I wasn't done learning. I wasn't done helping and serving others, and this space that Hilary and I are in and that you're all listening and watching right now is a place of continual learning and research, and we can be healthier, we can be better, we can feel better. It's no matter how old you are.
The greatest weapon against stress is the ability to choose one thought over another. Famous physician, william James, who also is called the father of American psychology, is credited for saying that, and I remember hearing those words for the first time and I thought, hmm, so it's less about having stress and more about how to build a relationship with it. Got it? Stress is unavoidable, right? We all have stress.
If we respond positively to a stressful situation, we can learn and grow in ways that wouldn't be possible otherwise. Stuff happens, life will bring us good stress and bad stress. Managing it is key, and if you're interested in discovering how you can do that with neuroscience on your side, give yourself the gift of putting healing in your hands with Havening and come hug it out with me.
It can be one-on-one, it could be sharing it in the corporate setting or on the stage, and if you want to level it up a little bit and become a certified Havening practitioner, you can work with me and mentor with me, with me as your trainer. There's so many possibilities. I'm going to share all of that in the notes of this podcast episode. But there are others like me and they are sharing ways to stress less, to live your life to the fullest, to your dreams.
Basically learning how to surrender stress. Kerstin Lindquist is one of those people. Hey girl.
Hi, oh, I'm in. I want to hug it out. Yeah, girl, I want to do all of those things Anytime you want.
I'm here for you, you're here for me and you know anyone that's tuning in is going to recognize you for your years on QVC. You were there when I first started and I was a guest and I think you were actually the host that welcomed me in. But you've always focused on health and wellness and well being and I love the fact that you're also certified integrative nutrition health coach, like I am yes, twins. You pair wellness with your background, which is also this faith-filled life that you live.
I love this about you. It is so organic. Where you have moved into this space, you know we give gratitude, we give love and attention to all that we are given in our lives, like your time on QVC. I know you loved it. I know you also have a news background as well.
Every one of these things peppered into our lives make us who we are, really a part of who we are, and now you're giving so much attention to how to stress less or to surrender to stress, and I want to really talk about that today, in addition to some of the other topics you're extremely open about. That are pretty vulnerable, so hey hey, what a lovely, lovely introduction.
And yes, I will say, if there is one thing the Lord has gifted me with, it is being a I share. I kind of don't hold back and I truly believe that everybody out there listening your story can help somebody else's somebody else. So I continue to share my stories because of that.
Yeah, and I remember when we were first talking it might've even been the first time that I I met you you were so open about your journey with adoption and infertility and that is something that so many and I'm not going to just say women, because if you're in partnership, the partner's also really facing that as well but as a woman who faces the infertility portion and then looking into this world of adoption, how has that been part of your journey on helping people manage stress?
I think that my desire to serve others, which is truly what I believe, that my identity is, that the Lord has put me in a place to be of service, and I know so many women and men identify with that as well Like, oh, I'm serving others, I'm serving my kids, I'm serving my aging parents. I just and side note to that oftentimes we get so overwhelmed serving others that we don't take care of ourselves, and I think that's a lot of.
When I health coach and when I speak on podcasts and on stages, it's trying to convince people that mindset change, that you are worth it. You need to fill up your cup so that it can overflow to help others. When I started serving others and helping others, I was in news on ABC and I had two babies. Five months apart, we finally, after years and years of infertility, got pregnant through IVF while simultaneously we had been matched in adoption.
So it wasn't one of those stories where it's like, oh, it's always how it happens, you adopt and then you get pregnant. No, I was on lots of drugs. That's how it happened. It just so happened to work that time. But I started through that process. Blogs had just started and I needed to somehow explain why I was off of television as the morning news anchor for so long with stories of miscarriage, which this was 15 years ago.
It was still we kind of under a cloud of silence and stories of trying to adopt or being adopted, and I found, oh my goodness, this is a place where I am called to serve others, I'm called to help them feel less alone, and so that's how it started for me, and I didn't even know. But looking back at that time now, serving others, allowing them to be vulnerable and share their story with you while you share yours, is a way to decrease stress.
Absolutely. There is power and healing and, in community and connection with others, that collective right, yeah. So this journey has been really something that has been building for you. I mean, like I said, when I first met you I was new to QVC. I was in a totally different category than I moved into, which became the health and wellness category.
