So, it has been quite the few weeks recently around here. I finished my 11 months of kaddish for my Dad, with his first yahrzeit (anniversary of death) coming up next month. My middle kid moved out into their own apartment, graduated university and has started doing job interviews. I got a new vehicle, a hybrid (yay!), and now we are figuring out what to do with my faithful steed of 20 years. I don’t think we’ve ever sold a car before – we’ve always driven them into the ground, but this is a Toyota and just won’t give up. We are also preparing to go on a family vacation for the first time since 2019, so that should be mostly fun, but we will be out of our comfy nest and re-integrating into travel and being with other humans.

All in all, mostly good things, but still a lot of stress. My body is not taking it well – all sorts of stupid little inflammation-related things have popped up. Nothing life-threatening or terrible, but just enough to let me know my subconscious would like things to settle down a bit. Well, I agree with you, subconscious, but sometimes life has its own ideas.

As always, I turned to research and talking with my coaches. Trying to get more sleep is an obvious one, but that can be easier said than done when your mind is overloaded. Meditation, herbal tea, and kicking myself off the Internet at a decent hour are all helping. 

I’ve been using essential oils like nobody’s business – diffusing them, rubbing them on my skin in strategic places, and sometimes even ingesting them. I don’t know whether they are helping, but at least it smells nice in my office and bedroom. Coconut oil has been helpful as well.

Then there’s cleaning up my diet – of course it’s mostly pretty good, but stress will sometimes lead to excess sugar, which is not great for inflammation. Those are the moments when I really need to get my hands out of the chocolate box and put myself to bed. Adaptogens have been a crucial part of my self-calming program, and I’m grateful to have easy access to them, as well.

I do know that I am very privileged to have such good things happening in my life. Now just to get those stress hormones settled down. I’d love to know what you do in such times!