The Upstream Factor: Hormones and Nervous System Healing

Welcome to The Lavish Well—where this week, we examine how your hormones shape your nervous system's ability to regulate and repair—and how to support the system that supports everything else.

THE PULSE

This is what matters this week.

There's a seductive simplicity to the hormone narrative for women.

Your symptoms have a clear cause.

Can't sleep? Hormones.
Anxious? Hormones.
Brain fog, weight gain, loss of libido? Hormones, hormones, hormones.

Fix the hormones, fix the problem.

But your hormones aren't necessarily the problem. Especially in the setting of chronic stress or trauma. They're very likely the messenger.

And when you treat the messenger instead of listening to the message, the relief is temporary at best.

This is the missing piece in nearly every conversation about women's health, perimenopause, and nervous system healing. Your hormones shape your nervous system's ability to regulate and repair. But they're not the root cause—they're downstream from something deeper.

The cortisol dysregulation. The sleep deprivation. The years of pushing through. The unresolved trauma living in your nervous system. The mitochondria running on fumes.

These are the upstream factors that determine whether your hormones can actually do their job.

The messaging around hormone replacement makes it easy to believe otherwise. 

Even women's wellness culture markets to our desire for a quick fix—sleep better, killer sex, radiant skin. It's compelling. And profitable. Hormone replacement therapy is a $37 billion a year industry, projected to reach $66 billion by 2034 (that’s nearly doubling in just 9 years).

But we're missing the mark for many women when we stop at the symptoms instead of going deeper, and this affects our ability to heal on more than one level.

Last week, in The Feminine Nervous System: A New Paradigm for Repair, we explored why women's nervous systems require a completely different approach to healing—one that honors our cyclical nature, our relational wiring, and the way trauma lives differently in female bodies.

This week, we're going deeper into the biology.

Because understanding what's actually happening in your body isn't just intellectual—it's the foundation for healing that sticks.

When your progesterone drops and anxiety spikes just before your period—that's information. 

When your estrogen dips and suddenly your window of tolerance shrinks—that's biology.

When you can't sleep, can't regulate, can't hold it together the way you used to—your hormones are showing you exactly where the upstream factors have been ignored for too long.

In my 20 years as a doctor, I've treated many women who came to me initially looking for hormone replacement. Sometimes, that's a needed part of the solution.

But if we don't address what's driving the hormonal chaos in the first place—the chronic stress, the sleep debt, the depleted mitochondria, the dysregulated nervous system—we're just masking symptoms.

I've seen it time and time again:

A woman gets hormone therapy.
She feels better for a few months.
Then she crashes again—because nothing upstream changed.

The cortisol is still dysregulated.
The sleep is still fractured.
The nervous system is still stuck in survival mode.
The mitochondria are still starving for support.

Here's what changes everything:

When you address what's upstream—when you support your stress response, restore your sleep architecture, feed your cellular energy, and regulate your nervous system—your hormones often start to balance themselves.

Not always. Not perfectly. But significantly.

Because your body knows how to heal.
It's just been working against a current you didn't know was there.

This week, we're mapping that current. So you can finally work with your biology instead of fighting it. 👇

In today's issue:

• Why your hormones are downstream (and what that means for your healing)

• The science of how estrogen and progesterone shape your nervous system capacity

• Why sleep isn't optional—it's the most luxurious medicine you have

• From the Well: The Lavish Reset Part 2 + supplements that actually work

THE DEEP TAKE

Where we go deeper—science, story, truth.

Let me take you inside what's actually happening in your body.

Estrogen and Your Nervous System

Estrogen isn't just a reproductive hormone. It's a neuroprotective powerhouse.

It enhances your vagal tone—the part of your nervous system responsible for rest, digest, and social connection. It supports neuroplasticity, helping your brain adapt and rewire. It modulates GABA and serotonin, your primary calming neurotransmitters.

Translation: When estrogen is stable, your nervous system has more capacity.