But I always remember you being so into health and wellness and fitness and to me it seems like that's always been a part of the life I know about Kerstin. Is that right?
I would say so I think I had. I. I was like normal children and kids and I watch it in my kids. I have two teenage daughters and then I have an eight-year-old, who you know, and I have some. Some of my children will only eat foods that are white, and some of them are, you know, and I'm just like, oh goodness, I'm a health coach. How is this happening? But you, you have to have your own, your own reason why, and for me it happened around 14, 15, you know my skin. Um, I was a cheerleader.
The way I looked kind of changed me into okay, I have to exercise more, right? So I would say that I was very into fitness for a very long time, but the food part didn't really come until I was in my 30s. And then I went through infertility and miscarriages and all of the drugs that you have to take for that, and I was under a dark cloud through those three years the first time around, when we were having miscarriages and then broken adoptions and then finally had our babies.
And then the second time around, which is when I knew you, when I felt like there was one more in my life and I was going, god, but how do we do this? Because it was so hard to have our first two babies and then we went through more miscarriage and more broken adoptions before my son my eight-year-old came along. So there was a lot of abuse of my body at that time and I wasn't necessarily doing the right things.
I wish that 47-year-old Kerstin could go back to 27 and 37-year-old Kerstin and tell her but if you pay attention to what you're putting in your mouth and how you're exercising and how you're sleeping, you will get through this waiting period quicker and it will be easier and it won't hurt as bad. But we give ourselves grace, right, it really wasn't. Until I was about 39, 38, 39, after, um, my mom, uh, died of Alzheimer's.
And it wasn't just the death of my mother from that horrible, horrible disease, but it was what we estimate is probably a 12 year battle. We think she, probably we, started to see the first signs when she was 58, 59 years old. So she missed really me seeing her, seeing me have babies and being for me. Then, um, she would never become a grandmother in any meaningful sense of the word. And as I was losing her, what happened was we went in to have she had a brain scan.
We sat down with the doctor and he put up an image of her brain and there were dark spots there. And at this time I had both of my babies. They were brand, brand new. They were little five months apart and they were little babies. And I was holding them and I'm looking up there and the doctor said you see those dark spots up there, those are likely a result of stress. And my first thought was oh, so some of this is avoidable.
Like my mom's not here, she missed the birth of her grandkids due to dementia, and some of this is avoidable. How can I make sure that this doesn't happen to me? So I don't do this to these two babies that I'm holding right now. It was such a heartbreaking moment for me right there because I needed my mom so much and I knew that my babies were going to need me like I needed her one day and I had to make sure that I was around if I could do anything about it.
So that was really the big turning moment and that's when I started getting really into health and nutrition and fitness, went back to school, to IIN, and that set me on this road.
Yeah, I mean, it's really and I think that's one of the reasons why I call the HIListically Speaking podcast one of those traumas to triumph stories, because it's when these things happen, because we don't know when they when these things happen, because we don't know when they're outside of ourselves, what we're going to do with that information once, once we have it right, Once we're represented with it, once there's no choice. Let me retract that.
There's always choice, what choice we make right, what we're going to do next. And when you're in it, when you're in the throes of it, you realize how do I want to live powerfully? And I think I connect with what you're saying, especially with your mom's health, and I understand that too. From having a dad that was sick my whole life, I think it kind of put that bug in my ear to want to live healthier. What can I do for my holistic approach to living right, that whole body approach?
And we kind of learn by doing when was IIN for you? When did you dive into that?
I always forget the year right before COVID. When I finally went through it, my babies were a little bit older. I felt like I had time not really because I still had my full-time job at QVC, but it was important enough to me and it wasn't. I didn't go into IIN, which is the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, which is where both Hilary and I went, and I know that you do so much for them these days, which is amazing. I didn't go into it necessarily thinking, oh, I'm going to be a health coach.
I went into it thinking, okay, how can I use this for me? How can I use it for my family members? Also, I was a host on QVC and I was kind of the health and wellness girl and I thought this would be a great thing for me to be able to use some of this knowledge to be able to give back to my customers and serve them.
Yeah, love that. And, by the way, I hear a lot of people who go to IIN. They're just going because really it's first about you. Like, what can I do? to take care of this temple right, this sanctuary, before you even think about how can I serve others.
