Here Come the Hormones! Part 1
The next few blog posts are going to address hormones. Specifically hormones and the female singer.
As you may know, I created an on demand course called “Peri thru Post” where I take singers through 3 stages of exercise work that I believe are needed when we enter this time in our lives.
This blog, however, is going to delve into some ideas, specifics, and people to follow and learn from.
I am NOT a doctor. This is NOT medical advice. These are observations, resources, and more based on my experience as a woman who has gone through this change and empowerment, and as a voice teacher who works with singers navigating these changes. I bring my experience to these observations.
First, let’s get on a page together. “Women’s Health” is still simply not understood overall, and not empowered even from the medical community at large. That doesn’t mean there aren’t medical professionals who truly meet us where we are, stay educated, listen, and create a junction of western medicine with holistic and integrative care. They are out there. Find them. It’s simply not the norm.
If a woman in her early /mid 30s and beyond, is pregnant & is called a “geriatric pregnancy” from the medical community, we have some work to do!
So, what about hormones and singing? Is there a connection?
You better believe there is!
If having your period can affect your body and your voice, so does the next big change!
Researchers Jean Abitol & Beatrice Abitol have done studies proving that under the microscope, laryngeal tissue & vaginal mucus are indistinguishable!!! Amazing huh? The body and the voice are so interconnected.
If knowledge is power, then I want to share with you a little bit of my journey as a woman and as a teacher of voice, and encourage you to seek out the information and learn about your body, your being, your hormones and your voice through EVERY part of your journey.
One of the first things that is crucial to know is that peri-menopause can start in your 30s. Yes, yes it can. It can last for 10 years, and sometimes longer. The issue with diagnosis is that hormones are a puzzle. Pieces fit differently and the puzzle is different for each of us. Often our medical professionals aren’t versed well enough in the puzzle possibilities to diagnose and help early enough.
Dr. Mary Claire Haver has a great blog with some great resources that could be of help to you or at least point you in the right direction and give you some questions for your medical professionals.
Here are some other sources to take a look at:
American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Johns Hopkins Medicine
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/perimenopause
Cleveland Clinic
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21608-perimenopause
Mayo Clinic
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/perimenopause/symptoms-causes/syc-20354666
And this brings me to something else: none of this should be taboo!!! And I hear the “but'“ before I typed the 3rd exclamation point!!!
But, NOTHING. Taboo comes from ignorance and fear. Do you hear me?! We are here and we do not need to be made to feel like our journey hormonally and vocally is taboo.
We do not need to make excuses for or hide from, our age.
Our life experience brings that life experience and depth and color and dimension into our voices, into our ability to embody a character, and into our presence on and off the stage.
Taboo is someone else’s issue. It is no longer something you need to carry around unconsciously. Set it down. Walk away from it. Look into that mirror and see the power that is reflected back at you!
To those of you who are not yet in a peri-menopause part of your journey, start to give yourself permission to explore what to prepare for now. Don’t be made to feel like you should dread it. Those of you in it, no shame. This is part of your journey, and part of your story.
So guess what? It’s not in your head. It’s hormonal. It’s in your larynx.
Claim it, harness it and own it.
More to come!
with fondness & fierceness,