Late to a meeting? Rushing out the door to pick up the kids? Eating lunch while trying to finish a project? Sounds like you need to have some stress management strategies in place, yes?

In our modern world, we seem to find stress to be a normal part of accomplishing our daily tasks. Like the ladies in my free and private community we are busy people. On any given day, I personally have a list with a half dozen some-odd things I’m supposed to try and get done. On top of that, I need to make time to prepare a few good meals for myself, get some exercise in, maybe see some friends, and oh yeah… sleep!

It’s a great thing to have the ability to accomplish so much in our lives, but large amounts of stress can be really detrimental to our health and happiness- increasing our risk for infections, heart disease, cancer, obesity, depression… the list goes on and on. While it may not be possible to stop our lives and head to Maui at the first symptoms of stress, it is possible to take some basic steps to reduce stress and increase our daily sense of wellness through stress management.

What is Stress?

Stress is your body’s response- its natural reaction- to challenges. It’s a healthy response! Our body is ready to deal with whatever comes at us by increasing blood flow, oxygen intake, and hormone production.

Stress can be a bit complicated to understand if you try to look for common symptoms. Physicians list stress symptoms to include anything from body pains and sweating to acne and insomnia to decreased sex drive and nausea. Psychologically we may feel ungrounded, chaotic, anxious, and depressed. I even sometimes get angry when I’m stressed out. Luckily, we don’t have to always stay in this state, but we first must learn how to identify and slow down when we are stressed out.

Mind Your Stress- Listen to Your Body Messages!

One clear point from these lists of potential symptoms is that stress is specific for each individual. We all experience stress but many of us tune out and don’t listen to our body messages to the ways our beautiful, caring selves tell us what is going on.

The first and most important thing we must learn to do when learning how to deal with stress is to SLOW DOWN and notice what we are feeling. Pay attention to what your body is telling you by feeling and identifying the sensations you are experiencing. This is a practice of mindfulness.

However, slowing down and getting in our bodies to identify our internal language can be hard when we are in a rush. But, never fear my friends, I am here to bring you 5 excellent hacks to help you slow down, pay attention to yourself, and feel more Zen in no time.

The Five First Aid Fixes for Stress Management

1. Sip on Some Water

When you really get worked up, try sipping on a glass of water. Don’t chug the water- that’s beside the point. Slowly sip and sip and sip your stress away. Not only are you calming yourself down, but you are also hydrating and flushing your body out. This is really a helpful tip if you struggle with emotional eating.

2. Smile and Laugh

I literally mean just this. You don’t need a funny movie or even a joke Take a moment in private and quietly laugh or smile to yourself for at least five minutes. Studies have shown that the act of smiling, even for nothing, actually tricks your brain into releasing happy hormones.

3. Go for a Walk

Recognize that you aren’t being productive? See that you are stressed out? Go for a walk to cool off and get out of your head space. Feel your feet on the ground, listen to the sounds around you, and enjoy the fresh air on your face. When you get back to your activities, I guarantee good things.

4. The Deep Breath

Have to stay put but way too stressed out? Take 10 deep, long full breaths- count them. Taking these mindful breaths will immediately slow you down and help get you in touch with your body. This is an excellent first aid tip for a meeting situation since you can do it without anyone noticing.

5. Talk to a friend

If it is really a hard time, there is nothing wrong with responsibly seeking social support. It has been shown that regular individual levels of stress and healthy social support are inversely correlated. That means that those dear people in our lives actually help reduce our level of stress on average.

I hope you try out these quick tips for stress management. Let me know how stress is showing you in your life for you by writing on the community page or in the comment box below. Further, if you like these tips and are looking for more ways to bring mindfulness into your life, check out this seminar “Just listen your body is speaking to you”.

Usually, January & April is the time of the year where I get all sort of questions regarding detox in my free and private community. Typically everyone is wanting to start a detox, a cleanse some kind of ritual that will make them feel better after the “overindulgence” of the last few months….

Bottom line is we do not feel good and it’s because our body is overwhelmed.

When I first got into healthy living, I did a few smoothie detoxes and juice fasting- and for a while, I genuinely thought they worked. I have to admit these detox/cleanse gave me a buzz but I didn’t understand why at the time. I’ve come to realize – both personally and professionally – that I was overplaying the effects of the various techniques.

I now know that no detox is necessary to stay healthy.

Your innate detoxification system

The truth is we do not need weird ritual to detox here’s why: the fact is, the only time that you are not detoxing is when you are dead.