So I love when I run into people that are just taking something within the curriculum or any curriculum it doesn't have to be IIN and just looking for new ways to live powerfully, to live healthy, to live HIListically, and then from doing that maybe they're serving on a grander level. Regardless, it begins at home, right.
It does, and I think that we learned this at IIN too, and I see it all the time. For instance, the clients that I have serve me probably as much as I serve them.
It really is that that you know symbiotic relationship what you're putting out there is coming back to you and and what, what you need, comes to you, and I think that everybody needs to really believe that and have faith in that that what you need, your needs, will be met, as long as you are being honest and open and vulnerable about it. So it's amazing to me that the clients that I get I'm like oh my goodness, this is exactly what I need.
I need to be researching this, I need to be reminded of this as I'm talking to them.
Yeah, and we learn from each other absolutely, even those of us who are in the space as coaches or practitioners. I feel like every guest I have on this show and I think I said this when I was on your podcast, by the way, StRest is now a top podcast out there you just launched we're going to get to that in a second Cause. I love my, my fellow women podcasters.
Uh, you, you held space for me and I even said that like and I say it a lot on HIListically speaking that every person I have on the show is like a masterclass to me. I don't know everything, you don't know everything, but when you're here, you're sharing what you know, and there's some takeaway that Hilary has from having somebody in this space or a conversation we have.
When we're out there in the world doing what we do whether it is a client, whether it is speaking on stage, whether it is being at a corporate wellness event I'm sure you learn from those that are feeding you just as much as you're feeding them right, and that's why we continue to do it.
I think that's one of the questions that I get so frequently is how could you leave? You were number one host on QVC, had the number one show, you had this great career, you provided for your family. How could you leave that? Provided for your family? How could you leave that? Sometimes I ask myself the same question, but it's because I know that the Lord had more for me.
He wanted to use me in a different space, but I wasn't done learning, I wasn't done helping and serving others, and this space that Hilary and I are in and that you're all listening and watching right now is a place of continual learning and research, and we can be healthier, we can be better, we can feel better, no matter how old you are.
Yeah. So I wanna talk about StRest and, before we go there, I do wanna talk about your devotion and your faith, because that is such a personal journey and one that I feel that we each we have our own thing that we believe in, whether it is a structured religion or just our own personal religion.
But for you, that's one area you've been very open about and it actually has parlayed into what you're doing with StRest, your podcast, and it actually has parlayed into what you're doing with StRestt, your podcast. But what is it about? Faith that has really served you well in your time, either both personally and professionally.
I have been through some very dark times in my life and everybody has. I know that I'm not alone and there's no comparison with with dark times, but when I go through a time where there's the death of a parent or miscarriage or any of the things that are addictions in my family as well, there's always a time when I'm pretty low that I go. How do people who don't have Jesus make it through this? And for me that's kind of the end all and be all. I know that everything works together for his good.
I would never say to somebody that this all happened for a reason and God's going to take care of it, because that's mean you can't say something like that and take away the pain of losing a child. But I do know that whatever is happening in my life, that the Lord is there, holding me, he's taking care of it. He can provide for me the peace that surpasses all understanding that is in the Bible. That is what we truly believe.
So, no matter what the outcome is, there is a higher power and for me it is the Lord who can provide a peace that surpasses all understanding. And I've also found in my life and I know, and I was raised a Christian, so this has always been a part of my life that as long as I stay following behind the Lord in his plan, it will all work out. Doesn't mean there won't be pain, doesn't mean there won't be sadness.
But as long as I'm keeping my eyes on him and not on the world and what Kerstin wants and and then I don't know quote unquote things of the world and success and fame and things like that, but I'm following where the Lord is leading me and and leaning on him.
It all works out. I felt that I felt that you don't have to be devout to a religion or faith to just feel that, because I feel what you're feeling towards your closeness to religion and Christianity, and it feels good to know that you feel good in that space.
And I also want everybody to understand, because I think that there's a lot of separation when you talk about faith or religion or spirituality as a Christian, and how I believe and how I practice. I am 100% welcoming to all people of all faiths and all beliefs. There isn't a us against them in Christianity, and let me be the first person to apologize to anybody who's felt that way in the past.
If you've walked into a church and felt less than, or shunned or shame or guilt, that is not of my Lord. That is of what we would consider the devil, and that is evil. There is no shame, there is no guilt. There is none of that in walking in step with the Lord. It's all about love and acceptance, no matter who you are, what you've been through, what you've done and what you believe.
