Izzy Judd: My 20s were beset by anxiety - in my 40s I’ve learnt how to cope (2025)

Izzy Judd has spent much of her life immersed in music. As a classically trained violinist, she first found fame as a member of the electric string quartet Escala – Britain’s Got Talent finalists back in 2008 – and has since performed on stages across the world. But these days, it’s her role as host of Radio 3 Unwind’s The Music & Meditation Podcast that feels most aligned with who she is now – blending two long-held passions that have helped her navigate some of life’s more turbulent chapters.

The show is designed to offer an oasis of calm in a noisy world. Each episode centres around a theme – such as fear, confidence, change or creativity – with a guest reflecting on the topic before leading a short guided meditation. All of it is underscored by bespoke music, composed specifically for the episode. The result is quietly powerful.

Everyone from Charlotte Church to Dr Julie Smith has appeared as a guest. The podcast was originally presented by singer-songwriter Nao, with Judd, now a mindfulness expert and author, taking the reins in series three. Now, a fourth series is underway.

“It’s not your typical interview podcast,” Judd explains. “There’s this gentle pace and it gives listeners space to just be. We live in a high-octane world. So when you’re asked to sit still, to just be with your mind, it can feel really uncomfortable.”

She knows this is often where people get stuck. “There’s a big misconception that meditation means emptying your mind – but your brain is meant to think. It’s more about noticing those thoughts, and letting them pass.”

Judd hopes the podcast can be an easy entry point for those curious about mindfulness, while still offering something deeper for those already practising. “Podcasting is such a powerful medium,” she says. “It allows people to access tools for their mental health in a really intimate way.”

The feedback has been moving. “People message me saying they’d never tried meditation before, and that now listening to the show is part of their weekly routine. Others say the music adds something they didn’t realise they needed.”

Music, after all, is a language Judd speaks fluently – and her belief in its healing power is deeply personal. When she was 12 her older brother, Rupert, suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident. He was studying French horn at the time, and spent weeks in intensive care. At his bedside, the family played music.

“We didn’t know how much brain activity there was,” she recalls. “Then one day, we gave him his French horn – and he started moving his fingers in time with the music.” Her voice softens. “It just shows that music speaks when words fail. It’s a universal language.”

The decades that followed were difficult for Judd, with anxiety going on to shape her entire adult life. “I’ve never been very good with change, and when you go through trauma in a family, you never quite feel safe again – your nervous system stays in that fight-or-flight state,” she says.

As a young performer, she often found herself in glamorous, high-pressure environments – but inside, she was quietly struggling. “I was on stage with my best friends, doing something amazing, but I was always battling anxiety underneath,” she says. “And it wasn’t something that was spoken about that openly back then. We didn’t really have the language for it. That made it even more frightening.”

A turning point came when she read Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Wherever You Go, There You Are, and discovered mindfulness. “It was so simple, but so radical. It shifted how I saw everything.”

These days, the anxiety still shows up from time to time – “Even the other day, I had a panic attack” – but it no longer defines her. “I now know how to breathe through it. I understand the signals and I’ve got the tools to cope.”

She’s also no longer fighting it. “Now I’m in my forties, I see it more as a friendly warning – a reminder to slow down.” She pauses. “So I think anxiety will always be on my shoulder, but I’ve learnt to live with it, rather than against it.”

Motherhood has brought its lessons, too. Judd is married to McFly drummer Harry Judd, having met him when she played in the orchestra for one of the band’s tours, and the pair have three young children. She describes parenting as joyful, grounding, and at times, overwhelming. It has also taught her how to let go.

“I think I’ve really had to learn that I’m not in control,” she says. “We struggled to have my daughter. I went through IVF, and that whole process forced me to accept that some things are completely out of your hands.” That experience reshaped her relationship with uncertainty – and is a learning curve which has only deepened through raising children.

“Your kids are their own little beings,” she says. “You want to control things – but you can’t. And that’s the work. Learning to step back and let go.”

She’s also honest about the mum guilt that can creep in while juggling family and career. Being a parent is so unbelievably challenging,” she says. “It’s 24/7. And if you don’t find those pockets of time for yourself, it’s hard to show up in the way you want to for them.”

She used to beat herself up about those moments – until a conversation with therapist Julia Samuel for an episode of The Music & Meditation Podcast taught her to reframe it.

“Julia explained that guilt comes from love,” she says. “You feel it because you care deeply. It was such a comforting conversation, and I’m now learning to be a little kinder to myself.”

The Music & Meditation Podcast is available on BBC Sounds and all major podcast providers