Hey there, midlife mamas! It’s Sharise, your Legacy Igniter, here to spark a revolution in how you nurture your mind and emotions. Are you feeling overwhelmed, stuck in self-doubt, or like stress is dimming your joy, leaving you craving a little peace? Let’s tend to your emotional wellness the Wise & Wild Way by nourishing your mind with food, faith, and with a few practical tools to bring back that lightness and joy. Ready to feel steadier? Let’s dive in!

The Gut-Mind Connection: Why Food Matters

Your gut and mind are partners—what you eat shapes how you feel, think, and process emotions. A stressed gut can stir up anxious thoughts, while a nourished gut brings calm and clarity to your mind. While these foods have tremendous benefits for your body, let’s focus on how they fuel your brain—and therefore your thoughts and feelings—to help you find emotional balance.

Soothe with Meat Stock or Bone Broth

Start with meat stock or bone broth—it’s a hug in a mug, packed with amino acids like glycine and glutamine, plus minerals like magnesium and calcium, to calm your brain by enhancing sleep, producing GABA to ease anxiety, regulating stress responses, and supporting clear thinking.

Balance with Fermented Foods

Add fermented foods like sauerkraut or kefir to boost beneficial bacteria in your gut, which produce calming neurotransmitters like serotonin (a whopping 90% of your body’s serotonin comes from your gut!) and GABA to balance your brain and ease stress and anxiety.

Fuel with Quality Animal Fats

Then include quality animal fats to feed your mind. Your brain, being about 60% fat, thrives on fats for nourishment. It uses omega-3s, saturated fats, cholesterol, fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K2, and especially butter’s arachidonic acid to keep it sharp, focused, and steady. These fats support myelin for better neural signaling, provide ketones for mental clarity, reduce brain fog, regulate mood with endocannabinoids (the body’s own calming molecules that act like a natural stress-reliever), and enhance everything from memory to emotional balance, all while giving you the energy to tackle your day with a clearer head. Add in olive oil, coconut oil, and a handful of crispy nuts (soaked to aid digestion, per Nourishing Traditions and GAPS’ later stages). These quality fats give your brain the steady fuel it needs to stay sharp and balanced.

Avoid the Brain Drainers

So skip processed junk and refined sugars that cloud your mind with mood swings and anxious thoughts, and instead feed your gut with these brain-loving foods—your mind will thank you with a little more peace and joy every day!

Stress Less with Nourishing Rituals

Stress can hijack your emotions, but simple rituals can bring your mind back to center—they give your brain a sense of structure, reducing anxiety, boosting focus, and helping you feel steady, as studies show.

Calm with Herbal Teas

Sip on herbal teas like chamomile or peppermint—they’re GAPS-friendly and calm your nervous system.

Sync with Sunlight

Get out into the sun each morning and evening to regulate your circadian rhythm, lifting your mood with serotonin in the morning and easing you into restful sleep at night.

Ground with Earth’s Energy

Place your feet on the earth to ground yourself—this connects you to the earth’s natural energy, lowering stress by balancing your body’s charge and calming your brain’s stress response.

Detox with Epsom Salt Baths

Soak in regular detox baths with Epsom salts, letting the magnesium melt away anxiety and improve your sleep.- See my article on detox baths to help detox your body and your mind—make sure you print out my bath guide.

Listen for God’s Voice

Take a couple of quiet minutes to listen to the world around you—birds chirping, leaves rustling—opening your heart to hear God’s gentle voice, bringing peace to your mind.

Ease into Sleep with a Bedtime Ritual

Create a soothing bedtime ritual—dim the lights, take a bath, sip a warm drink, or read a comforting verse—to signal your brain it’s time to rest. Quality sleep calms your mind, steadies your emotions, and sharpens your focus for the day ahead. It’s a vital reset for your brain’s clarity and peace. See my Dreamy Sleep Strategies for more ideas

Start with Gratitude

Each morning, name three things you’re grateful for, even simple joys like your soft bed to sleep in, to start your day with a mood-lifting boost of gratitude. Gratitude and anxiety can’t occupy the same space, so when you’re feeling stressed or anxious, find gratitude for something—focus on what you’re grateful for or what you could be grateful for.

These small acts are like a reset button for your soul, helping you feel safe and supported.

Tune Into Your Emotions with Grace

Your emotions can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to hide from them. Take a moment to ask: “What’s stirring in my heart right now?” If this feels new, ease in gently—reflect while savoring your morning tea or strolling quietly. Pay attention to your body’s signals: a clenched jaw might hint at frustration, a heavy heart could whisper grief. Naming what you feel lets it soften, opening the door to calm. You’re never alone—God’s right there with you, and so are these simple practices to guide you through! Explore more about emotions inside my Mindset articles.

Feed Your Soul with Connection

We’re made for connection—it’s a God-given need that lifts our spirits. Be fully present and soak in every moment with loved ones and friends—over meals, a hug, or just sharing a good laugh— and when those moments of connection come—when you feel the warmth and love— fully take it in, savoring it using all your senses. Ask: What do you see? What do you hear? Are there any smells or tastes? What and where do you feel the sensation of this moment?

Let these special moments—even the simple ones—fill you up. Then, give a moment of thanks. By fully allowing your senses to take in that moment and giving a prayer of gratitude, you are anchoring that memory into your mind, body, and spirit so you can recall this special moment anytime (maybe during a time when you need it the most). Connections ease stress and ground you in love.

Keep Going with Faith and Nourishment

You’ve got this, Leading Lady! Keep nourishing your body with gut-healing foods, your mind with faith-filled rituals, and your heart with connection. Each step helps you break free from negative beliefs and step into the peace God has for you. Want more tips? Join my pack by subscribing to my newsletter and tune in for real talk on Sharise Uncut. Let’s soar together!

See you at the next stop,
Sharise
Never give in, never give up, and choose to be free!