147. What If Stress Isn’t the Problem? with Dr. Alexandra Crosswell

What if stress itself isn’t the problem, but never getting a chance to recover from it? 

In this conversation, I’m joined by Dr. Alexandra “Daisy” Crosswell, a psychological scientist who studies how stress affects the body. We talk about why so many of us feel constantly “on,” what Daisy calls deep rest, and the small cues of safety we can weave into an ordinary day.

Daisy also shares what happened when she tried to run a research lab while raising three young children, and how that experience changed her relationship with work. We get into the choices women face around careers and motherhood, the often invisible work of running a home, and the freedom of defining success for the chapter you’re actually living.

We explore:

• Why recovery matters as much as how much stress you carry
• Warmth, connection, and other small invitations to rest
• The space between pushing through and leaving a career altogether
• The mental load at home and what it takes to share it
• What it means to “solve for the now” and trust yourself with what comes next

Daisy leaves us with a beautiful reminder: we don’t have to know the whole plan. Some of the best parts of life may be the ones we never saw coming.