Hormonal Honesty

Without us even realising it, our perceptions of our emotions is grounded, not to thought or circumstance, but to our hormonal surges. We are driven by our hormones. As women, we have been taught to suppress these "irrational" feelings and trained to be practical at all costs.

Recently, I have been pushed to explore what's going on for me hormonally and I am coming to learn more about how deeply our hormones influence our experience of the world. I've always been a particularly non-sweaty person, not shedding a drop while others drench their mats beside me in Bikram classes. Yet for the last few months my nights have been interrupted by the same night sweats that plagued me during pregnancy. This was leaving me tired after interrupted, uncomfortable sleep and confused. What was going on?

The first round of blood tests confirmed that, thankfully, I am not heading into peri-menopause but provided no further insight. And so I took the tests further with my wonderful friend and GP Dr Skye Scott who discovered that my Oestrogen and Progesterone were low. This would affect my mood, my heart and my bones and was most likely a result of being stressed and underweight - my two favourite comfort zones until recently. So I needed to take my health seriously.

This all called into question my relationship with my womanhood and made me realise how out of sync I actually am with it. Like many others, my cycle has always been regulated by medicine and has never actually been allowed to follow its natural rhythm. Which leaves me feeling like a stranger to my own real cycle. After decades of being on the pill, I used Femara to bring on ovulation and fall pregnant and then, after my first child, I had one period before falling pregnant again. I now have an IUD which negates my period completely and so there is absolutely no relationship to a cycle. Yet this is the modern way we live and it's super convenient.

In an effort to balance my hormones naturally I read Fast Like a Girl, in which author Mindy Peltz outlines in great detail the importance of using fasting and ways of eating according to the 4 phases of your cycle. Unfortunately this left me a little overwhelmed by the idea of 5 day water fasts and observing a strict schedule. It's just not realistic for me right now, and my eating disordered history puts me at risk of becoming completely obsessed with any rigid eating plan. So it wasn't for me.

What also sparks my interest is the reclamation of red tent ceremonies and the renewed interest in dedication to the menstrual cycle. I suppose I need to dive a bit deeper and I'm learning that there is no, non medicinal quick fix.

I'm interested in exploring more and tuning in to my feminine nature... so watch this space.