Stress Management
How Stress Harms Your Health and Aging
Mary was a thirty-nine-year-old patient who visited me complaining she felt burned out. Her sixty-hour workweeks left her beyond fatigued, with frequent headaches, miserable colds, and raging tension that cut into her sleep. On top of that, she confessed that lately life had become meaningless, which she attributed to an early midlife crisis, and her…
Read MoreThanksgiving: What Gratitude Does to Your Brain
Dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin walk into a bar . . . No, I’m not going to torture you with a bad joke. Instead, I want to discuss what gratitude does to the brain. Recent research findings are a call to action for a sense of thanksgiving every day, not just the fourth Thursday in November.…
Read MoreCortisol & Cancer: How Lowering Stress Can Help Prevent Cancer
Every week on the news, online, in a magazine, we hear or read about the ever-elusive “cure for cancer.” So far, it’s still a far-off medical goal. While I think it’s important for us to keep researching treatment options for all the men and women affected by cancer, I also want people to focus on…
Read More5 FAQs about Yoga and Hormones: Yoga Changes Your Adrenaline, Cortisol, and Melatonin
After practicing for four decades, I believe yoga helps with that uncomfortable “rev” in the body. You probably know what I’m talking about – that sense that you don’t like something in the present moment, like your belly or butt or thighs, or the feeling that you should be doing more in your career, or that you deserve to be paid more than you are, or you somehow don’t measure up to an impossible standard.
Read MoreDr. Sara Grades Different Forms of Exercise for Women: Barre Fitness Gets an “A+”
As an OB/GYN, hormone expert, and specialist in women’s health, I receive a lot of questions from my patients about their bodies. While many of the questions involve hormones and reproductive health, I am also asked a lot about physical activity. Specifically, which exercise is the best for weight loss? How do I build strength…
Read MoreWhat Stress Does to Your Hormones, Plus 3 PROVEN Stress Management Strategies
Nothing wrecks your hormones faster than unmanaged stress. However, stress in and of itself is not a bad thing. A healthy dose of stress can motivate you to high levels of productivity and performance. The key is to manage your stress so that it doesn’t spiral out of control, and cause all sorts of health…
Read MoreBallerina in Sticky Socks: Why I Recommend Barre Fitness
I’m at an age—perimenopausal—where it can seem like no amount of exercise makes a difference. Like you, I don’t have a lot of time. I need efficiency. So you can trust me when I tell you the punishing barre fitness classes that are all the rage right now actually work. In fact, barre fitness is…
Read MoreFrom Stress to Stillness: 3 Ways to Bring Peace and Calm into Daily Life
Meditation? Being still? Who has time to sit around! These are some of the reactions I hear from clients who want peace and calm in their life and their hormones, but the treadmill of life keeps them running a million miles an hour. Let’s pause before this busy holiday season revs up and get into…
Read MoreDr. Sara's Top 3 Questions: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
When it comes to female hormonal conditions, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is probably one you’ve heard of. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, between 1 in 10 and 1 in 20 women of childbearing age have PCOS. That means someone in your female tribe – sister, friend, co-worker –…
Read MoreGreen Your Hormones in 8 Easy Steps
Download my free Hormone Survival Guide below to get a jump start on greening your hormones. Are you feeling tired, moody or stressed? Did you know this could be a result of a hormonal imbalance? In my practice, thousands of patients have come to me with the same complaint: “I exercise. I eat lots of…
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