Adrenal fatigue as a feminine awakening
The call to radical recalibration
So many women I know have beginning to middle stage adrenal fatigue, and I myself am no stranger to this state. At some point, when the symptoms get too much and we can’t continue with all the doing, we get diagnosed. We’re given all the things to do and not do but are also expected, at some point, to go back living in the same environment that created the dysfunction in the first place. We blame ourselves for not being good enough, capable or committed enough, or even feminine enough.
But what if it isn’t our body that’s failing? What if it’s actually working perfectly and has decided to protest on the streets of infinite-growth capitalism refusing to continue operating on unnatural and mechanical terms? The body screams, “I cannot keep functioning on overdrive, with a constant pressure to get things done, with no support.” It cries out for deeper needs of alignment with natural rhythms, real nourishment, slowness, and sensuality. It doesn’t want to have to keep waiting till the next holiday to relax and enjoy, or the next weekend off to rest, or till the end of the day once everything has been done.
When adrenal fatigue shows up.
Stage 2 adrenal fatigue, often referred to as the ‘resistance stage’, is a mid-phase in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation model. It shows up in life after an extended period of chronic stress (emotional, physical, environmental), where the adrenal glands are still able to produce cortisol, but at a cost. The body becomes stuck in ‘go’ mode, adapting to stress but with signs the system is beginning to fray. You haven’t collapsed yet, but you’re on the way:
Waking up feeling wired or anxious or the mind instantly kicks into ‘get it done mode’.
Low libido, lack of pleasure, negative impact on romantic relationships.
A tired but wired feeling throughout the day with an afternoon crash.
Disturbed sleep with frequent waking up (sympathetic dominance).
Low HRV and possible high HR throughout the day.
Fatigue, forgetfulness, emotional instability and more.
A feeling of not being good enough, not being enough, fear of failure, fear of abandonment, and all the unique ways our past experiences show up in core belief systems.
What shows up in tests is high or dysregulated morning cortisol, sex hormones (testosterone, progesterone, estrogen) in decline, low iron, and low vitamins and minerals. Basically low in all the building blocks of life that are there for long-term survival and high in all the stress chemistry for short-term survival. The body is ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ - you are stealing from your own regenerative systems to keep you going each day so you can survive the perceived and actual never ending threats of modern life.
What we do (but what we really need).
Stage 2 adrenal fatigue is often when we try more supplements, better routines, or productivity hacks. Now, if you need to work on the physical components of what you’re putting into your body then definitely start there but don’t stop at the surface. Working with consciousness, the deeper layers of our subtle body, and resting deeply through practices like meditation, somatic body work, kinesiology etc. is how we start coming into contact with the root cause. But all these ‘tools or techniques’ weren’t designed to be bandaids to a leaking bucket. Most have actually come from ancient or traditional cultures who have holistic systems for living where practices are not just about ‘feeling better and getting on with the same old same old’ but awakening to wholeness.
So, if you’re doing all the ‘good things’ like meditating, eating well, getting sunlight, exercising, and opening to new perspectives. Or you’re getting shit done and recovering to some degree each day, but still coming out the other side depleted, it’s not the meditation. It’s not the lack of nutrients going in. It’s life calling you in and reminding you why you’re really here.
Imagine you were told there’s nothing inherently wrong with you. Your body is intelligence itself, it knows, it feels, it understands. It’s not you but your current environment and the systems you’re engaging in that are failing. Imagine if your medicine was not more supplements but to deprogram from grind culture. That you and your life is not breaking down but attempting to recalibrate into wholeness.
Adrenal fatigue as a deeper invitation (not a syndrome).
If we were to take a different view, a Vedic feminine view, on what’s happening when adrenal fatigue starts showing up, we may start to realise this isn’t a syndrome but a threshold moment. We are being asked to reorient to rest not as recovery but as remembering. Rest not as a state of dullness or inertia but a restful alertness expressive of being in deep relationship with the Self. This threshold moment is a big neon flashing sign to stop outsourcing our value to doing, and instead reclaim our power through presence, connection, and daily pleasure. It’s a deep invitation to reclaim a wild and ancient aspect of ourself that will no longer live in the shadows.
The invitations.
What if we saw rest as an action; not as a means to an end of being more productive but because our existence is sacred. Rest as an act of reverence for life. Imagine if we allowed ourselves to nap, meditate, wander, do nothing on purpose every day. What would our inner world look like? How would that impact where we are going?
