Stress Awareness Month
April is Stress Awareness Month.
April has given us a gentle nudge to pause and check in with ourselves. It’s Stress Awareness Month—a time to acknowledge how we’re really feeling, and how stress might be showing up in our lives.
Here’s the truth: stress isn’t always the enemy. In fact, some stress can be helpful. It gives us a boost, gets us through the school run, deadlines, life admin, and even inspires us to show up for the things we care about. That’s called eustress—the good kind. The kind that gives us drive, purpose, and motivation. It’s short-term, energising, and makes life feel full.
But when stress tips over into too much, it starts to wear us down. And that’s where the trouble begins.
Stress is your body’s natural response to pressure—whether it’s emotional, physical, mental or even hormonal. It’s a survival response. But if your body feels like it’s constantly under threat, it never gets the chance to switch off, rest, or recover.
That’s when stress turns into distress.
Good stress, also known as Eustress is an agreeable and healthy reaction.
It keeps us excited, gives us a boost of energy and spurs on our drive and purpose. We feel like we are on track and feeling well! It is even part of our ‘fight or flight’ reaction which means its a life saver too! Without this reaction, life would be dull and uninteresting. Eustress is a short term response to effectively get things done.
From the Eustress perspective, we can see events as challenges to overcome rather than a threat. Too much eustress is not good for us. We need our rest time too.
Distress is the opposite. It is bad for our health. It leads to health conditions like brain fog, heart conditions, cancers, sleep disorders, digestive issues and mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.
A definition of stress says “when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilise.
According to the Oxford Dictionary “Stress is a state of mental and emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances”
So stress is what happens to the body when the level of pressure it feels goes beyond its natural ability to cope with it. The body then feels like it is constantly under threat which leads to exhaustion and overwhelm, which then becomes procrastination and helplessness.
Distress can show up as:
Irritability or feeling tearful 😢
Frustration, helplessness, or shutdown mode
Digestive issues or weight gain 🍽️
Low libido or relationship difficulties 💔
Anxiety, panic attacks, brain fog 🧠
Disconnection from your joy, your self, your energy
It’s not just “in your head. Stress affects every part of your body.
How can you step out of the Stress cycle?
If you have found yourself in a stress rut, it maybe time to look at your lifestyle.
By coming back home to ourselves. By slowing down, tuning in, and making gentle but powerful shifts.
✅ Prioritise sleep—your body repairs while you rest
✅ Eat nourishing foods that support your hormones
✅ Move your body in ways that feel good (think walks, dancing, stretching)
✅ Say no to things that drain you and yes to what fills your cup
✅ Ask for help—because you don’t have to do it all alone
✅ Get back into connection—with yourself and with others
🍃Reflexology & Zone Face Lift Therapy
If you’ve been running on empty, this is your sign to pause. To come back to yourself. To remember how good it feels to be cared for.
The reflexology session feels like having a massage but without taking your clothes off. Remember how you feel on holiday, having a siesta or an afternoon snooze? That is where the healing begins, the rebalance and the release of stress.
The same with the Zone Face Lift. I use reflex points on your face to allow emotional stress to be released. You’ll gain the added benefit of a radiant glowing complexion too!
✨ Book your Reflexology or Zone Face Lift session now—your body and mind will thank you.
April is Stress Awareness Month... but really? Every month should be about putting you first. 💛
