Nourished Living

20 - Calm Your Nervous System with Daily Habits for Stress Relief

• Courtney Podany

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This episode dives into holistic tools that help reduce stress, support your adrenals, and naturally calm the nervous system. 

Courtney explains how managing stress goes hand-in-hand with stabilizing blood sugar—and how our daily habits outside the kitchen play a huge role.

Courtney shares her favorite natural and accessible strategies to bring your body out of fight-or-flight and back into a restful, regulated state. From grounding barefoot on the earth to breathwork, morning sunlight, journaling, meditation, and even shaking off excess cortisol, this episode is packed with practical ways to support your mind, body, and blood sugar.

Whether you're feeling overwhelmed, fatigued, or just looking for more peace in your day, this episode will leave you feeling empowered and reconnected to what your body truly needs.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Why stress is just as important as food when it comes to blood sugar balance
  • How grounding and time in nature recalibrate your nervous system
  • The surprising connection between shallow breathing and neck/shoulder tension
  • A simple breathwork technique to reduce anxiety and calm your body
  • How journaling clears mental clutter and reduces emotional overwhelm
  • Why morning sunlight boosts mood, sleep, and vitamin D levels
  • The science behind “shaking out” cortisol—and how it actually works
  • Easy daily practices to feel more calm, steady, and in control

Resources Mentioned:

Connect with Courtney:

