "familiar pain over unfamiliar pleasure", and how small daily choices—like pausing a task when joy disappears—can gently shift lifelong habits. Jackie explains how long covid forced her to strip life back to basics, drop what wasn’t truly her, and slowly rebuild a sense of identity that isn’t based on overachieving or people-pleasing.
There’s plenty here for anyone in addiction or mental health recovery: setting boundaries without guilt, redefining success as balance rather than constant hustle, and using nature, cold water dips, and quiet moments as ways to reconnect with yourself. The tone stays honest and warm, with a few laughs about glittery bath bombs and tomato-soup-coloured legs after icy swims.
If you’ve ever felt trapped in "push and crash" cycles, or scared to let go of the pain that’s become part of who you are, this conversation might nudge you to ask a simple question: what would happen if you did a little less and called that enough?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.
Related Episodes
Similar episodes from other shows in the catalogue.