Hey guys! Today I’m teaming up with mindbodygreen to share some amazing wellness tools  to help you get ready for fall.  

As those Labor Day sale emails flood our inbox, it’s normal to feel a mix of excitement and anxiety about the season ahead. Many of my clients struggle with back-to-school / back -in-action stress and anxiety after summer, and as I was talking about last week, I’m no stranger to that myself.

Stress is at the root of many reasons why we have trouble sticking to the plans intended to help us reach our goals. I’m a big believer that getting a handle on our stress can help us get a handle on the other stuff we’re struggling with or working toward. I see this all the time with my clients and in my own life: We beat up on ourselves and make it a story about willpower when actually, we may just lack the tools we need in our toolbox. For example, maybe you think your struggle is resisting the vending machine at work, but actually, you may just not know which specific foods to eat so you can feel more grounded. 

A frittata with roasted sweet potato is one my go-to breakfasts when I need to stay grounded.

Even healthy coping mechanisms can have their downside if we’re not mindful about them, though. To share a personal example, I turn to exercise a lot when I’m stressed, but this has made me prone to overuse injuries. Classic Sagittarius problems, I know, but I’ve had to learn this about myself and take care to avoid creating new problems for myself. I’m not a trainer or exercise physiologist, so not the expert on this topic, but I have learned that for me, while a long walk or sweaty cardio session can fix a lot of things, too much cardio and not enough strengthening can lead to imbalance and pain as certain muscle groups get overworked and tight while others stay weak.

This time last year I was dealing with the beginnings of a hamstring injury but kept ignoring it. What I would later learn in physical therapy is that foam rolling and working more intently on strength-building would have helped prevent this issue, but I was way too focused on my sister’s wedding, family obligations, and work deadlines to even think about prevention. Instead, I just watched the situation get worse and worse until one day I was in so much pain I was in tears.

Injuries can actually present a great learning opportunity. While it was hard to drag myself across town for those appointments twice a week for six months, I was motivated by wanting to heal and avoid having to go through this in the future. In the six months since, while I’ve kept up with the stretches, weights routine, and Pilates, I have majorly slacked on the foam rolling, thanks to lots of travel and just getting out of the habit. And I have a foam-roller at home! Aka: no excuse.

Trying to get reacquainted with the foam roller I don’t use nearly enough.

That’s why I am so excited about this foam rolling course from Lauren Roxburgh for mindbodygreen. I’m using it to jump start my September goal of foam rolling four days a week. Want to join me? As part of their Eat Well, Sweat More, Stress Less Labor Day Sale, mindbodygreen is offering their courses at 50% off! If you’ve been wanting to check them out now is the time! The sale is running until Tuesday, 9/4.

You can access the course here. Usually $29.99, it’s available for $14.99 right now!

One other thing I’ve added to my routine to help me deal with stress is meditation. I’ll be honest that I have a hard time getting in to many guided meditations, but Light Watkins is an exception. One of my favorite 2018 memories is sitting on a yoga mat early in the morning at mbg’s revitalize conference in Arizona as he led the group in a super-chill, non-pretentious meditation experience. I recommend him to my clients who don’t think they like meditation. His Meditation for Anxiety course is the perfect approachable tool for dealing with that September anxiety. You can grab it here . The usual price is $19.99, but you can get it right now for  $9.99.

PS: If you’re looking for What I Ate Wednesday Happenings, I’m taking it over to my Instagram stories this week so you can follow along there.

I’d love to know—how do you deal with stress? The good, the bad, the ugly, the expensive…Anyone else shop when they’re wigged out? 

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. There is no additional cost to you but I make a small amount from each sale.