If your menstrual cycles have left you more irritable lately, you can’t sleep, have trouble focusing, and you face constant mood swings, hormonal imbalances may be the reason.
I welcome you to join me as we explore causes for imbalance, ways to restore harmony, and how to explore yoga for hormonal imbalance so you can feel refreshed and energized!
Quick Reminder: There are many reasons hormones become imbalanced. There are also many treatments for balancing your hormones. Please reach out to your medical team for proper treatment. Yoga is not a fix-all-solution, but a supportive additional practice if high stress causes more imbalance.
How Do Your Hormones Become Imbalanced After Trauma?
Our minds and bodies are interconnected, and so it makes sense that trauma would affect more than just our thoughts, but our entire being, including your endocrine system (the system responsible for hormonal balance.)
Let’s get into the science and inner workings of your hormones to better understand what’s happening within your body.
This study from the National Library of Medicine explores how trauma affects hormones, mainly through your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which regulates your body’s stress response. It involves the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands, which work together to release cortisol, a major stress hormone. With too much cortisol in your body over a long period of time, you’ll begin to experience symptoms.
This may also be referred to as adrenal fatigue. The term “adrenal fatigue” is controversial because chronic stress affects the HPA axis, and your adrenals are just one component. Adrenal fatigue also implies that you face symptoms because your adrenals aren’t as effective and become fatigued, which currently hasn’t been proven with evidence. Due to this, adrenal fatigue itself isn’t widely accepted in the scientific community.
What Happens When Your Hormones Are Imbalanced?
Cortisol, a stress hormone, works overtime and your body will have a harder time staying regulated and relaxed. Chronic stress can also lead to dysregulated cortisol levels, not just high levels. Some people may even experience low cortisol. Here are a few symptoms for each, sourced from the National Library of Medicine.
High Cortisol Symptoms
- Weight gain (especially in your face and belly)
- Fatty deposits that looks like a lump between your shoulder blades
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Hirsutism in women (growing thick, dark hair on your face, chest, or back)
- Proximal muscle weakness (muscles near your center like shoulders, hips, and thighs are weak)
- Osteoporosis
Low Cortisol Symptoms
- Fatigue
- Weight loss
- Hypotension
- Skin hyperpigmentation
Other Hormones Affected By Stress
Higher levels of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). This keeps you in an alert state, but too much can lead to trouble sleeping, more anxiety, and feeling like you can’t relax.
Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone (also known as your sex hormones.) Too much stress over a prolonged period can cause an imbalance in these hormones that can lead to:
- Low sex drive
- Fertility issues
- Irregular menstrual cycles or worsened PMS symptoms.
Thyroid (Regulates your Metabolism). When your thyroid becomes dysregulated due to stress, you might experience:
- Feeling cold or hot all the time
- Brain fog
- Unintentional weight gain or loss
- Depression
How To Create Hormonal Balance
When you give your body the rest, nutrition, and the additional support it craves, your stress levels will decrease and your hormones will balance, leaving you feeling rejuvenated and calm.
There is no one-size-fits-all treatment, so I welcome you to navigate your journey with your medical team. They can support hormonal balance with medication, therapy, bloodwork, and hormonal therapy.
You can also explore ways to decrease stress to provide a more holistic approach. Here are a few examples:
- Mindfulness
- Breathwork
- Yoga and trauma-informed yoga
- Somatic exercises
- Grounding
You may even explore other holistic practices like:
- Herbal remedies
- Acupuncture
- Massage
I also invite you to keep your body as nourished and healthy as possible with nutrition and self-care.
Sleep is also important, but it can be tricky to find a routine at the beginning. It’s a little like the chicken or the egg scenario, because you need sleep to reduce stress, but you need to have less stress to get good sleep. I welcome you to go easy on yourself and start incorporating more stress-reducing methods into your life. Eventually, you’ll have better sleep and reduce stress a little more every day.
