Holiday wellness tips are essential as we navigate the season of gatherings, travel, and indulgence. Feeling stressed about upcoming family dinners or worried about digestive issues from all those holiday treats? You're not alone!
Join Jenn Trepeck on Salad with a Side of Fries as she chats with Dr. Haley Parker, a doctor of East Asian Medicine and licensed acupuncturist, about practical ways to handle holiday stress management without losing your mind. Together, they explore how ancient wisdom meets modern holiday stress management, offering actionable advice on everything from improving sleep hygiene to supporting your immune system through seasonal changes and managing those inevitable digestive health challenges that come with festive feasting. Whether you're dreading Thanksgiving dinner drama, worried about fitting into your jeans after all those parties, or just trying not to catch every bug going around, we've got you covered.
What You Will Learn in This Episode:
✅ How East Asian Medicine and acupuncture benefits can help manage holiday stress management, from dealing with family dynamics to maintaining your mental health wellness during the busiest time of year.
✅ Practical holiday wellness tips for preventing and treating digestive health issues like bloating and food stagnation, including herbal medicine remedies and lifestyle adjustments that support your body through festive feasting.
✅ Why rest and recovery are an active state and how to work with your body's natural circadian rhythm during seasonal changes, plus strategies for supporting your immune system to avoid getting sick during the holidays.
✅ The connection between seasonal affective disorder and your body's mammalian need to slow down in fall and winter, along with stress relief techniques like journaling and mindfulness practices that help you tune into what your body actually needs.
The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast, hosted by Jenn Trepeck, explores real-life wellness and weight-loss topics, debunking myths, misinformation, and flawed science surrounding nutrition and the food industry. Let’s dive into wellness and weight loss for real life, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Introduction to East Asian Medicine with Dr. Haley Parker
05:19 Dr. Haley shares her journey from Division 1 athlete to acupuncturist, and how chronic pain led her to explore integrative medicine and whole-person healthcare approaches
09:28 Defining East Asian Medicine as an umbrella term encompassing nutrition therapy, herbal medicine, manual therapy, acupuncture and the importance of rightful thinking
12:49 Understanding holiday stress management through the lens of seasonal changes and how our bodies were meant to function, and a discussion of digestion issues
20:11 Holiday wellness tips for managing family dynamics and stress during gatherings, including the importance of self-care routines, journaling, and approaching situations with compassion and grace
22:07 Sleep hygiene strategies for the holidays, including power naps for nervous system regulation, balancing caffeine intake, and maintaining stable blood sugar
24:03 Practical digestive health advice for holiday meals, using an algebraic equation approach to balance indulgence with movement, hydration, and mindfulness practices around eating habits
28:21 How humans, as non-hibernating mammals, struggle during seasonal transitions, plus the importance of eating seasonally to support organ systems and why rest and recovery are an active state essential for health
35:57 Mental health wellness strategies, recognizing stress patterns, and becoming a better practitioner of self-care routines
39:57 How to find a qualified acupuncture practitioner, tips for choosing someone who resonates
