221 - A New Room, The Same Heart. Welcome to The Recovery Room

Five years after starting the Long Covid Podcast, Jackie introduces The Recovery Room – a wider, gentler space for anyone navigating Long Covid, ME/CFS, Dysautonomia, PoTS, Trauma, Burnout, nervous system overwhelm, and long-term recovery.

In this episode, Jackie shares:

• Why the podcast is evolving and what “The Recovery Room” means.
• How her own recovery showed that healing is about more than symptoms.
• How Long Covid overlaps with other conditions, and why this space now holds many experiences, not just one diagnosis
• What’s staying the same: evidence-informed conversations, recovery stories, nervous system insights, and honest, vulnerable discussions held in a way that feels safe.

She closes with a short grounding practice you can use anytime:

• Noticing your breath
• Gently checking in with how you feel
• Asking, “What would help me feel 1% safer right now?”
• Remembering that small, consistent, gentle shifts are the foundation of recovery.

Practical updates:

• The podcast is now called The Recovery Room with Jackie Baxter
• Social media, visuals, and app names will update over the coming days
• The new website is live: www.JackiesRecoveryRoom.com

Transcript

Welcome to the recovery room. I'm Jackie Baxter, and today's episode is a very special one. It marks five years since I started the Long COVID podcast back in summer of 2021, and it marks the beginning of this new chapter, this new room that we're stepping into together. 

If you've been here since the early days, thank you for walking this long road alongside me. If you've joined more recently, you're joining at exactly the right moment.

Today, I want to share why the podcast is evolving, what's staying the same, what I hope that this new space will offer you, and I want to leave you with something practical and grounding, something you can take into your own recovery journey right now. 

When I started the long COVID podcast in 2021. I had no idea what it would become. I was still in the middle of my own recovery. In fact, I would maybe even say that I wasn't in the middle of it. I was still quite early in my own recovery. Really, I was scared, exhausted. I didn't know what to do, and I was trying to make sense of a body in a situation that no longer behaved the way it used to. I started this podcast out of desperation. Really, it began as a way to connect, to understand, to learn, and to offer companionship in a time when so many of us felt isolated, hopeless, and unheard. 

Over the years, it grew into a community. 1000s of people listening across the world, sharing, learning, finding little bits of hope in each other's stories. It became a place where science and lived experience could sit side by side, a place where fear could start to soften, a place where improvements and recovery felt a little more possible. 

And now, five years on, the conversations have widened because recovery itself is wider.

My own recovery changed me. My own experience with long COVID changed me. 

It taught me that healing isn't just about symptoms; it's far wider than that. It's about breath, safety, alignment, finding joyfulness, the quiet work of rebuilding trust in your body. 

It's about learning to listen and truly connect with your body, it's about what's important in life and finding balance. 

It's about meeting our needs, something that we may have never really understood before, and maybe you're still struggling to understand now. 

It taught me that long COVID doesn't exist in isolation. It overlaps with many other conditions: ME/CFS, dysautonomia, POTS, trauma, burnout, nervous system overwhelm, and the deep emotional landscape that comes with a long-term health challenge. 

It taught me the power of meaningful connection and vulnerability, authenticity, the importance of meeting ourselves where we are, and giving ourselves space to feel what we feel. 

And it taught me that people need a space that honors all of that, not just one diagnosis, because a diagnosis is only really useful if it leads to useful information, help, treatments, and a way forward. None of these were forthcoming in my own recovery journey. I had to go looking for them myself. 

So the recovery room is simply the next natural step, a wider and gentler room, a space where we can explore the whole picture of healing: breath, pacing, nervous system regulation, emotional coherence, trying to find joyfulness, alignment, asking for help, advocating for our needs and seeking out people when we need them, whether it's medical professionals or someone to help clean your house, and the slow return of possibility. 

This is a space for honesty. It might be a space that can feel confronting at times. It's a space that could make you think about things you've never considered before. It's a space where you don't have to do anything right now, other than show up. 

The heart of the podcast hasn't changed. It's just grown. It's grown as I have. 

