Supporting Cortisol with Feminine Structure

One of these days I was talking with one of my friends, she was telling me how she was struggling with high cortisol, and how it was affecting her in different areas of her life, and of course, how it was affecting her hormonal health.

High cortisol can lead to many symptoms, such as thyroid issues, endometriosis, PCOS, acne, thinning of hair, weight gain around the abdomen, digestive issues, IBS, and the list goes on…

I believe we are all more or less familiar with the daily habits that can make us have control of cortisol, but are we familiar with deeper structures that we need in life so as to keep it stable? Keeping hormones in balance goes beyond daily habits, you actually need to create a deeper structure to support your wellbeing.

Which means…

Maybe you need more financial stability...

Maybe you need more romantic stability...

Maybe you need more career stability…

What I am trying to say is that, beyond those supporting feminine habits that we can do daily, such as having a relaxing routine before bed, looking at the bright sunshine first thing in the morning, avoiding caffeine and matcha on an empty stomach, moving to more feminine and gentle ways of exercise… Maybe you actually need more structure into your life, to welcome more stability and actually allow relaxation. Deep relaxation will not occur when you are constantly thinking about what you have to do later, having to pay your bills, or how draining your relationships are...

Doing an audit of your life and getting fully honest and clear of where you are at, and then implementing some habits to provide more structure can be very helpful… For example, it can look like…

Financial

Maybe it will be budgeting, creating a savings account so you know that if something happens, you have support. Budgeting for your grocery shopping, beauty treatments, activities, and sticking to it, so you don’t have that pressure to pay the credit card bills for some impulsive decisions you have made.

Relationships

Think about it…

• Is there any relationship that is not supporting your wellbeing?

• How would your life change if you reduce contact with this person?

• How is your relationship with your friends?

• Do you feel better, clearer, or more motivated when you are with them, or is it rather the contrary?

Career

• Are you enjoying where you are at or do you feel worried when going to work?

• Do you feel you are fulfilling your purpose?

• Do you feel you want to change careers but you feel afraid of doing so?

• How can you support the exigence of your career?

• Is it possible to avoid bringing work to your home? 

Daily Feminine Structure 

Think about all of the different ways that you can support your stress levels on a daily basis. 

• For example, maybe you can dedicate fixed time for organizing specific work-related tasks, in case you are one of the people who must take work home. 

• You can organize your morning the day before, or maybe the weekend. You could choose the outfits, so you minimize decision fatigue throughout the week.

• You can prepare a nutritious breakfast in batches that you know you enjoy, for instance some overnight oats, or a chia pudding, so you start the day with enjoyment and pleasure. 

• You can leave your belongings in the same place, so you minimize rushing and looking for things throughout your day.

• Maybe leaving the house a few minutes before, so you can catch the bus on time and avoid rushing.

At the end of the day, all of these small moments of rushing and indecision are what actually add up to that stress load. To come back to your body, to heal any kind of hormonal condition, you need to feel relaxed and relatively in control of what is coming next. This is possible by creating structure in your daily life. Once you create structure, you will have more room for your own wellbeing, to dedicate more time to your own relaxation, and you will be leading your body to a safer place, where you can start to work deeper in healing.

Maybe you can dedicate a few times in the following weeks to think and write down how you can support the different areas of your life, so you can mindfully start to reduce the stress load on your body.