How does stress affect your hormone production?

Did you know that stress can impact the hormonal production in your body? It is one of the main causes of hormonal imbalance and I'm going to explain a little bit about why.

When we are in our stress response, it affects the HPA-axis, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. The HPA-axis is responsible for the endocrine stress response in our bodies. It works by the hypothalamus signalling to the pituitary to produce a hormone which then tells the adrenals (which are located above the kidneys) to release more cortisol, this is our stress hormone. 

When more cortisol is released into our bloodstream it means that we have excess energy. This excess energy can help us deal with the situation we're handling or about to handle. Cortisol helps to increase the glucose levels in our blood. This increase in glucose is what helps us have more energy to fight or fly. Cortisol also stops any functions that are not deemed as essential while in the flight or fight response. It gears us up for a big thing to happen and quite often, that big thing does not materialise for us in the way that we live today. Instead, we end up stuck in this heightened state with more and more stress building and more and more hormonal imbalances happening because of it. 

The great news is that you can learn to take control of this stress response from the HPA-axis with yoga and more specifically, with a Hormone Yoga Therapy practice. This practice was designed by Dr Dinah Rodriques and includes some wonderful breathing and, what she calls, anti-stress techniques to help reduce the stress response in the body. If we can control our stress levels and then ultimately our body’s response, we can also help to rebalance our hormones. It's hard to believe that it can be that simple but it just takes time and regular practice. 

If you're interested in learning more about hormones and the Hormone Yoga Therapy practice, I run regular online six-week courses throughout the year. You can also learn about it through our Patreon content. This can work really well if you prefer a learn at your own pace style.