But here's where it gets complex for women:

Estrogen fluctuates across your menstrual cycle. It dips dramatically in the luteal phase (the week before your period). It plummets during perimenopause. It drops permanently after menopause.

And every time it dips your nervous system loses some of its cushion.

Suddenly, things that didn't bother you before—a tense conversation, a packed schedule, your teenager's attitude—feel unbearable.

Not because there’s something wrong with you (there’s not). But because your biology just shifted your window of tolerance.

This is why trauma symptoms can worsen in perimenopause. Not because the trauma is new—but because the nervous system support that helped you cope is suddenly gone.

Progesterone and the Power of Calm

Progesterone is your nervous system's best friend.

When it metabolizes, it creates allopregnanolone—one of the most potent GABA agonists your body makes. GABA is your primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. It's what tells your brain to calm down, stop spinning, and rest.

When progesterone is adequate, you sleep better. You feel less anxious. You can breathe.

But progesterone production requires ovulation. And chronic stress—the upstream factor—suppresses ovulation.

So does poor sleep.
So does mitochondrial dysfunction.
So does living in fight-or-flight for months or years…or decades.

You see where this is going?

The very things that make you need progesterone more are the same things that prevent your body from making it.

This is the vicious cycle so many women are trapped in without realizing it.

The Mitochondria Factor

Here's what most hormone conversations miss entirely:

Your mitochondria—the energy factories in every cell of your body—are the upstream regulators of everything.

Hormone production requires energy.
Nervous system regulation requires energy.
Sleep quality requires energy.
Detoxification requires energy.

When your mitochondria are depleted, your body goes into conservation mode.

It shuts down non-essential functions first.
Like ovulation. Like robust progesterone production. Like deep, restorative sleep.

This is why you can't just "fix" your hormones without addressing cellular energy.

Trauma is an energy disease as much as it's a nervous system disease.
When you've been running on stress hormones for years, your mitochondria are exhausted.

And exhausted mitochondria can't support the biology of resilience.

How Biology Creates Space for Spirit

Here's where science and soul converge:

When your nervous system is chronically dysregulated, when your hormones are chaotic, when your cells are depleted—you can't access your deeper wisdom.

Your intuition is drowned out by anxiety.
Your creativity is buried under fatigue.
Your spiritual connection feels distant because your biology is hunkered down in survival.

This isn't a failure of faith or practice. It's physiology.

The beautiful paradox is this: when you tend to your biology with the precision it deserves, you create space for your spirit to breathe again.

Suddenly, you can hear the whispers you've been missing.
You can feel the subtle guidance.
You can access your inherent wholeness—the truth you couldn't hear through the noise.

Fixing your biology isn't separate from spiritual practice.
It's the foundation that makes spiritual practice possible.

This is the absolutely amazing symbiotic relationship of science and spirit.
They elevate each other.

And this is why we do the deeper work.

IN REAL LIFE

What it actually looks like.

The protocols that support women's hormones and nervous systems aren't complicated.
But they are precise.

Here's where to start:

Sleep: The Non-Negotiable Luxury

You've heard it before. But let me reframe it:

Sleep isn't self-care. It's cellular repair.
And it’s an absolute non-negotiable.

Your glymphatic system—the brain's waste removal system—only activates during deep sleep. This is when trauma-related neurotoxins get cleared. When memories get consolidated. When your nervous system recalibrates.

The majority of all cellular repair in the body—from DNA repair to wound healing—happens during sleep.

Without adequate sleep, you cannot heal. Full stop.

But here's the lavish truth: Sleep can be a sensual experience, not just a biological necessity.

Your nervous system registers safety through sensation. 

The weight of quality linens signals grounding.
Cool, breathable fabric tells your body it can release heat and tension.
Blackout curtains remove the visual noise that keeps your brain alert.
Magnesium glycinate an hour before bed supports GABA production—the neurotransmitter that allows your mind to actually stop spinning.

This isn't indulgence. It's intelligent design for your biology.

When your environment signals safety and luxury through texture, temperature, and darkness, your parasympathetic nervous system can finally engage. Sleep becomes restoration instead of just unconsciousness.

