Address Your Stress

Do you struggle managing daily stressors?

In our fast-paced modern world filled with technology, jam-packed schedules, and getting places on time, we all experience the burden of stress daily. Every single person faces it in some way, whether through work, family, social pressures, travel, trauma, or even positive life changes like marriage. The list of stressors goes on. The best way to view these challenges is as something you can manage, not eliminate. It is a working practice that takes time, patience, some grace, and oftentimes outside support. We can’t do it all alone. Believe me, I’ve tried.

Check out a graphic at the end of this post for an exercise on assessing your stress.

Here are a few factors to consider in addressing your stress:

Eat breakfast. Waking up and starting your day with intense fasted exercise places the burden on the adrenals to raise cortisol and produce glucose for energy. This is a nightmare for blood sugar regulation. Soothe your adrenals and entire nervous system by getting high quality protein and healthy fat in early in your day.
Turn off all screens at night. Turn the WiFi off overnight. Place your phone on airplane mode at night. Find something you can use as an alarm that doesn’t give you anxiety about texts, voicemails, social media notifications, or that never-ending to-do list.
Spend time outside and in nature. Go for a long walk. Take a book to the park. Try a new hiking trail. Tune into your senses and just be. Studies suggest nature can be a form of therapy on its own, alongside nutrition.
Take 5 deep breaths before each meal and before bed. Give yourself bonus points for completing breathwork and/or meditation at least once each day. Great tools for meditation include the Insight Timer app or on Youtube. Maybe NSDR more fits your needs.
Maintain a regular journal + gratitude practice. Write down your thoughts, feelings, day-to-day challenges in order to put them in perspective. Come up with a few complete sentences for what or whom you feel truly grateful. This actually changes the brain and encourages resilience.
Practice yoga. Not only do the benefits of deep breathing apply here in a yoga practice [breath encourages detoxification through removal of CO2] but also the regular movement of blood, lymph, tissue, and muscle improves well-being physically, mentally, energetically, & emotionally.
Add Salt. Stress depletes minerals like magnesium, and zinc. Replenish with minerals and support the adrenals after they have been burdened from chronic stress or all those years of fasted workouts. Try an adrenal cocktail after eating breakfast. Use Redmond’s Real salt, Celtic sea salt, or Pink Himalayan salt rather than iodized, highly refined table salt.

One of my favorite adrenal cocktail recipes:

-1 cup organic coconut water [no sugar added]
-4 oz fresh organic orange juice, cranberry juice, or pomegranate juice [no sugar added]
-1/2 cup pure water
-1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
-1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
[optional] 1 tablespoon grass-fed collagen
[optional] 2 oz full fat coconut milk

Stress is Complex

The above ideas are all great to get you started, but there’s more to managing stress. My approach to address stress is to examine the foundations of your health, ask about your daily habits, your sleep, your movement and exercise. Stress comes in so many forms. Of course, there is often a psychological component to stress which is out of my scope of practice. In this case, find a qualified mental health provider you can trust to guide you in the right direction.

It is important to realize how stress affects our overall health: it drives inflammation and disease; it impacts every system in the body, from digestion to hormones, detoxification and cardiovascular health. In order to make positive changes to your overall health, start at the level of the brain and nervous system, the “Mother Drive,” the main control center for the rest of your wellbeing. Read more about how stress and sleep are significant predictors to our overall health here.

Need more ideas for managing your specific stress? Maybe there are underlying factors driving a higher burden than necessary. Let’s work to dig deep and find those hidden stressors. Book a call with me to see how we can support your whole being through lifestyle changes and nutritional therapy.