INTRO

One day, my lower abdomens where cramping so hard, I had to lie down in the cold shower and couldn’t move. At first, my partner thought I was again exaggerating my period cramps and didn’t pay much attention. After more than 1h of heavy pain, I accepted to swallow a pain killer. Once I could finally move, I wrote a friend of mine what was happening and she straight away referred me to her Swiss friend living in Bali who’s job is centred around the female reproduction system. I
Immediately texted Ella who replied within seconds and supported me through the whole evening and recommended to go to the hospital the next day. Still in pain at the hospital, the doctor panicked seeing a big cyst in my left ovary who had ruptured and was creating an internal bleeding. The mystery of the pain was solved but the next step suggested by the doctor was an operation on the same day to take out the cyst and the blood. I refused the operation and decided to ask for a second opinion by my Swiss doctors. In fact, an operation isn’t always necessary. Observation is key and with several follow up checks we could define that the tumour was benign and was being slowly reabsorbed by the body.

This is a very private story but I know for sure that I’m not the only one experiencing some issues related to the female reproductive system. When I fist got my periods as a teen, I remember suffering from heavy bleedings and pain that kept me home every month almost three days. I couldn’t believe how women could go through this for centuries. My mum, who never had better education about the female reproductive system than I did, just told me that this is just how it is. Meeting Ella clarified most of my questioning. I understood that most of it was related to one thing: hormones, and that there are ways to connect and stabilise them to have a more normalised fluctuation.

So who is this Ella who knows so much more about my vulva than I do? At first sight Ella reflects everything you expect in a well behaved, smart and funny person. She adapts to the crowd and is very charming and her addictive smile is stunning.

INTERVIEW WITH ELLA

1. Ella, tell us why you started your education on the female reproductive system and what fascinates you in this field?
It all started with me working as a medical assistant in the fertility clinic (in which I am currently working again) there I realised how little I knew about the whole menstruation and hormonal system in my body. It was like a dark void inside of me and it felt completely wrong not to know whats going on. I then started to educate myself with the support of my boss and I did two fertility yoga trainings. By learning and reading about it I got more and more fascinated by the power of the menstrual cycle. All the wisdom there is to understand it and trust how smart mother nature created us. I also started to feel more connected to myself. I felt empowered. Self-love took place instead of shame. I knew I wanted to share everything I had learned and that I’m still learning. So here I am…

2. How did you experience your transition between being a young girl to becoming a woman?
I love my parents and we have a great relationship but they havent prepared me much on what to do and why I bleed and how to track my cycle. I found myself lost with a tampon in my hand in a hotel room, almost throwing up because I was so afraid I could hurt myself. In consequence of that my bleed stopped for a whole year.
I was a difficult teenager but when I look back I understand 100% why. I wasn’t aware and ready to accept what will happen to my body, that I will become a woman with curves, that I will have that shift in hormones which will make a change in my brain, mood, energy and sexual desire. The only thing that happened is that I got prescribed the pill at the age of 15 – like most young women – because I was in a relationship. NO education about side effect or awareness on how to protect against a pregnancy other than hormonal pills. I was angry, confused, depressed and started to hate my body running from one diet to the other until I finally educated myself and gained back my self-love and power.

3. Nowadays many women still use hormones as contraceptive or to regulate their cycle or other body/physical/mental issues. What are your insights on this matter?
The contraceptive pill is not a solution to fix something, its’ a tool to shut down your fertility. And that is ok if thats you are conscious aware of the concrete effets and side effects and can take a rational decision around it. But if you want to build a healthy cycle, then you need to find the root and the cause of your imbalance and adapt your lifestyle accordingly. Because after stopping the pill the issues will come back for sure.

4. Hormones influence five vital systems of our body. What are they and what is their role?

Immune system
Our hormones also play a role in our immune system.

Have you every experienced getting sick faster before your bleeding?
Estradiol enhances the immun response in our body. In the first 2 weeks after our menstruation+before ovulation, trough the rising levels of estradiol our immune system is on alert, to support us&keeping us healthy to get pregnant.
In the time before bleeding+after ovulation estradiol sinks and with it the ability to fight the viruses and bacterias. It takes a step back to not attack the potential egg while nesting in.

Living cyclical, will help you to boost your immune system+prevents oestrogen dominance which can lead to auto-immune disease.