Welcome to the Nourished Living Podcast, where I'll be diving deep into nutrition, holistic wellness, and practical tips to help you live your healthiest, most vibrant life. I am Courtney Podany, a nutritional therapist, certified personal trainer, type one diabetic and mom. And I'm here to help you take charge of your health with ease and confidence. Together we'll explore how to nourish your body, mind, and soul in a way that feels good and sustainable. So grab your favorite beverage. Take a deep breath, and let's get into the episode. I. welcome back to the Nourished Living Podcast. I'm your host, Courtney Podany. If you happen to be listening to this in real time, we just celebrated the 4th of July, so I want to say this sincerely. I hope you had a fun, safe time and ate lots of really wonderful, delicious food. And just a reminder, even if the food you ate was a little bit out of the norm for you, you do not need to feel guilty about it. Or work out extra hard afterwards to make up for it. I know it's easier said than done, but please just try your best to move on. You got to enjoy the food in the moment and it was what you wanted, so there's no reason to feel guilty for that. Just get back on track when you can and move on. I am a big chips and dip girl, so anytime they're at a gathering, you can definitely find me there. And I enjoyed my fair share over the holiday, but even if you listen to this later down the road, I hope it can serve as a general rule of. Thumb for anytime. There's the potential for feeling bad that you indulged in dessert or chips or you know, strayed from your plan. We are animals and we are meant to eat food, so don't ever feel bad for that. Today's episode is the perfect follow up for our deep dive into blood sugar regulation and supporting our adrenal glands, which we talked about last time. If you listen to that episode for seven tips to get off the blood sugar rollercoaster, you learned that balancing blood sugar isn't just about what's on your plate. It's also about how your body handles stress. Because your adrenal glands play a key role in both blood sugar regulation and cortisol, your body's primary stress hormone. So today we're taking it out of the kitchen and focusing on real life natural tools to manage and reduce stress. These are practices that help calm the nervous system, support your adrenals, and bring your body back into balance tools I personally use. And recommend with my clients. I thought this would be the perfect time to talk about these tools, especially with the warm summer weather. It's a great opportunity to embrace time outside and reconnect with nature. So the first one is grounding. Connecting with the earth and nature is something I personally believe we have become deeply disconnected from. We were not meant to go from cement box to cement box, a k, a, from home to work, and then back home again without any time outside. Yes, having shelter is important to our survival, but we should not be confined to that shelter at all times. One of the best ways to reconnect with the earth is through grounding. This means walking barefoot on natural ground, so grass, dirt, or sand, not cement or sidewalks. Those do not count as nature. Our earth carries an electrical charge, and when we connect with it physically, that charge becomes part of us. When we connect with the earth, that electrical charge has the potential to balance our mood, reduce inflammation, and to help pull us out of that fight or flight mode. As I've mentioned before, most of us spend way too much time in fight or flight mode. That should typically be reserved for an emergency or life-threatening situations where a lion is chasing you. Ideally, most of our time is spent in rest and digest, which grounding helps us to do. Another great idea is to ground a few minutes before you eat your meals, to let your bodies know to prepare for digestion. I mentioned this in the digestion episode. Our bodies cannot digest and absorb the food we eat when we are in fight or flight. So grounding has amazing benefits, and what's great is it doesn't take long. Within just minutes, you will feel calmer, lighter, and like the name implies more grounded. Moving on now. Let's talk about something you're doing right now. Breathing. Take a moment to notice your breath. Are your chest and shoulders rising as you inhale, or does your belly expand? A deep nourishing breath should fill your belly, not stay shallow in your chest. This kind of breathing actually creates movement in the abdomen, which supports digestion and can help relieve constipation. It also allows for a proper oxygen carbon dioxide exchange, keeping your body and brain well oxygenated when we breathe shallowly. And you are just noticing movement in your chest and shoulders, not the abdomen. Okay. We are not reaping all the benefits our breath has to offer, and this can have several negative effects on both our physical and mental health. Shallow breathing keeps the body in a low level state of stress signaling the nervous system to stay in fight or flight mode, rather than shifting into the calming rest and digest state like we were just talking about. Over time, this can contribute to anxiety, fatigue, poor digestion, and constipation due to lack of movement in the diaphragm and abdomen. Inadequate oxygen exchange can also lead to brain fog, increased heart rate, and tension in the neck and shoulders. When we breathe shallowly, especially from the chest rather than the diaphragm, the accessory muscles in the neck, shoulders, and chest are recruited to help lift the rib cage. However, these muscles are not meant to be the primary movers of breath, so when they're overused, especially throughout the day, it leads to chronic tension, tightness, and pain in those areas. Because the shoulders are repeatedly rising with each breath, these muscles stay in a shortened and contracted state rather than relaxing like they would during deep diaphragmatic breathing. Over time, this pattern can contribute to poor posture, headaches, and a general sense of physical and mental fatigue. Without deep, intentional breaths, we miss out on one of the body's most accessible tools for reducing stress and restoring balance. One of the most powerful ways to calm your body is the 4 7, 8 breath. Here's how to do it. Inhale for four seconds. Hold your breath for seven seconds, and exhale slowly for eight seconds. So let's try this together. Inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4. Hold, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. And exhale, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Repeat that a few times and you'll feel your heart rate slow, your body calm and your mind get quiet. Another practice that compliments breath work beautifully is meditation. Meditation is not just a spiritual practice. It has proven benefits for physical health, like reducing cortisol levels, improving sleep, lowering inflammation, and boosting the immune system. And mentally it helps us build resilience. And resilience is key in staying regulated during times of stress. Meditation enhances focus, reduces anxiety