Burnout + The Fertility Pathway: Lifestyle Practices to Support Your Body

Today, I’m here to talk about how you can heal your burnout and support your fertility pathway with lifestyle practices to bolster your reproductive health in addition to your systemic wellbeing. For more info on nutrition, see last post.

If you want to manage burnout symptoms, you have to address the fertility pathway.

If you want to manage the fertility pathway, you have to address burnout symptoms.

It’s all connected babe! So if you want to have a better menstrual cycle, happy hormones, and feel good in your body, you have to address stress, sleep, and movement!

Stress

Burnout and chronic stress can really f*ck with your body’s equilibrium and reproductive axis. Your body is designed to handle short amounts of stress- like being chased by a bear or getting in a fender bender - your muscles tense, you breathe faster, and your heart beats harder so you can focus and respond to the situation. But when you are faced with stress that lasts months or even years, it can take a real physical and mental toll on your health.

To improve your fertility pathway, we have to address your stress and bring your body out of fight or flight. This takes time, tools, rest, and the ability to draw boundaries. For many of us, can-do-it-all millennials, this is the hardest part. Our culture celebrates busy-ness. We don't know how to unplug but it's necessary to help the body restore and recalibrate back to normal. Give yourself some love, compassion, and time. Burnout is rough and the only way out is through. Burnout can be hard to identify when we live in a culture that celebrates stress. Give your body the space and time to heal.

Sleep

Listen, if there is one thing you can start doing to improve your hormonal balance and reproductive health, it is GO TO BED. When you sleep you aren’t just resting your eyes. Your body continues to work. It’s an integral part of the mind body connection by playing a key role in your fertility hormones, gut microbiome, hunger and appetite regulation, and healing the body at a mitochondrial (cellular) level. Healthy hormone balance is a necessary for fertility and following your circadian rhythm helps your body function best.

Some tips for getting adequate rest: wake up and go to bed at the same time every day; unwind with screen free time; and make sure your sleeping space is dark enough, cool enough, and quiet enough.

Exercise

Estrogen and testosterone regulate female and male characteristics (respectively) of the body and fertility. We all have both and need proper balance. Estrogen and testosterone can be balanced by way of muscle mass. In the case of estrogen, it is mainly produced in female ovaries but is also synthesized in fat. Healthy body composition looks different on everyone and fat stores are essential for women’s reproductive and general health.

Exercise that promotes healthy body mass composition helps to regulate estrogen and testosterone levels in the body. If you have estrogen dominance, moderate functional strength training can improve muscle mass mass. For low estrogen to testosterone levels, focus on restorative exercise such as yoga or stretching to maintain healthy body composition.

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Are you interested in learning more about how to support your fertility and menstrual health? Let’s talk! Contact me here.