Bayou Health | Where Attention Goes, Energy Flows

article by SHANNON DAHLUM, FDN-P

Humans are cyclical and we’re all very closely connected with the rhythms of nature. Hormones ebb and flow, and throughout the day, these fluctuations are connected with the movement of the sun. Cortisol, a stress hormone that gets us moving, is highest in the morning as we rise with the sun. Our digestive function is strongest midday, when the sun is highest in the sky. As the sun sets, cortisol goes down and melatonin rises to help us get ready for sleep. As women, we also have monthly cycles that are connected with the cycles of the moon. Learning to understand this cycle gives us a powerful glimpse into the state of our health, and possibly, into the ways in which we’re living our lives.

During the first half of the menstrual cycle, estrogen rises, causing the uterine lining to thicken and grow. Estrogen is a building hormone and it prepares the body to carry a baby. Not only does it impact what’s going on inside of our bodies, but it can inspire what’s happening outwardly, as well. When estrogen is at its peak, so is our energy. It’s a time for being creative and productive, and we’re moved to take care of things outside of ourselves. We can tackle our to-do lists, show up for others, and be very giving our energy. Estrogen is considered a female hormone because it’s much higher in women than in men, but from an energetic perspective, it’s actually quite masculine. Masculine energy is productive, logical and analytical. This energy is directed outward, and it’s focused on “doing.”

During the second half of the menstrual cycle, progesterone rises and estrogen falls. The body is naturally lower in energy and is now focused on nurturing itself and the possibility of growing a child. Productivity and creativity are meant to slow down. This is a time for replenishment, rest, and directing our attention back to ourselves. While estrogen promotes growth, creativity, building, and focusing attention on the outside world, progesterone promotes inner reflection, taking time for ourselves, and stripping away what is no longer needed. Progesterone is a relaxing hormone, and it helps us feel at ease. It’s associated with the feminine energy of feeling, intuition, and a state of “being.”

Unfortunately, it seems like the woman’s menstrual cycle today is seen as an inconvenience or even something that needs to be medically treated rather than a natural rhythm that can teach us about ourselves. When the rhythm of the cycle is off, it tells us there is something off with our health, and possibly the way we’re living our lives. When the body is experiencing an excess amount of stress, one of the first things that is impacted is the menstrual cycle. By paying close attention to how the things we’re doing in our daily lives impact our cycles, we’re tuning into the language of our bodies and learning what’s supportive of our health and what isn’t. It’s such a powerful tool and instead of learning the language of our bodies and getting to the root of what may be causing imbalances in our cycles, we often turn to synthetic hormonal medications to silence our symptoms.

Estrogen dominance is a condition in which either total estrogen levels are high, progesterone levels are low relative to estrogen, or both. Essentially, the balance of estrogen and progesterone is off and instead of each one having their turn, estrogen stays in charge. This seems to be an increasingly common condition and is characterized by symptoms such as mood swings, tender breasts, water retention, anxiousness, irritability, uterine fibroids, fibrocystic breasts, heavy menstrual bleeding, painful menstrual cramps, weight gain (especially in the hips and thighs), and low libido. Hormonal birth control medication can provide relief but keep in mind that it doesn’t help the body address the underlying cause of symptoms. Symptoms are the language your body uses to let you know that something is out of balance; something needs to be changed.

Physically, there are many things that can contribute to estrogen dominance. Exposure to xenoestrogens (chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body) can be a big contributing factor, but two major ones are gut health and liver function. Imbalances in the gut microbiome can impair the body’s ability to detoxify excess estrogen. Instead of being able to properly eliminate what’s not longer needed, excess estrogen winds up being reabsorbed back into the body. Excess estrogen also causes bile to thicken, which means liver function becomes sluggish. This further impairs the body’s ability to detoxify unneeded estrogen and it continues to build. A healthy gut and digestive/detoxification system are a necessary foundation for maintaining healthy hormonal balance.

Personally, I don’t believe we place enough importance on the mind-body connection when it comes to all issues related to health. The autonomic nervous system is responsible for managing all the functions of the body that go on without our conscious awareness, like hormone production. However, while we don’t have to think about these functions in order for them to happen, I do believe that our autonomic nervous system takes its cues from our conscious thoughts and how we choose to live our lives.

Where we direct our attention is where our nervous system will direct its energy. For instance, when you eat a meal while you’re focused on reading emails, watching TV or getting work done, your nervous system directs energy away from the digestive system so it can go toward the mental work you’re doing. Stomach acid, digestive enzymes and bile flow are all impaired in favor of directing energy to the mental tasks you’re choosing to direct your attention to. Your nervous system is taking its cue from what you’re choosing to focus on.

I don’t have any scientific studies to back this up, but I believe issues of estrogen dominance can be created similarly; by how we choose to live our lives and where we’re choosing to direct our energy. More often than not, we have endless to-do lists and we’re taking care of everyone but ourselves. We’re constantly directing our energy outward, on getting things done and even on trying to please others. Remember that this type of creative, outward expressed energy is associated with estrogen. Progesterone encourages us to focus on ourselves, our inner nourishment, relaxation, and experiencing our own joy and pleasure.

Perhaps by choosing to continuously direct our energy outward without circling back and directing that energy toward ourselves, we’re subconsciously promoting a high estrogen state. Could consciously focusing on growth and the constant act of “doing” be telling our nervous systems to increase estrogen to support that? Maybe if we chose to give ourselves the same attention, to allow ourselves to experience pleasure, joy, and rest without guilt, our bodies would take their cues from us and progesterone would rise.

Humans are all cyclical beings, but as women, we especially would benefit from paying more respect to our rhythmical natures and honoring our cycles. Perhaps, in addition to supporting our physical health, our hormonal health would improve if we balanced out all of our “doing” with time for just “being,” and gave ourselves the same loving attention we constantly give to others.

Here’s an idea; along with our endless “to-do” lists, let’s create “to-be” lists. Paying equal attention to “doing” and “being” in our lives may encourage our bodies to maintain balance, as well.

If you’d like to learn more about how to read the language of your menstrual cycle as a marker of wellness and how to support a healthy cycle naturally, I recommend reading, “The Fifth Vital Sign,” by Lara Briden, ND.