Ep. 176: What stress is doing to us (and our cycles)

Can we talk about stress? We all have it, but do we all know how it can affect our cycles and reproductive health? It’s so common that we underestimate the influence it has on our lives. Without this knowledge, we’re stuck feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, and confused. Today’s episode dives into how to recognize stress, ways to reduce it, and when to honor it.

NOTE: This episode is appropriate for all audiences.

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Transcript

Caitlin (00:25)
Welcome back to the Woven Well podcast. Each week I get to work with women who are interested in better understanding their menstrual cycles and hormonal health.

There are lots of reasons why they want this education. Maybe they're frustrated by the lack of support they've received elsewhere or overwhelmed by their lack of options when seeking out fertility treatments or women's health solutions, or they simply want a natural way to avoid or conceive a pregnancy. Each come with their own motivations, but the education they receive and the ultimate needs that they have, they're the same. They want to know that these reproductive systems are not simply infuriating hassles, but actually worth something. They want to know that their menstrual cycles matter. Have you noticed how we in our society really have come to measure the worth of our bodies and their processes? It's all about what they can do for us, right? Us, quote unquote. The impression is that our bodies, how they look, what they can do, and how well they can do it, are here for our pleasures and purposes alone.

They ought to do what we want them to do, when we want them to do it, and in the way in which we want it done. And when they don't, of course, it doesn't take much imagination to think of large-scale cultural examples of this. But while those get all the media attention, they're usually not the issues most relevant to the day in, day out lives of women. Instead, we see the mentality creep into our lives in other ways, like in a belief like this. I just need to push through.

This is often where stress starts to show up in our lives. This belief. Have you ever noticed whether or not stress affects your menstrual cycles? Because in my experience with clients, it's common to be so distracted by the stress in our life that it's hard to see its effect in that moment. But when it comes to reproductive health, it really can take a toll. So why does stress affect cycles? Well, when women experience significant stress, either acute or chronic, the body releases healthy doses of the stress hormone called cortisol. This is a good thing, we need cortisol to make our flight, fight or freeze choices, you know? Cortisol helps us to battle through a challenging season at work, retreat from a dangerous situation or relationship, or survive in the midst of chaos.

All sorts of things can cause us to have increased cortisol levels. Illness for you or for a loved one. Hospitalization, bereavement or a death in the family. A family vacation. Relatives coming to visit. Work challenges, home challenges, marital strife, decreased hydration, insufficient food intake, lack of quality sleep. get the idea. Cortisol doesn't only send messages to our brains.

It has an effect on the entire body. Even our reproductive systems get this hefty dose of cortisol. Instead of ramping up in response though, it may actually temporarily shut things down. There's a reason for this. If you are battling a significant challenge in life, it may not be the ideal time to also grow a tiny human, right?

Instinctively, the reproductive system does its best to preserve your life and wait until a time when pregnancy is more likely to be successful. So what's really happening during this? Well, the key to whether not stress will affect your menstrual cycle is when it occurs. Each cycle is divided into two main phases. You've got your pre-ovulatory phase and post-ovulatory phase. The pre-ovulatory phase begins the first day of your period and ends on the day of ovulation.

And then post ovulation begins the day after ovulation and continues until the start of your next period. That post ovulatory phase cannot be changed or stopped. Once ovulation happens, the same routine occurs to prepare your body for possible pregnancy or the next cycle. This means that stress after ovulation will not impact the start of your next period.

How often have I heard ladies say, I'm really stressing out right now, so my period's going to be late? That is true, but it's not because it's the period itself that's being delayed there. Stress before ovulation occurs, though, is an entirely different matter. This pre-ovulatory phase can be affected by lots of different factors, including stress.

If cortisol is released in high enough volume during that specific time, then it will cause the hormones necessary for ovulation to actually temporarily decrease, sort of pressing pause on ovulation.

After the cortisol levels begin decreasing or return to normal will the reproductive hormones begin producing levels high enough for successful ovulation. Simply put, in an attempt to protect you for survival, stress can actually delay ovulation. The reproductive system seems to instinctively know that it's important to take a break, to prioritize when things are hard, but our brain doesn't always do the same.

Instead, when we have a lot going on and we want to push through, we get stressed. Then we feel stressed, so we work harder to push through. It becomes its own type of cycle, but not one that helps us. Why are we so tempted to do this? I think more often than we realize, it has to do with our priorities and maybe even our self-worth.

Whenever we are unable to immediately and easily do what we want or what others may expect, think how easy it is to convince ourselves that the issue is not with the expectation, whether it's our own or others, but with ourselves. My mind should be stronger. My spirit should be less sensitive. I shouldn't be feeling sad or overwhelmed.