and depression, and helps us maintain a more balanced emotional state. If you're just getting started, let me tell you, even five minutes, a even five minutes a day can make a difference. You can sit quietly and focus on your breath, a mantra, a visualization or simply observe how your body feels. Thoughts will come up. That is totally normal, but you want to just acknowledge them and then gently return to your point of focus. Over time, your mind will become stronger just like a muscle. My mind seems like it's always going nonstop, so this was a big struggle for me when I started and there are still some days when it seems like I can't quiet my mind, but for the most part it does get easier. I. However, one of the things that helped me when I was getting started was doing a guided meditation. So I'm focusing on what is being said to me and I don't have to work quite as hard to dismiss my thoughts. I used the Headspace app, but there are also many free resources on YouTube. You can just search five minute guided meditation and many options will pop up. Next up is journaling. Putting pen to paper helps you release thoughts, emotions, and worries from your mind. You might be surprised what comes up when you start writing. Often it brings clarity to feelings that were just buzzing in the background. I am often surprised by what comes out because I think I know what's going on in my mind, but then I get writing and something I was completely unaware of comes out. It's kind of a funny phenomenon, and you don't need a perfect journal or a detailed prompt. You can just write what's going on in your mind. You can copy down a mantra. You can list a few things that you're grateful for, but if you do have trouble getting started and are not sure what to write, you can search for journal prompts to get you going and see what transpires from that. Sometimes journaling helps you realize that what felt overwhelming isn't as heavy as it seemed, it can offer perspective, and it truly feels like you're no longer carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Seriously, like right when I put the pen down and stop journaling, I feel like I can breathe deeper and can move on with my day happier and lighter. And yes, typing can work too, but for some reason there's a certain kind of magic when the words flow from your hand onto the page, it's like you are actually physically releasing those thoughts from your mind. Like I mentioned with grounding, we are not meant to live our lives fully indoors. Our bodies thrive when we get fresh air, nature, and sunlight. I know that not all of us have access to warm weather year round, but even stepping outside for just a few minutes each day can make a huge difference. Especially when that sunlight is accessed in the morning. If you can get outside within an hour of waking without sunglasses to expose your eyes to daylight, I promise it only has to be for a few minutes, so it will not uproot your whole morning routine. You won't have to wake up 30 minutes earlier just to get this in. Morning sunlight helps regulate our circadian rhythm, so especially if you struggle to fall asleep at night, give this a try. It boosts your mood and helps your body produce vitamin D, something. Many people with anxiety and depression are often low in vitamin D, supports mental health, immune health, and helps reduce inflammation. It's a powerhouse and the absolute best source of vitamin D is natural sunlight. Yes, you can find it in some foods, but when there is sun available, that is the best source. Next time you feel overwhelmed, anxious, or stressed, step outside. Take your shoes off. If you can. Feel the breeze, look up at the sky. Let nature remind you that you are safe, you are grounded, and you are not alone. Like Albert Einstein once said, look deep into nature and you will understand everything better. I honestly find this to be very true. I come up with my very best ideas when I'm outside on a walk. It seems to just open up the floodgates for me, and I always have to pull up my notes app on my phone and jot things down so I don't forget. And as I mentioned earlier, cortisol is released by the adrenal glands during times of stress. But here's the tricky part. Our brains don't actually know how to distinguish between levels of stress. That means being stuck in traffic or running late to a meeting can trigger the same cortisol release as if you were literally being chased by a lion. And even once the stressful event is over, say you've arrived at work and started to calm down, your body still needs time to clear that cortisol from your bloodstream. The problem is when stress is constant and cortisol stays elevated for too long, it can lead to some serious issues. Things like high blood pressure, hormone imbalances, inflammation, mineral depletion, and insulin resistance. But here's the good news. We can help our bodies release that excess cortisol, and it might sound silly. But you can literally shake it out. Think about your dog or your cat. What do they do after they get really excited? Maybe you just came home from work and they're all riled up. What do they do next? They shake their entire body. That's instinct. They know now that the exciting time is over, so they are naturally releasing that excess cortisol and energy from their system. And we can do the same thing. Stand up, shake out your arms, your legs, your whole body. It may feel awkward at first, but I swear it works. You do not need to do this for a long time. A minute or two will do. But after a couple minutes of shaking, you will feel calmer, more grounded, and less tense. It is such a simple way to reset your nervous system. So blood sugar regulation does not end with food. Our stress levels, our adrenals and our daily habits all play a role in whether we feel calm and steady or stuck on a roller coaster of spikes, crashes, and chaos. So take a few of these tools and try them out this week. Walk barefoot outside, practice deep breathing. Set a timer for five minutes and meditate. Journal what's on your mind and soak in some morning sunshine and shake out that cortisol when you feel stressed. These small habits add up in a big way, and I promise your body will. Thank you. If you want more support with stress reduction, blood sugar, balance, and reconnecting with your body naturally, I highly recommend my ebook, A Beginner's Guide to Holistic Living In It. I dive deeper into each of these tools with simple steps to begin implementing them into your daily life, and you can find the link for that in the show notes. Thank you so much for being here with me today, and as always, stay nourished. Thanks for hanging out with me today and tuning into the Nourished Living Podcast. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and found something you can start implementing right away to kickstart your nourished transformation. If you loved this episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with someone who could benefit from these insights. You can also connect with me over on Instagram at Nourished Living for more resources and support. Until next time, stay nourished.