Related Post: 9 Yoga Poses For Insomnia After Sexual Trauma
There were a lot of options I just provided, so I invite you to explore the ones that seem most interesting to you. You definitely don’t need to do all of these!
If you’re curious about trauma-informed yoga and mindfulness, I invite you to join me for a sequence that will calm your nervous system, reduce cortisol, care for your vagus nerve, and as a result: balance your hormones for better sleep and feeling your best!
Related Post: Trauma-Informed Yoga: Exactly How These 6 Pillars Support Sexual Trauma Survivors
I welcome you to explore the blog post above to learn more about trauma-informed yoga. In summary, it’s a research backed healing modality that honors the lived experiences of trauma survivors. Your choices and safety are priority, and it’s more about what feels supportive than what poses look like.
Yoga For Hormonal Imbalance
These seven poses focus on the most important parts of balancing your hormones by reducing stress and activating your parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system. As a result, your hormones will rebalance if stress caused imbalance, giving you harmony within your body.
I invite you to do these poses in a way that feels best to you – this is how you’ll find more relaxation, reduce stress, and balance your hormones. Feel free to adjust, skip, or modify these poses however you like. You can end your practice at any time.
7 Yoga Poses for Hormonal Imbalance
1.Supported Child’s Pose (Balasana)
Benefits: Calms the nervous system, supports adrenal health, and lowers cortisol by activating your vagus nerve.
- Tip: Place a bolster or pillow under your chest and belly for comfort
- Let your forehead rest gently and soften your jaw.
- Breathe deeply into your belly, softening your muscles with each exhale
2 + 3. Cat-Cow (Marjaryasana-Bitilasana)
Benefits: Stimulates your thyroid with increased blood flow and balances your HPA axis due to lowering stress from breath to movement.
- Start in tabletop with your wrists under shoulders and knees under hip points.
- Move slowly with your breath—inhale to drop your belly (Cow) and exhale to round (Cat).
- Continue this as many times as you like
4. Reclined Butterfly / Bound Angle Pose (Supta Baddha Konasana)
Benefits: Supports reproductive hormone balance by calming an overactive nervous system and releases tension from your hips.
- Rest on your back with the soles of your feet together, knees resting open.
- Option to place pillows or blocks under your knees for extra support.
- Rest your hands wherever you like, or maybe on your belly and heart.
5. Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani)
Benefits: Eases exhaustion and supports stress reduction with an inversion. Inversions promote blood flow back toward the heart, which can lower your heart rate.
- Sit near a wall or chair then rest your legs up as you lower your back down.
- Adjust your hips to feel comfortable, using a pillow or bolster under your hips for extra relaxation.
- Rest your arms anywhere you like
6. Supine Twist (Jathara Parivartanasana)
Benefits: Supports digestion which can become disrupted from high stress.
- While in a lying position, gently draw your knees toward your chest.
- Slowly let them drop to one side, pressing both shoulders on the ground.
- Soften with each exhale, adding a cushion under your shoulder if you can’t rest them on the ground with comfort.
- Repeat on the other side.
7. Savasana
Benefits: Creates space for active, deep relaxation, supporting stress management. This soothes an overactive nervous system and sets you up for better sleep.
- Lie in any resting position that brings your comfort.
- Inhale deeply into your belly, feeling expansion under your hand.
- Exhale slowly, softening your body and mind into rest.
Related Post: 12 Tips for Savasana After Trauma: Your Ultimate Guide to Trauma-Informed Savasana
Overview
Hormonal imbalance after trauma can leave you with many symptoms, but these poses as part of a consistent yoga practice are supportive for releasing stress and clearing the path for a calm, healthy lifestyle. I welcome you to explore as many healing modalities as you like, and take good care on your healing journey.
Ready for The Next Step?
I invite you to join me in the Cozy Corner, my free private trauma-informed yoga library that honors sexual trauma and gives you plenty of classes to support your nervous system and reduce stress. I invite you to join me inside!
