When Stress Becomes Too Heavy

I used to laugh every time one of my doctors told me I needed to manage my stress better. My hematologist said it. My gastroenterologist said it. My cardiologist said it. And I laughed. Every single time.

Because what do you do when your life is stressful? When you’re a business owner, when your father is fighting cancer, when you’ve faced losses, when you have had scares with your fur child, when your own diagnoses have rewritten your life in ways you never expected - how do you not be stressed?

It felt almost insulting at first. Like telling someone standing in the middle of a thunderstorm to just “stay dry.”

But over time, I started to realize they weren’t asking me to make my life less full of stressors. They were asking me to take care of me inside of all of it.

Stress isn’t just something that happens in our heads - it lives in our bodies. It’s the way our shoulders creep up toward our ears without us noticing. It’s the clench in our jaw, the tightness in our chest, the shallow breaths we forget to deepen. It’s the racing thoughts and the constant hum of “what ifs” running in the background.

We wear it quietly. And sometimes, it takes our bodies breaking down to realize just how heavy it’s been.

For me, it took hearing it from my medical team - over and over - to finally let it sink in. Stress wasn’t just making me tired. It was impacting my health. And no matter how strong I thought I was, my body was whispering: please slow down.

The truth is, I can’t eliminate the stress in my life. But I can honour it. I can notice it when it arrives instead of pushing it away or pretending I’m fine. Managing stress isn’t always bubble baths and deep breaths (though those help). Sometimes it’s as small as unclenching your jaw. Dropping your shoulders. Taking a single, slow breath all the way down into your belly. Turning off your phone for a few minutes. Letting yourself cry. Letting yourself pause.

It’s also choosing boundaries - saying “no” to things that drain you, even when it feels uncomfortable. It’s stepping outside for two minutes of sunlight. It’s writing down what’s swirling in your head just to get it out of your body. It’s remembering that rest isn’t lazy - it’s medicine.

When stress softens, even for a moment, it feels like your body finally exhales. Your heartbeat slows. Your thoughts get quieter. You start to feel your own presence again - the real you, underneath all the noise.

And in that space, healing happens. Not all at once, not perfectly, but gently.

Piece by piece.

If you’re reading this and you feel like your life is one long list of things to manage - I get it. It’s hard to find calm when the world keeps asking more of you. But you deserve to feel safe in your own body. You deserve to feel moments of peace, even in the chaos.

So today, on National Stress Awareness Day, I’m not telling you to fix it all. I’m just inviting you - and reminding myself - to notice the tension. To take one deep breath. To unclench your jaw. To give your body the care it’s been quietly asking for.

Because the truth is, our lives will always hold stress - but we don’t have to let it hold us.

Thank you for being here 💕