The Benefits of Yoga and Hormone Harmony

Yoga is a way of life.  Yoga is the path to consciousness. 
                                        

 

There are many benefits to having a regular yoga practice including hormone harmony.  It connects the mind, body, and soul.  Through mindful breathing and moving, yoga helps to quiet the fluctuations of the mind which in turn supports mood stabilization, anxiety, and depression.  You learn how you react on the mat and that awareness helps guide your behavior off the mat, so it helps manage irritability.  Yoga can be very restorative which can help replenish your vitality and recover from fatigue.  

 

Sleep

Yoga can help improve your sleep by activating your nervous system into a parasympathetic state (rest and digest), because we live in a world that is primarily stuck in a sympathetic nervous system state (fight, flight, and freeze).   

Weight

Regarding weight loss I've heard of people losing weight doing restorative yoga because restoration brings down cortisol or stress levels which when elevated can cause weight gain.  Yoga can also be a great form of exercise, especially a yang practice (Ashtanga, Vinyasa, etc.) versus a yin style class (Restorative, Soma, etc.).  There are so many different types of yoga and teachers, so it's important to try different styles and teachers until you find your niche.  It’s equally important to switch it up maybe a couple days of restorative yin yoga and a few days of a more active yang style.   Yoga is a great way to stay flexible and strong.  It helps support bone density, as well due to the weight bearing practices.   There are many yoga videos for free online (I recommend Yoga with Adriene on YouTube).  Dr. Oppitz likes Yoga International, which is a paid affordable monthly subscription.

Stress Management

An important part of yoga is meditation.  Science has proven that meditation creates healthy new habits and patterns in the brain by creating new neural pathways.  You can overcome trauma, grief, addiction, and PTSD just by meditating.  Dr. Oppitz and I love the Insight Timer app for guided meditations because it offers numerous styles and duration.  I always recommend starting small and consistent - 2 minutes every day and build up from there.  Eventually you will notice the positive effects and you will look forward to it and notice the days when you miss it.   It can help improve memory, focus, and clarity.  

Book a virtual private yoga class with Jaclyn today.

Namaste (the divine light in me honors and see's the divine light in you),

Jaclyn Rebekah Roberts E-RYT500, Integrative Health Coach, Medical Reiki Master

https://www.naturalrhythmyoga.com/

Creating a morning routine for hormonal stress management

Creating a morning routine for hormonal stress management

 

My morning ritual is the favorite part of the day and quite possibly the only thing that got me through COVID and all the losses that came with it--for that I'm truly grateful.  I wake up each morning, crack my windows to allow for fresh air to come in, make my bed, make my coffee, feed my animals, journal about my dreams, journal what I'm grateful for, and write anything else on my mind that needs to get out, then meditate and administer reiki on myself, and do some movement based on how much time and energy I have that morning.  I work at 7 AM and get up around 5:30 AM naturally without an alarm clock, so I go to sleep normally by 9 PM.  I've been doing this for years and have absolutely fallen in love with my morning ritual.  It helps me stabilize my mood, balance my hormones, and get grounded and embodied for the day ahead.  

Healthy habits stick over time if they're small and stacked on top of one another.  If something feels too overwhelming perhaps it's too big of a change or not the right change.  It's important to feel rewarded by your habits.  It's important to find joy in your habits.  Like anything, habits get easier over time and require less thought and organization.  Science shows it takes about 6 months for a habit to really stick. 

 

Meditation can re-program your mind.  It creates new neural pathways helping you to create and stick to healthy new habits.  Meditation can help you overcome past trauma and PTSD, and let's be honest with ourselves, the last 2 years have been traumatic for most.  Meditation activates the para-sympathetic system which is rest and digest.  Most people these days are stuck in flight and flight, so it's important to take time to slow down, relax, and meditate.  This in turn helps improve digestion by calming the nervous system.  Relaxing, resting, and digesting also help to lower cortisol levels (the stress hormone), which in turn impacts the entire system.  I prefer yoga and meditation for my relaxation routine, but there are many other ways like sitting in prayer or practicing mindfulness in nature.  I also love getting outdoors and walking, hiking, biking, and camping to detach from stress and technology.  Practicing gratefulness can help heal the heart as well.  

 

Namaste (The highest and best in me honors and sees the highest and best in you),

Jaclyn Rebekah Roberts, E-RYT 500, Integrative Health Coach, Medical Reiki Master

 www.naturalrhtyhmyoga.com

P.S. According to Dr. Mark Hyman: “Rhythm is key because your hormones are balanced in rhythms.  So, waking at the same time every day, going to bed at the same time every day, eating at the same time every day – these are the rhythms in life that help to reset your natural balance.”