This isn't intended to be a big, sudden, and destabilizing shift. This new title, and the color scheme, graphics, and other stuff that goes with it, reflects an evolution that has already happened. 

In truth, very little will change going forward. And personally, I already feel much more comfortable in this space, and I hope that that will be reflected in the conversations in the coming episodes. 

So going forward, you'll still hear from clinicians, researchers, practitioners, recovery stories, people on their own recovery journeys, a whole diverse range of conversations.

You'll still get evidence-informed conversations, nervous system insights, practical tools, ideas, things to consider. You'll continue to hear more about breath work, emotional regulation, alignment and identity, searching for joyfulness, the nervous system as a foundation for healing, the quiet psychological shifts that can make recovery feel more possible, and the bridge between a traditional medical model and something that feels maybe very different, and how recovery can bring things together rather than create division. As a recent guest said, recovery doesn't have to be either or. 

I'll continue to try to ask the questions that you want answers to. I won't shy away from difficult conversations, even if the recovering people pleaser in me might want to, but in a way that feels safe.

I'll continue with honest conversations, sharing of stories, and allowing myself to be vulnerable. 

I'll keep reaching out to guests that we can all learn from, and I'll keep being gently curious and open-minded in a way that I know you value as listeners. 

This is still your space. It still matters. It's just a little bigger and more inclusive. 

In practical terms, you'll notice things change a little this week, as things like social media tags and the name of the podcast change. If you're already following me on social media, on your podcast apps, you won't need to do anything; these changes will happen automatically. 

If you don't already follow me, check out the links in the show notes below to do so, so you won't miss upcoming episodes and announcements. 

My new website www.jackiesrecoveryroom.com is now live. 

If you already subscribe to my newsletter, that will transfer automatically. If you don't, you can head to the new website to do so. 

I'm doing everything I can to make this transition as seamless as possible. Believe me, I have lists and plans scattered all over my desk in an attempt to organize this as best as possible. I truly appreciate your support and patience with any little glitches that probably will come up through this process. I'm not perfect, and neither is technology. If you do see anything wrong, please do let me know. It's incredibly helpful to me to know if you've spotted something that I've missed. 

Starting next week, I'll be back with new guests, new insights, but the same format that you're all used to. 

I want to leave you with something simple and grounding, something that you can use right now, wherever you are in your recovery. We're going to gently check in with the body. 

Now let's maybe start off by noticing you feel unsettled or uncomfortable. Perhaps the transition of the podcast has left you feeling a little uncertain, and if that is the case, that's completely okay. I know that for many this is a lifeline, and if things feel like they're changing, it could feel destabilizing. 

So let's gently check it. Starting out, let's just take a moment to notice your breath. If it helps to close your eyes and it's safe to do so, you may wish to do that, but you don't have to. So checking in here, we're not trying to change anything, just meeting it. Maybe there's a word, an image, a sound, an emotion, a sensation that you experience. There's no right or wrong way to do this. So simply noticing and allowing it is regulation. We're showing ourselves that it's okay. 

Next, let's ask the body one question: What would help me to feel 1% safer right now. Not perfect, not fixed. Just 1% It might be slowing down. It might be stepping outside. It might be loosening your shoulders. It might be softening your forehead or your jaw, releasing tension in your belly. It might be letting go of something you've been carrying. It might be doing nothing at all. 

And let that be enough. Small shifts are the foundation of recovery. Safety is built in tiny, repeatable Moments. We don't need to solve every problem right now. Let's take a few breaths together now. 

Maybe things have changed, slowed, Softened, or maybe not, and that's okay. And then take your time coming back into your space. There's no rush. 

And remember that this short practice, just a couple of minutes, is something that you could build into your day to create moments of pause, to create those little moments of safety. It doesn't need to be big, or clever, or impressive. Small, consistent, gentle is usually far more effective. 

So thank you for being here. 

Whether you have listened to all 221 episodes, or whether this is your very first. Thank you for trusting me with your time, your energy, and your story. 

Five years is a long time. Recovery can be a long journey. It can be difficult. It can be painful, and I'm honored to walk this next part with you. 

So take a breath, settle in, and welcome to The Recovery Room. I'll see you next time.