Stress is a fact of life—but what if we’ve been thinking about it all wrong? Instead of something to fear, stress can actually be a tool for growth. Today, we’re unpacking how to shift your mindset, manage stress effectively, and even use it to your advantage.
🔹 What You’ll Learn:
✔️ Why stress isn’t always the enemy—it’s how we respond to it that matters.
✔️ The difference between eustress (good stress) and distress (the kind that drains you).
✔️ How shifting your perspective on stress can improve health, performance, and resilience.
✔️ Science-backed strategies to turn stress into focus, productivity, and motivation.
✔️ Simple daily practices to keep stress from becoming overwhelming.
Next Episode Preview:
Ever wondered why stress shows up on your skin? Next week, we’re tackling stress, breakouts, and common skincare myths—so you can stop wasting time on things that don’t work.
Welcome to the ThriveHer podcast where we empower women to take control of their unique health conditions and wellness journey during perimenopause and beyond. Our goal is to help you dream big and reach your fullest potential in every part of your life.
Each week the podcast dives into expert insights, natural solutions and inspiring stories to support you on your journey. And now, here's your host, your No Nonsense Naturopath, Rochelle Waite.
Rochelle Waite:
You wake up, check your phone and you see a message that just says we need to talk. What happens in your body? Your stomach drops, your heart starts racing and your mind spirals into worst case scenarios.
The wild thing Nothing's actually happened yet. It's just four words and your brain has already decided it's a disaster. This is your stress response in action and it's a survival mechanism.
We are wired to treat uncertainty as potential threat. Back in caveman days, that reaction kept us alive. Your brain doesn't know the difference between a missed deadline and a saber toothed tiger.
It just senses danger and sends you into fight or flight mode. The problem isn't stress itself. It's how we react to it. And that's what we're going to tackle today.
Because stress doesn't have to wreck your health, drain your energy or make you want to hide under a blanket. It can actually make you sharper, stronger and more resilient if you know how to use it.
We've been taught that stress is this evil health destroying force. But let's get one thing straight. Stress is not the villain. It's actually essential for survival. Think about it.
Our ancestors needed stress to stay alive. Imagine you're a cave woman for a second. You hear rustling in the bushes. Is it the wind or is it a predator?
Your stress response kicks in, Your heart rate spikes, your senses sharpen, blood rushes to your muscles and your body gets ready to run or fight. That's adaptive stress and it helps you react fast when something matters. Now fast forward to today. The predators are different.
Emails, deadlines, traffic jams, family obligations. But your body reacts the same way. It dumps cortisol and adrenaline into your system.
Whether you're being chased by a bear or you're just running late for a meeting. So here's what we need to understand. There's eustress, which is good stress. This is the kind that gives you energy and focus.
Like when you're about to give a presentation or go out on a first date. It makes you better, not worse. Then we have distress or the bad stress.
This is chronic, overwhelming Stress that drains you over time, like when you're always on and never get a break.
Studies show that people who view stress as a challenge instead of a threat actually experience fewer negative health effects even when they have the same stress levels as others. Instead of trying to eliminate stress, the real goal is learning how to work with it. So let's talk about how to do that.
Okay, let's get nerdy for a bit of a second. Because how you think about stress changes how your body reacts to it.
In a:
The people who had the same stress levels but viewed stress as normal had no increased risk at all. Your mindset about stress matters more than the stress itself. So how do we start shifting it? We need to recognise the difference.
The next time you feel stress, pause and ask, is this pushing me forward or draining me? If it's helping you perform, that's eustress, use it. If it's chronic and exhausting, it's time to intervene. Next is to challenge your reaction.
That heart pounding feeling before a big moment, it's not a sign that you're failing, it's your body prepping you to show up fully. Athletes don't rid themselves of their nerves before a competition. They use them. So I'd like you to reframe stress as proof that you care.
Ever notice that the things that stress you out the most are also the things that matter the most? Stress shows up when you're invested.
Instead of saying, ugh, I'm so stressed about this deadline, try, I care about this project and that's why it feels this way, try rewiring your stress response with the visualization. Athletes, Navy Seals, top performers, all practice handling stress before they even experience it.
Next time you're stressed about an event, visualise yourself staying calm and handling it well. Your brain will start treating it as familiar instead of as a threat.
Now let's talk about some science backed ways to make stress work for you instead of against you. Firstly, we want to use stress to sharpen our focus. When you're under pressure. Adrenaline actually boosts mental clarity and reaction time.
So instead of fighting it, channel it. Say to yourself, what's the next best step I can take right now? Number two trick is to trick your brain by relabelling stress.
When your heart starts racing before a big moment, instead of saying, I'm So nervous? Try saying, I'm ready. Research shows that shifting anxiety into excitement actually improves performance.
Tip number three is to build stress resilience through controlled discomfort. Do you ever wonder why our defence forces train in extreme conditions? Because stress isn't just mental, it's physical.
You can train your body to handle stress by intentionally exposing yourself to small cold showers. Feed fasting, timed challenges. These micro stressors help you build up a stronger nervous system. Very popular at the moment is ice bath therapy.
It was popularized by Wim Hof and has been shown to increase dopamine by 250%. Dopamine's our feel good hormone, meaning that short bursts of stress can actually make you happier long term.
So perhaps try one of these techniques for a week. Okay, so I'm not going to leave you with just the theory. Let's talk about some quick stress resets you can do anytime, anywhere.
One of the most popular is box breathing and it is actually used by our defence forces. For instance. Now, this breathwork technique instantly calms your nervous system. So try it with me. Now.
Inhale for four, hold for four, exhale for four and hold for four again. And continue that over a few cycles. The next quick stress reset is to move your body. Motion changes emotion before a big moment.
Do power poses, jumping jacks, or just shake it out. Have a little dance party all of your own.
One of the other ways to deal with resetting your mindset on stress is to do a bit of a journaling hack every night. Write down what's one way stress helped me today. This rewires your brain to see stress as an asset, not a threat.
I'd love to hear which one of these quick stress resets you'd like to choose. And to try it. Today, you can head to ThriveHer VIP, sign up for a free Ignite membership and join us in the ThriveHer tribe and let us know.
So if this episode shifted the way you think about stress, I'd love you to DM me on Instagram, Henon, sensenaturopath or thriveherofficial and tell me which technique you tried.
And if you want to go deeper, consider joining ThriveHer VIP because we break this down way more within our community, but also have specialised programs to take you through step by step. Before we wrap up, let's talk about something you might not have connected to stress. Your skin. Yep. Stress doesn't just mess with your mood.
It has a huge role in things like breakouts, dullness and inflammation of your skin. That's why next week we are going to head into the Clear Skin Blueprint Debunking the myths that waste your time.
If you are tired of conflicting skincare advice and want to know what actually works, you won't want to miss it. So if today's episode helped you rethink stress to see it as a tool instead of a roadblock, don't stop here.
Because resilience is something you train, it's not something you're just born with. Until next time, keep believing in yourself, keep striving for more, and keep thriving. Because your best life is just ahead.
Voiceover:
Thank you for joining us on this episode of the thrivehert podcast. We hope you found valuable insights and practical tips to help you on your path to achieving everything you want in life.
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