How to Recognize the Effects of Stress in Your Life
Towards the end of 2017 early part of 2016, I noticed something happening in my mood and behavior that I didn’t understand. I’m typically a very happy go lucky –laid back but driven person, but for some reason, something happened that peaked in January of 2018 where my typically happy nature was completely hidden by what I now not so affectionately call “the beast.”
You see, 2017 was a big year. My husband and I had our second child, I was actively trying to create a culture of change and community at the studio, --oh, and we were remodeling our house. (you know, none of those things are major, right?!? HA!) You could say I had a lot of responsibilities.
I never really thought much about it, because the stress of all these wonderful responsibilities grew subtly, and honestly,
I always thought I had perfectly good coping skills and could manage an insane amount of stress with grace.
I mean, I spent nearly 15 years on a trading floor…. that had its moments.
Like I said, I always assumed I could handle whatever it was that life threw at me, until life gave me a big ole huge piece of humble pie.
Right around my 38th birthday (yes, I claim the age) I FINALLY noticed I was incredibly irritable. I mean, irritable to the point of I would see myself responding—sorta like an out of body experience and think to myself, “WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?!?!” Don’t worry, none of this was violent, but it was definitely loud (my poor amazingly sweet and understanding husband) and most often, it was this crazy inner dialogue that said nastier things than I would EVER say out loud. I’m talking BAD.
I didn’t understand why the smallest thing would set me off. I’m talking small here people. I would lose my stuff. Legit.
Then, here’s the most embarrassing thing… my eyes started twitching.
Stress can wreak havoc on your life
Yup, that’s me, twitchy eye girl.
It was one morning when I had to run to my room to scream into a pillow because I absolutely refused to blow up in front of the babies when I thought to myself….something is not right, but what is wrong?
I never suffered from postpartum depression with my first child, so it never dawned on me to think about PPD. I also have ALWAYS—read here ALWAYS been under a lot of pressure—I do it to myself…so that didn’t dawn on me to be a cause.
It wasn’t until I reached out to Certified Integrative Health Coach, and new Studio manager Kristy Dusevic asked her aboutmy symptoms that I was educated about stress and its long term effects on the adrenal system. (more about THAT coming up SOON!)
Symptoms of Unmanaged Stress
- loss of sleep (yup, I had that)
- irritability (I had that in spades)
- change in appetite (i hate admitting this, but yup, I would be voraciously hungry for no reason!
- unable to focus (Can you say, "Squirrel" anyone?)
- aches, pains, muscle soreness
- low energy
Basically, the list of things ailing me was almost as long as Santa's naughty list (it seemed).
Kristy educated me on several key factors that impacted my body's natural ability to manage stress:
Factors that impact the body's ability to manage stress:
- Age --since I’m closer to 40 than 30 (thanks for that reminder by the way), my body doesn’t rebound the way that it used to.
- Current Life Circumstances -- I just had a baby, that's a pretty stressful Life Circumstance, so my adrenal system took a pretty big hit. Add to it all the stress of managing a family life and a small business…no wonder I felt like I was going bananas…
- Sleep Deprivation- with an infant, sleep is a miracle straight from heaven. I was in short supply of that miracle.
How an Integrative Health Coach can help:
After our talk, Kristy recommended that I
- lay off the coffee (ya, right!),
- sugar--i'm trying!! and then
- she gave me some supplements to support my thyroid and adrenal glands
Wouldn’t you know it—no kidding, within a day I felt better, within 3 days I was back to my happy go lucky (still under a lot of stress) self.
It was nothing short of amazing. Within a matter of days, I went back to sleeping well (when Caleb allowed me), managing to be proactive instead of reactive to situations that came up, and overall feeling more happy and energetic. I'm talking less than 3 days!
Recognizing Stress is Important
When you realize that something seems "off" pay attention!
When I finally started to pay attention to my body, my diet, and my practice--I realized I needed to seek help because something just wasn't right.
I encourage you to do the same today.
Let's stay healthy, together.
That is why Touch Move Heal is so Important
Stress is legit. We ALL have to deal with it. Some people deal with it through drugs and alcohol. Some people deal with it through excessive eating or exercise. Some people lose the capacity to deal with it and start yelling into pillows (I’m raising my hands here)….it wasn’t pretty.
We don’t have to deal with it like that though.
We have tools.
Tools to Manage Stress
- Yoga.
- Breath.
- Massage, and
- Herbal Remedies
…and guess what, they work. I am here to tell you they work AMAZINGLY well.
Ask my husband.
I believe in yoga. I believe in the amazing human body. Our bodies WANT to be well. Our bodies want to serve us. We HAVE to listen to them and help them and feed them and nurish them in a way to allow that to happen. Let’s figure out how together, with Touch Move Heal, a Natural way to manage stress.