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What wedding planning is teaching me about my own hormones

Hi Reader

Happy Monday! We're getting a lil vulnerable here!

I am in the THICK of planning my wedding and as fun as it CAN be, I'm definitely relearning how to take care of my own stress hormones.

It's forcing me to actually use the tools I give my clients on myself, in real time. As a PCOS girly, my body is very sensitive to stress and I've been noticing my own cycle shift, my sleep getting worse, my motivation to cook a real meal disappear. These are very similar patterns I help clients work through.

What I'm doing to help this isn't one simple fix - it's going back to basics: protecting sleep even when there is "too much to do," eating enough instead of skipping lunch, and adding the nervous-system work (the energy work I've been incorporating) on the days I feel most stressed, taking the time to prioritize low impact exercise, and following the supplement stack personalized to me, and its working thought the DEEPER SHIT (hint - this is where it all lands, this is what moves the needle on your fertility):

The biggest lesson I'm learning actually isn't physical at all (and its not for my clients either).

I've realized the wedding itself is the easy part - the harder, more important work is everything underneath it. Not "what flowers do we want" but what do we actually want our life to look like? And how do we work together to achieve that? How do we work on a big project when we function so differently? How do we bring two sets of values together? How do we compromise on completely differing opinions? What does partnership mean when things get hard? What do we each need to work on individually so we're not bringing old patterns into a marriage? What we want to be true about how we handle money, conflict, family, time, kids, all of it - out loud, with each other, instead of assumed? The impact of not working these things out isn't just conflict with your partner, it's hormonal havoc.

I'm telling you this in a hormone and fertility email on purpose, because none of this happens in a silo. Your relationship - with your partner, and just as much with yourself - is part of your hormonal and reproductive picture, not separate from it. Unspoken expectations, unresolved conflict, the chronic low hum of stress from a partnership that hasn't worked through the questions not faced yet - your body holds all of it. It's a huge part of why, when I work with clients 1:1, we don't just talk about food and supplements. We talk about your relationship with your partner, we talk about your relationship with yourself, and we talk about how you're showing up in both of them. Because that's where a lot of the work actually lives.

Needless to say, I definitely don't have it all figured out. I dont think anyone fully does. I've spent thousands of hours studying, researching, coaching, teaching and ...my periods suck right now. Because I've been stressed. Life still happens, and its affecting my cycle. Health is ongoing for everyone.

If any of this sounds familiar- the cycle that gets thrown off by stress you can't fully control, the sense that willpower alone isn't the answer - I'd love to talk with you about what's going on for you specifically!

I've got a few spots open this month for a Hormone Assessment Discovery Call - a chance to walk through what's happening with your cycle and hormones and figure out what would actually help. Let's chat.

LOVE YOU,

Maddie