Swell Collective

Did you know that some of the simplest things in life can help balance your hormones? ⁠
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Find Joy Everyday 🎉: Whether it’s a hobby, a walk in the park, or your favourite song, engaging in activities that bring you joy can have a positive impact on your hormonal health.⁠
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Cherish Your Connections 🤗: Spending quality time with loved ones isn't just good for the soul, it's great for your hormones too! Laughing and bonding with friends and family release feel-good hormones like oxytocin and serotonin.⁠
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Embrace the Now 🧘‍♀️: Practicing mindfulness through meditation, yoga, or simply being present in the moment can significantly reduce stress hormones like cortisol, fostering a sense of calm and balance in your body.⁠
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Sometimes it's the simple things that we push to the side in place of other, seemingly more urgent tasks, but the truth is that one of the keys to balanced hormones is keeping it simple.

World Menopause Day is held each year on 18 October to raise awareness, break the stigma and share support available for improving health and wellbeing for those experiencing menopause. The theme for this year is Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), which is the highest cause of mortality for women worldwide.

Despite affecting about half of the world’s population, menopause is not getting the attention and research it needs. Recognition of heart attacks in female patients is significantly lower than in males, making prevention even more important for women.

Several symptoms of menopause have been linked to CVD: vasomotor symptoms, commonly known as hot flushes and night sweats, sleep disturbances, and depression. Menopause is a natural part of aging, and it's not a disease to be fixed, so what can you do if you are menopausal?

Cardiovascular disease risk is closely related to lifestyle choices, so there are several ways for everyone to reduce their risk:

✅ Reducing smoking and alcohol consumption
✅ Regular physical activity
✅ Eating a healthy diet high in fruits and vegetables
✅ Lowering salt consumption
✅ Maintaining a healthy weight
✅ Sleeping enough

These are healthy lifestyle changes with a range of positive effects which can also lower blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and increase quality of life in general.

Breasts really are incredible. They produce milk, feed babies, provide pleasure, and for many are a source of sensuality and power. Did you know that breast tissue changes as you age? As you approach menopause the milk ducts and mammary glands in the breast tissue start to shut down and shrink in size, which can make breasts look smaller and less full. As the metabolism also slows down due to less estrogen, there is more fat tissue deposited in the breasts, also making them softer. For most, breast density will decrease, and this lowers the risk of breast cancer. That said, the changes in how breast tissue feels can make it harder to detect changes that would alert you to see a doctor, since everything can feel new and different.

We're currently in the middle of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We believe that educating yourself on your body and taking care of it through all the ages and stages are the best ways to celebrate it's incredible power. That includes your breasts. Self-breast checks should be done monthly, either a few days after your period finishes, or if you're post-menopausal or don't have a period, on the same day each month (like the 1st or the 15th). You know your body best and will be the first one to notices changes if you are checking regularly.

If you are between the ages of 40 and 74 you are also eligible for free screening mammograms in BC, which are recommended every 2 years once you have started. High risk individuals may be eligible earlier. Talk to your trust healthcare provider then make your own plan. Celebrate your breasts by taking care of them, which in turn takes care of you 💕.

When you educate your child on s*xual health, you are teaching them biology and physiology - not how to have s*x.

Many parents worry that if they tell their child how to have s*x safely that it will make they feel they have a free pass to have s*x. But research has shown that this isn't true at all, and in fact, the opposite of what actually happens.

If you have never talked to your child about s*x it doesn't mean they don't know what it is. It just means that you're not on the same page.

Tomorrow night, Wednesday, June 7, we are hosting a parent session from 7 - 8:30pm PST that will give you everything you need to start and continue these conversations with your child. It could benefit any parent with a child of any age from preschool right up to high school. It's never too late to start.

https://www.swellco.ca/book

It's easy to get caught up in conversations about birth control, STI protection, and consent when talking to kids about s*x because those are the obvious areas where things can go wrong. But what we should also be doing is talking about how s*x is SUPPOSED to feel because if it doesn't feel good, they need to know it's important to figure out why. Too many people experience pain or discomfort right from their very first s*xual experience and never get checked out because they don't know any different. Teens and young adults feel embarrassed about telling a trusted adult that s*x doesn't feel good because they've always been told that they shouldn't be having s*x, and they are afraid something might be wrong with them.

The truth is that the vast majority of the time, when people have s*x it's for fun and pleasure, not to make a baby. So let's start being honest about this from an early age to remove the shame that often occurs later in life.