We sat down and chatted with Tia Miers, a Naturopath to talk all things hormones, what symptoms we should be looking out for and ways we can balance our hormones naturally. This interview is part of the MerryBody Online Summit, they are now all inside the MerryBody Online Studio!
As women, we are taking on a different role, working longer hours, putting more stress on our bodies both physically and mentally and our hormones are being affected.
The journey to balanced hormones doesn’t have to be a scary or lonesome path. During this interview with Tia (and also other interviews with Nat Kringoudis and Jules Galloway… which you can access in MerryBody Online Studio!), we discuss simple ways to re-balance the hormones and feel ourselves again.
Not only are women more stressed, but women are expressing themselves more. Meaning we’re not keeping our symptoms to ourselves, feeling alone and ashamed… we’re speaking up. We’re questioning things like, “why am I so bloated all the time?” “why am I tired?” “is this normal?”
“Stress is the biggest thing that impacts our hormones, therefore, can drive an imbalance within the body. So many women are under more stress whether it’s from comparing yourself to someone else, or striving at work, doing longer hours, even putting stress on the body with things like HIIT workouts. Our hormones are so sensitive and are easily influenced by different external factors.”
When Tia spoke about exercise, this definitely rang some bells for us.
We remember when we’d think… we need to lose weight… we need to get fit… and the only way we thought to accomplish this was by pushing ourselves to workout, workout, workout. Lift more. Run more. And of course, eat less.
But really this can be counterintuitive. By doing this and pushing ourselves all the time, creating stress in the body and mind, actually lead to further weight gain due to the cortisol levels in our bodies becoming higher and higher.
This is why we love MerryBody Yoga and Pilates… not only is it amazing for tone, strength and flexibility but this way of movement actually helps place the body in the parasympathetic nervous system, where our bodies can rest, digest, restore and replenish.
Tia says, “If you want to help balance our hormones, what you really should do is start by slowing down, doing things like yoga and balancing your body out, where you’ll find it will just release that weight naturally. We have this idea that we have to do more, more, more but really less is more.”
Our diet and lifestyle are the best tools for good health also for hormones.
It’s the things we do every day that make the biggest change within our health. Focusing on good quality food, shopping at the local farmer’s markets, buying locally sourced foods, eating natural foods are all small changes that can help balance our hormones.
“We don’t have to overcomplicate health, it’s essentially stripping it back to basics to help to support our health and our hormones. It’s also checking in with ourselves, checking in what foods have I eaten in the last 24 hours, how much sleep have I gotten, have I got good quality sleep, what are my stress levels like?”
Tia finished by explaining how important it is to prioritise your sleep and create boundaries with your device usage. Creating a night-time routine every night, doing things you enjoy in a calm environment will encourage your body to be ready for rest.
Creating these rituals for yourself whether they are at night, in the morning or just once a week will welcome better health. These rituals allow space for you to take care of your health and take on changes with a sense of empowerment and you’ll reduce stress.
To view this interview with Tia and learn more about hormones, symptoms, what we can change in our lifestyle and to view 22 other amazing interviews, be sure to sign up to the MerryBody Online Summit, it’s all happening 1-2 February and it’s completely free! You can sign up HERE.
Photo by Miti on Unsplash
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash