According to Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, a woman’s menstrual cycle is a natural reflection of her overall health and balance.
Many women experience some level of disharmony related to their cycle. If you’re having difficulty with fertility or irregularities, pain, and PMS with the rhythms of menstruation, your hormonal system may need regulating.
While there are many reasons for hormonal disharmony, including depletion, issues with blood sugar, and stress, there are some simple things you can do to harmonize your cycle starting today. Below are a few tips and remedies you can start with to help balance your hormonal system.
Tips for Hormonal Balance:
1) Track it
The first step in fully understanding your imbalance is clearly understanding your cycle. Begin by keeping track of your menstruation.
Track any spotting, how long menstruation lasts, the colour and approximate quantity of the blood, and any accompanying symptoms such as pain and moodiness. After several cycles, a pattern may emerge, helping you and your healthcare provider accurately understand what is happening.
2) Make Lifestyle Tweaks
One of the biggest keys to finding greater hormonal balance is stress management. The female reproductive system is incredibly sensitive. Every woman knows this – we’ve all experienced changes in our cycles at one time or another due to travel, stress, or illness.
Creating routine and regular sleeping and eating patterns supports the body and encourages relaxation. Habits like regular meditation practice and regular walking in nature attune the energetic body and nervous system to the cycles of nature and help to harmonize hormonal levels.
The other thing to keep in mind is that the introduction and use of contraceptive methods that alter the natural state of your hormonal levels can have adverse effects. These effects are beyond the scope of this post. Still, if you’re interested in learning more, I suggest the book “Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life,“ which cites many academic papers and studies examining the risks associated with hormonal birth control methods.
3) Diet and Supplements
Diet changes to support hormonal health can be simple. Avoid refined food and sugar; eat lots of fresh, whole vegetables and grains. If you want to commit deeply and set yourself up with a lifestyle and nutrition plan that actually works, make sure to check out my online program, Calm and Renew.
- If your menstruation is scanty and delayed, you are pale and feel fatigued: eat dark green leafy veggies, dark cherry juice and blackstrap molasses.
- If your menstruation is dark, clotted and painful, and you feel tense and irritable, reduce sugar, dairy, alcohol and coffee. The herbal formula Xiao Yao San may be helpful for you – check with your Chinese Medicine practitioner.
4) Take Care during Menstruation
Eastern and earth-based medical systems recognize that during menstruation, your body is highly sensitive to change, stress, and cold. To maintain a free flow of energy, emotion, blood, and fluids during menstruation, avoid stressful work, sexual activity, intense physical exercise (including more active forms of yoga), tampons, and exposure to cold environments and cold foods.
Try to slow down as much as possible each month during your cycle. Use it as an opportunity to take care of yourself and regularly check in on how you’re feeling. Find ways to say no and do less. Is there a way you could take on less right now? Is there a way you can support yourself a bit more, however small?
5) Acupuncture
Acupuncture really shines with issues that require regulating and harmonizing to integrate your physiological system. Acupuncture can be very effective for a large variety of women’s health concerns, including regulating hormones, sleep and mood issues, pain, and so much more.
Most importantly — change takes time. Allow yourself at least 2 months of integrating all of the above changes before deciding what is working and what needs adjusting.
