If you are a middle-aged woman just like me, then stress is not something of an unfamiliar territory. In fact, many of us feel overwhelmed by stress keeping up with demanding needs of modern life, working, making money, side-hustling, managing kids, also attending to our loved ones. It’s definitely a clown juggling balls situation, only without the red nose!
It might even feel like from the outside, you are doing all the things and people around you are praising you, but you are dying on the inside not having proper rest, not being able to have me-time, deep sleep, feeling you are not doing enough and feeling a level of uneasiness within your physical and mental leading to exhaustion and disembodiment.
In fact a study on women and stress by Cleveland Clinic found out that as demands increase to fulfil these roles, women can feel overwhelmed with time pressures and unmet obligations. They may feel a sense of failure in not being able to meet expectations for themselves and others. Oftentimes women spend more time meeting the needs of others rather than nurturing their own needs. If functioning at high stress levels, women may not even recognize what their needs are.
So if you feel like you have all these above-mentioned symptoms, understand that you are not alone. It is not supposed to be common, but unfortunately it is, but the great news is that now you know it needs to be addressed appropriately.
I assure you with the right approach it is very much possible to enjoy being able to feel more at ease, joy and receive the love that you desire.
Section 1 : The Hidden Impact on Your Mind and Body
1.1 Emotional and Mental Imbalances
How does stress feel? Irritability, unknown sadness and frustration are just different faces of stress. You might find yourself snapping at your spouse for leaving the dishes out or losing patience with your children when they’re just being kids. Or you may just shut the door close because you just want to not deal with anything or anyone.
One client of mine, Sarah, told me how she would lose her temper with her kids over the smallest things—like spilled milk—because she was carrying so much unprocessed stress from her workday. It wasn’t until she learned to manage her emotions that she was able to respond calmly and actually enjoy time with her family again.
1.2 Disembodiment
Disembodiment is when you feel disconnected from your body and emotions, often as a way to cope with overwhelming experiences or past trauma. It's a survival mechanism that kicks in when emotions feel too heavy or distressing, causing us to detach and distance ourselves from what we're feeling in the moment.
Stress on a long term or chronic stress can make you feel disconnected from your own body’s needs, and in turn, from your family’s emotional needs. That would mean, saying things you do not actually mean, not being able to 'listen' when someone you care about is talking instead, waiting to respond impatiently, not being able to being present in any situation, almost like living in the overthinking mind.
Another client, Ana, realized that when she was overwhelmed, she would zone out when her husband was talking. She wasn’t present in the moment because her body was tense and her mind was elsewhere preoccupied with tension from work stress. Over time, this created emotional distance in their relationship.
1.3 Build-up of Anger and Frustration
Stress that’s not dealt with can result in built-up frustration, which often gets directed toward those closest to you. Have you experienced this?
Jeethra found herself frequently arguing with her aging mother over minor things, like house chores or schedules. The real issue was that she felt emotionally exhausted from juggling her family and caregiving responsibilities, but she hadn’t acknowledged those feelings until they erupted into this big burst of anger and pent-up resentment.
1.4 Gut Health and Digestion
Remember this? If only bloating had such effects! But the reality is not many of us are aware of this but chronic stress puts your body in a constant “fight or flight” state, which diverts energy away from digestion. This leads to gut health issues like bloating, indigestion, constipation, or diarrhea on the regular. Stress can also affect the balance of healthy bacteria in your gut, which is closely linked to your overall immune system and mood.
One client, Nancy, noticed that whenever she was going through a stressful time at work, she experienced painful bloating and irregular digestion. This led her to take antacids to relieve heart burn and gassiness, so she can work. As a certified Health Coach, I’ve helped Nancy manage her stress, her gut health improved, and she no longer had to rely on over-the-counter medications to ease the discomfort.
1.5 Hormonal Imbalance
Stress triggers the release of cortisol, the body’s stress hormone. This hormone is much crucial for your body including regulating your body's stress response, helping control your body's use of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, or your metabolism. But when cortisol levels remain high for long periods, it can disrupt your other hormones, leading to irregular periods, hair loss, difficulty sleeping, or even weight gain—especially around the midsection.
Laura came to me frustrated with unexplained weight gain and fatigue. She was eating well and exercising but couldn’t lose the weight caused by stress, overwhelm and burn-out from work. It was not until we addressed that her sleep was regulated, improving her stress response to recalibrate and balancing her hormones, she began to see improvements in her energy and weight shift.
1.6 Weakened Immune System
High stress weakens the immune system, making it easier to get sick or take longer to recover from illness.
Rebecca, a business owner noticed that during particularly stressful months, she caught colds more frequently and took longer to bounce back. By reducing her stress and focusing on immune-boosting nutrition, she became more resilient and experienced fewer health setbacks that allowed her to show up better in her business and get more sales.
Section 2 : The Ripple Effect—How Your Stress Affects Your Loved Ones
2.1 Impact on Your Spouse or Partner
When your emotions are on edge, it can create a cycle of miscommunication or distance with your spouse.
