We are celebrating International Women’s Day this week.
And I must admit, at first I was a bit skeptical about another official day to focus on someone or something. It seemed like a lot of hype and another opportunity for publicity and consumerism.
But on second thought I am excited about participating in this world-wide movement, and I want to share with you my reasoning.
The history behind IWD is interesting. The idea of a universal day to celebrate women began in 1909 by a socialist labor group. The first official commemoration took place in Soviet Russia March 8, 1917 after women achieved suffrage there. After that IWD was associated with left -wing movements until it was adopted by the global feminist movement in the 1960’s. The UN made IWD an official holiday in 1977.
While each country has its own flavor of how to celebrate IWD, the idea is to celebrate women’s achievements, bring awareness to gender inequality, and empower women in all areas of their lives, especially their health.
Empowering women to care for their health across the lifespan is what I do.
Because a woman’s health is dynamic and ever changing.
From adolescence a young woman’s hormones shift week to week as part of the monthly cycle.
Pregnancy, birth, & postpartum bring their own seismic hormonal changes.
And as a woman matures – her hormones shift yet again – during perimenopasue and leading up to menopause. These hormonal changes can feel like a hurricane or tornado (for many years) – but they hopefully give rise to the hormonal calm that comes after menopause.
Understanding these shifts and then learning how to navigate them is super important.
Learning how to make the necessary tweaks through lifestyle changes, herbs, and supplements is crucial.
And using acupuncture when necessary to bring the hormones and health back into balance is vital. Acupuncture has been shown to regulate the neuro endocrine system and help balance hormones.
Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation, and women don’t always understand their bodies or the options given to them to help manage their symptoms.
For example, many women are given birth control pills to correct a hormonal imbalance. The pills often do help alleviate the symptoms temporarily but women often don’t know that:
Birth control pills obliterate a woman’s natural cycle
The pill can cause mood swings or worse
Symptoms can return when the pill is discontinued
The natural period doesn’t always return immediately after stopping the pill
There are plenty of natural solutions that are long lasting and work to heal the root cause and not just deal with the symptoms.
Another example of misinformation is menopause where there is a literal dearth of information. Most women in their 40’s , who are experiencing perimenopause, probably don’t know that the hormonal shifts of perimenopause can cause anxiety, insomnia and irritability.
Just knowing that can be empowering. But understanding that these symptoms can come from hormonal shifts can also lead to better treatment. By balancing the hormones we can get to the root of the issue without using addictive sleeping pills, anti-anxiety meds and the like.
So for IWD I want to celebrate women’s health, and continue to educate and empower women to understand their bodies and make the most informed choices to keep themselves healthy!
