Put yourself in the driver’s seat when it comes to stress. Understanding stress is the first important step to dealing with it. Many of us think stress happens to us, similar to the quote, “Life is happening to me.” Flip the script and put it another way; life is happening for us or with us. This is such a different mindset don’t you think? Feeling like we are in the middle of it all as stress swirls all around us, as it ebbs and flows mercilessly is not a place we want to be, right? Understanding stress is one of the most important things that you can do for your health as part of aligning and setting your health goals. First things first, stress is present not just around us, but within us. Not to blow things out of proportion but to recognize the things stressing us out are not just coming from our outside world. Stressors on the inside would include our physiology or biochemistry, our hormonal balance, and our digestive discomfort. These internal sources may add to our stress. Without knowing this we can’t realize that these internal stressors could be causing havoc, making things seem more overwhelming than they need to be. Thus, the importance of understanding and identifying the stress in our lives is vital as our body doesn’t do a great job of discerning inner from outer stress. It lumps all the different stressors together, making for one large stress load! Understanding stress can come from the outside and the inside is a good place to start. Understanding what we have control over in our outside world, as we investigate the cause of internal stress is of utmost importance, finding those things wreaking havoc and causing stress internally. 

The next thing to understand about stress is that it causes our body to be more vulnerable to symptoms and ongoing illness for the long haul. So stress is one of the things that, if we can manage it, it will help prevent adverse health issues for years to come. The third thing to think about when you think about stress is doing some sort of a ritual. Do you have something that you do that fills you up, that helps to create a bit of a boundary, a little bit of a barrier with the stressors that may be going on? This would include stressors both the inside and the outside. What are the things you do that are just for you? What are the things that bring you joy? What are the things that light you up? What are the things that give you a sense of fulfillment? We all need to do this audit to understand what we may be feeling in our life, but it isn’t priming happiness or bringing more of that joy in, right? These are some really crucial tactics for dealing with stress. If you want some more tips or if you know that stress is one of the things that’s causing the biggest obstacles, the biggest barrier can be getting the help that you deserve. If you need support in this department, feel free to reach out to us at any time. Let’s talk about ways that stress can be turned into something else and stop it from disrupting your health. Instead think about opening up space and opening up bandwidth for your body to be able to do what it does best, which is to take care of you. 

Alright, now let’s talk about owning your health because, guess what, it belongs to you. This message is getting lost in this slew of things that are going on out there in the world right now. The world can be a really scary place. It can feel like a place full of a lot of fear where we can feel paralyzed. There is a feeling that something bad is gonna happen to me too? How do I protect myself? How do I guard myself? There are a lot of these sentiments that are floating around. And we’re like Velcro picking them up, right? These sentiments are becoming a part of us. So I wanted to talk a little bit about how we can undo this feeling. How can we start to reverse this feeling and remind ourselves daily that we own our health, and we can take advantage of taking on that perspective? Because our health does belong to us. It’s not just something that’s Willy Nilly out there in the world. Our health is not something that is out there waiting to be taken. We can own our health! There is not nearly enough of this conversation happening out there and it should be talked more about.

So what are some things that we can do to build our health, not just play this waiting game, but how do we build our health from the ground up?  There are five main pieces that I want you to focus on and do a personal audit to see if you’re doing everything you can to boost and improve your health from the ground up. Number one, are you sleeping? Are you getting good rest? Are you getting good quality sleep before midnight? Are you pushing yourself to stay up later and work later? Are you feeling that kind of buzz at the end of the night where you can’t sleep? Are you giving yourself the opportunity to cradle yourself?  Go to bed and nurture yourself. This is all so very important on a cellular level. Number two Are you moving? Are you actually moving to the point that encourages circulation in your body, circulation in your lymph nodes, and your whole detoxification system? Are you moving? It doesn’t have to be some crazy workout plan or some crazy exercise that you’re doing every day. It can just be as simple as going for a 20-minute walk. Good for your body, good for your mind, and good at being proactive in your health. 

Next, what are you eating? Are you literally giving yourself fuel that your body recognizes and can convert into energy? That’s what eating should be about, for all of us. There’s been a lot of pleasure eating that we’ve slid into or a lot of quick, fast, easy eating. But really stop and ask yourself, “What did I have in a day?” “What did I have in a week?” Am I really eating whole, nutritious food that can be recognized by my body and turned into energy? 

Okay, number four, are we supplementing or supporting the body where it’s needed? Not just a patch job, but are we getting things like nutrient deficiencies up to sufficiency. It is really important to do appropriate lab work and be monitored by a practitioner that understands what to look for. Along with supplementation, number five is are you watching your stress? What’s going on with your nervous system? A stressed-out body is much more vulnerable to any sickness that may be circulating around. So checking your stress, not letting the whirlwind of information that’s flying around add to that stress, and keeping yourself centered within your circle of control. Focus on those things you do have control over is a huge way to deal with stress. It seems like it’s kind of an ongoing merry-go-round.

So, this is how you own your health. This is how you take it back into your control. You have to operate as your own best advocate in order to keep your house moving forward. This doesn’t have to be a waiting game. There’s so much you can do to move your health forward and get the results that you’re looking for. So as always, I would love to chat with you if this feels like what you’re looking for and if you want to learn more about how to dig into each of these five steps. Please reach out to Radiate Wellness and book a Strategy Session with one of our team members. We would love to help you dig into each of these five steps and discuss ways for you to be in the driver’s seat.