🌾 How I Stopped Living in Survival Mode

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”— Matthew 11:28

Dear friend,

If you’ve been walking through your days feeling exhausted no matter how much you sleep… if your mind is scattered, your body aches, and your heart feels miles behind your hands—you’re not alone.

I lived there for a long time. And if no one has said it to you lately, let me:You don’t have to stay in survival mode. You’re allowed to heal and you are worth re-building. You’re allowed to rest, and you’re not meant to walk this path alone.

🌙 What Survival Mode Looked Like for Me

I didn’t always know I was in it. At first, I thought I was just “pushing through,” like everyone else. But over time, I began to notice:

My digestion was off, even when I tried to “eat clean”
I couldn’t sleep through the night and I was always in pain
Small tasks felt overwhelming
I had raging anxiety
I was always tired

I kept chasing the answer.

But healing didn’t begin until I stopped striving and started listening.

🕊️ The Gentle Shifts That Brought Me Back to Life

Here’s the truth: you don’t need a huge life overhaul to begin healing.You just need to create new rhythms—tiny, nourishing habits that tell your nervous system: “You’re safe now.”

Here are some of the first shifts I made:

✅ Started my mornings slowly — warm water with minerals, nettle tea or broth, reciting scripture, and sunshine

✅ Ate protein-rich breakfasts — with eggs, fruit, raw dairy, or meat stock to support my blood sugar

✅ Swapped stress workouts for walks, breath-work, moderate strength training, stretching by the window

✅ Traded shame talk for the gentle language of “I’m learning” and “I’m healing”

✅ Built meals around nourishment, not restriction — full of broths, root vegetables, healthy fats, yummy fruits, and healing proteins.

✅ Stopped chasing ‘results’ and started valuing a consistent process — spiritually, emotionally, and physically

These small shifts began to carry me. And slowly, I stopped living to survive… and started learning how to live again.

✝️ Faith Was My Anchor

I didn’t heal by accident. And I didn’t heal by effort alone.

There came a point where I had to stop treating my body like a project and more like a home. When I started inviting God into the process—not just in crisis, but in my daily rhythms—everything shifted. I didn’t get better overnight. But I started feeling held.

Healing became less about fixing and more about aligning. Less about checking boxes and more about abiding. I stopped asking, “What’s wrong with me?” and started praying, “What are You restoring in me?”

I’m not here because I got it all right. I’m here because grace met me in the mess—over and over again.

🌿 Practical Steps You Can Start Today

Here are three small but powerful things you can do this week to soften your way out of survival mode:

Switch your breakfast
Toss the granola bar or cold brew. Try a warm, blood-sugar balancing breakfast with eggs, fruit, raw cheese, and a spoonful of coconut oil or ghee. You’ll feel the difference.
Put your feet in the grass for 5 minutes or listen to rain or bird sounds by a window
Grounding helps calm your nervous system and reconnect your body to the present. Say a short prayer or simply breathe deeply while doing it.
End your day with a magnesium foot soak, lotion, or mineral-rich bath
This supports your adrenals and helps signal rest to your body. Bonus: it’s cozy and healing.

✨ Want Support on Your Journey?

I created the 30-Day Glow-Up Reset Challenge as a gentle, faith-based guide to help you reset your body, your rhythms, and your hope—without extremes. You’ll receive:

🥗 Nourishing lifestyle and food habits, checklists, and a program that fits into your life
🕯️ Faith-based encouragement
🎥 Short daily videos from me—so you never feel like you’re doing it alone

Start when you’re ready. Go at your own pace. It’s not about perfection—it’s about alignment.

And if you’re craving deeper healing—heart, identity, and purpose—I invite you to read my new book,📖 Becoming God’s Daughter: Living in Intention, Healing, Daughterhood, and Calling (available now on Amazon).It’s a quiet walk through identity, wholeness, and the heart of a loving Father.

Includes scripture reflections, journal prompts and page, and a prayer in every chapter.

Friend, you were never meant to live in survival mode.There’s a softer way. And you don’t have to find it alone.

With grace,Lea 🤍