Back to school shopping, fall sports and fall schedules are all looking a little different this year. The unknowns of the season can easily put added stress on our bodies, which is exactly what we don’t need right now.

If you’re experiencing added stress, your body may be telling you exactly that by increasing your anxiety, insomnia, sugar or salt cravings, irritability, heartburn, change in periods, weight gain, plus many more. Chronic stress cripples the adrenals and makes it hard for your body to compensate properly. So what do we do as we are running from the tornado into the hurricane?

5 Things to Try Today to Manage Stress

1. Cut out what you can.

In this season it’s best to work smarter, not harder. For example if you are always stressed about making lunch before work, make a few easy meals ahead of time so your meals are then effortless.

2. Reframe what you can and find the calm in the storm.

A gratitude journal, meditation, yoga, deep breathing, or night time bath—these are just a few recommendations to help the body relax. Since a lot of stress is not removable, it is important to try and find a way to experience calmness. Your body follows your mind. If the mind can be calm for even 5-10 minutes, that helps!

3. Eat a healthy, whole food anti-inflammatory diet.

And don’t skip meals! Healthy nutrition supports healthy hormones and optimal recovery. Skipping meals can add even more stress to the body.

4. Keep a regular rhythm.

Get up at the same time and go to bed at the same time. Providing your body a routine can help support a natural hormone rhythm.

5. Add in supplements and adaptogens.

There are several natural options to help support your adrenals, including adaptogens, herbs that help your body adapt to stress. Some examples include Siberian ginseng, rhodiola, cordyceps to help with your stress response. Or ashwagandha, magnolia, theanine (from green tea), which can help to calm and improve sleep. Several vitamin options include vitamin C, zinc, and B5. With any of these suggested changes, it’s best to consult with your doctor first.

Stress may never go away in our current environment, but there are some tangible action items you can implement to make it just a little more tolerable. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, like you can’t manage it on your own, or like there might be something more than chronic stress going on, we’re here to help with a personalized approach to your care.

Katie Brandt

Katie is our champion of member experience. You’ll meet her at our admin desk, or chat with her over the phone answering all your questions and making sure your patient care with us is seamless. When she isn’t running our office, she’s buried in a good book, shopping local vintage stores & baking delicious treats!

Jenikka Tomashek, DNP, APRN, CNP

Jenikka Tomashek is a Certified Nurse Practitioner with a doctorate degree in Nursing and 10 years of experience. Jenikka is a diagnostic magician—she understands disease process really well, which gives her a leg up to be able to apply functional medicine principles to her knowledge base. Working in internal medicine, she’s experienced many patients who didn’t heal with conventional treatments. She found functional medicine to be a complement to traditional medicine, and she’s found the combination to be the best way to serve patients.

Nursing, which Jenikka’s experience is grounded in, is founded on compassionate, dedicated patient care that also cares deeply about the individual and their story. She believes in the philosophy of finding and treating the root cause of symptoms, educating patients, and focusing on the prevention of future disease.