And I'd like to think that many religions are like that, like it all comes back to faith and family and acceptance.
And we've grown, we've evolved, you know, we've progressed, and as someone who, myself, I come from an interfaith home, right, so my thought is I have two wonderful parents who are on two different sides of things, but when it all comes together, it's all about love, it's all about love yeah yeah, and it reminds me of a really powerful quote, because some people, like you said you know we live in this world where a lot of people are even questioning religion, period.
Yeah, and I remember hearing Kelly Clarkson, who I love, kelly Clarkson. She said God will give you anything you can't handle, so don't stress. Which brings us back to stress. And I can hear her saying that in her Texas accent, right, but it's so true.
You know, no matter what your belief system is, having faith in something, knowing that there's a higher power that will always guide you on that that path, and also trusting yourself, knowing that you're part of that team right, You're part of that team with whatever your faith is is really important. How have you approached faith with those who might not be devout to something?
How do you cradle that and support people like that I first go to fear, because a lot of the stress that we have in our life is created by fear.
So when I'm asking somebody and I'm working with somebody who is under a lot of stress, I try to break it down and and I will say that I I can use this as an example I get a lot of people in my life who are care, caregivers and who are servants, a lot of women, um in their fifties and sixties, who are taking care of um, aging parents, maybe they have grown children who are still at home, or young children, whatever it might be.
And there is, I'm so stressed out because I'm taking care of everybody else and I'm doing this, and so we'll always go to Jesus first and always go to him to help us. But he also gives us the tools to be able to take care of ourselves, and that's what he wants us to do to be able to honor our bodies. But I'll go to, okay, what are you afraid of? And it's well, I'm afraid if I don't take care of my mom, she's going to die. Okay, so you're afraid that she's going to die, but you know what?
You have no control over that. Like, death is a beautiful part of our life. What are you afraid of in the death? I'm afraid of being lonely, I'm afraid of being sad, I'm afraid of being left. So then we get into those pieces. Those are things that we can work on. So that's where I'll go, is I'll go to fear first. What is really causing the stress is a fear, and where's that fear coming from?
That's such a good way to approach it because it's less about, like, what I said earlier. It's less about trying to get rid of stress, because you don't. It's how to manage it and build a relationship with it. What can I do to serve myself in this? And there's only two real things out there. It's love and fear. And if you're not in this space, you're in this space, right?
So being able to be vulnerable and approach and say, OK, maybe I am scared of this, Maybe I don't feel like I'm in control, it's a safety that's being taken away from me. And you're in a space now and I think we both are as well. Being in midlife, especially these conversations about being the family caregiver, are huge. I'm hearing it everywhere. I know you've been through it personally. But do you find that that is a space that's just growing and growing?
And maybe it's just because we're at that age where that sandwich generation? But I feel like that's a conversation that is coming up a lot.
It is and it it. This isn't how it used to be, and I think that's part of the reason why what I speak on and what I counsel people in is reducing stress and finding rest is so important and so prevalent right now. So if you look back 50 years ago, a woman who was I'm 47 years old or who is 50 or 55, would be slowing down, not, um, you know, working as hard. Children would be way out of the nest, um, and maybe we're taking care of an aging parent. Maybe that's about it. Fast forward.
Now what we're doing is having babies at 48. So we're going through that in a biological time when we cannot metabolize stress, and we're taking care of aging parents, and there is more Alzheimer's and dementia than ever before. So we're not just taking care of somebody who's sick, we're dealing with one of the cruelest diseases, which is the hardest to manage.
On top of that, and we are believing in which is completely true that we can reinvent ourselves and work harder than ever at 50 and have this next chapter. But then we are working harder, so we're not slowing down and taking more time. So we're in this kind of conundrum. Then what do we do? I'm not going to say don't have a baby later in life. I'm not going to say don't take care of your parents. I'm not going to say don't go after that dream, because you should go after your dreams.
What you have to have are the tools to put in place every single day that can kind of then allow your biological body to get into that rest and recovery, not be in the fight or flight but in the rest of recovery and get out of stress so that you can have both good stress, going for that dream, taking care of that baby. But then you're minimizing the bad stress. Oh, I'm exhausted, I'm not sleeping, I'm eating bad.
