Jane Eliasson - Functional Balance

Recurring knee symptoms can be best addressed by consistently meeting where your body it’s at and loading effectively.

💬 Which one will you try first?

👉 SAVE this post for later & share it with a friend who needs knee relief.

🦵✨ Did you know your knees depend on your core?
Strong core stability = better pelvic and femur alignment = happier, healthier knees.

Here are 3 simple moves to protect your knees and improve joint control:
✅ Dead Bug
✅ Bird Dog
✅ Tall Kneeling Anti-Rotation Press

These aren’t just ab exercises — they’re your foundation for movement, strength, and longevity. 💪

👉 SAVE this for your next workout and give your knees the support they deserve.
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4 Tangible Ways to Reduce Stress That Actually Work

Chronic stress doesn’t just feel exhausting—it slows healing, disrupts hormones, and amplifies pain and inflammation.
Here are 4 proven ways to reduce your stress load, especially if you’re navigating perimenopause, chronic pain, or fatigue:

1. Breathwork Hack: Box Breathing
👉 Inhale 4 seconds → Hold 4 seconds → Exhale 4 seconds → Hold 4 seconds
Repeat for 2–3 minutes
This pattern engages your nervous system and downshifts your stress response fast.

2. Movement Hack: Ground-Based Mobility + Walking
Start your day with a 5-minute walk or a gentle floor-based mobility sequence, like laying flat knee to chest, rotating your knees to one side and then the other, ending with 10 straight leg raises on each side, while holding the back down to the floor. Even 10 minutes of low-intensity movement reduces cortisol and boosts circulation without draining energy. Try this when you feel that sense of stress building, it literally burns up the extra cortisol, and helps your muscles and nervous system regroup.

3. Nutrition Hack: Stabilize Blood Sugar
Start your day with protein + fiber, not just coffee or carbs.
Try: 2 eggs + spinach + a slice of avocado or a scoop of collagen in a smoothie with chia seeds.
Balanced blood sugar = fewer crashes, cravings, and mood swings.

4. Sleep Hack: “Reverse Wind-Down”
Instead of scrolling before bed, try this order:
🔹 Screen off- minimum of 1 hour before sleep
🔹 Lights low- dim the lights, begin as you finish the evening. Man made lights have really interrupted out sleep schedules.
🔹 Light stretching or legs-up-the-wall
🔹 Magnesium glycinate or herbal tea
This helps signal melatonin and promotes deeper, more restorative sleep.

✨ Start with one small shift. These aren’t quick fixes—but they retrain your system toward resilience. Your body (and your joints, your brain, your mood) will thank you.

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1. “Why does my knee feel like it’s going to give out?”
Clients often describe their knee as feeling wobbly, unpredictable, or like it might buckle—especially when going downstairs or turning quickly.
🧠 This usually indicates poor neuromuscular control or weak stabilizers (like the glutes or deep quads).
👉 You can rebuild confidence with exercises that focus on single-leg stance, glute activation, and foot-to-hip stability.

2. “I’m afraid to trust my knee—how do I rebuild that?”
Fear of movement or re-injury can limit how well someone uses their knee—even if they’re technically strong.
🧠 Stability is both mechanical and neurological. Rebuilding trust means slow, controlled loading with feedback tools like mirrors, tactile cues, or supportive surfaces.

✨ Your body isn’t broken—it just needs to reconnect. With the right approach, strength and confidence will follow.

💬 Comment “STABILITY” if you want tips on how to rebuild yours
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👣 Follow for weekly strategies to regain strength and balance

🧠💥 What Does Chronic Stress Really Do to Your Body?

When stress becomes your new normal, it doesn’t just affect your mood — it quietly disrupts nearly every system in your body.

Remember the things we spoke about last week, where your nervous system adapts to constant high levels of alert, or threat which leads to depletion and exhaustion of the tissues ability to keep up. There is a cumulative effect on our body when it's in high alert or chronically having stress. Things like problems regulating blood sugar, poor gut absorption, hormonal shifts requiring adaptation, mental pressure from relationships, work,time stress, all of these “stressors” can add up together and contribute to the bodies overall load.

Here’s what chronic stress can impact:
🔹 Nervous System: Always “on” leads to mental fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, and poor sleep-
🔹 Hormonal System: Throws off cortisol, estrogen, and progesterone balance — making perimenopausal symptoms like hot flashes, irritability, and cycle irregularity worse
🔹 Digestive System: Stress slows digestion and increases gut sensitivity — causing bloating, reflux, constipation, or urgency
🔹 Immune System: Chronic stress lowers your immune defenses and increases inflammation — meaning more joint pain, slower healing, and frequent colds
🔹 Musculoskeletal System: Muscles stay tense, posture compensates, and pain sets in — especially in the neck, back, and knees

This shows up in the process of perimenopause, as your hormones become more erratic and irregular as…
•Feeling wired but exhausted
•Sudden mood shifts
•Poor recovery from exercise
•Sleep disturbances
•Increased belly fat, and weight gain
•Sensitivity to foods or pain

The fix?
🧘‍♀️ Stress isn’t just “in your head” — it’s in your body.
Next week we will work on small steps: breathwork, low-intensity movement, blood sugar balance, and nervous-system-aware recovery.

These strategies don’t just help you feel better — they support actual physiological healing during this hormonal transition.

Functional movement, beautiful sounds and fresh air.

🌟 Introducing Functional Balance’s Innovative Virtual Program!

Hey there, friends and followers! I am thrilled to share that my webinar, The Knee Rescue Formula, is live via my website - https://www.kneerescueformula.com.

After working with thousands of patients to resolve their stubborn knee pain, I decided it was time to develop an online program that is accessible, well-suited, and delivers long-lasting results.

Are you tired of dealing with recurring knee pain? Are you looking for a convenient and effective solution from the comfort of your own home? Look no further!

Whether you're young or young-at-heart, my integrative program combining functional medicine, nutrition, and orthopedic physical therapy is designed to empower you with the knowledge, tools, and exercises you need to tackle persistent knee pain head-on.

Say goodbye to the limitations that knee pain has imposed on your life and embark on a journey towards improved mobility and overall wellness.

Hey exciting news! (and not about this dog I ❤️)
Check out my new website and program at https://www.kneerescueformula.com