When Stress Puts Mind Over Matter to Rest

and how my body has been forcing me make wellness a higher priority

There’s so much talk about the importance of self care. But as much as I strive to recognize that rest is not only helpful but also crucial, I feel guilty about taking breaks. This is nothing new. As someone who has worked for themselves for the past 15 years, I always felt the pressure of always needing to be productive. And it’s only increased since becoming a mom.

For the majority of my life, I strived under pressure. Need a study partner to cram before a last minute exam? I’m your girl. Looking for a style expert to pull together five Met Gala inspired looked in less than 24 hours with models who will go on E! News for free? I gotchu. Need to fully furnish a house in two weeks at 9 months pregnant after moving for a second time while pregnant? No problem!

But there have been three times now in the past few years where my stress-dealing superpower malfunctioned. And my body decided to put my mind in check. That’s where I’m at as I type this at 11am on a holiday, trying to catch my breath while my three boys peacefully nap.

10:45am: sandwiched between Chubbs & Jack Jack while Preston sleeps upstairs

The first time I realized that mind over matter doesn’t always work was in 2022. I woke up one day in May, with excruciating pain in my jaw. It progressed to the point I couldn’t chew on my right side. A month or so later my ear started hurting. I went to an ENT and he told me there was absolutely nothing wrong. But the pain kept getting worse.

I booked an appointment with the only doctor who was able to provide me relief after a bad accident: Dr. Tarek Adra of Kinetix 365. His first question after assessing me? What is stressing you out so much?

Dr. Adra explained that everything in the body is connected. Often, when I was stressed in the past, my shoulder would hurt. But it was nothing a few pilates classes and my Hyperice couldn’t fix. This time, he said, the tightness from my shoulder radiated up through my neck to my jaw, and then shot up to my ear. He said he could temporarily help the pain (which he did). But if I didn’t want it to return I needed to figure out the cause of my overwhelming stress. At that point, I knew needed to accept reality.