Welcome back to the Dr. Kinney Show!

In this solo episode, I’m talking about what happens in your brain and body when you constantly tell yourself and others, “I’m so busy.” After noticing how often this phrase came up in conversations, I started experimenting with not saying it, and instead talking about calm, rest, gardening, reading, and the things I was doing to protect my peace.

I dive into how the stories we repeat shape our nervous system, why “busy” keeps the body in a cortisol spend state, and how we can begin to train the part of the nervous system that helps us relax. This episode is about shifting the way we talk about stress, stepping out of hustle culture, and building the ability to move between doing and resting in a healthier way.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Why saying “I’m so busy” can keep your nervous system in fight or flight
• How busyness can become a badge of importance or success
• Why your brain responds to the story you keep telling yourself
• How busy seasons can drain your cortisol bank account, even when the things you’re doing are good
• What happened when I stopped telling people I was busy
• Why downtime can actually help you feel like you have more time
• The difference between being a human being and a human doing
• Why exercise can be beneficial, but is still an energy spend
• The stress muscle and relaxed muscle analogy
• Why relaxing can feel uncomfortable if you have not trained that muscle
• How to start building your relaxed muscle with small, consistent reps
• Why a regulated nervous system can help you become a better partner, parent, employee, and person
• How The Cortisol Cure can help you change the way you understand stress, burnout, and recovery

If you’ve been wearing busyness like a badge or feeling like you never have enough time, this episode is an invitation to try something different. Stop telling your brain you are constantly busy and start asking yourself how you actually want to feel. The more you practice calm, rest, and regulation, the stronger that relaxed muscle becomes.

Connect with me:

Visit https://www.drerinkinney.com/the-cortisol-cure to order The Cortisol Cure and learn more about how to support your cortisol bank account, reduce burnout, and build a healthier relationship with stress.

Welcome back to the Dr. Kinney Show!

In this solo episode, I’m diving deeper into the cortisol bank account framework and introducing the Cortisol Debt Assessment, a quiz I created to help you understand how much energy your body is spending versus how much it is earning.

We often know our financial credit score, how much money is coming in, and how much is going out, but most of us do not have that same awareness when it comes to our cortisol, energy, and stress load. This episode breaks down how external stressors, like work, relationships, parenting, and responsibilities, combine with internal stressors, like nutrient deficiencies, food sensitivities, blood sugar dips, hormone imbalances, or stealth infections, to impact your body’s ability to function and heal.

In this episode, I discuss:

• What the Cortisol Debt Assessment is and why I created it

• How your cortisol bank account works

• Why cortisol is the hormone that helps you handle stress, wake up, reduce inflammation, and get things done

• The difference between external stressors and internal stressors

• Why stress is not always bad, but it is always an energy spend

• How good things, like a dream job, a wedding, kids, or work you love, can still drain your energy

• What your external life load score can tell you about boundaries, sleep, and energy protection

• What your internal hidden load score can reveal about what may be happening inside your body

• Why a high internal score may be a sign to talk with a trusted provider and get lab work done

• The four cortisol debt profiles: balanced, overspending, moderate cortisol debt, and deeply depleted

• Why pushing harder with exercise, dieting, or doing more can backfire when your cortisol account is low

• How resting heart rate can help you understand whether your workouts are supporting or draining you

• Why support, boundaries, sleep, protein, hydration, and nervous system regulation are essential for rebuilding your energy

• How to use the assessment as a check-in tool throughout different seasons of life

If you’ve been feeling tired, wired, depleted, inflamed, or like your body is trying to get your attention, this episode will help you look at stress in a more practical way. Your score is not a diagnosis and it is not a grade. It is information that can help you better understand where your energy is going, where your body may need support, and what changes can help you start rebuilding your cortisol bank account.

Connect with me:

Visit https://www.drerinkinney.com/the-cortisol-cure to take the Cortisol Debt Assessment, preorder The Cortisol Cure, and learn more about the Cortisol Cure Community.

Welcome back to the Dr. Kinney Show!

In this solo episode, I’m back after taking an intentional pause from the podcast, and I’m sharing what I’ve been working on behind the scenes: my upcoming book, The Cortisol Cure. This episode is all about presence, timing, trusting the process, and understanding why sometimes a pause needs to be longer than we expected.

I talk about the journey of getting a book deal, writing the book, and preparing for the launch, but I also dive into the core message of The Cortisol Cure: cortisol is not the enemy. It is one of the body’s most important hormones, and when we understand how it functions as our body’s energy currency, we can begin to look at stress, burnout, symptoms, and healing in a completely different way.

In this episode, I discuss:

• Why I took an intentional pause from the podcast

• My word for 2026 and why presence has been so important this year

• The story of how The Cortisol Cure went from proposal to book deal

• What I learned about timing, trust, and letting go of forcing the process

• Why writing the book required real downtime and space

• How introversion, energy, and creative work shaped my writing process

• Why cortisol is not the enemy

• The Cortisol Bank Account framework and how it simplifies stress

• Why stress is really an energy spend

• How symptoms can show up when the body is running on empty

• Why low cortisol can contribute to fatigue, mood changes, digestion issues, sleep struggles, and burnout

• How the book helps you understand your symptoms through the lens of cortisol, energy, and nervous system balance

• How to preorder The Cortisol Cure and access the Cortisol Cure Community

If you’ve been feeling tired, overwhelmed, burned out, or confused by symptoms that don’t seem to make sense, this episode will help you start seeing stress in a new way. Instead of viewing stress as something to fear, I want to help you understand where your energy is going, how to replenish it, and why earning more than you spend is the key to helping your body heal.

Connect with me:

Visit https://www.drerinkinney.com/the-cortisol-cure to preorder The Cortisol Cure, learn more about the book, and submit your proof of purchase to receive access to the Cortisol Cure Community.