The bad stress oh, I'm exhausted, I'm not sleeping, I'm eating bad, I'm worried all the time. So it is more prevalent now, unfortunately. But we're not doing the things that we need to do to be able to allow ourselves to thrive in this time.
Yeah, this is a really good topic. I'm really glad you brought that up especially, and we're going to touch on that just a second. But I want to let folks know that are tuning in that Kerstin Lindquist is the guest on this show. You might've seen her before when her 13 years on QVC. Maybe you saw us together, I don't know, it's possible.
But also, you know, with Kerstin being in the space of health and wellness, being an integrative nutrition health coach, also being just a rocket, like a rocket fuel for stressing less, for surrendering that stress, she's actually offering a discount for her workshops. I'm going to put the links in the podcast for that. But speaking of podcasts, let's talk about StRest. Lay it on me. I love the show. Thank you for holding space for me to be on your show in the early stages. And what?
What led you to say you know what I haven't? It might be similar to the story I had, but it's what led you to say you know what? There's one area of media that I have not covered yet. Let's do podcasting, cause that's what I was thinking. I'm like, well, haven't done this one, right?
Well, you know that's so funny that you asked that you're right, cause I was in news. I was an actress way back in the day. You'll find me on West wing and then I did QVC. Um, podcasts are where I learned the most.
I think it also is my time of life over the last 15 years of raising children You're in the car all the time so I have been the most influenced by podcasts and I saw that there was a white space in and, granted, there's a lot of great health and wellness podcasts out there, but there's not a whole lot that are health science and biblical truth and there's not a whole lot that are a hundred percent dedicated to helping you reduce stress in your life.
So I was blessed and lucky enough to get a um a two book deal with Zondervan and Harper Collins. I've actually written two books already, but my next book is coming out with Zondervan at the end of 2025.
And then I have a book in 2026 coming out by the name of StRest and I said you know what a podcast would be a great place to be able to get in a lot of the doctors that I want to put their research into my book and, like you said, Hilary, really have a masterclass for myself so that I could write it all up. And that's how the podcast started and in the couple of short months that we've done it, it has become my favorite thing.
I just feel so blessed to be able to sit down and ask all the questions of all these amazing, remarkable, brilliant brains yours included, and also friends of mine that I've worked at QVC and ABC News so I've got some celebrity in there and things like that and listening to how they've managed stress in their lives.
Yeah, such a great outlet, isn't it? It just gives us a space to sit down and have a conversation. I hate calling it an interview, because I feel like it's really authentically real yeah. I don't even like that term and I feel like it's a conversation. It's real. It's two people or three, depending on how many you're having on sitting on the couch shooting the breeze and talking about things that are valuable and have value.
I'm really excited that you are in the podcasting world now, a fellow podcaster, so we're going to let folks know about Stressed. Put all the links to your podcast. What's coming up for you. Actually, you know, what I would love for you to do, Kerstin, is actually even share with me some of the books that have already come out and what's coming up, because even in the end of 2025, as we move in, you know podcasts stay.
every you can go back to them and listen to them and watch them for years to come. I'll add the newer books that are coming into the podcast space because I have a HIListically speaking library. So thanks for that. All right, let's move into just talking about like what's next for you, Like where do you want to go with this new venture?
You know, like moving away from having to be and, by the way, I know that that it was a wonderful experience for you being at QVC and people love you and adore you, myself included but this, this is a pivot away from that and really moving into a space that you've been growing for quite some time. Where would you like to see it all go?
It's interesting because we're having this conversation as I have three more days at QVC. They're spread apart the next couple of months, next couple of weeks, but looking at wow, 13 and a half year career and then I have three days left and I am allowing myself we talked about this before a little bit holding like that, that, that love and fear together. I'm allowing myself to hold joy and then pain as well, cause there's some sadness and there's some scariness and change.
I am leaving a beautiful relationship, but I'm doing it with full assurance that I'm headed in the right direction. I, my family and I went and took three and a half months off in 2023 to be missionaries. We moved down to um, northern Baja California, mexico, to serve at a Christian um medical clinic, and it was a lifelong calling that I had on my life to go serve.
I also wanted to take my children and have them see something different than mainline Pennsylvania, because, as blessed as we are and I'm not complaining about being blessed at all I have two adopted children One is full Mexican and one is full Honduran, both born in the United States, though, so they are American. I wanted them to see other cultures. I wanted them to see how lucky we are to live where we are and know that this wasn't completely real life, and I also wanted to serve others.
