Happy Hormones Yoga
Balance your hormones naturally
Have you been feeling fatigued, irritable or just a little “off” lately? You might be going through hormonal imbalance. In this Happy Hormones Yoga class, I take you through a vinyasa yoga sequence to bring your out-of-whack hormones back in balance.
Hormone swings are perfectly normal, but they can be difficult to cope with. Hormones are the body’s messengers. They affect us tremendously—as they’re making their rounds through the body, they instruct our immune system, our metabolism, our feelings of hunger and desire. It’s no wonder that out-of-whack hormones can make a mess of everything from sleep to appetite. The good news? There are some yoga poses that can stimulate hormone-producing glands, helping your hormone levels get back to normal. Inversions and twists are especially useful for fixing hormone imbalances. Whenever your hormones go wild, just come to my Happy Hormones vinyasa yoga class. With lots of twists and inversions like downward facing dog poses and twisted lunges, this yoga sequence designed to balance your hormones naturally.
Happy Hormones – Hormonal Balance Yoga
What does yoga have to do with your hormones? Plenty! Just about every yoga pose you do has an impact on the hormonal (endocrine) system in your body – making yoga a fabulous way to support this system and keep your hormones healthy. With focus and intention, we can use our yoga practice to keep our hormones balanced, and to help address common symptoms of hormonal imbalance.
How do we recognize when our hormones are out of balance?
The symptoms of hormonal imbalance make a long and varied list: weight gain, irregular monthly cycles, PMS, low back ache, low libido, insomnia, fatigue, mood swings, thyroid imbalances, fertility issues, hot flashes, poor immune function, anxiety, depression and blood sugar imbalances, among others. If any of these sound familiar, you are not alone. Many people have come to accept these kinds of symptoms as almost “normal” – just the way things are. But in fact, they can all be linked to hormone imbalances. By choosing yoga poses that work to balance the entire endocrine system, as well as poses that target specific glands in the endocrine system, we can help to bring the hormonal system back into balance. When the hormones are balanced, many of these symptoms can be alleviated. Does this sound too good to be true? If so, read on!
How can yoga impact the hormonal system?
By doing a targeted daily yoga practice, we can help regulate our cycles, improve our fertility, balance our thyroid and decrease moodiness, just to mention a few possible impacts. The key is to understand the endocrine system, and learn what each gland is doing for us. Then, we can choose to incorporate into our daily practice yoga poses that target specific glands and hormones, depending on what symptoms we are experiencing. In addition, we can choose a practice that helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system, providing general stress reduction.
While each of the glands in the endocrine system has specific functions, and can cause specific symptoms if out of balance, it is also important to note that the entire endocrine system is just that – a system. As such, one gland that is out of balance is likely to affect other glands in the system, as well. So, while we can choose yoga poses that impact specific glands, it is also important to do the kind of yoga practice that helps to keep the entire system balanced.
What causes our hormones to be out of balance?
The short answer to this question is lifestyle. Rarely, there may be a physical cause, such as a tumor or growth on one of the endocrine glands. But most of the time, hormonal imbalances are caused by lifestyle factors, including unmanaged stress, poor diet and environmental stressors For instance, if we are constantly under stress, and lack tools to manage that stress, our adrenal glands can become depleted. If we eat a diet high in carbohydrates and sugar, our pancreas can be overworked trying to offset all that sugar intake with insulin. If our daily diet doesn’t include the essential nutrients we need to produce hormones, then our whole hormonal system can be impacted. If we take in environmental toxins through our food, our cosmetics, the air we breathe and the water we drink, our hormonal system can be impacted by the endocrine disruptors in these toxins. And, if we have sedentary jobs, and don’t get much exercise, our lymphatic system can’t move the toxins out of our bodies.
How can yoga help?
Yoga’s role in stress reduction has been well-documented, through a number of scientific studies over the years. Doing a calming daily yoga practice with a focus on stress reduction is a good start on helping to balance the adrenal glands which can affect many other glands if they are overworked. Be aware, however, that not all yoga practices are stress-reducing. Some vigorous practices may cause your body to release endorphins – those “feel-good” hormones associated with “runner’s high.” But, at the same time, they may actually be stressing the body, and adding to the load on the adrenal glands. (Running has been shown to actually increase the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the bloodstream).
Happy Hormones Yoga may have other benefits, such as moving toxins out of your system, but it is not the best kind of practice to reduce stress and balance your hormonal system.
Online or in person one to one sessions, in Geneva and Messery or via Zoom, at a time that suits you
Personal attention to focus on a tailored plan, or a specific issue.
A great idea if:
- you’re just getting started
- you have an injury/ niggle or complaint
- you want to focus on a particular pose
- Also, if you are a runner and want to have your running gait assessed – and a yoga plan to support your running.
You will be sent a recording of all sessions and come away with a home-practice plan.
After paying for your session here, you will be taken to complete a short form to provide some background information, what you would like to gain from the session, and what days and time suit you.
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