Befriend your hormones, balance your life - with Mirjam Wagner

Gain a better understanding of your hormones to support your journey through womanhood.

 

€89.00

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5-hour online course

 

Unlimited access for flexible study

 

Eligible for 10 CEUs with Yoga Alliance

 

Theoretical knowledge

Explore the endocrine system from a Western and Eastern perspective. Learn about the delicate dance between Yin and Yang and how to keep them both consciously balanced.

Yoga practices

Embody your theoretical knowledge with Yin and Yang sequences, movement routines and breathing practices to support, balance and enhance your hormonal system. 

Downloadable material

Extra written material to help deepen your understanding, absorb the concepts and enable you to make wise and empowered choices to support you through womanhood. 

Course structure


Hormones are chemical substances that tell certain structures and tissues in the body what to do at any given moment. They’re our most important messengers and regulate and influence a huge range of functions including our:

 
  • Growth and development

  • Homeostasis – the internal balance of body systems

  • Metabolism – our body energy levels

  • Reproduction

  • Menstrual cycles

  • Aging processes

  • Response to stress, trauma and injury

Despite hormones playing such a key role in our health, many of us only become aware of them when they become out of balance. Let’s empower ourselves by understanding and befriending our hormones so that we can make the wisest choices throughout the different stages of our lives.


This course will introduce you to the fascinating world of the endocrine system (the network of organs and glands that produce hormones). You’ll learn about hormones from a Western medicine perspective, following their journey from the brain through 4 key pathways. You will also learn about hormones through the lens of Eastern medicine, diving deeper into the qualities of both Yin (the sex hormones) - and Yang (the stress hormones). Underpinning all of this, will be Yin yoga classes and movement practices to help support, balance and nourish your hormonal system and enable you to make informed lifestyle choices.

 

Course outline

Welcome to this fascinating exploration of the endocrine system - a magical network made up of organs and glands that produce hormones. Hormones are one of the most important messengers in our body. They carry information and instructions from one set of cells to another and influence and regulate a huge range of processes and functions in our body. These include reproduction, sleep cycles, menstrual cycles, mood, metabolism, bone density and our response to stress, trauma and injury. 

 

During this course, we’ll explore hormones from an Eastern and Western perspective so that you are better able to make the wisest and most empowered choices to support the different stages of your life. 

Each chapter will be divided into theory and practice and include downloadable written material to support your learning.

This talk explores the different pathways that important hormones travel through, starting from the brain, in order to regulate crucial processes in our body. We begin by taking a look at the hypothalamus - the ‘headmistress’ of hormonal chains - and its main ‘helper,’ the pituitary gland. We’ll then take a tour from the brain through the thyroid glands, the liver / pancreas, the ovaries, and the adrenal glands to different destinations in the body. We’ll uncover the importance of each of these ‘chains’ and the vital role they collectively play in maintaining the function and balance of our body.

This class works on the energetic channels that nourish the kidneys and is designed to help bring about a cooling effect. You’ll practice pranayama to cool your inner landscape and Yin yoga poses to specifically target the kidneys. You might like to have a blanket or block handy for this practice.

Here we take a look at hormones through the lens of Eastern medicine, namely Yin and Yang - a principle that Chinese medicine applies to everything that exists in life. We dive deeper into the qualities of both Yin - the sex hormones - and Yang - the stress hormones. We’ll learn how to recognize when one is more dominant than the other and how best to support this delicate dance between these two opposing but interconnected energies.

This short Yin/Yang balancing sequence is suitable for women of all ages who are experiencing mood swings, painful periods, fatigue, symptoms of menopause, loss of appetite or other symptoms relating to hormonal changes. The class begins with a short, dynamic movement sequence, then moves into slower-paced movements. It ends with a couple of long-held Yin poses accompanied by the peaceful sound of birdsong. Please have a blanket ready for the end of class.

This talk focuses on the Yin aspect of the endocrine system, which is supported by the sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone. Both play a crucial role in the growth and development of our reproductive organs, as well as menstruation, pregnancy and menopause. We look at what happens to our hormone production leading up to and during menopause and how vital it becomes - particularly over the age of 35 -  to nourish and balance the Yin aspects of our life so that we remain physically and emotionally resilient. 

We’ve discovered the importance of supporting and balancing our Yin hormones and managing the Yang by adapting our lifestyle, food, stress levels, attitude and movement practices. This sequence (starting at 11:58) is intended to support and nourish the Yin aspects of your life by inviting stillness and encouraging rest. You might like to have a blanket nearby.


This talk focuses on the stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, produced by the adrenal glands and released into the bloodstream as soon as we find ourselves in danger - whether real or perceived. They are responsible for our fight/flight response and play a vital role in nature to ensure survival. While adrenaline dissipates quickly after ‘danger’, cortisol lingers much longer in our system and too much of it can begin to cause serious health issues. We uncover the vital role our hormones play in relation to stress and understand the importance of monitoring the quality of Yang in our lives and keeping it consciously balanced.

Although it’s important to nourish the Yin parts of our practice, it’s also essential to strengthen the Yang part, responsible for our metabolism and for producing and using energy. This practice, which begins at 06:07, strengthens our capacity to face challenges and brings awareness to our mobility, heart rate, and breath. Have a block or blanket ready for this class.

In a society that worships the qualities of doing, it’s important to cultivate the qualities of being. Yin yoga is an invitation for us to pause, listen, soften, feel. It is an invitation for us to investigate with compassion and loving attention what we have neglected and dismissed; where we have ignored our inner voice, wisdom, and boundaries. Mirjam explains how the practice of Yin yoga ‘saved’ her and has played such a key part in her life as a mother, teacher, partner, lover, coach, and friend. “In Yin we accept the invitation to let go of control and surrender. This is no weakness; instead it’s a powerful non-resistance to what is.

Disrupted sleep and insomnia are very common, especially in women going through the menopause. This Yin yoga practice is ideal to do before bed to help you to calm heightened energy, worry, or restlessness and transition into a peaceful night’s rest. The class ends with some soothing pranayama. Please have a bolster, block and blanket ready for this practice.

Decreased levels of sex hormones in menopausal women are often responsible for an increase in osteoporosis - a condition where bones become weak, brittle or porous. Therefore, it’s essential (especially as we age) that we include weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercises in our routine to support our bone health. This fun, dynamic sequence includes both - grab a skipping rope if you have one (though it’s not necessary) and have a block and blanket ready for the end of the practice.

Yoga Alliance Accreditation

Befriend your hormones, balance your life - with Mirjam Wagner is eligible for 10 Continuing Education Credits with Yoga Alliance.

Meet your teacher:

Mirjam Wagner


Mirjam is a highly experienced osteopath and yoga teacher. She loves to share her knowledge of Yin yoga, organ health, hormones and the feminine archetypes to empower and support women to connect with themselves deeply and heal from within.

Mirjam combines a scientific understanding of the human body with a holistic and spiritual approach by integrating Meditation, Mindfulness, Chinese Medicine & Buddhism.