So we moved down there and it was one of the best experiences of my life. The kids loved it as well, shockingly enough, and I came back and more and more I was hearing the Lord saying you're going to need to do more of that. I fought it for a while. I kept on saying God, I'm the soul you know, not soul, but I make the money for my family and and I provide and I'm helping women at QVC.
Like I get to talk about Bibles and I had my own line of of books and and inspirational um sweatshirts and things like that. Like God, can't you still continue to just use me there? And he's like no, no, no, I need to, I need to use you in another place. So it took a year of pushing back a little bit, but I got there and every time I said okay and surrendered and this is a huge lesson that I work with my clients on surrendered, not even knowing where I was going.
I always envisioned it as okay, I'm going to step out this door and there's going to be nothingness, just like open sky and I'm just going to take the step because I don't know what the next job is. I don't know what the next thing is. The Lord is going to provide this amazing cloud that's just going to lift me higher and higher and higher, and that's exactly what has happened. When I started this kind of transition in the middle of 2024, it was like, well, I want to speak.
I've been on stages, I've been doing keynote speeches on stress, moving from stress to rest, 20 different ways to help you reorganize your life, which I love doing. I love being on stages, I love being in women's conferences, I love being on at churches. So that's a big part of it. I knew that was a part of it. I thought, ah, maybe I'll do a podcast. I knew a little bit of health coaching.
I thought I wanted to write more books and then, all of a sudden, the Lord provides the most amazing publisher with not a one book deal but a two book deal. Um, and then a lot of it had to do with the children and my time of life.
I have two teenagers, and teenage daughters are, um, in my experience, harder than infants and toddlers, and I wish that we were kind of told that in the beginning that, yeah, you should take some time off when they're babies, but you know when they're really going to need you when they're 15, they're really going to need you when they get into high school because it is so hard for them out there. So I knew I needed to have more time than I could commit to them working full-time at a network.
So it's a little bit of all of those things I'm leaning into the research for the podcast, for the books, for writing the books, speaking as much as I possibly can so that I can spread this message of reducing your stress, so that possibly more people can not have to go through what I did and what my mom went through, and then really giving back these next couple of years to my daughters. I got the son too. He's eight, but he's a little easier right now. Right now.
Yeah, and you had your daughter. You have one of your daughters on StRest when you first launched, which I loved the connection there, like how many teenagers want to hang out with their moms anyway.
No, I'm super blessed she. I always call her the spiritual leader of our household. I know that the father is supposed to be and then maybe the mother, but no, it's my middle daughter. She is very, very just super connected, she, to the Lord. I always think she's going to probably go to like to, you know, theological seminary or something like that.
So when we were discussing with my producer, how do we introduce Kerstin, after being at QVC and ABC news and her other books on infertility, how do we? How do we introduce her in this space of podcasting, and we all kind of decided, yeah, georgia should interview you. And boy did she do a great job.
Oh, she did amazing Shout out to Georgia. Maybe she's on the step of having her own podcast one day. Who knows More space for that, and I was going to ask you that. But you kind of answered the question. But we can even elaborate a little bit more of it. Like where can you kind of see where your kids are going to go in, in how you've been a parent, like you said, you can see one going to seminary. Can you kind of see, in a way, the direction that your kids might be headed? What a question.
Some days I think yes, and some days I've got no idea, and I really try to I'm very, very cognizant about. Just because I did this doesn't mean that you do this and you choose. You and both of my daughters are very, very different. One's going down the cosmetology line, one is like I want to go to Cornell or I want to go to Harvard.
But I think, above all, though, for them, what I'm just hoping and praying, and where I do see them going, is avoiding where so many children are right now, which is just being full of anxiety. And as soon as I start to see them go down that road and Hilary, this kind of takes us back to a lot of it has to do the food we're eating, the electronics that we're consuming.
These generations are so full of anxiety, and if I can just help them kind of navigate through that and stay away, then the world is their oyster. But once you start to get overtaken by anxiety and worry and stress, your world gets smaller.
Yeah, and we didn't have that growing up. I mean, we had magazines and television, we had mtv and that was stressful. You know the comparison game, but I feel like in this generation, even as adults, we can really get pulled in and and go down that rabbit hole if we're not careful. Uh, it should be used as a tool, right, these are tools, much like any of the tools that we put in our little toolbox that we use to relieve stress, which I'm curious about.