Make your bedroom a temple of rest. This might seem like an indulgence, but your mitochondria, your hormones, and your nervous system require it.

If you're struggling with insomnia, we address it upstream: cortisol timing, blood sugar stability, and nervous system regulation before bed.

Sleep isn't something you earn. It's something you architect.

Cycle-Aware Supplementation

Your needs shift across your cycle. What supports you in week one might not serve you in week three. And your needs in perimenopause or menopause are different too.

Follicular Phase (Week 1-2): Focus on B vitamins and adaptogens that support energy and estrogen metabolism.

Luteal Phase (Week 3-4): Add magnesium, extra omega-3s, and calming adaptogens like ashwagandha or holy basil to buffer the progesterone dip and support GABA.

Perimenopause/Menopause: Consistent daily support becomes essential—magnesium, omega-3s, adaptogens that modulate cortisol and support what's left of your hormonal rhythm.

Mitochondrial Support

Feed your cells what they need to make energy:

• CoQ10 

• Magnesium glycinate 

• B-complex 

• Omega-3s 

Adaptogenic Precision

Not all adaptogens do the same thing. Choose strategically what you put in your body:

For cortisol regulation and adrenal support:

• Ashwagandha (supports hormones, calms stress response)

• Rhodiola (energy without overstimulation)

For nervous system calming:

• Holy basil (soothes without sedating)

• Shatavari (specifically supports female hormones and reproductive tissues at any stage)

Start low, go slow. Adaptogens work best when taken consistently for 6-8 weeks, not as acute rescue tools.

The Upstream Daily Anchors

These are the non-negotiables that keep you out of crisis mode:

• Morning protein within 30 minutes of waking (stabilizes blood sugar and cortisol)

• Midday movement that doesn't spike cortisol (walking, stretching, gentle flow)

• Evening wind-down ritual that signals safety to your nervous system (warm magnesium drink, dim lighting, no screens)

Simple. Not easy. But worth every ounce of effort.

Because this is how you build a body that can hold healing.
This is how you feel better.

FROM THE WELL

What’s supporting the rhythm.

The Lavish Reset: Hormones & Healing Edition

This is Part 2 of the foundational resource you've been asking for.

Where Part 1 gave you the nervous system blueprint, Part 2 shows you exactly how to support your hormones, mitochondria, and cellular resilience—with cycle-specific protocols, supplement dosing, and the strategic approach that creates lasting change.

This isn't generic advice. It's precision medicine for women who are done guessing.

Inside, you'll find the exact protocols, dosing guidelines, and supplement sources that take the guesswork out of supporting your system—from magnesium to adaptogens to omega-3s that actually work.

And I even tell you where to source the best quality, professional-grade supplements without having to shop for hours, guess, or “hope for the best.”

👉 If you want this resource, just hit REPLY to this email and say “YES PLEASE”

I’m still putting the finishing touches on it, but I’ll send it to you within one day, promise.

THE LAST WORD

Your symptoms, the way you feel, the up and down—they’ve all been trying to tell you something.

Not that you're broken. Not that you’re “just getting older.”
Not that you need to be fixed.

But that there's something upstream—something deeper—that needs your attention.

The beautiful thing about addressing root causes is this:

When you tend to what's upstream, everything downstream starts to shift.

Your sleep deepens.
Your capacity expands.
Your window of tolerance widens.
Your intuition speaks louder than your anxiety.

And suddenly, the spiritual practices that felt out of reach—meditation, presence, creative flow—become accessible again.

Because your biology is no longer stealing everything it needs just to survive.

This is how healing becomes sustainable.

Not through force. Not through willpower. But through precision.

Through understanding your body deeply enough to give it exactly what it needs.

And then watching it do what it was always designed to do:
restore, regulate, and remember its own wholeness.

That’s the shift. That's the medicine.

This is the path.

And you don't have to walk it alone.

Until next week…

Be well. Be fierce. Be lavish.