I’m going to begin this and say if the grammar police are out I apologise in advance as I’ve written from my heart and wanted to put this out there asap x

10.5 years ago my menstrual cycle stopped – it was more than likely due to the amount of cardio classes I was teaching a week plus competing in Power Lifting along with an eating disorder i’ve struggled with since the age of 12 my body just could not cope, I went into something called amenorrhea, at the time I didn’t know this was what it was, I had lots of scans and blood tests and if I’m honest back then the dr just told me to eat more cake ha ha x

I stopped over exercising and competing in Power Lifting nearly 9 years ago now as I got sick – my adrenals were shot to pieces, my hormones weren’t doing their thing plus I had to have an op to have a benign tumour removed – in that same operation they found a cancerous tumour – everything happens for a reason right ;-)

My poor body had been pushed to its limits. I knew I needed to make some changes and reduce the amount of stress on my body. Over the past 9 years it has been a very gradual process in reducing the amount of exercise I was doing, doing more yoga, teaching more yoga, teaching less fitness until eventually stopping teaching fitness altogether. 4+ yoga teacher trainings later here we are….. its all I do and it is my purpose in life - I love it and every aspect of it.

Plus the universe kept playing its part every time I went back to trying to up my exercise levels……….

I contracted Dengue Fever out in Bali on a yoga teacher training in 2014, I suffered with severe fatigue for about a year plus after this – in fact I’m never sure if I’ve fully recovered as I get fatigued very quickly but this could be due my low levels of oestrogen.

I then fractured my hip in August 2015 within 2 months of trying to get back to exercising a year after contracting Dengue, anyway it still took me some time to fully listen………

The main reason I’m writing this blog/email is not for sympathy but because I want to explain what I’ve done differently in the past year and even more recently the past 5 months – I’m going to bullet point it so it’s easier to read, you never know it might help others who are struggling with the same thing.

I would like to say I have had medical intervention with scans over the years (nothing was found apart from telling me I had healthy ovaries), numerous blood tests telling me a variety of things but the main one that stuck out was my scarily low oestrogen levels, in the past 15 months I’ve tried 2 medical induced stress test  using Letrozole to start a period which gave me a little spotting and also proved to me my ovaries are still in working order – but this happened last September and I hadn’t had anything since then.

Due to lockdown and not really wanting to pump my body full of hormones although at times a huge part of me has known I need to as my Oestrogen levels have been so low and this can cause a whole heap of problems, I decided not to go back for another stress test and to see if I could help myself by really focusing on the changes deep down I know I needed to make.

Anyway here is the list – remember I’m not a medical expert so I’m just explaining the changes I’ve made and what has brought on my first proper menstrual bleed in 10.5 years – I’m also not in denial that it could be just a one off and it may take a long time to get something regular again but I’m remaining positive.

These changes have been since the beginning of the year……

• Stopped HIIT training (was only doing 2 or 3 sessions a week (now I do 2 or 3 25 minute run/walks just to increase my heartrate for health)
• Got my little Denny Dog - took my focus away from me, gave me less time to exercise plus maybe a maternal instinct kicked in….
• Walk Denny twice a day
• Wim Hof Breath 3 rounds every morning
• 2 minute Cold Shower every morning
• Seed Cycling - been doing this for about a year now but pretty religiously the last 5 months.
• Increased soya intake - tofu/milk/soya beans – this is known to help increase your oestrogen levels
• Eat a 95% vegan diet
• Practice yoga 5/6 days a week and make sure it’s a balance of yin and yang
• MEDITATE everyday even if some days it’s just 10 minutes - it’s very important for me
• Stopped worrying about how many carbs I’m eating
• Stopped working so hard
• Reduced the amount of classes I teach - this was forced due to Covid but I won’t go back to teaching as much
• Stopped making myself sick - had bulimia since the age of 12/13 and its always my go to when I get low/out of control - my recovery has been tested this year but I can confirm I’ve only done it once in the past 6 months - plus in regards to this I’ve spent about £6000 the last 2 years on my teeth due to the damage it’s done plus god knows what else it’s done to my insides – I advise you get help or learn the coping strategies - I’ve had help which has never cured me but I have my own coping strategies that 90% of the time work – I’m still on this journey.
• Supplement with a multivitamin, B12, Vitamin D, Magnesium, Ashwaganda, Calcium, Fish Oils, 1 teaspoon of maca root powder once a day
• Made the decision to move back to Brighton - this was only about a week before my period returned but hey it certainly lifted quite a severe darkness thats been sitting inside me for quite a while now.

Like I said I understand this is only the beginning, I will continue to work or actually I should say soften and let go and stop battling to bring my body back into a place of equilibrium hoping that I haven’t caused any long term damage but only time will tell.

Thank you for reading and please reach out if I can help you in any way ðŸ˜˜

Email: [email protected]

Website: https://yourhomeyogastudio.net/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.cuerden/

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I wanted to check in and see how you’re feeling right now?

We now have a roadmap back into what will be our new norm – what is the first thing you will do that you couldn’t before?   What changes have you decided to make moving forward? I am so intrigued to know and would love to hear back from you.

I’ve been in a whirlwind of emotions the past month partly due to the excitement, lack of sleep due to my new family addition  – the fabulous Denny (more on him shortly) but also, like everyone, I was feeling so ‘done’ with Covid.  The separation from family and friends and all the worry we have all been feeling.

It's great that we can now we can see a light at the end of a very long tunnel and a challenging journey for most, we just need to hang in there a little bit longer and continue to support each other.

In the last year I’ve learnt so much about business, myself, other people and personally there has been many positive things to come out of this experience but i know for so many this isn't the case and my heart goes to out to everyone who have lost people, have struggled and are currently still struggling - I feel you.