The Weekly Rundown + 5 Ways To Manage Stress

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This a weekly rundown of things I am learning and resources I am loving. Take what you need and pass this along to a friend or TEN. HA. I am so glad you are here.

Happy Friday, beautiful people. We made it to the end of the week and that is a BLESSING. I have a rundown of resources and things I am loving this week. I also have tips on how to manage stress to keep in your back-pocket. Let’s get into it!

PERSONAL WINS:

The getting back to me journey has been A JOURNEY. While I have embraced every pound gained during us being at home, I am on a mission to feel my best too. My eyes were opened a bit on the fitness AND nutrition side and learned things I never knew before. Much love and shout out to Dallas Grit Fitness and The Lyons’ Share for such a thorough program. I highly recommend checking both out. Especially the Wellness part from Lyon’s Share. She is a nutritionist and its always nice to hear about the science of food from an expert.

NEW FITNESS FAVS:

I have a whole list of fitness apps/pages that I keep in rotation and I came across Afrifitness this week. My workload is picking up and I love when I can do a mini-workout after a conference call, before getting back into my tasks. Check her out!

NEW BOOKS:

Truth be told, I loved seeing these books next to one another, it’s giving COMMUNITY OVER COMPETITION. Checking in by Michelle Williams and Bamboozled by Jesus by Yvonne Orji are both debut memoirs. I have already started on both and it’s great to hear their authentic voice as your read. I will make sure to give a book review once I finish! If you haven’t got a copy, I recommend it.

MPH Corner: 5 Ways To Reduce Stress:

According to the APA, “Our bodies are well equipped to handle stress in small doses, but when that stress becomes long-term or chronic, it can have serious effects on your body.”

Personally, I know the negative impact of stress on our bodies. Here are 5 ways to reduce and manage it.

Pray – I believe that prayer changes things. A good cry and talk with God can be helpful to give us a fresh perspective.
Walk – It gets your endorphins going which helps to reduce some of the stress hormones. The next time you are feeling the weight of stress, get your shoes on and take a walk around your neighborhood or gym!
Breathing Exercises – I never did this until I got my Apple watch and there is a breathing notification that would come up. I got tired of the notification and I gave in a did one. I’ve been a fan since and it helped me to relax. Here is an article that gives a detailed explanation of how to implement it.
Journal – Writing is such a great practice and it helps you make sense of your feelings. It helps to write out your frustration and throw the paper away if needed.
Positive Self Talk – It took a while for me to understand the power of affirmations. It felt very woo-woo to me. One day it hit me that I speak negatively to myself. According to Dr. Tony Evans, “You walk out what you believe.” And what we believe begins in our head and what we tell ourselves. Words create worlds, so what are we creating?