Our bodies are constantly sifting through the stuff we put into them and forcing out waste and toxins. Every minute of every day.

Every cell in the body has the ability to detoxify itself and break down environmental and metabolic waste. The lymphatic system carries the waste from the cells to the bloodstream. The liver filters the waste from the blood and finally, our kidneys are an extremely sensitive and powerful filtering waste disposal system. All this is happening. Right here, right now without any juice cleanse or smoothie detox.

Why do I feel like “this” then

What I hear the most often in my private practice & community sound something like this:

“I have over indulged in the last few days, weeks (sometimes months) and I feel like “$%$!” I’m bloated, my tummy aches, I have lots of gas, my skin is breaking out, I’m not regular anymore and when I go it smells really bad, I have a tons of sugar cravings, I use to be able to eat clean easy and now I can’t control myself, (I could go on forever but I will stop). Stephanie, I need a detox!!”

First consider why you “over-indulge” in the first place? Why do you need to over consume food pass your natural fullness signals? Restriction is typically the primary reason why we “over-indulge”… because we label food as “good” or “bad” and restrict bad food yet our subconscious mind desire what is forbidden … innate reaction!

Really what you need is not detox but rather to give your body a break, or more specifically your “gut”a break from overeating. The symptoms you feel are simply messages from your body from being overwhelmed.

You need to stop the flow of toxic into your body and allow the body to deal with the backup. No need for green juice, green smoothie or expensive detox supplements.

Your gut is the key

The “gut” is really what we call the digestive system: intestine, stomach, gallbladder, and colon. When we overeat pass natural fullness signals we overwhelm and offend our digestive system. One can say that our digestive system becomes literally “piss it off”.

When an overwhelming amount of foods are ingested, the digestive system is alone to do all the work to process, package and evacuate all the stuff that is not needed (which is most of it!). That’s is a lot of work!

In the process, we create a lots of inflammation and this is what cause the bloating. Most of us are intolerant to some of these foods which causes the gas and bloating as well.

Inflammation cause water retention which is the reason why you can put on between 5 to 10 lbs in a week worth of time. It’s all water.

The solution to your detox

So back to my clients that feels like “$%$!” what do I recommended they do to give the digestive system a break:

• First, respect your natural fullness and hunger signals. 
• Get back to basics: eat mostly real food: protein, fat and carbs.
• Drink 2-3 liver of water per day. Avoid pop, coffee and or sugary drinks.
• Exercise, sweat a little. Walking, hot yoga, weight training whatever you prefer.
• Continue this regimen for a few weeks.

This will allow the body and digestive system to literally relax and heal itself. 

Simply put you will stop assaulting your body and the innate detoxification of your body will then be able to do its work as it should.

In our free and private community, we often discuss the connection between our body and our mind and what we can do to increase this connection. Science has told us that suppressed emotions can actually be stored in our physical body as muscle and tissue tightness or even in more advanced cases, as disease.

Addressing the area tightness in our body through fascial stretch therapy can help move you forward in your journey faster.

An open body is an open mind!

What is Fascia?

Fascia is an amazing part of the human body that most people don’t even know exists. Fascia is a three-dimensional web of tissue that extends from head to toe, front to back, and inside to outside without interruption. It is the most influential factor affecting your flexibility at all ages! Fascial restrictions do not show up on ordinary diagnostic tests such as MRIs, CT scans and X-rays.

Unlike traditional stretching that attempts to isolate and stretch specific muscles, FST™ creates lasting change and dramatically improves your flexibility by decompressing your joints and unwinding the connective tissue “fabric” of your body. Lack of flexibility and general “tightness” is the cause of most people’s day-to-day aches and pains and significantly affects your health, quality of life and longevity.

Benefits of Fascial Stretch Therapy:

• Improves physical and emotional well-being
• Reduces and eliminate pain
• Improves flexibility and mobility
• Improves weight loss
• Improves body alignment and posture
• Improves circulation
• Improves energy
• Increases performance and recovery

Who Needs Fascial Stretch Therapy?

FST™ (Fascial Stretch Therapy) is the perfect complement to your health regimen. Whether you’re a professional, executive, parent, athlete, weekend warrior, FST™ assists in the maintenance and structural integrity of the body and can improve your health and wellness. If you suffer from physical displacement such as lower back pain or simply just fatigue, releasing your fascia will impact and balance your whole body and improve your metabolism. Learn more about Fascial Stretch Therapy™ at
Stretch To Win website

What Can I Expect From a Fascial Stretch Therapy Session?

