The Vital Side Podcast 68. The Correlation Between Women's Health & the Nervous System with Jema Lee
We’ve heard about the mind-body connection time and time again, but how does this specifically relate to women’s health? This week, Lindsay and Cait are joined by Australia-based women’s health coach, Jema Lee, who explains all things hormone related. Jema dives into how we can regulate our nervous systems to improve hormone health, how we can support different phases of our cycle, and how we can learn to be adaptable and give ourselves grace as our hormones fluctuate.
Jema Lee is a menstrual cycle expert, qualified Ayurvedic coach, and the creator of Wellsome. For a decade, she’s helped guide women in over 22 countries to embrace their monthly cycles and deepen body awareness through personalized coaching, online courses, retreats & workshops.
Show Notes:
-Jema’s story as a late bloomer; she started menstruating at 15 and describes herself as a tomboy, rejecting her feminine self.
-Jema stayed on contraceptives for 12 years until she started working as a coach. She got the diagnosis of leaky gut, PCOS, and she started learning about embodying the feminine and teaching clients.
-The role of masculine/feminine energetics
-Jema’s journey to understand the role stress & the nervous system play in the state of our hormones
-Leveraging both science & spirituality – Jema’s Ayurvedic approach to women’s health & balancing our hormones
-Our hormones are like an intricate spider web, linking to other hormones in the body - when we reject the menstrual cycle, we are rejecting our natural human capabilities.
-Why do we have menstrual pain? It’s important to look at our entire lifestyle and environment to discover the root of this question.
-Stress impacts our hippocampus, pituitary glands, and gonads, which can lead to a dysregulation of hormones.
-Our bodies often respond in a freeze survival response, which can delay menstruation.
-Cait’s journey with PMDD and going through hormonal healing as a result of burnout
-Phases of feminine evolution: the maiden, the mother: (around the age of 25) – doesn’t always mean giving birth to a child. This can mean nurturing and giving birth to a business, new ideas, etc.
-The biggest contributing factors to your menstrual cycles are stress and your relationship to the feminine.
-How can we connect to safety? We can create a supportive environment for ourselves to effectively menstruate.
-3 health check signs: sex, menstrual cycle and digestion (our bowel movements)
-Everything in life is cyclical (i.e. expansion and contraction) – men & non-menstruators run on a 24-hour cycle. Women & menstruators run on a 4-phase hormonal cycle (~25-35 days / roughly 4 weeks in total).
-We live in a world that is designed for a 24-hour cycle. ½ of the cycle is yang; and the other ½ is yin (i.e. 1 in half and 1 out half).
-The 4 distinct phases of a women’s cycle: menstruation, pre-ovulation, ovulation, post-ovulation
-We can learn to adapt our energy to different times of our cycle to respect our hormones and the cyclical menstruation process.
-During menstruation or “winter time,” keep yourself warm to regulate your nervous system, supporting the natural flow to let go.
-To keep yourself warm, use a heated blanket, take a bath, eat warm foods, and create space for yourself when you need it.
Resources
-Visit Jema’s Website
-Visit Jema’s Facebook and Instagram
-Free Love Your Cycle Tracker to start tracking your cycle here
-20% off Jema’s 5-day Love Your Cycle mini course with Code CYCLELOVE here
-Sign up for the Rewire: The Vital-Side Membership
-Visit the Vital-Side Homepage here
-Lindsay’s Instagram: @myvitalside
-Visit Lindsay’s Website
-Cait’s Instagram: @caitrossco
-Visit Cait’s Website
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