The Beauty of Hormones
Mar 05, 2021
How do hormones work anyway?
How are we supposed to embrace how we were created and encourage our bodies to work how it was meant to if we have no idea what that even looks like? How all the pieces fit together?
Pause a moment and breath and take in the world. How things ebb and flow, the ocean tide, the movement of the moon and sun, the rhythm of the seasons changing.
Our body was made with its own movement, rhythmic, flowing, purposeful.
We really don't pay attention until something disrupts it. Something is off. Pain, mood swings, fatigue, heavy bleeding, irregular cycles, miscarriage, infertility, migraines, cancer. All red flags that something has disrupted the intricate balance of hormones.
It doesn't take much to disrupt them. The food we eat, stress we carry, lack of sleep, chemicals and endocrine disruptors we are exposed to.
But those are topics for another day!
Today, I want you to walk away with a greater awe for the way your body works, how it flows, the beauty in our cycles.
Estrogen and progesterone will be the focus of this dance.
It all begins the day you start your period. I know we usually dread this day but lets shift and consider it the beginning of the dance.
Our brain uses follicle stimulating hormone to tell our ovarian follicles to mature, releasing estrogen. Estrogen leads the first part of this dance. We make estrogen in our gut, fat cells and follicles as they mature. As estrogen begins to dip, around day 14 another hormone (LH: luteinizing hormone) lets the body know that one follicle can release an egg.
Now here's the cool thing. The ruptured follicle turns into a temporary endocrine gland! It's called the corpus luteum. It secretes progesterone, the feel good happy hormone. The one that keeps you calm and stabilizes moods and protects your body from cancer. It's a big deal if for some reason your body isn't ovulating.
The corpus luteum secretes progesterone for 10-16 days and as the progesterone decreases you start your period.
Each step has purpose. We need our hormones!
Yes there is fluctuation, movement. There is supposed to be!
If your body is telling you that something is off, that your hormones are no longer balanced I'd love to chat!
This hormone quiz is a great place to start.
There is nothing I'd rather do than walk this journey back to hormone health with you.
Our body is amazing and truly can do what it was meant to do if we give it what it needs to function well.