Metabolism
The ability for our body to burn calories shifts with our hormonal cycle.
Estradiol is dominant in the 2 weeks after your bleed tends to suppress appetite, as a result our metabolism slows down. Our body starts to store nutrients for a potential pregnancy (how freaking cool?)

The rise of progesterone (dominante in the 2 weeks before bleeding ) and the drop of estradiol increases your appetite and as a result our body is craving more food but also our energy expenditure increases, all this happens naturally because our reproductive nature gets ready to meet the needs of a potential pregnancy.

Our diet culture follows a circadian (24h rhythm) which is working against our natural metabolism. This means, sinking your food with your cycle will support you in reaching your optimal weight and feeling comfortable in your own skin. Because we simply can’t work against our nature =)

Microbiome
Microbiome are beneficial bacteria in our gut, vagina and even in our breasts.
If balanced they build a beautiful symphony to support our health, immune system and metabolism.
Our hormones are strongly connected to our microbiome.
Specially estradiol influences the gut in many ways and helps promoting the growth of good gut bacteria and supports the internal permeability trough providing a protective barrier. Without that barrier leaky gut can take place, a condition that causes gas, bloating and cramps.

Balanced hormones are essential for a good function of the microbiome and on the other side our microbiome plays a major role in eliminating estradiol and other hormones out of our body. Microbiome and hormones are like best friends supporting each other to function perfectly.

If estradiol is not eliminated correctly it can lead to estradiol dominance which is responsible for:
Cramps
Heavy bleed
Acne
PMS and more…

To sum up if those 2 best friends work hand in hand, the results are better digestion and elimination, easy weight loss (if wished) and enhanced mood. Because a good poop enhances the mood 😉

Brain
Hormonal fluctuations during our monthly cycle has an influence on your brain function which then has an effect on your energy, mind and mood. So no wonder we feel different and not at all as the same person during the span of a month.
E.g high oestrogen Levels during ovulation, enhance the release of serotonin which we know as our happiness neurotransmitter = you feel more social, verbal and you take care of others.

Stress and female cycle
In the phase before bleeding (around one week) do you ever feel more stressed and it seems the whole world is getting a little heavier? It’s a natural response of our system which makes us more on alert and heightens our stress response in order to to protect a fertilised egg.

But also stress influences our hormones, if we are in a stressful situation and in these days this can be caused by a lot of things like a harsh mail, a difficult conversation or traffic, this can disrupt our hormone system, the chemical reaction happening in the body while being stressed, can interfere with the production of different hormones such as oestrogen, progesterone, LH and FSH which will influence your period, desire for sex and ability to reproduce.

If stress hormone in the body (cortisol) is high it works like a stop sign for the other hormones specially progesterone, progesterone is responsible for making you relaxed, introspective and calm and supports the nesting in of the potential embryo. This can make it hard for you to conceive and feel calm and clear. His Cortisol level can also delay ovulation which is again interfering with the ability to get pregnant and prevents you from all the beautiful benefits from ovulation, like big communication skills, high desire for sex, boost in energy and self-confidence.

In the Phase before bleeding its so important to take extra time off for yourself even if its just going to bed 30 min earlier or meditation 10 min in the morning. Don’t let stress control you but take back control of it.

5. If understood properly women can use their hormonal cycle at their favour. Can you explain?
We split the cycle in 4 Phases:
Menstruation
Follicular
Ovulation
Luteal

In each phase the hormones types and levels variate. In each of the phases your mood and energy can differ and the this fluctuations may give you a superpower you don’t even know yet.

Let’s take Ovulation: Because of the hormones being on their highest level your mood is stable and the peak of estradiol makes you communicative, full of energy and even our face becomes more symmetrical. This is the perfect time for public appearances, dates or meetings.

Also we have the power to influence our hormonal system with food and with our lifestyle. A correct workout and life balance can help you express and experience these superpower.

6. Misinformation and miscommunication are a big part of the issue. What can women do to get the appropriate help to learn how to manager their hormones?
Nowadays, there are a lot of good books on the market.
What I highly recommend is to start tracking their cycle and taking small steps towards a life in tune with feminity. I offer 1:1 coaching, workshops and yoga classes that follow this topic.
Also you can download my freebie over ellas-space.com in there you find a lot of interesting facts about the 4 cycle phases. You will even find a simple circle tracker in that package.
On my Insta account I upload educational topics every week.

Pictures: Nicki Antognini
Words: Nicki Antognini & Ornella Willi
Thanks to: Ella for sharing her wisdom with us <3