One of the things I am most passionate about is helping women find healthy, natural solutions to their struggles in life. I firmly believe that most of the standard American struggles like stress, lack of sleep, obesity, aches/pains, mood/behavior struggles can all be healed in a natural way.
Always the disclaimer before we proceed, I am not a doctor nor do I pretend I am. I am not saying medicine or prescriptions are bad, I just find the natural solution first. Just a mom, sharing her experience. Okay, glad we got that done with.
My Story is Like Yours
My story is much like yours, probably. A woman that becomes anxious, wants to do ALL OF THE THINGS in her home, life, and for her family. And I try to hold myself together all while trying to shower and not look like a homeless person.
My story about anxiety is a story that started when I was 15 (at least that’s as far back as I can remember). As soon as I entered high school I started to become anxious, depressed, and stressed out. I was put on prescription anti-anxiety pills at the sweet age of 16 and struggled ever since.
There’s probably a million reasons why these things happened, but they were struggles I began to carry with me well in to college and my married life.
After research, trial and error, I realized that what I was putting in to my body fueled my anxiety and stress. It wasn’t until I cleaned up my nutrition, got some accountability, and got off synthetic hormonal birth control that I was able to heal from the emotional outbursts, anxiety, and stress.
My story isn’t unique, it’s the story of many women in our culture today. And while there are so many things I can share with you about how I healed myself from these things, today I am specifically going to share with you tips to limit stress and ease anxiety
1. Get a to-do list that goes everywhere with you
One of the best tips I can give you is to get better organized with your thoughts and your time. Often we dwell on the same thought over and over, allowing it to stress us out. How many times have you thought, “I can’t forget to get toilet paper at Target?”. You carry it around with you for days. Or you go to bed at night thinking of all of the things you have to do tomorrow.
I recommend downloading the Wunder List app right away and creating to do lists in there for your thoughts. Get in to the habit of adding things to your list as you think of them. That way you can release trying to hold on to all of these different things.
I have a list for just about everything; today, this week, action items to get done when I have free time (lol), Christmas gift lists. I have lists for Target, Costco, and Sprouts all of which I share with my husband. This way he can add things to the list or if he makes a pit stop, he can check the list and grab the things we need.
2. Gut Health for Less Stress
The gut and the brain are connected to one another. Therefore, stomach or intestinal distress can be the cause or the product of anxiety, stress, or depression. If our gut is unhealthy, we are unhealthy.
Our gut is home to about 70-80% of our immune system. Our gut affects our mood, stress, weight, aches, inflammation, cravings, etc. Let’s just say, just about everything can be linked back to our gut.
What makes an unhealthy gut? Too much processed sugars, food chemicals, over use of antibiotics, prescription drugs, lack of sleep, all can destroy the good bacteria in our gut.
Good bacteria = healthy gut
So what improves our gut? Consuming more pre and probiotic foods. Limiting processed foods and processed sugars. Getting enough rest and even doing a full gut reset can help improve your gut.
3. CBD Oil to Help Anxiety and Stress
Have you heard of CBD? There is a rising trend in talking about the use of CBD (Cannabidiol) to help with emotional struggles like anxiety and stress. CBD comes from the cannabis plant. CBD is the major non-psychoactive component of the plant.
Research has only begun on the health benefits of CBD and its ability to reduce inflammation, decrease anxiety, and even fight cancer. CBD oil may help manage anxiety throughout the day, without the psychoactive properties of THC.
I highly recommend doing your research and finding a quality, organic CBD oil you trust. Also, ALWAYS do your own research before incorporating anything new, like CBD in to your daily routine.
If you would like a recommendation for a CBD oil, you can find mine here. You can use the code ANNAP at checkout to save $50 on your first order. I would love the opportunity to connect with you if you are considering ordering. You can always send me an email anna@ourfaithfilledhome.com if you have any questions or want to talk further.
4. Quiet Time for Yourself
Scheduling in 30-60 minutes of quiet time for yourself a day can make a huge difference in your stress levels. Try setting the alarm for 15 minutes earlier tomorrow. Stick to that 15 minutes and set yourself up to just sit and pray or journal. As you become strong in the 15 minutes, increase that time to 30, 45, and 60 minutes.
Quiet time to yourself doesn’t require a full hour, although in my own life I have seen the most benefit when I have a long period of time to reflect and unwind my thoughts.
Quite time allows you to check in with yourself. How are you feeling? What did you love about your day yesterday? What are you grateful for in life? These moments with yourself will help you feel more connected and grounded during the day.
5. Healing Your Body
It is possible you are addicted to caffeine, processed foods, or processed sugars. These can all negatively impact stress and anxiety. To me I would say I am addicted to one of these things IF I cannot go a day or several times a day without it.
Over use of caffeine or sugar just to get a boost of energy throughout the day is probably a sign that you need a reset.
I recommend eliminating these things from your day to day and commit to a healthy reset. During your reset you can use whole foods, superfoods, and probiotics to heal your body. Food then becomes a significant source of energy to get you through your day.
6. Consider your Hormonal Birth Control
If you are using hormonal birth control and experiencing anxiety, depression, or stress, I highly recommend doing some research. This article here about the pill, hormones, and link to depression is an excellent read. Dr. Joleen Brighten has incredible information on her site and in her book about hormonal birth control and how to heal yourself from some of the side effects.
I’m obviously not a doctor, but I can tell you I grew up my whole life believing I had severe depression, anxiety, and mood swings. As soon as I got off the pill, my life completely changed.
This is one of those cases where if you are thinking “what if?”, I encourage you to be your own advocate and do your research. Stop leaving your health in the hands of one white coat who says “it’s not linked”. Do your research!!
7. Better Sleep
Better sleep improves so many areas of your life, especially stress. If you have trouble falling asleep at night or getting restful sleep, try a natural sleep aid. Tart cherry juice is one of my favorites and I drink it every night to help me sleep. Tart cherry juice is a natural source of melatonin.
My favorite tart cherry juice, the one I drink every night is here. You can use code: ANNAP to save $50 on your first $75 order!
8. Yoga and Movement
Move your body daily in a way that feels good. Consider a quick yoga session first thing in the morning to clear your thoughts and to release tension. Take a walk during your lunch hour if you have had a stressful day in the office.
An Added Bonus
I hope you found these 8 tips helpful on your journey to relieve stress naturally. I have an extra gift for you. I have created this Stress Relief Quick Guide for you to download to your email. Inside I include foods to help with stress, 10 ways to improve your stress, and a workbook area for you.
Download it here and start enjoying the many benefits of natural stress relief!