I feel so dependent on more sleep. shouldn't find this as hard to deal with as I do. Stress has been and always will be a part of life. is certainly true right now. Dealing with these expected stressors though is built into our DNA. When we experience a famine or a drought or in our modern first world existence, looming work deadlines or moving across the country,

We have a hormone specifically designed to help us prioritize essentials and survive the experience. Like we talked about cortisol, this hormone I'm talking about, is there to get a critical message out to every system and process. Focus on survival. For a reproductive system, this means halting ovulation, which is when an egg leaves the ovary for possible fertilization, until that stress event is over, stopping ovulation until that stress is gone or reduced. Now I teach every single woman how to see and anticipate this response to stress, not just so she can expect a longer cycle or know how to pinpoint days of fertility, although that's important, but also so that she can see the role of stress in her life. Our reproductive system knows how to slow down, take a break, prioritize what's important.

But do we know how to do that too? We tend to think that when we have stress, we have to battle up and push through in order to resolve it. We have a work deadline, so we stay up half the night pushing through until it's done. We're overcome by anxiety and fear, so we watch TV or listen to podcasts to avoid the silence and push through the experience. This push through mentality doesn't help us like we want it to though.

In fact, neglecting our needs to push through can take what is a small stressor and actually turn it into a much larger stress event. This is just one of the ways that something like charting the biomarkers of your cycle can benefit your overall quality of life and not just your women's health or fertility. So I really encourage my clients to assess for stress each month and you can do what I encourage my clients to do. When you experience stress,

Ask the questions, is my body showing signs of stress? Is my mind, is my spirit? If the answer is yes to any of those, you don't need to automatically push through, but instead listen carefully. Where do you feel the stress? What feels most burdensome to you? What do you feel you need more of? Is it rest, silence?

prayer, stillness, listen and respond. problem is nobody wants to this, maybe nobody thinks that they really can do this.

Responding to these needs feels like an incredible luxury. Is that the case though, or just what we've assumed? Is this what God has demonstrated for us, or what we've seen demonstrated in the people and culture around us? Because I think we should take a look at God first. Think about Jesus, our fully God, fully man, Savior of the world. He would often steal away in the most stressful of situations.

When about to face the trials and temptations of the deceiver, he nourished his spirit by fasting his body. He went away to pursue silence and stillness when he was overwhelmed by people, their presence, their needs, their questions. Can you put yourself in that situation? When facing what I would imagine to be the terrifying prospect of crucifixion, he went away to pray. Jesus did not live without stress.

But he also didn't display an example of pushing through it. Even our father who did not and does not need rest chose to do so after creation in order to give us the example of this good and needed thing in our lives. And in case this wasn't enough of an example, he gave it to us as a commandment. We are beautifully complex human beings designed in the image of God for the glory of God.

And that includes our need for rest and renewal. Our need and ability to rest is not a weakness or a deficiency. It's a gift of our creation.

Not only do we need rest, we have a God who is eager to give it. Look at Jesus again. Each time he turned away from his stress, he turned toward something else. His father, our father, our source of all rest. So how can we reduce stress in our own lives? It's such a big topic and there are entire books and conferences about such things. What I've found in my years as a certified fertility care practitioner, though,

Is that the little things tend to add up. Just as little stressors can all kind of combine together to become this perfect storm of stress, little efforts to reduce stress can create significant improvement. Small changes also feel more realistic, which reduces the stress of having to make changes. Most of the time, we cannot change the big stressors in our lives. If we're laid off or caring for a sick child or battling anxiety,

There's not a switch that we can flip to change that instantly, although that would be nice. Instead, what are the little things that you can do to reduce stress in your daily life? And here are a few suggestions to help you get started. Journal through the stressful season. Just a few sentences every day can really help. Chat with a trusted friend, family member, or spiritual director or mentor. Light an essential oil candle that makes you happy.

Open the curtains in the morning and let all the light come in. Open the window if it's a pretty day. Take a short walk without looking at your phone. So no technology, just enjoying the nature around you. Maybe even touch something in nature, whether it's gardening or laying in the grass or dipping your toes in a stream. Move your body in a fun way. That could be dance or playing with your kids or

Maybe it's running for you, but something that's fun. Listen to your favorite music. Plan a fun event that you can look forward to specifically. Practice prayers of Thanksgiving, maybe at the end of each day. Make room for five to 10 minutes of silence and solitude without your phone. I emphasize that. It's not silence so that you can scroll, but true silence, solitude, and stillness.

We don't have to push through it. Instead, we are invited to listen, to respond, and to offer it up. When we're faced with stress of any shape or form, and we feel a pull toward rest, quiet, prayer, stillness, it may be God's invitation to get what we truly need from Him. It doesn't mean that the stressor is gonna go away or that it won't be hard. Again, let's look to Jesus' example here. It can be very difficult, but maybe God wants to give us this day our daily bread.

As always, thanks for listening as we continue to explore together what it means to be woven well.