Do you have a favorite technique or a tool that you love to use to just calm the mind? You don't have to say Havening.
Well, yeah, no, well, Havening. Of course, I have two things that I think that that you can take away today. There's so many, and for me, especially when I'm speaking, it's a mindset change. It's. I went about it first with okay, I'm gonna give you 20 different tips and tools on how to how to reduce your stress which I can give you. I can give you more than that.
That's great, but you won't use in the any any of them and you won't get there if you still, in the back of your mind, think that you should have stress, that stress is a badge of honor and I'll rest when I'm dead and I'm not going to get anything done if I don't have stress.
So the very first thing that we have to do is deprogram you to believe that no, no, no, no, stress is not a batch of honor and that if you really want to live a joy filled life, you have to make the hard decisions to reorganize your life to get out of stress, and for some people, that means moving. It means setting up boundaries with people in your life. It means changing your job, getting out of shift work with people in your life. It means changing your job, getting out of shift work.
It means cutting out sugar or cutting out alcohol. I mean, there's some hard decisions that have to be made. So the first, it's a mindset change. From there, I always go to sleep. If you want to have the biggest impact on reducing your stress, the number one thing you can do is work on your sleep, and that really just goes back to science, because that is where your brain and your body heal. And if your brain and your body can't heal, you can't manage stress the next day.
And I think a lot of people see this when they're overwhelmed or they're struggling with sleep. And then all of a sudden they have one good night's sleep and they wake up and they're like all of a sudden, oh, I'm not crying all day long, I can get things done. And they're like all of a sudden, oh, I'm not crying all day long, I can get things done, I feel better. So I will spend most of my time speaking on and working with clients on sleep.
And then, if we take it down even further to, let's say, you're super stressed out right now, like you just can't get yourself, you're in that instant fight or flight. Your body thinks that you're being chased by a bear. There's a couple of different things you can do. The very first thing, the number one thing you could do, as long as you don't have a heart condition, is to put your face in a salad bowl filled with ice and water, like ice water right there. That'll get you at it.
Another thing that you can do is you can push against a wall, because, when you think about it, if you're, you can't run from a bear while you're stopped pushing against a wall, so you can push against a wall. And then there's also breathing techniques, which are absolutely fantastic Two quick inhales out and one long exhale out.
Yeah, those are great.
Those are things that you can do kind of in the acute trauma of stress.
There's so many wonderful ways that we can downregulate, and the fact is that there's so many, and it goes back to our work in health coaching with bioindividuality. Right, what's right for one person might not be right for another person.
So it's building that toolbox of things that you can do, because maybe sometimes pressing against the wall is what you want to do, but another day it's not, and then another day you want to try doing the cold plunge or doing havening, or doing whatever works for you. It's your journey. So hearing from you and having these different techniques and tools are really wonderful to give people options. So do you have a favorite of your own?
uh, yoga, nidra or nsdr non-sleep deep rest and I think that the reason why it's my favorite right now, your favorite, will change as well depending on the time of your life. I'm a um perimenopausal woman. My hormones are kind of you know, out of whack a little bit. We're getting to that that stage. I am running a new business. I'm still kind of working over here at QVC. I'm raising three baby little humans.
You know I am super, I would say more busy than I would even like to be right now, but busy in a good way, because I enjoy it. So I need to take that break in the afternoon. This is what we were talking about earlier, how women used to be slowing down at this time of life and they're not right now. So how do we, how do we build in the slowdown and still stay busy, which sounds like it's impossible? You do things like NSDR, which is non sleep deep rest. It's not yoga, it's's not spiritual.
For those of you who are like I don't do that stuff, you can do it for 10 minutes. It's free on YouTube, or you can do it for 15 minutes. I've done it in the car, I've done it laying down in the house, but I know, if I start to feel the overwhelm or I start to feel weepy, I need to go have that brain break and that is a great way for me to reset Great, awesome, awesome shares, and we'll put all of that in the notes of the podcast.
Obviously, the transcript's available too, so if you have any questions about what Kerstin has shared and different ways that she's supporting herself and my goodness, I have to agree with you on the rest and the sleep. I mean, I myself have sleep apnea, so I understand the importance of sleep and what it is not going to be for me the next day if I don't get good sleep.
And you just know.
