Welcome to your Stress-busting Toolkit

Thanks for taking my stress-inventory quiz. Below you’ll find:

  • A PDF download of simple nutritional shifts you can make to help support your ability to navigate through stressful situations.

  • A guided bedtime meditation to help you fall asleep.

  • An Emotional Resilience assignment to help fortify your self-trust.

Eat Right For Fight or Flight

While you can’t eat your way out of a fight or flight response, you certainly CAN support your body’s ability to respond to stress with clarity and perspective. One of the easiest ways to make this happen is to make sure you are fed and hydrated throughout the day. I know, it seems too simple. But spiky blood sugar levels can wreak havoc on your awareness of a.) the stressor itself and b.) the way you respond to it.

The pdf download shares some simple shifts you can make to stay well-fed throughout the day. In terms of meal timing, the cadence I like to work with is:

  1. Eat within an hour of waking

  2. Eat every 3 hrs (some can go longer, but with the activity levels I have at work, I need to eat sooner) I alternate breakfast at 6:30/7, snack at 10, lunch at 12/1, snack at 4/5 and dinner at 6/7. I also have a sweet treat at night, which is not ideal for blood sugar, but we’re not dealing in perfection. We’re working with our humanity. :)

Bedtime Meditation

Sometimes we need someone to proverbially “rock us” to sleep. That’s exactly what this meditation is intended for. In fact, if you fall asleep in the middle of it, you’ve won. You did it! In the event that my voice is not what you want to fall asleep to, listen to the practice and try to do it on your own with your own favorite calming music. Involved in the practice is breathing, blinking and a progressive relaxation practice. Enjoy!

Emotional Resilience Assignment

Emotional resilience is a crucial skill in navigating life's challenges. The exercises that follow are designed to guide you through strategies that can fortify your emotional resilience, empowering you to handle stressors effectively.

Step One:

Mindful Breathing Exercise:

Take a moment to engage in deep breathing. Inhale for a count of four, hold for two, and exhale for a count of six. Repeat this process for three cycles. Notice how your body responds to the calming rhythm of your breath.

Final Assignment:

Step Two:

Emotional Inventory:

When faced with a stressful or challenging situation, what does your self-talk sound like? What emotions are activated? Reflect on this for a moment and then write a few possible solutions surrounding how you can best support yourself when stress arises.

Step Three:

Thought Restructuring Exercise:

Identify a negative thought that often surfaces for you in stressful situations. Take out your journal and do your best to challenge the thought, reframing it using evidence that supports a more supportive perspective for your stress levels.

Build Your Stress Coping Plan:

It’s time to create a simple stress coping plan for the upcoming week. Answer the following questions to put some simple shifts into play to support yourself during the week ahead. Please include any items that you know would be helpful but don’t come up in the questions.

  • What is one thing you can do to ensure that you have plenty to eat this week?

  • What is one thing you can do to support yourself in moments of stress this week?

  • What is one thing you can do to support your sleep this week?

  • Who is one person that would feel really good to connect with this week?

  • What is one area of media that contributes unnecessarily to your stress levels that you can turn off/see less of in the week.

  • (This last question is not an effort to spiritually bypass or avoid being informed. Rather, think about recognizing where you spend more time than is necessary, contributing to your overall stress levels.)

Feeling the pull of progress?

Health Coaching is calling! Get ready for a fully supportive coaching relationship that will help you develop emotional resilience and amplify your stress-busting strategies through nutrition, movement, nervous system regulation tools and more!

Book your free consult today!