Dealing With Stress

Supporting your body, calming your mind, and making room for balance.

Stress is a normal part of life. When we encounter a challenge, the body activates the stress response, which can increase heart rate and breathing, raise blood pressure, and cause muscles to tense. This response can be useful in the short term, but ongoing stress can contribute to problems such as headaches, digestive symptoms, and sleep difficulties. The goal isn’t to eliminate every source of stress. Instead, supporting the body’s ability to recover and relax can be an important part of overall wellness.

Make Time to Reset

Stress support doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes the most meaningful changes are simple ones practiced consistently.

• Breathe: Take a few slow, comfortable breaths and consciously allow your shoulders and jaw to relax.
• Move: Walking, stretching, yoga, and other forms of regular physical activity can provide an opportunity to release tension and reconnect with your body.
• Rest: Create a calming evening routine and give yourself time to transition from the activity of the day toward sleep.
• Nourish: Regular balanced meals and adequate hydration provide the foundation your body needs to meet everyday demands.
• Reconnect: Time spent with people who make you feel supported can be an important part of emotional wellbeing.
• Be Present: Even a few quiet minutes of mindfulness, meditation, prayer, or simply stepping away from your routine can create space to reset.

There is no single approach to managing stress. A holistic approach looks at the whole person—body, mind, emotions, environment, and daily habits—and considers how they work together.

Rather than relying on one strategy, think in terms of layers of support: nourishing the body, getting adequate rest, moving regularly, practicing relaxation techniques, spending time with supportive people, and making space for recovery. Listen to what your body is telling you, make room for recovery, and remember that caring for yourself is not an indulgence—it’s part of supporting your overall well-being. Supplements should complement—not replace—appropriate medical or mental-health care.

Formulas to Know: Nutritional & Botanical Support for Your Relaxation Routine

• CHF#19 Relax—combines a broad selection of B vitamins and other nutrients with a botanical blend traditionally associated with relaxation. Passionflower, in particular, has been studied for its potential calming effects.
• CHF#107 GABA—combines three ingredients, GABA, L-Theanine, and Passionflower, commonly associated with relaxation support. These ingredients provide a simple option to consider as part of a larger relaxation and self-care routine.

Scents You Should Know… EB 37 Euphoria

Sometimes creating a little more calm begins with simply changing the atmosphere around us. Euphoria is a soothing aromatic blend of organic fir, spruce, lavandin, ho wood, frankincense, and blue tansy essential oils. Together, these oils create a fresh, grounding, gentle floral aroma that can make a quiet moment feel a little more intentional.

Aromas can become a meaningful part of our daily rituals.

Euphoria offers an opportunity to pause, breathe deeply, and step away from the busyness of the day.

The combination of evergreen notes with the softer aromas of lavandin, ho wood, frankincense, and blue tansy creates a scent that feels both grounding and uplifting.

Think of Euphoria as an invitation to slow down. Use it alongside a few minutes of deep breathing, gentle stretching, meditation, or simply sitting quietly with a cup of tea. Creating these small moments of stillness can help make relaxation a more intentional part of your day.

What’s Up Doc? Cortisol Isn’t the Bad Guy

Cortisol often gets a bad reputation, but the truth is: cortisol isn’t the enemy. It’s an essential hormone that plays an important role in helping your body respond to stress, regulate blood sugar, support blood pressure, maintain energy, and wake you up in the morning. The goal isn’t to eliminate cortisol—it’s to keep it balanced and working when your body needs it.

Ideally, cortisol follows a natural rhythm throughout the day: higher in the morning to help you wake up, get moving, and feel alert, then gradually decreasing as the day goes on so your body can transition into rest and recovery at night.

The problem can occur when the body is exposed to ongoing or excessive stress without enough time to recover. Poor sleep, chronic stress, under-eating, overtraining, illness, and other stressors can all influence the body’s stress response and cortisol rhythm.

This is where the nervous system comes into the picture. Your nervous system is constantly working to determine whether your body should be in a state of action and protection or rest and recovery. Cortisol is one piece of that larger stress-response system.

Rather than trying to “get rid of cortisol,” the goal is to support a healthy stress response and a balanced nervous system—giving your body the opportunity to respond when stress is present and then return to a state of recovery when the stress is gone.

Think of cortisol as a fire alarm, not the fire. You need it to alert when something requires action. You just don’t want the alarm going off all day long.

Supporting your body with adequate nutrition, consistent movement, quality sleep, hydration, stress management, and recovery can help create the foundation for a healthier, more balanced stress response.

Cortisol has a purpose. The goal isn’t less cortisol—it’s better balance.