By Stephenie Craig, Journey Bravely

Have you ever had those times when life did not turn out like you expected? The Summer was supposed to be low stress, slower pace and relaxing. Instead, it’s very busy, kids are nursing injuries, parenting is stressful and you’re exhausted. Maybe you thought you were getting to some finish line in life, only to be met by another curve and several more miles to go when you’re already beyond tired. The house isn’t ready on time, an unexpected job change happens, your health is struggling or a relationship gets complicated. Shifting expectations to live life on life’s terms can feel disappointing and stressful. So, how are you supposed to accept your current reality while also remembering to be joyfully present in the current moment?

7 Steps for a Mindful Approach to Life Stress:

Notice your stress. Listen to what your body is telling you. Notice tension, headaches, stomachaches, irritability. Notice unhealthy coping skills like substance abuse, overspending, avoiding. Your body and behavior will let you know you’re stressed if you pay attention. “I’m having a migraine which usually indicates stress for me.”

Name your stress. After noticing your state of stress, slow down, breathe and make an effort to determine the origin of your stress. “I think I’m stressed, because I was expecting to work at my current job for years and I’m suddenly transitioning unexpectedly.”

Validate yourself. Say to yourself, “It’s normal and okay to feel stress about this. Most people would be stressed about this. I’m not crazy or dramatic.”

Sort what you can control from what you can’t. Notice and try to have an accepting attitude toward what is outside your control. Notice action steps that are within your control and take meaningful action on those steps. “I cannot control the house not being finished on time. I can control next steps about where I will live until the house is finished. Today I will make three phone calls.”

Seek gratitude. While being honest about your feelings of stress or frustration, also notice things in your life that are good. “I’m thankful for caring friends. I’m thankful for my home. I’m thankful for family. I’m thankful for my favorite hobby.” Gratitude provides perspective and balance to difficult situations and emotions.

Engage in self-care and fun. Take time to do things that are healthy and comforting for yourself. Take a walk, talk to a friend, pray, journal, spend time in nature, play an intense sport, punch a punching bag, listen to a podcast, read a book, take care of an animal, watch a funny show, create art, float on a raft, dance, color.

Remind yourself that walking through hard things often creates growth and strength. Once you’ve navigated hard things, you carry the experience into future hard situations and know you can persevere because you have before.

You only get one life. It’s easy to slide into consistent frustration and irritability when life inevitably fails to cooperate with your agenda. Try slowing down and taking time to intentionally navigate life’s disappointments while also squeezing the positive out of each day and each situation where you can find or create it. As you navigate your life journey, remember to connect with Journey Bravely at journeybravely.com for additional support.

By Dr. Richard Chern, M.D.

Hormone therapy can be traced back over 2000 years when the Chinese isolated pituitary and sex hormones for medicinal purposes. The hormones had not been identified, but the benefits were already known. Of course, many discoveries have occurred since then and today we are not only treating symptoms but also using hormones to improve our overall health.

Health problems associated with hormonal imbalances can go on for years, often undetected by both patients and their physicians. Increased risk of cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, metabolic syndrome, diabetes and osteoporosis are only some of the problems associated with hormonal imbalances. And, like high cholesterol, you can’t “feel” any of these to know you have a problem. Instead, you must get tested.

To make things more difficult, the symptoms of andropause, menopause and hypothyroidism are often so slow to occur that we discard them as part of the aging process. Fortunately, at The Hormone Restoration Center, we know what most of these symptoms are and can screen for them to see if there is a potential hormonal imbalance.
There are a number of symptoms associated with hormone imbalances to help identify those at higher risk. Symptoms can include fatigue, depression, weight gain, decreased libido, joint pain, poor memory, mood swings, low stamina and sexual dysfunction.
If you have ANY of the above symptoms, you should complete a symptom checklist and get tested. These symptoms are an indication that you may need treatment.

After identifying an imbalance, physicians and non-physicians may use pills, creams, supplements, tonics and much more.

At The Hormone Restoration Center we use what we consider to be the best of the best. We use bioidentical BioTE hormones which means the hormones are identical to what our body produces. That way the key fits the lock exactly as it should.

The BioTE method uses hormone optimization created from hundreds of studies using hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide to successfully optimize the hormone levels of women and men once their body’s production is no longer sufficient. Surprisingly, our bodies can stop producing sufficient hormones in our early thirties or before.

As shown in different studies, Hormone replacement therapy has been shown to reduce fatigue, improve sleep, improve libido in women and sexual performance in men, decrease muscle loss, reduce body fat, and reduce irritability, anxiety and depression. Also, the symptoms of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are significantly reduced.

Long term, men and women will have a reduced incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Also, multiple studies show a long-term reduction in breast cancer. Testosterone and estradiol also improve lipid profiles, reduce triglycerides and increase HDL cholesterol which can have positive benefits on the cardiovascular system. Therapeutic testosterone levels can also protect the body from diabetes, prostate cancer and all-cause mortality.

Hormone replacement therapy by pellet implantation has been used with success in the United States, Europe and Australia since 1938, and has been found to be superior to other methods of hormone delivery.

All the practitioners at The Hormone Restoration Center are BioTE certified and have had extensive clinical and didactic training specific to the treatment of hormonal imbalances. This is to ensure the highest safety, efficacy and results for our patients. More than 96% of patients are satisfied with treatment when using BioTE.