You folks out there know what you feel when you are tired and groggy your brain is not working correctly. It's almost like running a car without gas Eventually it's not going to run. Eventually it's not going to run.
So the fact that we're focusing on this and the fact that Stress the podcast is giving people the avenue to learn more from experts in the field that share their own approaches, that share what they've learned with science-backed also just getting better sleep, and also for those who are interested in a more faith-based podcast, you're bringing, like you said, you're bringing these things together, and I think it's a really beautiful space for that. So I'm so, I'm so excited for you.
This is really great. So, one thing I want to do before we go is, uh, I love to play a game. I've got my brain candy rapid fire game. This is, uh, I know if you're a listener and you're probably like I've been listening to HIListically Speaking. I've never gotten to play this game. Today is the day, All right.
So you know, and if anybody's listening for the first time, the Brain Candy Game is my opportunity to write down a number of words that the guest has said In this case it is Ms Kerstin, and she's going to come back with the first word that comes to mind. Rapidly, you ready? Clearing my brain.
Yes, okay, don't put your face in water right now.
Okay, here we go. Infertility, adoption, abuse, healing, rest, sleep, mindset, change Missionary. Sleep, mindset, change missionary. Me fear. Love, miscarriage, hope, alzheimer's mom StRest podcast jesus, love, yeah. And then the final word I'm gonna say on that, just because you said it, love um, you, you are loved.
I'm gonna say that over and over again. You are loved. If you're listening to this, you are loved.
Wow, girl, I felt that Like, I felt like you were just talking to me.
I love that you are, you are.
Well, we're all. That's where it is. It's love or fear. What's your choice? Right and choice is powerful. And in love we'll find the way to stress less. We'll find the ways to rest our mind and body. We'll find ways to heal our mind, body and soul. We'll find ways to connect with people that are like-minded to do that right. So, with that being said, do you have any final words?
that you would like to share with those who are tuning in, truly, what I just said you are loved, you are worthy, and I think that sometimes the hardest part of getting yourself out of stress is are loved, you are worthy, and I think that sometimes the hardest part of getting yourself out of stress is feeling like you're not worthy, like you don't deserve the time, you don't deserve the energy, you don't deserve the hard work.
And if nobody's told you before, you are loved and you are worthy and you are worth it.
So don't forget that I won't. Thanks. I want you to do yourself a favor right now. I want you to connect with Kerstin and, while you're at it, make sure that you put StRest Podcast on your list of podcasts to tune into. It is a wonderful podcast that's out there and I am so grateful that she has had me on her show, but you're going to recognize some other voices as well, so definitely take advantage of that and make sure you also check out her workshop.
She is offering a beautiful discount for those who are tuning into HIListically Speaking. I added all of that to the notes of this episode and listen if you're interested in learning more about IIN, that's the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where both Kerstin and myself are graduates.
We are certified holistic health practitioners or holistic health coaches, rather, if you want to take advantage of a free sample class, definitely check out the links that I am sharing in the notes of this episode because, as an ambassador of IAN, I'm offering you an opportunity to check out a sample class for free and then, if you're interested, and you move on into the world of holistic health, whether it is to use it personally in your life or to go forward and do it as a profession and
become a holistic health coach or any of the other programs they offer, which are fabulous. You are going to receive a beautiful opportunity that keeps the money in your pocket but gives you more knowledge and that's really truly the riches right there. And you hear me talk about Havening a lot right On this show, out in public pretty much everywhere. Havening is something that I love to share so that it can put the healing in your hands.
There are so many ways that you can experience Havening, one of which is my monthly Havening happyours. That are free online events you can sign up for that. I'll put the links in the podcast notes. You can also attend any of my other events.
Or, if you are feeling spicy and you want to become a Havening practitioner, I offer a number of trainings and mentorship so that you can put the healing in your hands and help others and serve others in the world of neuroscience, can put the healing in your hands and help others and serve others in the world of neuroscience. And, of course, you can also bring me in if you're interested in having me share the stage or a corporate wellness program.
All of that is possible to how to bring healing into your hands, to hug it out, to heal together and to be kind to your mind. HIListically Speaking, is edited by Two Market Media with music by Lipbone Redding and, of course, supported by you. So thank you for taking the time to be here today, with both myself and with Kerstin, to stress less and to put yourself first. Never forget. I love you, I believe in you and I'm sending hugs your way. Be well.