At BeLIVE, we believe leadership and wellbeing are deeply connected. The way we navigate stress, pressure, and emotional demands impacts not only our personal wellbeing, but also how we lead, communicate, and show up for others.

As part of Mental Health Awareness Month, we are honored to feature this guest contribution from our partner Maripossa Wellness, founded by Karina Muller.

Through her work, Karina helps individuals and organizations build healthier, more intentional approaches to wellbeing, resilience, and self-awareness. In this article, she shares practical reflections and wellness tools to help recognize stress triggers and create space for more mindful responses in everyday life.

During Mental Health Awareness Month, we are reminded of the importance of caring not only for our physical health, but also for our emotional and mental wellbeing. In today’s fast-paced world, many people are navigating stress, burnout, caregiving responsibilities, workplace pressure, leadership demands, and the constant feeling of needing to do more.

Through my work in wellbeing and wellness programming, I’ve seen how often life pulls us in multiple directions at once—and how easy it becomes to move through stress without fully recognizing its impact. Taking time to pause, reflect, and recognize how stress shows up in our minds and bodies is an important step toward building resilience and creating healthier habits.

Stress is a natural part of life, but when left unmanaged, it can influence not only our wellbeing, but also our leadership, decision-making, relationships, focus, and how we show up for others. Many people move through their days without fully realizing how stress is influencing their decisions, emotions, communication, and physical health. Learning to recognize your personal stress triggers can help you create healthier responses and develop greater self-awareness.

When you learn to create space between a trigger and your reaction, you give yourself the opportunity to respond with greater clarity, intention, and self-compassion. Wellness is not about eliminating stress completely. It is about developing tools that allow you to move through challenges with more resilience, mindfulness, and balance.

Here are three ways to better identify your stress triggers and support yourself with practical wellness tools throughout the day.

1. Notice Your Breath

Have you ever caught yourself holding your breath during a stressful email, difficult conversation, overwhelming meeting, or emotionally charged moment?

Your breath often reflects what is happening internally before your mind fully processes it. Shallow breathing, chest tightness, rapid breathing, or breath-holding can all be signs that your nervous system is responding to stress.

The good news is that your breath can also become one of your most powerful wellness tools.

The next time you feel overwhelmed:

• Pause for a moment
• Inhale slowly through your nose
• Exhale fully and intentionally
• Repeat several times
• Allow your shoulders and jaw to soften

Even a brief breathing reset can help clear your mind, regulate your emotions, and support more grounded decision-making.

Many people underestimate the importance of slowing down during stressful situations. However, giving yourself even 30 seconds to pause and breathe can help shift your body from a reactive state into a calmer and more focused one. The breath creates an opportunity to reconnect with yourself before immediately responding to stress.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is pause before reacting.

Reflection: What situations tend to shift your breathing before you even realize stress is present?

2. Listen to What Your Body Is Telling You

Stress doesn’t only live in the mind — it often shows up in the body first.

Do you notice tension in your neck after a meeting? Tight shoulders during a busy day? Jaw clenching while responding to messages? Headaches after prolonged screen time? Fatigue that feels heavier than usual?

These physical responses can become important signals that your body needs attention and care.

Our bodies constantly communicate with us, but many of us have learned to ignore discomfort and push through exhaustion instead of listening. Over time, chronic stress can impact physical and emotional wellbeing in significant ways.

Creating small moments of movement throughout your day can help release accumulated tension, improve circulation, and restore focus and energy.

Try incorporating:

• Gentle stretching
• Shoulder rolls
• Standing breaks
• Conscious breathing
• Short walks between meetings
• Stepping away from screens
• Taking a few moments outdoors for fresh air and sunlight

You do not need an hour-long wellness routine to support your body. Small, intentional moments throughout the day can make a meaningful difference.

Awareness creates opportunity. The more you recognize where stress shows up physically, the more intentionally you can support your wellbeing before reaching a point of complete exhaustion or burnout.

Reflection: What physical signals has your body been trying to communicate lately?

3. Shift the Narrative

Stressful situations can quickly trigger negative internal dialogue:

• “I can’t handle this.”
• “There’s too much to do.”
• “I’m already behind.”
• “I’ll never get everything done.”
• “I’m failing.”
• “I should be doing more.”

When stress increases, it becomes easier for self-criticism and overwhelm to take over. These thoughts can create additional emotional pressure and make situations feel even more difficult than they are.

When this happens, it’s important to pause before allowing those thoughts to control your day.

A mindful pause gives you the opportunity to reset your perspective and ask:

• What is truly urgent right now?
• What support do I need?
• What is one next step I can take?
• How can I approach this situation with clarity instead of panic?
• What would it look like to respond with compassion instead of criticism?

You do not need to solve everything at once.

By slowing down, breathing, and reconnecting with the present moment, you can move from reaction to intention — and respond to challenges with greater focus, resilience, and self-awareness.

Changing the narrative does not mean ignoring challenges or pretending everything is easy. It means learning how to approach yourself and your circumstances with greater mindfulness, patience, and emotional awareness.

What story are you telling yourself today—and is it helping you move forward?

Building Your Wellness Toolbox

Recognizing your stress triggers is the first step toward creating healthier habits and more sustainable wellbeing.

Over time, many of the individuals and teams I support discover that resilience is rarely built through dramatic change. More often, it develops through small moments of awareness repeated consistently.

Your wellness toolbox may include:

• Mindful breathing practices
• Movement and stretching
• Healthy boundaries
• Rest and recovery
• Supportive conversations
• Journaling or reflection
• Time outdoors
• Moments of stillness throughout the day

Wellness is not about perfection. It is about learning to pause, listen, and respond with greater intention.

During Mental Health Awareness Month, I invite you to create space to check in with yourself and reflect on the habits that help you feel grounded, energized, and well.

Small moments of awareness can create meaningful and lasting change.

And if you are looking for additional support as you navigate stress, wellbeing, or creating more sustainable habits for yourself or your team, I would be honored to support you. You can schedule time to connect and explore what that could look like.

Topics: Wellbeing, Mindset, Stress, Reflection

Karina Muller is the founder and CEO of Maripossa Wellness, bringing more than 25 years of experience across health, wellness, sports, fashion, and stress management. She holds an MBA from Cornell University and is certified in corporate and workplace wellness.

Through her company, Maripossa Wellness, Karina designs and leads experiential wellness programs focused on resilience, stress management, communication, and soft skills development for startups, hospitals, corporate teams, conferences, and retreats. She also partners with founders, executives, and small business owners to create bespoke wellness sessions that support personal wellbeing, leadership growth, and sustainable performance.