{"id":3351,"date":"2020-07-22T05:00:57","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T09:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/omstars.com\/blog\/?p=3351"},"modified":"2023-02-20T17:14:07","modified_gmt":"2023-02-20T22:14:07","slug":"its-time-to-make-peace-with-your-hormones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/omstars.com\/blog\/culture\/its-time-to-make-peace-with-your-hormones\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Time to Make Peace with Your Hormones"},"content":{"rendered":"

PMS making you crazy? Hot flashes? Anxiety? As women, our amazing and beautiful bodies take us on rides that sometimes feel empowering and strong, and sometimes like an out-of-control circus ride. <\/p><\/span><\/h2>\n

Since our pre-teen years, we\u2019ve heard, read, and used \u201cHormones\u201d with a capital H as an excuse for erratic behavior, poor decision-making, physical \u201cimperfections\u201d and generally anything that we\u2019ve done that we don\u2019t want to take responsibility for.\u00a0 OK, maybe it\u2019s not quite that bad, but let\u2019s be honest: do you love and respect, or loathe and despair over your hormones and the waves they bring?<\/p>\n

Straight up: Hormones are our internal chemical messengers that keep our bodies moving. More than 200 hormones have been identified in the human body that include testosterone, progesterone, estrogen, adrenaline, insulin, and cortisol. We need to start recognizing all of the ways that they work FOR us in addition to the not-so-fun ways.<\/p>\n

Feeling hungry? <\/span>Your hormones are working.<\/p>\n

Feeling sleepy? <\/span>Hormones.<\/p>\n

Feeling scared? <\/span>Hormones.<\/p>\n

Growth spurt in your youth? <\/span>Hormones.<\/p>\n

Runner\u2019s high? <\/span>Hormones.<\/p>\n

Pregnancy glow? <\/span>Hormones.<\/p>\n

Why do guys put on muscle more easily or lose weight more quickly? <\/span>Hormones.<\/p>\n

Your Hormones are working for you. We all know the prescriptions for increasing those lovely, happy hormones: intense exercise, hugging, laughing, aromatherapy, sunshine, sex, eating spicy foods. Yes. They all work. We know what they feel like when they kick in, and we pretty easily surrender to the wave of positive hormones to ride it as long as we can. We like feeling good, right?<\/p>\n

How does that differ from the way we meet the less-delightful waves of hormones? The spikes and dives? What if we could find a way to meet \u201cnegative\u201d hormonal imbalance with just enough surrender to stop fighting and allow ourselves to feel our way to the shortest path back to balance?<\/p>\n

The beautiful martial art of Aikido illustrates how I\u2019m trying to approach my own hormonal waves, whether they\u2019re going up or down. See what you think: Aikido is a practice that always involves two people. Any strike from one person aims to put the opponent off balance without harming too much. A controlled attack is met with calmness and flexibility as the receiver seeks to regain balance and cover vulnerabilities. The attacks keep coming, and in advanced training, they are met with reversal techniques.<\/p>\n

There is a true engagement between opponents to understand the energy and movement of what is coming and going, what is off-balance, what is vulnerable, where there is strength, movement, or potential, and how to feel and respond to an energetic path to find balance.<\/p>\n

What do you think? Could you imagine yourself meeting the lows or spikes of hormone waves calmly? With curiosity and flexibility? Even compassion? Could you approach a spike of anxiety, hot flashes, or a week of PMS with an intention to see your vulnerabilities, strengths, and potential to find balance?<\/p>\n

What Aikido suggests to us is that we can work with the movement and energy of hormonal waves just as we would an opponent that we respect and are willing to engage. If we are willing to give ourselves a pause before the fight begins, we could tune into the energy and movement of our hormonal waves and meet them with calmness and flexibility to regain (an always changing) balance.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re like me, your relationship to hormonal waves on the inside has produced the outward expressions of fight, flee, freeze, ignore, make excuses or blame, accuse, or lash out. Wouldn\u2019t it feel terrific to make friends with our hormones instead?<\/p>\n

At Home and In Public<\/span><\/h3>\n

Hormonal shifts don\u2019t just happen when we\u2019re off the job, relaxing at home, or in any of those \u201cfree time\u201d moments. Take a moment to think about how you have approached these hormonal imbalances when they rear their ugly heads:<\/p>\n