Episode 27: Rewiring Your Stress Response

📄 Episode Summary:

What if stress isn’t the problem—but the way we respond to it is? In this powerful, science-backed episode of Lifestyle School, Hope explores groundbreaking insights from Dr. Elissa Epel’s book The Stress Prescription. You’ll learn why stress isn’t always harmful, how it affects your metabolism and biological aging, and what you can do—starting today—to build resilience.

This is more than a pep talk. It’s a roadmap. Walk away with a deeper understanding of your stress response and 7 practical tools you can begin using immediately to calm your body, rewire your brain, and create lasting change.

If you’ve been doing all the “right things” but still feel stuck in survival mode, this episode will shift your mindset and restore your sense of control.

🧠 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• The truth about stress: why it’s not all bad
  
  
• How daily microstressors hijack your metabolism and hormones
  
  
• What telomeres are, and how stress affects your rate of aging
  
  
• The difference between toxic chronic stress and hormetic, beneficial stress
  
  
• Dr. Epel’s 7-Day Stress Prescription—broken down step-by-step
  
  
• How Lifestyle School trains your nervous system for long-term healing
  
  
• One small challenge to start calming your body today

🔧 7-Day Stress Tools Covered in This Episode:

1. Embrace Uncertainty – Let go of control and reframe change
   
   
2. Focus on What You Can Control – Shift from helpless to empowered
   
   
3. Train Your Stress Response – Use microstress (fasting, cold, breathwork) for resilience
   
   
4. Prioritize Rest – Create recovery windows for hormonal balance
   
   
5. Connect with Meaning – Anchor yourself in purpose and relationships
   
   
6. Savor the Good – Use awe and joy to rewire your brain
7. Ritualize Recovery – Build habits that make your body feel safe
   

📌 Mentioned in This Episode:

• The Stress Prescription by Dr. Elissa Epel
  
  
• Telomere research with Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn
  
  
• Lifestyle School: Hope’s 8-week metabolic healing program
  
  
• @hopeplackcoaching on Instagram

🏁 Challenge of the Week:

Choose one of the 7 tools shared in this episode and commit to practicing it daily for the next 7 days. Tag @hopeplackcoaching to share your progress!

📣 Rate & Review the Show

If this episode helped shift your mindset or gave you a new tool to try—would you take 60 seconds to leave a rating or review? Your words help the podcast reach more people who need it.