Project Happiness Articles — wellness

Stress is a faithful friend. It doesn’t discriminate and it will never leave you. Its regular, intense presence will weigh down on you, instigate early onset aging, damage your immune system and lead to mental fragility. At the very heart of your responsiveness to stress lies the hormone Cortisol, which is simultaneously essential for self-preservation and the bane of your existence. But why is everyone so riled up about a meager hormone?

The definition of Overwhelm: “feeling completely overcome in mind or emotion.” Maybe we have too much on our plate, maybe the to-do list is ridiculously long, maybe we’ve packed on too many “shoulds” in there. We stress about feeling stressed! But with overwhelm, there’s also the feeling of lack of control, and lack of clarity – we’re going to address those with two strategies to help you move forward.

As a licensed naturopathic physician with twenty years of integrative medical practice under my belt, I have seen over and over again that when people are trying to make change—whether this is a diet change, a lifestyle change, or an attitude change—their limitations, habits, and tendencies can get in the way of their best intentions.

Wellness, contrary to belief, is not just about the absence of illness. There’s more to the quality of our life than simply not being sick, and modern-day living can sometimes make it difficult to remember this. We get stuck in that fast-paced chaos of work, errands, and appointments, and we barely notice how much it drains us, bit by bit, until we’re completely exhausted.

Who am I to preach? I spend a minimum of eight hours in front of my computer screen when I’m at work, and a couple of hours extra on my phone and in front of the TV when I get home. However, I’m well aware of the bad influence this has on my health, so I try to give my brain the opportunity to rest. It’s what digital detox is all about.

I know that’s how I got through my undiagnosed celiac life. I was super focused on family, living by my mom’s example, and making sure everyone was healthy, a good person, and discovering the things that made them happy. That was my focus. It gave me this unbelievable strength. I could not fail, even when I was ill.