LISTEN TO YOUR BODY: DR LIBBY WEAVER ON THE SUBTLE SIGNS WOMEN OFTEN MISS
By Nicole Fuge
Our bodies are constantly talking to us, but all too often we overlook the quiet signals before they turn into louder warnings. In this candid conversation, Dr Libby Weaver explores the subtle ways women’s health shows up: restless sleep, persistent fatigue, changes in hair, skin, or nails, and the interplay of stress and hormones. These “whispers” are clues to help us tune into ourselves and transform our health and vitality.
what are the signs the body is whispering to us before it starts shouting?
When you start to notice sleep is disrupted, and I don't mean when you have little children who need you in the night, that's not you sleeping badly, you're up to them because they need you in the night. And the way I encourage women to think about that is they're little, they're young for such a short amount of time in their very long life and your very long life.
So I don't mean that, it's when you yourself can't sleep. When you notice you can't sleep properly or deeply or restoratively, that's a little moment of, ‘I need to look at something here’, because when our body loses the ability to do something so fundamental to our health, there's information in that.
Is it that stress hormones are just way too elevated and we need to look at ways to reduce those, whether that's through breath work, more time in nature, journalling, a ritual before bed, beautiful medicinal herbs that are very calming and soothing for the nervous system, or something more than that.
It might be that you're going through some really, really challenging time and it might be very valuable to see a counsellor or a psychologist.
So looking at stress, for example, if sleep is disrupted. Looking at caffeine habits. Iron deficiency is actually really important for good sleep. Restless legs is another classic sign of iron deficiency. So sleep is a big one.
Of course, energy. When that fatigue is persistent, that's a whisper that something's not quite right here because we're supposed to have really great energy and energy is really great feedback about how we're living.
Our skin. Things show up in us, all the beauty bits: skin, hair, fingernails, eyebrows, all the things on the outside, the beauty bits suffer when the resources on the inside are being sent to more urgent processes. So the processes inside of us that are needed for survival are going to be prioritised over our skin and our hair and our nails, because our hair can all fall out and we'll still be alive. Nutrition, for example, isn't sent to hair follicles to support them if those same nutrients might be needed for an immune response or for stress hormone production, because they're the things that will save our lives.
So when the beauty bits start to change, I think there's this real tendency for us to think it's just age. I've had 25-year-olds say to me, oh, my hair's falling out, but that's feedback and there's information in this. We've got to work out what's driving that hair loss.
They're some of the whispers.
There's so much pressure on women to do it all. What toll does that take on our health, particularly our hormones?
Part of where the problem with stress is, is that it's become constant and relentless because of our perceptions of pressure and urgency; consciously or unconsciously worrying what other people think of us.
Humans used to make stress hormones only when there was a threat to our life, which was very short-lived, that surge of stress hormones. Whereas now, we sort of produce them all day, every day because of the things I just mentioned. And that's part of the problem.
When your body is getting the message that your life is in danger or there's no food left in the world (which are some of the signals that the relentless production of stress hormones sends), the last thing your body wants for you is to bring a baby into that world. So, the body can think it's doing you a big favour by shutting down ovulation. And when that happens, we miss out on that lovely big surge of progesterone, which doesn't just play a role in fertility, but it's a very powerful anti-anxiety agent. It's very calming and soothing on the nervous system.
It's [also] a diuretic, so it allows us to get rid of extra fluid. We can feel quite bloated and our jeans get tight before our periods when there's not enough of it. So it's the interaction between the relentless production of stress hormones and the production of our sex hormones can lead to some really challenging symptoms.
What does true wellness look like and what should IT feel like?
Vitality and an energy and a vibrancy, and the ability to both get excited and also be calm.
I think we're really healthy when we can swing between the states where our sympathetic nervous system is activated. That's our fight or flight response. But then we can come back to a really calm place where our parasympathetic nervous system is running the show.
We don't need to pursue purely one or the other, but I think we're very vital and very well when we can swing between both. Vitality is almost like a twinkle in the eye. I think it's a great sign of wellness.
And I think we get that vitality and that twinkle in our eye when there's culmination of not just great nutrition and sleep and movement and sunshine… you know, those things that our Earth suit, that our body, literally requires to be able to function, but I think we get it when we have purpose, when we have connection, when there's almost like a light in our heart that kind of comes out through our eyes when we have deep appreciation that we're getting to have our turn on Earth. I think all of that is wrapped up in what wellness is really about.
many women feel dismissed or unheard when they are NOT feeling themselves. We’re told ‘that's normal’ or ‘just what women go through’. how can we better advocate for ourselves when we know something's not quite right?
I feel like we put a lot of pressure on our GPs and they are under so much pressure and most of them have a very limited amount of time. I have a real empathy for the pressure they're under. And so, I feel as women, we sometimes need to look further afield.
It might be that we have a GP, and they've been our GP forever and we want to keep it that way, but they might not have everything on offer that we require for what we're seeking. So, it might mean that you need a second doctor who's more an integrative doctor or a functional medicine practitioner who will do a lot more blood tests, for example, because they're trained in a different way.
Or it might be that you need a really experienced nutritionist or naturopath who is going to be more likely to look at things through a more holistic lens and provide nutrients or dietary changes or medicinal herbs to get the outcomes that you're seeking.
So, I feel that we almost need to take our expectations off our GPs for having all the answers.
What message do you wish every woman could hear and truly believe about her body and her health?
Your body is your best friend. It's not trying to betray you. It is a vehicle of communication, doing her best to help you become even more of who you truly are.
I think we get little nudges. This is my opinion, this is not science, it's just my opinion. I think we're all here to express who we are and become who we are, because I think we forget who we are and we take on other people's expectations or ideas of us, and the universe nudges us endlessly back to being who we are. And sometimes those nudges come through our body.
So try to see the body as your best friend, this most magnificent vehicle of communication, doing her best to wake you up to become even more of who you are. And sometimes it's really uncomfortable and sometimes it's really painful, but if you can trust that she's working for you and not against you, I think we start to treat the body differently.
We look after what we care about. So rather than being frustrated with it or feeling sad about your body, see if you can appreciate it exactly how it is right now, even if there's things that you want to change.
See if you can appreciate its absolute magnificence and to think that there are 50 trillion cells that make up your physical structure and inside every one of those cells is a little city that is just operating itself. You don't have to instruct it. It's really mind-blowing and it'll give you feedback when it's not happy with your choices.
So just try to see it as the gift that it is.
Disclaimer: The content provided on Muse Paper is intended for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the guidance of your physician or other qualified healthcare professional with any questions you may have regarding your health, medical conditions, or treatments. Any reference to nutritional supplements is for general information only and does not constitute endorsement or therapeutic claims. Muse Paper does not advertise or promote therapeutic goods, in accordance with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Code.
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ISSUE 07