Some insights from my interview with Sharon (Vasumati) Hancock, a woman who models resilience, curiosity, compassion and strength. This is sage advice my sisters!
Your intuition, your gut feeling, your ‘sense’….are all part of your innate intelligence, and what underlies this is more than intellect and reasoning. There’s usually a hormonal component. Think about the act of breastfeeding…
Granted, some women do not or cannot breastfeed for a variety of reasons. During breastfeeding, the hormone prolactin encourages a healthy flow of milk. It’s pro-lactation. While supporting milk flow this hormone also suppresses dopamine, a critical neurochemical for mood and motivation (and spark!). This phenomenon can cause low mood with breastfeeding. It can make a woman feel more introverted as she seeks a quiet refuge, away from the stimulation (and potential dangers) of the outer world. In today’s world others might view this as antisocial or social avoidance, but it does serve a purpose, albeit primitive. A normal and healthy level of dopamine suppression encourages the lactating mother to retreat into the cave, so to speak. This is a protective function that the hormones are playing.
Many thousands of years on, we still have a kind of primitive intelligence. Yes, the world has changed dramatically around us, but inside we haven’t evolved beyond our primitive instincts. I talk about this in my podcast episode Cortisol – Our Most Primitive Hormone. I was reflecting on some discussions I’ve had with both women and men, and one of the most informative conversations around women’s widsom that I’ve had was with Sharon (Vasumati) Hancock ‘Becoming Visible to Yourself – Wisdom, Sensuality and Inner Repose’. If you haven’t heard the podcast episode yet, let me share some of the highlights with you here. Each one is a minute or so long, and I like to think of them as pearls.
It’s important to take space to be with ourselves and for ourselves
We talked about unrealistic societal ideals around beauty and body type. Dove conducted a large scale gloabl study around women’s perceptions on body image and beauty, and a good proportion of us would trade in a year of our lives to have a more ‘desirable’ physique. That’s a little alarming, but here’s the study if you’re interested in a read. I wanted Vasumati’s perspective on navigating our changing bodies through midlife. She brought it back to basics 🙂 the original hormone-driven event!
The friction that builds the pearl
An easy carefree life and no challenges, uncertainty or disruption does not provide the ingredients necessary for a great evolution of self. We spoke a lot around midlife (ages 35-65) in this interview, this will be particularly relevant for those of you in that age range. In the tough times we go to the places that build us and cultivate what she calls ‘inner repose’, a kind of turning to yourself.
Wondering what my next curve ball will be :)!!
And one more…
Flash away!
She’s so right, we don’t talk enough about the frustration, hostility and anger that can arise (flash) in midlife. Vasumati has a wonderful way of finding just the right words to express what 3/4 of women worldwide experience around menopause – the famous ‘hot flush/flash’. Herbs are wonderful for this by the way! She talks more in depth about this in the interview, so if you were keen to listen I’ve popped a link below.
Thankyou for spending these moments with me, I appreciate you. If you feel moved to subscribe for more like this, please do. You may be navigating hormone changes yourself or supporting someone who is. Whatever the reason, I would love to have you in the community.
Wishing you well,
xo Sulin
Hey there! Welcome to my world of totally natural and powerful healing medicines. Medicines from nature. Medicine from Source. I’m a naturopath and herbalist with extensive clinical experience working with a range of health conditions including hormonal, metabolic, mental health, sleep and more.
I’ve brought together years of clinical and teaching experience, academic skill and curiosity to bring you this blog. I hope you enjoy it! If you do, leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!
