SUPPORTING MY BODY THROUGH STRESS - How I'm avoiding the effects of stress and how you can too!

Recently I’ve been catching up with my herbalist who was mostly responsible for my complete gut overhaul.

The last two periods I’ve had were late which is unusual for me these days and both were late by two weeks. I recognised this as a message from my body indicating something was up..

I was due to catch up with my herbalist anyway so took it as an opportunity to bring things up with her.

She asked me were things particularly stressful lately to which I replied no..

She then asked me what had changed in the past two months and I let her know I began studying full time alongside working. She basically laughed in my face (in the nicest way possible) and then proceeded to write done in capital letters “STRESS” in the box titled “cause of symptoms” on her sheet of paper.

She made me realize that despite not feeling stressed, my body is still actually physically and mentally being put through full time work and full time study and then everything else on the side.

I am a really relaxed person and I don’t think of myself as a real stressy kinda gal, which is why I believe I was so convinced that stress couldn’t be the answer to my irregular periods.

We went over the fact being stressed out doesn't always have to feel like it, its just about taking a step back and looking at everything you've got going on and recognising that perhaps everything you have on your plate may be quite stressful for your body and it may be the cause of negative symptoms.

We also discussed the importance of providing our bodies with support through different ways, in different times during our lives to ensure we are always functioning optimally.

For me, right now, I’m supporting my body and in particular my immune system, adrenals and hormones through use of herbs and a good quality powder consisting of a bunch of the essential vitamins and minerals my body needs to function at its best in times of stress especially.

The vitamin and mineral supplement and herbal tonic made with different herbs to support my inner environment

By supporting my body with the appropriate minerals and vitamins + good food I am going to be functioning better internally and I am less likely to experience the adverse effects of the stress – which for me has been irregular periods and skin flare ups.

It will also help to keep my immune system strong coming into the colder months (and the dreaded flu jab forced on us nurses) – KEY when working in a hospital.

All the good stuff inside the mineral powder

I’ve come out the other side reminded how crazy, amazing and complex our bodies are and super excited to share in this blog about how we can support our amazing bodies during stress through simple, natural strategies.

Although its something I recommend 10000000%, I understand not all of us have access to or have the option to see a herbalist or naturopath and that’s totally okay, its still possible to implement simple methods to support our bodies.

We all get stressed, (whether we know about it or not – AKA me) but it doesn’t always have to mean a big crash landing is coming.

Here are some tips I’ve accumulated to help you support your bod through stress to avoid said crash landing..

- Eat a good diet. I know, I’m a broken record but I literally cannot stress this enough!

Little side note that is kind of completely unrelated right now but.. I actually heard on the radio today that poor diet killed more people in 2017 than SMOKING DID. Supposedly these people all died from heart disease, cancer or diabetes due to eating a poor diet. Whether that’s actually true or not, who knows, nevertheless I was mind blown.

A good diet is a super simple way to keep the environment within our bodies calm – junk foods, foods we’re intolerant or allergic to, hard to digest foods and foods which don’t serve us cause a lot of issues within us like inflammation, gas, bloating – all really stressful states for the body to be in. We can be relaxing on the couch drinking a glass of wine feeling as relaxed as ever but our insides will be chaos!

Support a calm inner environment as well as a calm external environment.

In times of stress our bodies also use more energy so they need this to be replaced and it needs to be replaced in the form of good food or supplements, which provide us with all the essential vitamins and minerals helping our bodies to function optimally. This Is where the vitamin and mineral powder comes in which the herbalist gave me - its a super easy powder to dilute and guzzle first thing to provide my body with the fuel it needs!

Another little tip is don’t skip meals. Sometimes when were stressed out eating food kind of takes a back seat but going too long without food can communicate that we are in a famine, increasing our bodies stress levels.

- Good quality sleep! Easier said than done for some of us, I know. A tip is to take a good quality magnesium supplement, this helps us to fall asleep and stay asleep at night, allowing our bodies the rest and recovery they need – decreasing stress!

Magnesium is also depleted in times of stress and symptoms of this can include fatigue and anxiety (no thanks) so make sure your getting a good source of magnesium in ya stat!

- Vitamin C + Echinacea. Two goodies to supplement with in times of stress to give your immune system some encouragement. In times of stress our immune systems can be weakened which can lead to us getting sick. Supplementing with these two bad boys can help prevent that!

- B Vitamins. As if your not already taking enough vitamins, why not take some more! Or do some research and try incorporate more into your diet – think whole grains, nuts and seeds. B vitamins support our adrenal glands, our adrenals are responsible for cortisol production and can be a bit overworked in times of stress so supplementing with B vitamins is kind of like giving them a hug (cute).

Vitamin C, Echinacea and B vitamins are all in the supplements I received from my herbalist to support my inner environment throughout times of stress - so I cant recommend these 3 enough for adrenal support!

- Yoga or meditation! One that’s getting more and more hype these days is yoga and meditation! Both practices teach deep, controlled breathing which directly affects our cortisol (stress) levels. Breathing deeply, into the tummy as opposed to shallowly into the chest, signals to the central nervous system (in simple terms, our brain) that we are not in danger and we are safe, decreasing cortisol then and there – another super easy one to try!

- TUMERIC! Packed with antioxidants which decrease inflammation, which as i mentioned before, is a stressful state for our bodies to be in, and one which we don’t want. Season your chicken or veges with some turmeric to add an anti-inflammatory element - beware its kinda spicy and WHATEVER you do, don’t wear white because BOY does it stain.

There we have six super easily implemented strategies to support our bodies through stressful times. Natural support is a topic I’m super passionate about and I’m hoping this short and sweet blog post encourages you to listen to your body more and explore what the cause of niggly symptoms may be and then support your body accordingly.

Its also a reminder that life is a roller-coaster and our bodies, although they may be healthy, may still need support in getting through things which crop up. Its all about identifying when our bodies are trying to let us know they’re a little run down or somethings not quite right, and supporting the appropriate organs before it turns into something huge!

P.s I’ve been a little MIA this week, its Thursday and this is only my first blog post for the week. But I’ve listened to your requests on what you want to see and in the workings currently is a beginners guide to workouts + my contraceptive journey and how I got my period back after years of no period!

Happy almost Friday!!

Vaida xx