When your hormones decline during menopause, your hypothalamus – the small organ in your brain that controls all your hormones- becomes dysregulated.
Since your hypothalamus controls your body’s thermostat, your moods and your sleep hormones that means you become easily overheated to the point of having hot flashes and night sweats, you’re grumpy and irritable and you can’t sleep. Balancing your hypothalamus is the key to controlling hot flashes, quelling irritability and treating insomnia.
If you follow these three easy steps, you’re going to cool down, keep calm and sleep through the night in spite of being in menopause or perimenopause.
# 1: Control hot flashes with relaxation exercise
There’s a simple scientifically proven way to reset your thermostat and cool down. A study was done on menopausal women who were suffering from frequent hot flashes and night sweats. The women were taught a specific exercise to do before they fell asleep which they did nightly for a few weeks, then stopped for a week and reported their frequency of hot flashes. During the time the women practiced this simple bedtime routine, their hot flashes and night sweats were significantly reduced.
Let’s try it! First I want you to get comfortable. You can try this sitting, but it’s best to do it when you’re lying in bed right before you go to sleep. I want you to contract your toes, then your lower legs, your thighs, your buttocks. Tighten your belly, your back, your chest. Contract the muscles in your shoulders, your arms, all the way to your hands, clench your fists. Tighten your neck muscles, your face, clench your eyes. Keep everything tight.
Now slowly relax your feet, lower legs, thighs, buttocks. Relax your belly, your back, your chest. Relax your shoulders, your arms, your hands. Relax your neck, your jaw, your face. Breathe.
Repeat this wave of contraction then relaxation two more times and you will help reset your hypothalamic thermostat and cool down.
# 2: Quell irritability with scent and sound
This is part of my CALM meditation that’s included in the Hormone Reboot Training. Your hypothalamus is central control for your excitatory sympathetic nervous system. You can train it like Pavlov’s dogs to produce GABA and calm down using scent and sound.
Just find a calming scent like lavender or chamomile in the form of a candle or preferably an essential oil. Now you need relaxing music preferably something you could hum to yourself like a lullaby. Sit quietly in a comfortable meditative pose with the music playing softly and the scented candle lit or the oil in an infused or even a drop right under your nose. Now put your hands on your belly and breathe deeply. So deep your belly muscles push out as if you’re breathing into your hands. Exhale fully using your belly muscles to push that air out of your lungs. The deep cleansing breaths will increase oxygen to your brain and begin calming your nervous system.
Your brain will associate the calming scent and calming sound with the increased GABA. Then when you are feeling irritable you can start humming your calming music and breathe in the calming essential oil. Your brain will reflexively produce GABA and you will calm down.
Your hypothalamus is central control for your excitatory sympathetic nervous system. You can train it like Pavlov’s dogs to produce GABA and calm down using scent and sound.
#3: Treat insomnia with phytonutrients
Your hypothalamus controls everything. All your hormones, your immune system and your brain chemistry. Your hypothalamus even controls your circadian rhythm – directing both daytime and nighttime hormones.
When your sex hormones – estrogen and progesterone – begin to plummet during menopause your hypothalamus becomes imbalanced severely affecting your sleep cycles. One of the most effective ways to help your hypothalamus do its job properly is to be sure it gets enough phytonutrients. But it’s hard to eat enough variety of fruits and vegetables, sprouted grains and sea vegetation to get the vital nutrients for your hypothalamus to function optimally. Genesis Gold can help. This delicious super green powder is designed specifically to support your hypothalamus to help normalize your circadian rhythm so you can get to sleep and stay asleep.
Now you know how to treat the three most annoying symptoms of menopause yet it’s not easy to get your life back if the rest of your hormones are out of balance. So I created the Hormone Reboot Training for you to discover how to thrive during menopause by balancing all your hormones naturally. It’s free!
0 Comments