FST™ sessions are performed on a message type table equipped with comfortable padded straps that stabilize the parts of the body not being worked on. Clients typically wear loose-fitting or athletic clothing. Flexibility sessions resemble a fluidly choreographed dance between the therapist and the client. You do this while you breathe and ease into a gradual series of gentle, but deep stretching movements. The experience is relaxing and pain-free. In fact, many clients “zone-out” while being stretched and wake up with what feels like an entirely new body!

Where Can I Get Fascia Stretch Therapy?

If you want to experience Fascial Stretch Therapy and see how it can change your life, fast-track your mind-body connection, increase your flexibility and freedom, just head over to the Stretch To Win website and look for your local practitioner.

****This blog post will review the GAPS diet at a high level. ****

Do you or any of your family members regularly experience common digestive problems such as heartburn (reflux), indigestion, bloating, cramping, constipation, or diarrhea?

Do any of you suffer from eczema, asthma, dyslexia, or depression?

Have your children received labels such as autism, ADD or ADHD?

Do you wonder if there is a common link between any of these things?

A few years ago, I became a member of WAPF (Weston A. Price Foundation)and discovered the GAPS diet book. As a nutritionist, this was a major discovery. I finally had in front of me, a tool that would allow me to help many people resolve their psychological and physiological distress at its root cause.

So what is the basic premise of the GAPS diet?

It’s Simple: healing the gut.

Yes, the GAPS diet is like a “reset button” that allows for the healing and regeneration of the digestive system. That is truly what the GAPS diet is all about. It is not about a quick “fix” or making some improvements in the way that our digestive system functions. It is so much more than that. Rather it is about completely pulling back from all those things that exacerbate our already over-loaded, tired, lethargic, toxin-ridden, out-of-balance and damaged system so that our gut can truly heal.

What does the GAPS diet address?

Here is a brief list of some of the symptoms and disorders that are very often related to the gut and that have been positively impacted by the GAPS diet:

• Psychological disorders such as ADD, ADHD, depression , addiction, learning disabilities, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, bipolar disorder, epilepsy, eating disorders and many other psychological conditions.
• Physiological disorders such autoimmune conditions (celiac, rheumatoid arthritis, MS, lupus, osteoarthritis, Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, skin problems, etc.), asthma, food allergies, chronic cystitis (bladder infection), colic, eczema, fibromyalgia, PMS, endocrine disorders (thyroid, adrenal and others) and all digestive disorders.

GAPS includes three main principles

1. Healing the gut – This occurs by avoiding all foods that irritate it, and by consuming only foods that will nourish and heal it.
2. Repopulating the gut with beneficial bacteria – This is done by avoiding all foods that feed opportunistic (bad) bacteria/gut flora. Also, high quality probiotic supplements are used to actively repopulate the gut while cleansing/starving of the bad bacteria.
3. Getting rid of toxins – This happens in a number of ways. First, by limiting the diet to only foods that can be easily digested and eliminated, then by strengthening the gut and the beneficial bacteria so that they can deal with toxins thoroughly, and finally by fresh juicing to speed up the elimination of toxins.

Detoxifying is one of the most crucial benefits of the GAPS diet. When there is an overgrowth of yeast, bad bacteria, fungi, parasites and anything else that stems from gut dysbiosis (an unhealthy, improperly functioning intestinal tract), myriads of dangerous toxins are produced. These toxins are able to alter brain chemistry, cause auto-immune reactions, severely hamper immunity against infections, and more.

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride

In a nutshell, “Through her research, [Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride] has determined a distinct correlation between unhealthy intestinal flora, poor digestion and toxicity from chemicals created by undigested foods, which can severely affect brain chemistry.”-(Source: Weston A. Price Foundation book review).

Watch:

I do have to mention that this is not a quick-fix diet. The diet GAPS can take anywhere from several months to up to 2 years depending on the severity of your symptoms and how your body responds to the healing work that takes place.

To better support the individual on the GAPS diet, support groups and classes are available, as well as private consultations.

Need help to start the GAPS diet

If you are looking for a more in-depth review of the GAPS diet, head over to the official site for GAPS certified practitioner here.

If you are looking for one on one coaching I’m also happy to recommend Dr. Biljana Uzelac. You can reach Dr.Uzelac 1-219 232.2772 and also visit her website here.