Almost one year ago, I wrote a letter to the Rootless community about my hormonal health journey. It was the first time I was able to step out of “founder mode” and be truly vulnerable, warts and all. Your willingness to share your own health journeys inspired me to own my story, and for that, I am truly grateful.
One year later, I’m back with more (the symmetry of timing is not lost on me). Since our August 2023 consumer trial, we’ve intentionally shifted our focus to supporting women in their hormonal health journeys. We decided to focus on women over 35, as this is the most underserved, under-researched group of women, more often than not feeling the most severe impact of declining sex hormone levels and reduced thyroid function.
In the last year, I have met countless women who were in perimenopause and didn’t know it. They were soldiering on without support because “they could,” and had a partner, kids, job, parent, friend, and/or sibling that they had to show up for. But internally: their body was screaming at them. In this work, I’ve come to learn a hard truth: no one teaches women to listen to their bodies. It takes a loud car alarm that signals a break-in to alert us to the problem. But if we’re being honest with ourselves, the warning signs were flashing quietly all along.
I, like so many of you, learned this the hard way. After 3 years of ignoring the warning signs - high anxiety, sleeplessness, hair loss, hair greying, hiding from my loved ones, and finally undeniable and severe burnout–my body rang an alarm I couldn’t ignore. In January of 2024, I found 2 coin-sized bald spots on my head and received an alopecia diagnosis. Alopecia, as my doctor told me, was caused by stress: it might be a one-time issue, it might make me lose all my hair. There was no root cause. I was told simply to “manage my stress.”
This entire experience left me feeling so powerless and gaslit by my trusted healthcare provider who didn’t seem to see me in my helplessness. How do I simply “reduce stress?” To this day, it angers me. I share this because in navigating an autoimmune journey of my own (one that is filled with more questions than answers), I now firmly believe that the best thing we can do for our bodies is go ALL the way back to the first principle questions of self-care: What am I truly feeling in my body? What is my body trying to tell me? There’s nothing “normal” about premature greying or thinning hair, fatigue levels that don’t allow you to get out of bed, anhedonia (i.e. losing interest in everything), low libido, or raging mood swings. My coin-sized bald spots were telling me that I was burning too hard and too fast, and that I needed to slow down.
Our bodies express symptoms as warning signs of a deeper issue. Symptoms are a sign that we need to listen to our hormones and mental health. With the advancements in modern medicine and the accessibility of ancient and traditional wisdom, you have a universe of solutions available to help you feel like your best self. But the journey needs to start with you! No one teaches us to listen to our bodies. I’ve learned myself and witnessed the power of what happens when women do. We are unstoppable. I invite you to join us in this movement to listen. Join us, and together we will be unstoppable.
