What your body wants you to know about your self-care habits

Have you ever felt like something’s missing from your life but you can’t quite put your finger on it? Everything looks fine on paper, but your purpose, your drive, your direction feels fuzzy, or unclear? You’re trying to bring your A game but something’s not clicking? Self-careDo you have a tough time trusting your intuition?Do you struggle to start or complete things?Are you facing a vague feeling of dissatisfaction in your life and you want to know once and for all how to address it?The real deal is this: while soul-searching and self-improvement is extremely valuable, if your hormonal health is suffering, it’s compromising your capacity to flourish.

Why Your Self-Care Routine Isn’t Working For You

So often we’re motivated to do self care to bring relief from symptoms and of course that is a great place to start. What if however, the right self care practice could give you access to true creativity, freedom of expression, and your most authentic self on top of symptom resolution?Have you been seeking a connection to something bigger? Have you dabbled in yoga? Pored over your horoscope? Whipped up an endless array of Instagram-worthy kale smoothies? All in hopes of finding your path and feeling your best? Are you still struggling with your period, fertility or sex drive?The missing piece in your self-care strategy is this: cyclical awareness. What does that mean? It means feeding your body exactly what it needs at the right times of the month, nourishing your endocrine system with the right micronutrients so that you can rebalance, recalibrate, and reclaim your life. Without this critical structure as the foundation, all your self care, done at the wrong time, could actually be what’s sabotaging you.Self-care without cyclical awareness doesn’t give you access to all the benefits you’re looking for, and in some cases, it can actually exacerbate your hormonal imbalances. Why? While certain times of the month call for smoothies and super intense workouts, these same activities at other times of the month could mess with your blood sugar, jack up your cortisol, make a mess of your hormones, and subsequently, throw off your hormones, mood, and energy. That means the very things you think you’re doing to feel your best could be impeding your chance for a deeper connection to your body’s innate creative process; an integral aspect of your feminine soul.

Self Care That Supports The Female Mind Body Hormone Connection

Let me assure you: this is not all new-age, woo-woo, it’s actual science based approach to working with the body you have. Ancient traditions often reference the chakra system, which are energy centers in the body. The second chakra, otherwise known as your sacral chakra, is ruled by the principal of pleasure. It represents the womb, it’s your source of money, sex, creativity, and the feminine center. Sometimes this space is actually called the “low heart” (the clitoris, after all, does have a pulse!). But even if you’re not a chakra believer, there’s no denying the scientific fact that when your hormones — estrogen, progesterone, thyroid, insulin, testosterone, cortisol, etc. — aren’t functioning at their optimal levels, their dysfunction has a direct impact on your serotonin and dopamine, the neurotransmitters that dictate your mood and that impacts what thoughts your thinking, how you view the world around you and your desires and creativity. Your endocrine system is powerful and it’s at the root of your mind-body connection. By dismissing the signs and symptoms of your period problems, you’re not just doing a disservice to your health; you’re effectively undermining your power as a woman to be happy, creative, and powerful. These aren’t trivial details — making smoothies at the wrong time of the month can significantly disturb your insulin levels, eating the wrong foods at the wrong time in your cycle can deprive your endocrine system of the right micronutrients, and working out at the wrong time in the wrong way can set off a dangerous chain reaction of hormonal chaos. This kind of ill-timed self care or doesn’t take your female biology into account, and it is endocrine disruptive. That means your mind-body connection, your ability to create, and all the things you’ve been soul-searching for are being blocked by improperly caring for your unique, female body.

Your Body’s Biofeedback and Self Care

So what's all of your self-care really for if it’s not to kick your life into high gear in every way possible? Aligning your self care choices with your cycle is precisely the way for you to ground it in something that honors you and the sacred feminine energy that creates everything. Maybe you’ve heard of the “Flow State,” popularized by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It’s the concept of being “in the zone,” and it occurs when you’re skill level and the task at hand are equal. Tony Robbins has talked about this concept as well, in relation to athletes: elite performers need to meet their needs in order to flow. Cyclical self-care is the only way for women to tap into this type of flow-based peak performance. Without the cyclical aspect, your self-care is keeping you from achieving your flow state, creatively, and health-wise. You’ll know if you’re not in your flow (or FLO!): your body will tell you loud and clear. If you have PMS, period disturbances, a serious endocrine disorder — those are all specific types of biofeedback from your body that your current lifestyle and self-care practices are not supporting your endocrine system and therefore your ability to perform at your peak. If your hormones are out of whack, that’s your starting point. Your ultimate goal should not be to do more elaborate acts of self-care more often; it should be to give your body what it’s asking for in the right way at the right time — then everything will open up for you.If you’ve been dedicating this month to self-love and self-care, then do yourself the biggest favor possible: set yourself up for success by getting back on track with your hormones, reclaiming your body, and getting realigned and ready to be the brilliant badass you know you can be. Not sure where to start? Take the V-Sign Quiz and discover what the state of your period says about your overall health. When you’re ready for more, sign up for Monthly FLO and Balance Supplements and download the app MyFLO to elevate your efforts and fast track your progress.Love and ovaries,Alisa

Monthly FLO: The Cycle Syncing SystemTM

Put your period symptoms into remission. Discover how to live in your FLO and get it all done with embodied time management.

MonthlyFLO is the first-ever woman-centric health system that syncs with your unique rhythm. It gives you the foundation for solving any hormonal issues you may have over your lifetime.Using the principles of functional nutrition, MonthlyFLO is a specially-sequenced food therapy program that recalibrates your endocrine function. Over three months, you will be guided step-by-step to make simple, cumulative food and lifestyle changes that balance your hormones naturally.Click here to learn more about the life-changing Monthly FLO Program