Many of my clients come to me because they’ve noticed that their constant stress is straining their marriage. My client Lily while uncovering how stress affected her marriage, shared how she and her husband barely spoke at the end of the day because she was too mentally exhausted to have any meaningful conversations. It was like they were living parallel lives instead of being partners who want to emotionally, spiritually growing old together. After guiding her on mind-body connection mindfulness tools during our Integrative Yoga session, she noticed that her husband was encouraging her to do more sessions because she was more grounded and fun to be around with.
2.2 Impact on Your Children
Children are highly sensitive little beings. They can sense when you’re stressed, even if you try to hide it. This often leads to changes in their behavior, like acting out, becoming anxious themselves, or not share anything that had happened to them. This does not only leave them feeling alone, but lack of bonding can negatively impact their growth as emotionally healthy adults.
Beth’s daughter started having nightmares when Beth was going through a particularly stressful time at work. Beth hadn’t realized how much her stress was affecting her daughter’s sense of security until she started noticing these changes. By addressing her stress and practicing mindfulness, she not only felt better but also saw improvements in her daughter’s mood open up better with her creating emotional bonding.
2.3 Impact on Your Parents
For those caring for aging parents, chronic stress can make caregiving feel even more overwhelming.
Example: “Mira was constantly frustrated with her elderly father, who needed more help than she could provide. She found herself snapping at him and feeling guilty afterward. Through stress management techniques and tools, she learned to set boundaries and communicate more compassionately, easing the tension between them.
Section 3: Why Traditional Methods Don’t Work
Growing up in a small town, we are taught to take paracetamol for period pains, magnesium trisilicate to relieve heartburn, or pop a sleeping pill when unable to sleep. These are quick fixes that makes you feel better in the moment addressing the symptoms of stress. We are often trying to manage stress through quick fixes, but these methods don’t address the deeper emotional disconnection or the impact on your relationship within yourself and your loved ones.
For instance, one client tried meditation apps, but they only gave her temporary relief. It wasn’t until we worked on reconnecting with her body and emotions that she started to see lasting change in how she handled stress—and how she interacted with her loved ones. Meditations are great, but if the approach is narrow minded, then you won't be able to enjoy the wholistic benefits of being in your true power.
Section 4: How to Reconnect, Heal, and Improve Your Relationships
Our bodies are fascinating adaptive machines, when given proper tools and care. You will be amazed at how the same body that is responding to chronic stress counter responds when it is exposed regularly to mindfulness practices, nature, gut resetting habits and breathing techniques where joy and bliss is created from within.
Let me introduce to you my holistic approach as a way to help women not only manage their stress but also reconnect with their bodies and emotions, improving their relationships with self and others.
Through my personalized yoga and coaching program, I helped Sarah understand her body’s cues for rest and taught her technique to process her emotions before they built up when she understood how her stress is reacting to her body. Her habit of sugar craving snacking that was picked up as a stress coping mechanism has been addressed and it is no longer an issue! Now, instead of losing her temper, she can take a moment to breathe and respond calmly to her children’s needs and workplace disputes.
There are also breathing techniques that can help you relieve stressful emotions. Mindfulness techniques are great ways of improving stress and practice of being present in the current moment, without a preoccupied mind. Check out my upcoming blogs on breathing techniques that can help you maintain your composure, be calm and make decision making much at ease.
About the Author
I’m Baita, a certified yoga teacher and holistic health coach with a passion for helping women overcome the physical and emotional impact of stress and anxiety. I blend practices like yoga, nutrition, and mindfulness to support my clients in reconnecting with their bodies, improving gut health, and restoring emotional balance.
I am the founder of the Sankalpa Space, an online platform, a Certified Health Coach, Certified Yoga Teacher, Certified Yoga NIdra Teacher, movement enthusiast, love hosting annual mindfulness retreats going through a personal journey of seeking and exploring deeper meaning of life itself and I share what has helped me find myself with you. As an ex-pharmacist who worked in healthcare space for one and a half decade, I found myself spreading myself too thin and unable to do anything other than work and go through burn-out, and how it affected not just my own mental health but also those around me, finding it hard to seek a partner who not only someone who deserves the best of me, also someone who is willing to grow and glow together. As a part of my healing journey, I also enrolled myself in a fancy Psychology Degree that helped me peel the layers that don't serve me well, and apply these tools to help my clients who work with me one to one. I write these blogs to empower women with the tools they need to reclaim their mental, physical and emotional balance because I know from my own experience how challenging it can be to juggle so many roles without losing yourself, especially when the environment is not positive and nurturing to personally grow. I am here for it all and I'm here to show how it is done with ease, joy and an open heart. Your journey is about to become lit!
Follow me on Instagram at @breathewithbaita for more insights, or reach out to learn how I can support you on your wellness journey!
This is my very first blog, so be kind! Come grow with me.