Self-Love and Hormones - Let's Talk
The most important relationship is the one we have with ourselves. But in a world full of impossible beauty standards, constant social media comparisons, and the endless pressure to appear perfect, this relationship can become a little fractured. While we all experience insecurities from time to time, practising self-love and acceptance is essential for a healthy mindset. And believe it or not, your hormones play a big role in this.
Hormones affect just about everything we do from our bodies, minds, and emotions. Supporting your hormonal health is one of the best ways to practise self-love, empowering you with the energy, clarity, and confidence to show up fully for yourself and others. But how exactly are self-love and hormones connected? Let’s break it down.
What Is Self-Love?
Self-love is more than bubble baths, face masks, and retail therapy (although these can definitely help). At its core, self-love is about having a positive relationship with yourself, rooted in self-acceptance and self-esteem. It’s reflected in how you treat yourself, how you speak to yourself, and how comfortable you feel in your own skin. True self-love is showing yourself kindness, care, and compassion even on your toughest days.
Unfortunately, we know that self-love doesn’t always come so easily. By the time girls reach their teenage years, they’re more likely to struggle with confidence and body image issues, than their male peers and this often continues into adulthood.
In fact, research shows that nearly 80% of women battle with low self-esteem, which can affect many aspects of our personal and professional lives, from always prioritising others' needs above our own to not asking for that raise we know we deserve.
That’s why it’s more important than ever to embrace our authentic selves and love who we are.
Hormones and Self-Esteem
Hormones are your body’s messengers, influencing everything from your mood and energy to your confidence and focus. They are closely tied to self-esteem, and how we perceive ourselves.
Most women have experienced that pre-period confidence dip or low mood during their cycle. This is due to the hormonal fluctuations, most notably low progesterone in the second stage of your menstrual cycle that can cause us to feel anxious, depressed and generally down about ourselves.
Understanding this connection to self-love and hormones is key to working with your body instead of against it.
Happy Hormones 101
There are four main hormones that have a direct effect on our mood these include:
Serotonin - Known as the happiness hormone, serotonin stabilises your mood and helps you feel more positive and grounded.
Dopamine - The reward hormone. It’s released when you achieve something, giving you a sense of accomplishment and motivation.
Oxytocin - The love hormone that helps you build trust and connection with others.
Endorphins - The natural painkillers that fill your body when you exercise leaving you feeling happy and energised.
But it's not just these four ‘feel good’ hormones that impact the way we feel about ourselves. Our sex hormones greatly impact our self-perception and mood too, which includes:
Testosterone – Often thought of as a male hormone, testosterone is essential for women too. It influences libido, confidence, and motivation and is an essential hormone for self-love.
Estrogen – This hormone regulates mood, energy, and even cognitive abilities. It’s directly linked to serotonin production, making it a key to your emotional wellbeing.
Progesterone – Known for its calming effects, progesterone balances estrogen levels and supports GABA production, a neurotransmitter that promotes relaxation and reduces anxiety. It also alleviates PMS symptoms such as mood swing, cramps, bloating and fatigue.
When all these hormones are balanced, you’re more likely to feel confident, clear-headed, and like you can take on the world. When they’re not, negative self-talk and self-doubt can creep in.
There are many reasons for these hormones to become imbalanced, including stress, your menstrual cycle, menopause or underlying medical conditions like PCOS. This can all lead to symptoms like mood swings, anxiety, loss of sex drive and fatigue. All of which can be very damaging to your self-esteem.
Listening to your body
When it comes to self-love and hormones, it's all about listening to your body. We’re all familiar with the term self-care, and apart from being a millennial buzzword, it’s closely related to self-love and your hormone health.
Taking care of yourself can take many forms, from hitting the gym to get them endorphins flowing, to indulging in that extra slice of chocolate cake without guilt.
High levels of the stress hormone cortisol are extremely detrimental to both your hormones and mental health and can even lead to what is known as cortisol addiction.
So, any form of self-care that can reduce your level of stress is the best. Regular exercise, getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, and choosing to set boundaries are all forms of self-care that do wonders for your hormones and make you feel great about yourself.
Self-Love Made Simple
Self-love doesn’t have to be complicated or feel like another task to add to your already over-packed to-do list. It's about simply showing up for yourself in ways big or small. Be it silencing your inner critic or taking time for activities that bring you joy.
While brat summer may be well and truly over, self-love winter is just getting started. So, here’s your reminder to listen to your body, treat yourself with compassion, and prioritise what makes you feel good.
Remember that self-love and hormones go hand in hand, and when you take care of both, you can become unstoppable.
How Hormones + You Can Help
At Hormones + You, we believe every woman deserves to feel her absolute best. Our mission is to empower women to take control of their hormones and unlock their full potential with doctor-developed treatments custom-made for them.
Whether you are experiencing a low sex drive, PMS, or are struggling to sleep, we have a solution that can help. This includes our testosterone boosting cream, made especially for women and designed to support mood, energy, confidence and libido.
Start an online consultation and get your very own personalised prescription delivered straight to your door.