What if we stopping trying to fix ourselves and instead started listening; allowing silence to speak through the subtle movements of our of thoughts and feelings. Listening as an act of devotion and saying ‘no’ when it doesn’t feel right as an act of grace.
What if we began micro-dosing silence? Micro-dosing pleasure? Each moment an invitation to feel the infinite on our skin. Not rushing through life to the outcome but savouring the process as we would each morsel of a meal.
What if our evenings became sacred alters; switching off the screens and bright lights, our homes alive with presence, infused with deep meaning, laughter, and the creation of poetry, music, and storytelling.
What if sleep wasn’t another task or something to optimise and track but a portal to bathe in soma, the nourishing nectar of life that brings us closer to embodying our true nature.
Rest as a revolution.
Imagine a world soaked in rest. Not sleep, not dullness, but a world soaked in vibrating restful awareness. It may feel very far away right now but if we don’t make the time to dream and imagine it will never arrive. It has been done before in our ancient and traditional cultures and can be done again. It may require sacrifice of the known, of perceived comfort and convenience, or a 180 degree revolutionary change, with hard conversations, and feeling the deep pains of our past. But it’s actually not that far away because it lives in each of us as true nature. Those who are awake are the leaders of the next iteration of our world and there are many paths it can take. But this isn’t a leading from the top of the pyramid, the CEO’s office, crowned and glorified. It’s a silent leading, a silent revolution, a feminine birthing of new realities in the backyards of those who’s hearts are tuning to a new rhythm. Don’t get caught up in the final details right now but instead feel into it as a living reality. Ask questions and have conversations. Start with one step and let nature support its own unfolding.
Words to usher in a new vision.
You were never meant to live on borrowed time and overdrawn breath.
You were not birthed for constant doing but designed for divine rhythm.
Your high alert is not dysfunction.
Your nervous system is singing its final note of protest against the myth of endless output.
Cortisol has been climbing and your hormones retreating.
Sleep has become a scattered prayer longing to be heard.
But this is not failure. This is not fatigue.
This is feminine wisdom pulling you inward by the hem.
She is saying slow down and rest.
Your body is not a battleground.
It is a temple that cannot be forced into worship at the altar of capitalism.
Let the lights dim early in the evening.
Let your spine unwind without explanation or approval.
Let your heart remember that nectar arises in stillness.
Soma returns not through pushing but through presence.
You are not here to be efficient.
You are here to be whole.
Your rest is our revolution.
With love,
Laura x
Resources to explore.
Listen to Tricia Hersey on Deprogramming from Grind Culture
Read Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype by Clarissa Pinkola Estesn (keep this one by your bed)
Watch at the first screening of the new feature length documentary ‘The New Peasants’ at Cinema Nova in Melbourne 27th July at 5:35pm - the life of Meg and Patrick from Artist as Family. Watch the trailer here. If you’re not in Melbourne and want to host a screening you can apply here.
Listen to an episode of our Mahasoma podcast with Meg from Artist as Family on Composting Capitalism: reclaiming ourselves as empowered ecological creatures of place.
Group meditation timetable.
Tuesday 8 July - 6pm-7pm AEST online with Kathleen O’Brien.
Wednesday 9 July - Every Wednesday 7am FREE meditation, swim and chai at Noosa Main beach. Open to anyone to attend. Tell your friends! Follow us @noosa_meditation to stay in touch.
Wednesday 9 July - 6pm-7:30pm Castlemaine group meditation and community dinner wth Kathleen O’Brien.
Thursday 10 July - 6:15pm-9pm - Guru Purnima special event in Melbourne. Tickets by donation HERE. Come join us for ceremony, meditation, kirtan, and community connection. Friends and family welcome + kids free to join.
Thursday 10 July - 5:30pm-7:30pm - Guru Purnima in Noosa with Laura Poole.An evening of ceremony, meditation, shared meal, and community connection.
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Who is Mahasoma?
The Mahasoma team is a feminine-led collective of Vedic meditation teachers, who choose to come together to create something greater than what could be done as individuals. Through working together they support the ever growing community of Mahasoma meditators by offering Vedic meditation courses, online and in-person group meditation and Vedic wisdom sessions, advanced trainings, and retreats. They are accredited Mental Health First Aiders and have been trained in pre- and/or postnatal support for women and families.
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This is a great read 🧡