Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Cuando siento ansiedad por los exámenes, respiro hondo y recuerdo que mi psicóloga confía en mi equilibrio. - When I feel anxiety about exams, I breathe deeply and remember that my psychologist trusts my balance.

siento is the 1st person singular form of sentir, so it already tells you the subject is yo.
So (Yo) siento ansiedad… is shortened to Siento ansiedad… without losing information.

In this sentence, all the verbs (siento, respiro, recuerdo) are in yo form, so the subject is clearly “I” even though yo is not written.

Why is it cuando siento ansiedad and not something like cuando siento ansiedad, respirar hondo (with an infinitive) like we might in English ("to breathe deeply")?

Spanish normally uses a finite verb (with a subject and tense) in both clauses for this kind of habitual action:

Cuando siento ansiedad…, respiro hondo…
When I feel anxiety…, I breathe deeply…

Using an infinitive (respirar hondo) here would sound like an instruction, not a description of your own habit, e.g.:

Cuando sientas ansiedad por los exámenes, respira hondo.
When you feel anxiety about exams, breathe deeply.

So:

To describe your routine → use yo-form: respiro
To give instructions → use tú imperative: respira

Why is it siento ansiedad and not me siento ansioso? Are they the same?

They are close in meaning but not identical:

Siento ansiedad = I feel anxiety (literally, I experience anxiety).
- Focuses on the emotion as a thing you feel.
- Slightly more neutral/formal, uses a noun.
Me siento ansioso/a = I feel anxious.
- Focuses on your state / how you are.
- Uses an adjective.

Both are correct. You could say:

Cuando me siento ansioso por los exámenes, respiro hondo…

The original just chooses the noun version (ansiedad) instead of the adjective (ansioso/a).

Why is it por los exámenes and not de los exámenes or para los exámenes?

Here por expresses cause or reason:

ansiedad por los exámenes = anxiety because of the exams / about the exams

Typical uses:

por = because of / due to
- Estoy preocupado por el examen.
  I’m worried about the exam.
de would sound more like “anxiety of the exams”, which is not natural here in Spanish.
para is for purpose or goal, not cause:
- Estudio para el examen. = I study for the exam.

So por is the natural choice when talking about the cause of an emotion.

Why is it los exámenes and not just exámenes, without the article?

Spanish likes to use definite articles (el, la, los, las) more than English, especially with general or known things.

los exámenes can mean:
- specific upcoming exams we both know about, or
- exams in general as a kind of situation that causes you anxiety.

English often drops the article there (“about exams”), but in Spanish por los exámenes sounds more complete and natural than por exámenes in this context.

What exactly does respiro hondo mean? Is hondo an adverb here?

Respiro hondo literally = I breathe deep and idiomatically = I take a deep breath / I breathe deeply.

hondo is grammatically an adjective (“deep”), but in this fixed expression it works like an adverb (describing how you breathe).
Another common option is respiro profundamente (“I breathe deeply”), where profundamente is a clear adverb.

Both are correct in Spain, but respirar hondo is very common and sounds completely natural and idiomatic.

Why is it recuerdo que and not me acuerdo de que?

Both are correct, but they are different verbs:

recordar algo (not reflexive, no preposition)
- Recuerdo que mi psicóloga confía en mí.
- I remember that my psychologist trusts me.
acordarse de algo (reflexive + de)
- Me acuerdo de que mi psicóloga confía en mí.

Differences:

recordar is a bit more direct and is used more in writing and neutral speech.
acordarse de is slightly more colloquial in feel but also very common and perfectly acceptable.

In this sentence you could say either, but recuerdo que is a bit more concise and neutral.

Why is it mi psicóloga and not la psicóloga?

mi psicóloga = my psychologist → it’s your own therapist.

mi clearly marks possession / personal relationship.

la psicóloga = the psychologist → could be any psychologist, one we’ve mentioned or both know about, but not necessarily yours.

Since the idea is about trust between you and your therapist, using mi makes that personal relationship explicit.

Why is it psicóloga (feminine) and not psicólogo (masculine)? Does that change the meaning?

psicóloga = female psychologist
psicólogo = male psychologist

The -a / -o ending just marks the gender of the person, not a different profession.

So the sentence tells us the therapist is a woman. The rest of the meaning is exactly the same. In Spain this gender marking is standard and expected with many professions ending in -o / -a.

Why is it confía en and not just confía or confía de?

The normal structure in Spanish is:

confiar en + algo/alguien = to trust / have confidence in something or someone

Examples:

Confío en ti. = I trust you.
Ella confía en su equipo. = She trusts her team.
Mi psicóloga confía en mi equilibrio. = My psychologist trusts my balance/stability.

Confiar de is not standard in this sense. You almost always need en after confiar when you mean “to trust.”

What does mi equilibrio really mean here? It isn’t about physical balance, right?

Literally, equilibrio = “balance”, but in this context it’s emotional / psychological balance:

mi equilibrio here is closer to:
- my emotional stability
- my ability to stay balanced / centred mentally

So confía en mi equilibrio suggests:

She believes I’m psychologically stable enough
She trusts my inner balance and ability to cope

Why are both verbs in the second part present tense: respiro and recuerdo? Could we use a different tense?

They are in the present indicative to express a habitual action:

Cuando siento ansiedad…, respiro hondo y recuerdo…
= Whenever I feel anxiety…, I breathe deeply and I remember…

This is about what you usually do in that situation.

You could change the tense to talk about other time frames, for example:

Cuando sentía ansiedad por los exámenes, respiraba hondo y recordaba…
When I used to feel anxiety about exams, I would breathe deeply and remember… (past habit)

But for “this is what I normally do,” present indicative is the natural choice in Spanish.