YOUR STRESS BLUEPRINT IS THE

PROTECTOR BLUEPRINT

You’re the caring one. Compassionate, loyal, and values-driven. Integrity matters to you. You notice what needs to be done, you follow through, and you often put others first without even realizing you are doing it.

And that’s how you thrive…when your care has structure, your effort is meaningful, and you feel proud of how you show up.

But sometimes your pattern is to hold yourself to impossible standards. To carry responsibility quietly. To keep tightening the grip when you feel pressure. Over time, that can tip into perfectionism, self-criticism, rigidity, and a nervous system that stays braced.

You might find yourself replaying conversations, scanning for what you missed, or waking early with your mind already running.

Your next move: soften the inner pressure, nourish your foundation, and practice letting go without losing your standards.

What Your Results Say About You

You’re a Protector, which means you’re naturally compassionate, caring, and committed.
You often lead with integrity and responsibility, and people trust you to do things well.

And because you can keep functioning, it’s easy to go beyond the moment when your system is holding more tension than it has capacity for.

Here’s what’s going on beneath the surface.

You could be holding yourself to such high standards… until your body pushes back.

Stress for Protector blueprints often looks like self-criticism, high standards, and a nervous system that stays on alert.

Protectors are incredible at meeting outer expectations, and often hold themselves to intense inner expectations too. In other words, you keep raising the bar, even when your body is asking for softness.

Over time, that can show up as:

perfectionism that makes everything feel heavier
being overly critical of yourself, or suddenly more critical of others
rigidity and tension in your body, jaw, shoulders, chest, or gut
obsessive or compulsive tendencies, rechecking, redoing, overthinking
a constant feeling that you should be doing more, or doing it better

Often this isn’t an issue with your discipline. It’s an issue with nervous system load. Too many expectations, and not enough relief. Too much self-monitoring, and not enough recovery.

Learning how to build micro-moments of self-care and emotional expression becomes essential so you can keep showing up with integrity without burning yourself out.

Your mind tries to find comfort through control

Protectors often try to stabilize stress by tightening. Planning more. Thinking harder. Aiming for perfect.

That can look like replaying conversations, scanning for what you said, what you should have said, or what you could have done differently. It can look like obsessive thinking, mental checking, and feeling like you can’t relax until everything is handled.

Your system is trying to protect you, which can be helpful.

But we want to find a way to support the downshifting, so that you aren’t braced all the time. Having more tools to soften the inner critic and release control will allow you to come back into your body, returning to a greater state of balance.

Stress can hit your standards first

For Protectors, stress often shows up through control tendencies. WHether that’s tipping into perfectionism, becoming overly critical of yourself and others, nitpicking, or becoming obsessive, your high standards are taking over.

This is a nervous system pattern. Your system is vigilant and knows you can get the task done.

Learning how to practice letting go, soften rigid expectations, and create a steady routine can support a more easeful mind.

Watch for these warning signs

Protectors rarely “crash” out of nowhere. It’s usually a slow build, then a tipping point.

Here are a few signs you might be edging toward that place where your system starts pushing back because it has been carrying too much for too long:

Your inner critic is louder than usual. You notice more self-judgement, more pressure, and less gentleness.

You feel tense even when you have time to rest. Your body stays braced. Your jaw is tight. Your shoulders are up.

You’re rechecking and redoing. It’s harder to trust that you did enough, so you keep going back over it.

You’re waking between 3 and 5am with a busy mind. Conversations replay, lists start, and you can’t land back in sleep.

You feel more rigid or irritable. Things that normally wouldn’t bother you start to feel heavy or intolerable.

You’re doing everything “right,” but it still doesn’t feel like relief. Nothing feels finished. Nothing feels settled.

If you see yourself in any of these, take it as information, not failure.

It’s a sign your system needs more softness, more support, and more foundations.

Protector types need step-by-step, consistent support to soften the pressure and help your system feel safe enough to let go.

Your Personalized Health Essentials Audio Playlist

This is your Health Essentials audio playlist. Through these foundations, you can start supporting your nervous system, your digestion, your hormones, mindset and more. They will help you work yourself into the equation of support, in addition to those around you.

As an Anchor, if you want the quickest shift, start with:

Nourishment → Stress Resilience → Sleep

ACCESS YOUR AUDIO PLAYLIST HERE

From tight and braced to
grounded and collaborative

Here’s your step-by-step plan

1) Listen to your Health Essentials playlist

You’ll get the biggest results if you listen once, then repeat the one that hits the hardest.

2) Pick one Anchor-friendly action for today

Choose one:

protein + fibre at your next meal to steady blood sugar and mood
5 minutes of gentle movement to release tension from the body
3 minutes of “letting go” journaling, what I’m holding, what can wait, what isn’t mine to carry
five slow breaths with a long exhale to cue your nervous system to soften

One of my favourite ways to release Protector tension is a simple “drop the shoulders, soften the jaw” body scan with slow breathing. You’ll be amazed at how much space you can create without changing anything else. Access it HERE.

3) Put your day to bed tonight

Before bed, use this template to put your day to bed. This helps get everything out of your head and onto the page. Remember, the goal isn’t to solve it, it’s to unload it. Download it HERE.

4) Want a 10-day structure?

If you want me to guide you day-by-day, join me in my self-paced 10 day program for only $22

Energy Shift: Your Blueprint to Nervous System Health and Hormone Balance

Start Energy Shift

5) Check your email

I’ll be dropping into your inbox with short supportive emails personalized for your blueprint. These give you even more step-by-step tools to start integrating in your daily life.

If you don’t see them, make sure to check your spam or promotions folders, mark the emails as part of your primary inbox, and add me to your contacts, so you don’t miss anything.

About Me

Hi, I’m Rachel.

I’m an Integrative Health Coach with a background in exercise science, health behaviour change and eastern medicine and acupuncture. My goal is to support busy women to rebalance their nervous system and hormones without giving up on your goals and ambitions. I blend western physiology with Traditional Chinese Medicine because in real life, women need both: a clear explanation for what’s happening, and tools that actually help.

My work blends western physiology with Traditional Chinese Medicine because women deserve a framework that makes sense on multiple levels. We look at what’s happening with stress hormones, blood sugar, sleep, digestion, and inflammation, and we also pay attention to patterns like energy, cycles, and the way your system responds to pressure over time. The goal is clarity and relief, not more confusion. You leave with practical and personalized tools you can actually use, even in a full and busy life.

I also come back, again and again, to the Health Essentials. The foundations. Movement, nourishment, stress resilience, sleep, and connection and alignment. Because quick fixes, fads, and trends might create a short-term spark, but they rarely create lasting change if your base is shaky. You don’t need a new protocol every week. You need consistent support that helps your nervous system feel balanced and your hormones stay supported.

I created the Stress Blueprint framework because I kept seeing the same thing. Two women can have the same symptoms and need completely different support. One person needs more movement and structure to feel steady. Another needs more rest and containment to come back into balance. Stress is not one-size-fits-all, and nervous system regulation isn’t either. Your blueprint gives us a starting point that’s personal, compassionate, and specific, so you can stop guessing and start supporting your body in a way that fits.

When I’m not helping people feel more at ease in their bodies, you can find me playing with my puppy, walking on the beach, and growing dahlias in my garden.

I’m a constant learner and always seeking to grow personally and professionally.

A few of my favourite things are starting kitchen dance parties, watching Grey’s Anatomy, and drinking smoothies laced with coffee.

I love living on Vancouver Island but my favourite place on earth is Osoyoos, BC. The feeling of summer in a lakeside small town brings me so much joy.

And of course, I love supporting women to understand their bodies.